To weigh the anchor.-To pull up, or lift it, from the ground or bottom.

Under way.-A boat or vessel is under way when moving ahead with the sails, or any one of them, set.

In reefing, tie the points without rolling the sail.

Never allow any person to stand on the thwarts, or sit on the gunwale, when the boat is under way.

It is a general rule to sling the yard of a standing lugsail at 1-4th from the foremost yard-arm; and a dippinglug at 1-3rd.

In small boats, the sails should be managed without any person moving from his place.

In lowering or taking in a lug or lateen-sail, let go the halliards and haul down on the fore-leech or luff of the sail.

One man should always stay by the helm until the sails are down. Accidents have frequently occurred through the helmsman leaving his place before the sails are lowered.

BLOCKS, TACKLES, PURCHASES, &C.

A boat's block is composed of three parts—the shell, the sheave, and the pin. The shell is the outer part or case containing the sheave; the sheave is the circular roller on which the rope runs; and the pin is the bolt which holds the sheave inside the shell. The best sheaves are made of brass,

and such are the most durable; hollow brass sheaves, being so much lighter than solid ones, are to be preferred for boats. Blocks are of various denominations, according to the purpose for which required; they are very important essentials in all sailing vessels.

For sailing-boats, blocks should be no larger than consistent with strength and convenience; when too large, they look heavy and clumsy, and encumber the boat unnecessarily.

Blocks are single, double, treble, or fourfold-according to the number of sheaves.

A running block is one attached to the spar or other object to be raised or lowered.

A standing block is affixed to some permanent support.

A snatch block is a block with one sheave, having an iron hook at one end, and a clasp at the side to admit the bight of a rope, without the delay of reeving or unreeving the whole.

A tail block has a single sheave, and is strapped with an eye-splice and tail-piece, for making fast temporarily to the mast or rigging.

A long-tackle block has two sheaves, one above another; these are sometimes called sister-blocks.

A fiddle block consists of two single blocks, one above the other, but both in one shell, the upper one being the largest- – the object being, for the upper rope to have play clear of the under one.

A morticed block is made by morticing out a block of wood or spar, and fixing a sheave in the aperture.

Double, treble, and fourfold blocks are used where extra power is required, and to ease the working of the rope: thus, a weight may be lifted by one man with the aid of a fourfold block, which four men could scarcely do with the aid of a single block. The main-sheet generally runs through one double block and one single, thereby enabling a large sail to be trimmed by one person.

A whip-purchase is merely a rope rove through a block with one sheave. It is the smallest purchase of all.

A tackle is a purchase formed of two or more blocks, with a rope rove through for hoisting.

A gun-tackle purchase consists of two single blocks, with a rope rove through both, one end of which is fast to the strop of the upper block.

A luff-tackle purchase is formed by a rope leading through a single and a double block, the end of the rope being fast to the top of the single block, and the fall leading from the double block.

All tackles have standing and running parts, the standing part is so much of the rope as remains between the sheave and part secured; the running part so much as works between the sheaves. The fall is the part laid hold of in hoisting or hauling.

Dead-eye. A circular piece of wood, with three holes in it, and a groove cut round the outer edge for the shroud to lie in. It is used for turning in the ends of shrouds and backstays; the three holes are used for reeving the lanyard through, when setting up the shroud or backstay.

A bull's-eye is a thick piece of wood, of circular shape, with a hole through the middle, and a groove round the outer edge.

Improved spring-thwart.-The spring-thwart is very often fitted to ships' boats, because they are as frequently required for rowing as for sailing; it may also, in some instances, be found convenient for pleasure-boats.

It is not a fixture, as the other thwarts in the boat, but may be shipped and unshipped when necessary; it rests upon the gunwale, and, being much higher than the oarsmen's thwarts, and slightly bowing or springing upwards, is a great support to the mast when stepped through or clamped to it. Ships' boats generally have a wash-strake, which allows the springthwart to be fitted with greater ease and convenience, by cutting away part of the strake sufficiently wide to drop the thwart down to the gunwale; then, by bevelling away the under part of the wash-strake to the thickness of the thwart, so as to admit of its sliding under the bevelling, it will remain firm. The cavity in the wash-strake should be filled up by a woodlock or shifting-piece. On the under part of the springthwart a strong stop-cleat should be nailed, so that the pressure caused by the mast may be on the gunwale, and not on the

wash-board; by this plan, bolts are dispensed with, which are always in the way and out of order for such purposes.

The trunk-step. This was invented for the purpose of avoiding the inconvenience that often exists in short open boats carrying a lofty mast. When the mast is lowered and the boat has to be rowed, it is sometimes found inconvenient for the mast to protrude over the bow or stern of the boat; and from its great length it often incommodes the sitters. For boats of this description the trunk-step is intended; and if the boat be fitted with a shifting spring-thwart, it will tend further to shorten the length of mast, as the trunk-step may be carried several inches higher, on account of the extra support derived from the elevated thwart. The trunk-step usually stands about two feet above the gunwale of the boat; it consists of a solid piece of wood, with a square groove or hollow, cut rather deeply into the top part, to receive the mast, and gradually diminishing in width downwards. Two strong flat iron clamps or trunk-irons are placed, one quite at the top, and the other a foot lower on the trunk-step, to hold the mast, the lower part of which should be made square, to fit close and tight into the trunk. The mast will be better supported if the heel comes low enough to catch itself in the spring-thwart. This is necessarily a heavy-looking contrivance, but better than being put to inconvenience by too long a mast, particularly when the boat is frequently in use for rowing purposes.

The mast-clamp is considered a superior invention to the trunk-step. It is one by which the mast may be raised and lowered in the boat by one person, and with great facilitythe heel of the mast working on a pivot, and secured, when raised, by an iron pin-the whole performance being only the work of a few moments.

TRIMMING AND BALLASTING.

To trim a sailing-boat is to arrange the ballast so that the

boat may sit upon the water in that position in which she may

be sailed with the greatest safety and at the fastest rate.

The trim of a boat depends on the right adjustment of the

ballast and sails. It is therefore a condition precedent to good sailing in every vessel that the exact bearings or proper waterline should be correctly ascertained, and then, under no circumstances, should there be any deviation from those bearings, nor should the vessel be put out of trim in any degree whatsoever. A boat is supposed to be in trim, as regards the sails, when, with a moderate wind, she carries her helm amidships, or with a slight inclination to windward; that is to say, will sail a straight course without any or but little steering. In order to be in safe trim, the boat should carry a weather helm, should come about quickly, and obey every turning of the helm, however slight. The heaviest and greatest quantity of ballast should be placed in the aft part of the boat and amidships; whilst little or none should be laid before the mast, and none in the extreme end of the stern. In sea-going boats it is important that this rule be strictly adhered to a vessel rises to the waves so much more buoyantly when her bows are not depressed with ballast. In smooth water, a small portion of the ballast should be laid in front of the mast in some boats; and in long narrow sailing-boats this is generally necessary.

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The boat should not be laden too heavily with ballast, but merely weighted down to the true bearings or proper waterline. It is a very necessary precaution that, when the boat lists over, the ballast may not slip or move. Should it fall suddenly into the lee-bilge, a capsize is almost inevitable. Strictly speaking, the ballast should all be secured beneath the platform of a sailing-boat; but in very small boats, and those launched from the beach, this cannot be done. It should, however, in every boat, be lashed or secured so that it cannot slip when the boat lurches or pitches.

The best ballast for small boats is lead, but of all kinds the most expensive; it sometimes costs more than the hull of the boat. It is, however, preferable where expense is no object, as it may be stowed away in a very small compass, giving more room for accommodation, and rendering the boat stiffer under sail than by any other kind of ballast. It creates neither rust nor dirt; and when done with, like silver and gold, it will