Thomas Fleming Day

"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea!"
Coleridge.

ON ONE-MAN BOATS

This is a subject upon which volumes of rot have been written by men who ought to have known better. We can forgive a man of no experience for writing absurdly upon a subject, but when those who have had experience in handling craft alone come out in print in advocacy of an utterly unsuitable type of vessel it is about time for somebody to call them down. It is the books of such men that have made common the idea that the single-hander's vessel must be a sort of enlarged toy boat; in consequence, whenever a single-hander is pictured, it is of that type.

The principal cause of this error is that the men who have taken charge of the task of disseminating information regarding the single-hander are of a class that, as a class, look upon small things as making big things and not as big things being made of small things. Consequently they give more importance to any part than they do to the whole. Then they are the servants of an idea; this once firmly fixed they distort all out-doors to fit it. All evidence to confirm is at once admitted, while just as quickly the door is shut in the face of whatever does not go to prove their first and final conception to be correct.

Single-Hander

Almost every man I know of who has contributed to the literature of the single-hander has first sat by the fireside and designed a craft and then built and sailed it to prove that it is the only perfect thing.

Go over a fleet of this kind; what are they? Either big toy boats or small copies of large vessels. While they may perfectly fit the theory and be theoretically perfect, they are practically of no use, or else inferior in many ways to a boat of the same dimensions designed by experience. The earliest types of these boats were closely moulded upon the lines of fishing craft, being models built to withstand the rough usage of that trade, and suited to oar and sail alike. That a craft like this matured in a rough locality is the best for its purpose is frequently true, but that it is best for another purpose is as frequently false.

This is an error common to many who have advocated some local type of boat for universal use. Having employed it successfully in certain waters, they imperatively assert that it will suit all waters, and having found it to answer one purpose, they are equally certain that it will answer all. It is the old story of the blind men and the elephant—that of forming a compound conclusion from a single observation.

If a man cruise, and cruise without assistance, the first important thing is that his craft be one that he can handle without excessive muscular strain. Therefore she must not be heavy for her size, and her gear must be of such weight as will readily permit of his working it. The gear must be simple and of strength; the rig one that needs the least attention. This is exactly what the typical single-hander is not.

The typical single-hander is a coarse-lined, heavily built craft, with complicated gear and divided canvas. She is generally very full-bodied and badly overloaded with ballast. Her initial stability is great, and her helm action slow. This is the type of craft advocated by nearly all who have written on this subject. One of the prime virtues of this type in the eyes of single-hander writers, is, that such craft are good sea boats. A few years ago boats of this description were more common than they are to-day, but many are still afloat. The favorite rig is that of cutter or yawl.

These boats are safe—that is, they seldom capsize—and are good sea boats, if simple ability to float in rough water constitutes a good sea; but they are slow, awkward to handle, and utterly unable to make way in rough water and heavy winds.

Off the wind in all weather they move slowly and steer badly and in light breezes are logs. One of these boats that I handled would yaw four points either way when running off in a following sea, and when close-hauled in a blow would lie down and sag off bodily to leeward. It was utterly impossible to get her to windward except under conditions of a smooth sea and steady breeze, weather in which any vessel will do her best.

I remember once seeing a small cutter-rigged, single-hander trying for several hours to beat round Matinicock Point against a head sea and wind. This vessel, which was built after the plans of a celebrated single-hander's boat, was a failure on every point of sailing. Another time we passed a small cutter off Saybrook; she was jumping up and down and chopping waves at a great rate. Our consort, who had passed the same point two hours before, reported speaking the yacht in almost the same position, and no doubt she would be there yet if the wind and tide had not shifted and lifted her in.

The essential element of safety in all vessels is the power to move forward under all conditions of weather. This is especially so of a sailing craft. There must also be a perfect and rapid obedience to the helm. A slow-moving or sluggish craft is a dangerous one. The smaller the vessel the more true this is.

The other element of safety is the mobility of the rig. The ability to make, reduce and shift sail rapidly is essential to safety. This is only possible when the sails and spars are proportioned to the strength of those manipulating them, and the gear of the simplest and most direct description. The over subdividing of canvas is bound to complicate the gear; the keeping of the canvas in large sails to make the spars heavy and unwieldy.

The most perfect type of boat and rig for one man to handle is the cat—in theory; but in practice it fails in many ways. If the weather was a constant it would be the ideal rig. But winds are changeable things in all localities. So long as a cat can carry her whole sail comfortably she is the safest and most easily handled rig in existence; but once reef her and she forfeits much of her ability. Then again, in strong winds, she is a bad runner, and her sail being large and well outboard she is difficult to reef. For windward work under favorable conditions the cat is unrivaled, and as a one-man boat she is for some purposes without a peer. But I do not recommend the rig for single-handed cruising.

Let us next consider the sloop. This is, except for very small craft, an inferior rig for the purpose to the cat, it having all the latter's faults without any other advantages to compensate. In single-handers under 20 feet top measure the sloop rig will work very decently. But it is decidedly inferior to the knockabout, for the reason that in order to expand its canvas both the boom and bowsprit must be carried outboard. This latter rig, if kept down to reasonable proportions, is better than either cat, sloop or cutter for single-handers under 30 feet top measure. But all these three rigs have the one objectionable feature, that in order to reef the boat must either leave her course or be hove-to while the operation is performed, a serious disadvantage under rough conditions.

In a full-manned vessel, reefing, when the proper method is employed, is a simple affair, but reefing by one hand is always a long and troublesome job. If the vessel cannot be kept on her course and is brought to the wind the work is made much more difficult owing to the rolling and pitching. Not only is this the case, but it is very often dangerous to venture on a bowsprit at such a time or to hang out over the stern in order to secure the cringle-lashing. Any one who has reefed a jib when the boat is head to the wind and pitching into a steep sea will not deny this. Last summer in reefing down, owing to the weight of the wind, I was obliged to take the sail completely off my boat, as it was impossible to knot the points with the canvas straining; losing her way, she fell off into the trough of the sea, which was running very large, and rolled so heavily that she threw all hands off their feet. We could do nothing but hold on until at last we were obliged to run her off under the peak and reef her running. This manoeuvre cost us a good two miles of hard-won weather gauge.

The three best rigs for single-man handling are the ketch, yawl or sharpie, or double cat, as it is sometimes called. The advantages of the yawl and ketch rig I have explained in another chapter. The double cat is also fairly good, but its chief objection is that the stepping of the foremast in the eyes of the boat makes it close work forward and the lack of a bowsprit increases the work of handling the anchor.

As to the size of a single-hander. I have handled boats of 35 feet, top measure alone, but it was labor; the ground tackle for such a craft being a big lift for one man. The only advantage of a long boat is the increased speed and accommodation, but the latter is generally not wanted.

I would recommend for this purpose a boat of not over 30 feet—25 is better—and of either yawl or ketch rig. A moderate sail plan, light spars and strong rigging, the iron work especially being extra heavy. The hull, while strongly built, should be clean-lined, and, above all, stiff and weatherly. The last is the prime necessity. She must be capable of going to windward under any set of sail. At least half her ballast should be inside, firmly secured. She should steer with a wheel.

We can summon all this up in one sentence, that will concisely describe the ideal single-hander: A fast hull and a small rig.