"Then let his vessel feel the strain
When wars the gale along the main;
Strong in his trust of shroud and stay
The seaman holds his leeward way,
Spreads the reef'd sail on buckling mast
And proudly dares the stormy blast."

ON RIGGING

When we speak of a vessel's rigging we mean everything that supports the spars and is employed in setting and trimming the sails. Rigging is divided into two classes—standing and running. The first is the portion that remains stationary, and whose office is to hold and strengthen the spars. The second is rove through blocks and moves; its office is to hoist, lower and trim the sails.

Rigging has been much simplified of late years owing to the use of better proportioned fittings and stronger materials. The use of wire rope in place of hemp has reduced the size and weight of standing rigging, and what is of more importance, given a stable factor.

In the old days when hemp was used, the shrouds and stays had to be constantly watched, as they varied in length every time there was a large change in the atmosphere. This was a frequent cause of dismasting. A vessel before leaving port would have her rigging set up in dry, cold weather; going to sea she would run into a warm region and everything would slack up. As it is now, the expansion and contraction of wire rigging is so small that a few turns of a screw will take it up or give it back. The only danger from wire is in setting it up too taut when at its full stretch, but this, in such length as go to make the shrouds of a yacht, is little to be feared. But the funnel guys of steam-yachts should be frequently looked to, as the expansion of the iron is liable to pull out the deck eye-bolts.

I am not going to tell you how to rig a yacht, because you can learn that better and quicker by doing as the Yankee did who wanted to learn how to make clocks—took one apart and put it together again. Just strip a yacht, then re-rig her, and you will be in a fair way to learn all about it. What I am going to do, is to point out to you a few things in regard to rigging that may aid you in taking better care of what you have, and in making more secure and simple its use.

The one axiom of the business is this, and I want you to engrave it on your memory, for the violation of its truth is the cause of nine out of ten breakdowns: The weakest part of any shroud, stay or tackle is its strongest part. If you take two pieces of chain capable of lifting a ton, and join them with a piece of rope capable of lifting five hundred pounds, your combination is only as strong as the rope, and will only lift the smaller weight. This is why shrouds so frequently give way; the wire rope is strong enough, the splice is firm, but the rigging-screw is only capable of bearing half the strain of those parts. Same with halliards; the tackle will lift a ton, the pin in the block or shackle not five hundred pounds. All parts of any tackle must be proportionately strong.

The most unreliable portion of a yacht's rigging is the ironwork. In the first place, much of it is badly proportioned, and in the second place it is too light. There is no sense in making ironwork so light as is frequently done. The amount of weight saved, especially in those parts attached to the hull, is of no importance. Another source of weakness, especially in chain plates, is in making the straps too short; not giving room for the fastenings. Chain plates should be carried right down and be secured to the frame.

The kingpin of the whole structure erected above the deck of a yacht is the bobstay. If that goes you are liable to lose everything, and it does go frequently. The principal cause of its parting is the over setting up of the headstays. Sometimes the bobstay itself is set up too taut, at other times the jib stay is strained. One way or another the spring of a spar is brought on it, and the vessel, getting into a head sea, begins to pitch; this causes a back-lashing and away goes a bolt or a plate.

Not long ago we were trying to insure a yacht that was to go South. The underwriters refused the risk on the ground that the yacht would get dismasted, and be obliged to put back or be lost altogether. At the same time they willingly took a risk on two small topsail schooners bound to the West Indies. We all sailed within four days. The yacht went through all right, but both the schooners lost their fore topmasts, bowsprits, jib booms and other headgear, and had to return to New York for a refit. They ran into a high head sea, and the foremast, being set up on the bowsprit, the bobstay parted under the strain and away everything went.

I have seen a small racing boat with a bronze rod of ? inch diameter for a bobstay, and this secured to the stem with two one-inch screws. You cannot make your bobstay too strong or fasten it too securely. It was formerly a custom to fit two bobstays, a regular one and a smaller one, called a preventer. This latter was set up slack of the heavier one. For many reasons this was a poor practice, it being far better to put the strength of the two in one. In another chapter I have told you how to rig a tackle preventer for use when going to sea.

Bowsprit shrouds should be made heavy, and carried as far aft as possible to get a spread. Care should be taken to set them up evenly. Foot ropes under a bowsprit are unsightly, and are not needed unless the spar is long. If your jib stay is carried through the spar and made fast to the stem, it should render freely in the bee hole. Unless it does it is liable to strain the spar. I nearly lost a mast once by the jib stay sawing into the wood and sticking. It parted in a sea-way, and the shock broke the bobstay shackle. Every cruising boat should have two shrouds to a side. On pole-mast boats one of these should run to the hounds and the other to the masthead. Don't set them up to bands; eye-splice and put them over the spar. You never can trust the eye in a band. The rigging screws should be just twice as heavy as what the average man will tell you to use. The screw is the weak part. Cutting the thread destroys the strength of the metal. The extra weight is nothing to speak of; the extra strength is everything. Although they are more trouble to care for I prefer lanyards.

Always keep your shrouds set up bar-taut; the old notion that a mast should have play is a fallacy. The stiffer your spar the better it will carry sail. In our modern boats a mast should be kept plumb. From what I have seen all boats sail better with their masts plumb. Another thing, don't cut your sheer-poles too short; they are so cut on half the boats I have seen; the consequence is they are always working loose.

On many yachts the rope used in the running rigging is too small. It may be plenty strong enough, but a man gets tired of picking up and pulling on shoestrings. This is a frequent fault with main-sheets; another is not having enough parts. A sheet tackle should be powerful enough to give one man control of the sail at any time. Weak travelers is another defect. This should be doubly strong, as it is frequently used to tow or make fast to. Every boat should have a strong ringbolt on each side in the quarters for boom lashings, etc.

There are plenty of good blocks and plenty of bad ones. The modern metal blocks are good, but should be of a big passage, as the gear when wet is apt to jam in them. This is a fault with all blocks having small sheaves. The weak part of a block is either the pin or the shackle.

On small boats a single topping lift is all that is needed, but on yawls and ketches, where the main boom is inboard and short, two lifts are better. Boats with heavy spars should have a jig fitted to the lift. Lazy jacks are useful on cruising boats, especially if you are sailing short handed, but they are a nuisance when reefing. The ends should be made fast in such a way as to allow of their being slacked up, but not so as to permit of their getting adrift. I have got into trouble several times through the lazy jacks getting adrift. The ends blew across the peak halliards, and fouled them in such way as to prevent the sail from coming down. If this happens at night when reefing you are liable to be in a fix. I may as well say here that the ends of all running gear should be made fast.

If you have a pin-rail this is easily done. Take out the pin and slip the socket through the rope between the strands, shove it on the collar of the projection and put the pin back. If your halliards are belayed to cleats, marl them to the cleat. At night or in a blow the crew will let go one halliard to pick up another, and away goes the end flying out. If it is dark it can't be found, as more than likely it is wrapped round a shroud or lift, or is flying out from aloft like a pennant. I have had some anxious times hunting the ends of gear of a dark, windy night. When sailing in the dark or in bad weather make the end of your mainsheet fast; always keep a knot in it. Jib's sheet should be endless, running right round the cockpit. Then you can always find them, and the end won't wash overboard.

It is the custom now to put bridles or spans on gaffs and booms in order to distribute the strain. They are good things if used in moderation, but it is extremely foolish to put a rig of this kind on a twenty-footer carried out in the lavish fashion of a cup defender. I have seen little boats knocking about with spans on the boom that would pretty nearly have held the Columbia's spar. Some of our designers have an especial fad for loading down boats with all kinds of gear, and seem to glory in bridling everything that offers the least excuse for such fittings. The first thing that a good racing man has to do when he gets one of these boats is to strip off about half the stuff and change leads all round.

Complicated running rigging is a nuisance; it cannot be too simple so long as it is effective. The less strings you have to pull the quicker you can work. This is just as true on a cruiser as it is on a racer. A lot of line is also a nuisance round the decks; a clear deck is a sailor's blessing.

One of the things I have helped to simplify is the gear on spinnakers. Long ago I pointed out that this sail could be used on small boats without outhauls and lifts, and that without them the sail was easier set and easier taken in. This method of handling that sail has since been practiced on the majority of our racing craft. Half the spinnaker poles are too heavy for their length, and the sails too big to be effective in anything but extremely light weather. All gear belonging to the pole should be snap-hooked, so that it can be attached or detached at once.

Snap-hooks and sister-hooks are excellent contrivances, but beware of them. They have a trick of giving out just at the wrong time, and are to blame for many a lost spar. They should be extra large and strong if they are to be subjected to heavy and continued strains.

All gear, especially the iron work, should be constantly examined, not only when at anchor, but while under way. Many men never look at their boat's gear from the time she is put overboard until she is hauled out. Here is a case that fell under my notice: A boat was being stripped for hauling out, when we noticed that her mast was shaky; on examining the step it was found that the heel of the spar was just in it and no more, allowing the mast to play. Taking her under the shears, we raised the spar, and found lying in the step a cold chisel that prevented the heel from dropping home. This boat had been sailed about all summer, and the owner admitted that he noticed something was wrong with the mast, but that he had never examined the step. Another time I was on a cutter that carried away her mast-head. When we examined the break it was found that the stick was completely rotted through. The damage was caused by hollowing of the wood above the upper band, which allowed the rain water to stand and soak into the grain.

If I have a boat in charge I make it a duty to go aloft at least once a week when she is under way and take a careful survey of all the ironwork, blocks and splices. I also examine the bowsprit rigging thoroughly. The ironwork should be sounded with a hammer or heavy knife blade, just as railroad men sound carwheels. Blocks should be looked to and kept well oiled. Turnbuckles should also be kept oiled, and if you are out in much rough water they should be covered with a false parceling of painted canvas. If this is done they won't freeze, and when you want to tauten or slack the rigging you will be able to do so without using a lot of kerosene and hard twisting.

On cruising boats with outboard booms reef-pendants for the two lower reefs are generally kept rove, but they are much of a nuisance. This can be obviated in a measure by having them in two lengths, keeping one part in the sail and the other in the locker when not in use. If the sail is heavy a small tackle is handy. Such a tackle should be carried on all boats; it saves a lot of hard labor, especially if you take ground and have to haul off.

Auxiliary Cruiser for Southern Waters