[Sketch of boat being towed].
When Caught by a Gale recollect that a boat will lie-to and live through
almost any weather, if you can make a bundle of a few spare spars, oars,
etc., and secure them to the boat's head, so as to float in front of and
across the bow. They will act very sensibly as a breakwater, and will
always keep the boat's head towards the wind. Kroomen rig out three oars
in a triangle, lash the boat's sail to it, throw overboard, after making
fast, and pay out as much line as they can muster. By making a canvas
half-deck to an open boat, you much increase its safety in broken water;
and if it be made to lace down the centre, it can be rolled up on the
gunwale, and be out of the way in fine weather.
In Floating down a Stream when the wind blows right against you (and on
rivers the wind nearly always blows right up or right down), a plan
generally employed is to cut large branches, to make them fast to the
front of the boat, weight them that they may sink low in the water, and
throw them overboard. The force of the stream acting on these branches
will more than counterbalance that of the wind upon the boat. For want of
branches, a kind of water-sail is sometimes made of canvas.
Steering in the Dark.--In dark nights, when on a river running through
pine forests, the mid stream canbe kept by occasionally striking the
water sharply with the blade of the oar, and listening to the echoes.
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