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that one is apt to eat and drink rather indiscriminately. Large quantities of beer are often drunk to quench the thirst, and if the beer is public-house stuff, as it frequently is, being procured at out-of-the-way spots, and put into the large stone jug, which is often a "household" god on board, indigestion is a very probable result, and the good done by the fresh air is neutralised. Beer, or indeed any alcoholic liquor, is the worst thing to drink copiously of on a hot day during exertion. Let it be taken at meals, and a glass of grog before turning in, and you will not suffer, but not at other times. Cold tea is the best thing to take during heated exertion. Milk and water, or soda and milk, and cold water itself, are the next best things. These observations do not apply to a day or two's cruise so much as when the cruise extends one, two, or three weeks. A careful regimen is essential to prevent the inconvenience which the sudden change from a sedentary life to an active out-of-doors one will often cause.

On a cruise take with you some simple medicines, such as Eno's fruit salt and Cockle's pills, sticking-plaster, &c., so as to be ready for the little ills which may affect you. Also ammonia for gnat bites, and cold cream to anoint your blistered skin with.

Always wash up after every meal, so that dirty things do not accumulate, and be careful in wiping the steel knives dry, as they rapidly rust. The knife box, too, ought to shut up tight.

At first it seems as if there was not room for everything on board a yacht; but a boat is like a carpet bag, it never knows when it is full, and with neatness and method everything will find a place, and the cabin still look free and tidy.

With regard to lighting at night, candles are the most convenient, and they should have spring cases like carriage lamps, and glasses to keep off the draught.

As over and over again we have started on a cruise and forgotten some little necessary which has proved hard to get

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

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when wanted, we keep a list of requirements, and refer to it each time, ticking off the things we have seen safely on board. As this book is meant to be of use to amateurs, we give a list of what may be termed household requisites for reference, and to see what is really required on board a small boat. It is, in fact, the inventory of our three-ton boat:

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And the list may be extended to luxuries ad infinitum.

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THE wages of the men employed as crew vary much with the season and the place. For a yacht under ten tons the wages might vary from 25s. to 35s. a week, according to the man; while a strong handy lad could be had for 15s. have the men for the season you will find them a suit of clothes apiece. They will find themselves with food when you are not on board, but when you are it is best to board them too. A man may be hired for the day for 4s. or 5s. and his "grub."

Your yacht, if more than an open boat, will be kept afloat, and you will have moorings laid down for her in some convenient spot. In laying these down use chain and not rope, and see for yourself that everything is strong and good. The nature of the tides or currents and of the bottom, and especially the height the tide rises, must be taken into calculation. Where there is plenty of room for the yacht to swing as she likes, a single chain with a heavy weight or grapnel at one end and a buoy at the other is sufficient. In a river, two chains, anchors, and buoys, so arranged that the boat will be kept in a line with the river will be necessary, as there will probably not be sufficient room to admit of any lateral swinging. A very complete way is to lay down three weights or anchors in a triangle, and have the three chains meeting in one buoy. This is the securest way of all.

ANCHORING-LOWERING MAST.

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If you have occasion to anchor where there are rocks, or in a harbour or bay where fishing boats have been moored, it will not do to let go your anchor without an additional provision for getting it up again, for if it gets foul of a rock or the old moorings and lost anchors, which are the usual accompaniments of harbours, you may not be able to get it up by any amount of hauling on the cable. Therefore, bend a line on to the crown of the anchor and attach a buoy to it. Then, if the anchor does not come in, you can trip it by means of the buoy line, which will have the effect of unhooking the anchor by pulling it the contrary way.

On inland waters there are frequently the obstructions of bridges to contend with. If they are of the kind which swing open of course you will sail or pole through; but do not be in a hurry and try to go through till the bridge is well open unless your boat is well under command, for it is a very easy thing to foul a bridge and carry away a forestay or shroud. The current is generally stronger beneath bridges, because of the contraction of space. Where the tide races very strong, as at Great Yarmouth, the plan adopted is to drop down stern first, with a weight dragging on the bottom and attached to a rope at the bows. By means of the rudder the yacht can be made to steer wherever necessary. Where the bridges are fixed ones, of course the mast must be lowered, and in yachts which are likely to have to pass under bridges the mast is fitted in a tabernacle, and can be lowered by means of the forestay. The lower end has bolts upon which counterbalancing weights can be fixed, so that the labour is not very great: the weights, when not in use, are taken off and stowed among the ballast. The boom and yard must be detached from the mast before it is lowered.

In locks, the cautions necessary are to enter gently, and not

drive your bowsprit against the further door. Keep her from knocking against the sides, and, if the water is rising, be particularly careful that she does not get pinned down underneath any projecting ledge or beam, as if she is you may not be able to free her without damage; also, if the water is falling, mind she does not get wedged across the lock. We have seen a boat caught thus and left without support by the water, to her great damage, and we have also seen a boat swamped by being held down as before mentioned.

Shoal water is perhaps the greatest horror of yachtsmen, and "to get the shore on board" half a dozen times in a day, as we have done in a strange river, is a thing to vex the most placid. If the bottom is hard you do not feel it until you receive the shock, and are hard and fast, but if it is soft mud you can feel the keel enter it before the final stop. Then if you put the helm hard over, you may be able to slew her sufficiently round to enable you to back the jib, which is a more powerful agent in getting you off than all your shoving, if your craft is not a very small one. Of course you will shove also if the jib fails you. Ease off the sheet to let the wind out of the mainsail, and in a centreboarder lift up the centre-board if it is not jammed. Working the helm to and fro, and running from side to side, so as to sway her, will aid in loosening her from the mud. If necessary also you can send out your jolly boat, if you have one, with an anchor astern, and haul on the cable. If you have gone on while running before the wind, the sails must be lowered immediately. If the tide is rising, a few minutes of waiting will perhaps enable you to float off, but if the tide is ebbing you must work your "level best" to get off immediately, or you will be stuck fast until the next tide. In such a case you must get out your "legs" to prevent her careening over on her side. If you are unprovided with legs, the boat-hook and spare spars must be used as props.

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