To set the sail, reeve the earings through the block at each yard-arm, and through a block near the strop on the yard amidships; then hoist the yard up. Bend or hook one end of each earing to the corner head mingles of the sail, and hook the four halyards to the middle mingle ; hitch the lizard to the cringle or hook of halyard block. (The lizard is a short piece of rope with an eye at one end ; the eye travels on the jumper, and the tail is fast to the sail; thus the sail is kept from blowing away.) Bend on the tack and sheet; then hoist by the halyards, and afterwards pull out the weather earing ; take in the slack of the lee earing. Get out the boom with fore and after guys on it, and the outhaul rove through the sheave hole at boom end; bend the outhaul to the tack cringle of the sail, and haul out.
To take in the sail, let go the weather and lee earing; then let go the sheet, and tack outhaul, and gather the sail aboard ; then, when the sail is all in-board, let go the halyards and haul down with downhaul. As the sail is hoisted by the foresail halyards, the fore downhaul will be used as well.
To SET A SPINNAKER.—The boom must be got ready first. Hook or bend the lower block of the topping lift to the boom (it is usually a tail block.) Reeve the outhaul in the sheave hole or block at the spinnaker boom end ; be careful that the part of the outhaul which has to be bent to the tack cringle is on the fore side of the spinnaker boom topping lift and over the fore guy; put on the after guy and fore guy.* Hoist the boom well above the rail, and launch forward until the gooseneckt can be shipped in the socket ; hoist until the boom is " up and down " the mast, and high enough for the lower end to be shipped on the gooseneck. (It is usual to put the gooseneck in the socket on the mast first, and then bring the socket which is in the end of the boom to the shank—see Fig. 43—c is the boom and p the gooseneck, a the mast.) Lower the boom and haul aft, or " square the boom." If the boom
be already shipped and " up and down the mast," one or two hands will take the guys aloft and put over the end. The standing part of the after whip will be made fast to the quarter, and the hauling part rove through a sheave hole or turned round a pin. The hand aloft will cast off the boom lashing, and push it away clear of mast and cross trees for lowering by the topping lift.
See that the halyards are clear and on the fore side of the spinnaker boom topping lift. Bend on the halyards and the outhaul to the sail (see Fig. 41). If the spinnaker is to answer the purpose of bowsprit spinnaker as well, another outhaul must be bent, leading through a block on bowsprit end. Generally the fore guy in such cases is made to do duty for this purpose ; but if there be a fore guy beside the tack outhaul, care must be taken in bending the latter to see that it is over the fore guy, and not under. Bend on the sheet and belay, with one hand to attend to it to ease up if necessary. Hoist away on the hal yards, and when the sail is up chock-a-block put all hands on the out haul, easing up the sheet all that is necessary, so as to make the sail lift in order that it may be boom-ended; drop the boom down and trim the sheet. In light winds, the sail is very frequently pulled out on the boom whilst it is being mast-headed. This is all very well if there be plenty of help at hand, and if there is not much wind ; but generally, if the sail be hauled out on the boom first, it is found almost impossible to get the head up chock-a-block. If the sail cannot be boom ended, well slack up the sheet and haul it in again as the tack is brought to the boom.
To prevent the sail going up full of turns, there is a swivel at the head, but this will not always prevent turns, as the swivel is likely to jam if any part of the sail fills ; and a good plan is for a man to stand by the mast and run the lull of the sail through his hands as it goes up.