You must not only learn to sail, but you must learn to take care of your boat, to keep her neat and clean, and have everything above and below decks in shipshape order. Nothing looks worse than a slovenly kept and dirty yacht; a boat with fag ends of rope hanging about, loose and tangled messes of gear, sails not properly stowed, and a general air of untidiness apparent everywhere. The first attribute of good seamanship is order. Therefore, if you want to be considered a skillful sailor, keep your boat both above and below decks in shipshape fashion.

To do this means considerable work. It is no easy job to take proper care of even a small yacht, but if you regularly attend to the work you will find it come easier as you grow more familiar and used to the task. In the first place, the boat should be kept pumped out if she has a leak, as most boats have; next, her decks and cockpit should be thoroughly scrubbed and kept as clean as possible; the paint round the house and rails washed regularly, and her topsides looked to at least once a week.

Next, keep good watch over the gear; don’t let the ends of the ropes get fagged out; keep them whipped. Always, after coming in from a sail, coil down and clear up all the ends of the gear. Keep your rodes and warps neatly coiled or Flemished, and not heaped in a tangled mass, thrown in any way. Take up on your tackles so that ropes don’t swing loose, but be careful not to take up too hard, if you are not staying on the boat, because if dampness or rain sets in the rope will absorb the moisture and swell, causing it to contract and shrink lengthways. This not only is bad for the cordage, but in small vessels it frequently strains and distorts the spars.

If you have to leave your boat for several days with no one to care for her, do not stow your sails too tightly; roll them up loosely, and gasket so that they cannot shake out if it comes on to blow. If sails are furled in hard rolls the dampness in the canvas will cause them to sweat and rot; canvas to keep good wants the air. Sail covers are not good things to use, unless they are frequently removed, so as to let the air and sun get at the sails.

If your boat is rigged with metal blocks, turnbuckles, etc., these should be frequently oiled and greased, as should also the gooseneck and the jaws of the gaff. By keeping rust and verdigris off the working parts of these things you will increase their length of service and always have them in good working order. The steering gear, if you use a wheel, should be frequently inspected and oiled. If you use a tiller see that it is in good condition and not split or weakened where it is attached to the head of the rudder post. Steering gear accidents are more frequent than any others, and sometimes lead to disagreeable consequences.

The chain plates, and the shrouds where they go over the mast should be looked at, and also the bobstay and other headgear. Make a practice of going over your rigging at least once a week during the season, and you will be less likely to meet with any mishaps or accidents through something unexpectedly giving way.

Nothing looks better or reflects more credit on a young yacht sailor than to have his boat from truck to keel in first-class order. It is a certain sign that he understands his business, takes an interest in sport, and is a thorough and skilled sailorman. Of course, he cannot if he only spends, say, two days out of the week on board keep the boat up to the highest notch of completeness and order as a yacht is kept that carries a professional crew, but he can keep her neat and clean by giving a few hours of his time to the task. But to make the work easy let him refrain from covering his deck with brass or other fancy gewgaws. Stick to things that don’t need polishing; the less brass the less work.

Another thing I would point out to you, and that is, when painting the decks or cockpit of a boat do not use light-colored paints. One reason for this is that a light color shows every speck of dirt and never can be made to look clean, especially if the boat is harbored in places where the water is muddy or dirty; the other reason is that light paint reflects the sun and is very trying on the eyes. For cockpit, decks and the top of cabin houses, use a dark shade of green, grey or slate; green is the best for the eyes.