Beyond these qualities, the double board permits of space for the owner to sleep on board, and this, in some waters, is no small advantage ; for the greatest genius at tidal calculations, when cruising in navigable tidal waters, may more than once find himself benighted and tide-bound far away from his anticipated night post, and with a considerable strip of soft black mud between the edge of the water and terra firma. In such a predicament, a canoe of the dimensions we have been considering will, if fitted so as to allow of sleeping space, prove a safe, if not comfort able, miniature hotel for the night.
The leading measurements for fitting a canoe of the dimensions shown in the design (Plate %XXVII.) will, with two centre boards, be as follows : The fore end of the slot for the foremost plate will be 3ft. 10in. forward of midships ; the length of the slot, measured on the lower edge of the keel, will be 2ft. 4in. ; length of lower edge of plate, 2ft., and drop, lft. 3in. ; the forward end of the after slot will be 3ft. 3in. abaft midships, and the length of the slot will be lft. Bin. ; length lower side of plate, lft. 6in., and drop, lft., giving a joint area of 2.5 sq. ft.
The inboard shape of the fore plate, i.e., that portion which remains in the keel and case when the plate is lowered for sailing—should be as small, especially at the fore-end, as is consistent with keeping the plate rigid laterally ; many canoes are fitted with the centre-board case ex tending up to the deck and open along its top ; in such cases the plate is usually hung by its fore-end from a bolt at the deck, and at its after-end by its hauling-up gear, the advantage being that a plate so fitted (instead of being bolted at its fore-end through the keel) can be lifted out of the canoe through the deck, and thus be speedily removed when requisite without having to lift the craft herself out of the water.
The after-plate should be inclosed in as small a case as possible, so as to give stowage space in the locker; a case of triangular form, the after end of which comes up to the deck, will be found to act well. Such a case gains support from the deck, and permits the hauling-up gear to be worked above deck; the after-board should be light, and may be made of zinc, as lateral resistance only is required, and weight should be avoided.
The after-end of all centre-board cases should be raked forward at its upper end in order to prevent the water heaping up and overflowing at the chain-hole when the boat is moving rapidly, or when in lumpy water.
A very heavy centre-board is by no means an unmixed good in a canoe. In smooth-water sailing it doubtless adds considerably to the canoe's stiffness ; but in lumpy water its thumping leverage will soon be felt by the boat, and, sooner or later, something will start unless the craft and centre-board case are built and fastened with unusual strength.
The hauling-up gear in the single-plate fitting (Sheer Plan, Plate %XXVII.) would be a small galvanised iron chain, shackled to the hole in
the forward upper corner, and cut to the exact length between that hole, when the centre-board is down, and the upper edge of the sheave (q) in the top of the centre-board case ; to this end of the chain a small single block, metal stropped, should be shackled, with a thick india-rubber ring placed on over the shackle to act as a buffer ; the standing part of the hauling line is then spliced into an eye-bolt at the after-end of the top of the centre-board case, and the hauling-part having been rove through the block, is finished off by having a wooden toggle spliced in its end at such length that when the board is down the toggle is at the block, and when the board is up a turn is taken on the hauling part round a patent tumbler cleat, fitted on the after end of the upper side of the centre-board case.
For a light plate, a split-ring handle may be put into the last link of the chain, the buffer, however, being placed over the chain first.
SruKtxo GRAB.
There are many ways of fitting the steering gear; in fact, so many, that it would only be confusing to attempt to describe and consider each kind. The two most common modes are where, in the one case, the yoke lines are led direct to a foot-yoke ; or, in the other, to a deck-yoke, which is connected to the foot-yoke. The most serviceable of these is undoubtedly the deck-yoke gear; this gear is shown in the sheer plan, and is marked d, and E, and in the deck plan E m and z, s.
The rudder-yoke fits over the brass-capped rudder-head, and should be 14in. wide, with an eye at each end. The foot-yoke is made of hard wood, 16in. wide, and of sufficient strength to act as a stretcher for both feet, for it will be thus used when the canoe is being paddled ; the yoke rod should be a round brass tube inclosing an iron or a steel rod, the heel of the rod steps in a block on the top of the centre-board case, the upper end having been pushed up through a brass-bound hole in the deck ; a shoulder of brass, with a squaring above it of about 14in., is soldered on to the rod, and to this the foot-yoke is tightly clamped; it should be at such a distance from the lower end of the rod as to bring the foot-yoke, when in position, about 8in. above the surface on which the skipper's heels are to rest; the head of the rod should project about 14in. above the deck. At lin. above deck the rod is filed square, for the deck-yoke to ship on to, and the squaring is carried up about fin., that being about the thickness of the boss of the yoke; then the last half an inch of the rod is formed into a screw, on to which a thumb nut (E) is screwed to keep the deck-yoke in its place. The deck yoke requires an eye at each end; and the yoke should be of iron, as neither copper nor brass is strong enough for fittings 18in. or 20in. long.