SAILS OF " NAUTILUS " RACING CANOE, 1879.
The sail plan and its fittings of the 1879 Nautilus are shown, except as to dimensions, on p. 440, Plate XL., the chief difference being that the mizen in the 1879 rig is, in proportion to the mainsail, very much larger, i.e., about half instead of about a quarter the size of the mainsail. The sails are five in number, viz. : a racing mainsail, No. 1 mizen, No. 2 wizen, No. 1 spinnaker, No. 2 spinnaker. The mainsail is 100 square feet area, with bamboo yard, and three bamboo battens and a pine boom; boom lift., yard 9ft., spinnaker boom lift. The reefing gear is simple and effective ; the stuff used is woven cord lightly dressed with boiled linseed oil (to prevent shrinking or swelling when wet). The after oaring is rove thus (see Fig. 127) : make one end fast on the boom at a, plumb from under the reef mingle, then lead up through small brass rings sewn on to the sail, and lead through a block at the after end of the batten (b), thence, in a line parallel with the batten, through a stout brass ring lashed on the batten ; then through one of two blocks (stropped and seized head to head as a sister block), and back through a block seized to the stout ring and down through small rings (c) on the sail, and fast to boom at d. The fore earing is made fast at tack end of boom (e) , and leads up, through sail rings, to and through a block at fore end of batten (f), thence along batten to and through the other of the two blocks already mentioned as being stropped together, and back to a block lashed on batten abreast of mast at g; thence down to a fair-lead block (h) at heel of mast on deck, and belay the hauling part to a cleat.
This gear can be fitted to each reef, but is in practice only necessary for first and second. When a reef is hauled down it may be further secured by ordinary points. The boom being held up by the mast jackstay and the double topping lift, a reef is taken in by simply easing away the halyard till the batten is down ; and when the reef is down, the sister block is close up to the batten block at mast.
The No. 1 mizen is 50 square feet area, and is fitted with one batten only ; No. 2 mizen is 25 square feet, and fitted also with one batten reef.
The mizen reefing gear is of the same pattern as that of the mainsail. The large mizen makes a good bad-weather mainsail with No. 2 mizen set aft.
No. 1 spinnaker is set on a long boom, which has a ferule joint about kin., so as to be shortenable for stowage, and also for using with No. 2 spinnaker ; the spinnaker is 60 square feet area.
The mainmast is a " grown stick " of white pine, and is 15ft. 6in. from deck to head, and 2iin. diameter at deck, tapering to 1 lin. at head.
The mizen is 8ft. deck to head, 1 fin. diameter at deck.
Rigged in this way, the canoe works perfectly, and so long as an air of wind is going the paddle keeps the " watch below."