TO HEAVE TO Haul the fore sheet up to windward, and the jib sheet until the clew just clears the forestay ; ease the main sheet until the vessel lies quiet with her helm amidships, or a little to leeward. A vessel will lie like this very quiet, just forging ahead perhaps a knot an hour or so, and occasionally falling off, when she will take a great list as the wind comes abeam ; directly, however, the after canvas is well filled she will spring to again, and if she is coming up with too much way on, so as to be likely to get head to wind, she must be checked by weather helm. To lie-to very dead so as to pick up a boat or speak another vessel, &c., it will be well to let the jib sheet fly.
In heaving to in heavy weather the mainsail is stowed and boom lashed, in the crutch, to each quarter. Instead of the mainsail a reefed trysail is set, or storm trysail, which is either jib-headed or has a very short gaff, and is hauled up close to the hounds in order that it should not get becalmed when the yacht is in the hollow of the sea. Bowsprit is run in until the outer end is within a few feet of the gammon iron, and storm jib set on it, with both sheets fast, and clew hauled up to windward of the forestay. Foresail stowed. Trysail sheet (a luff tackle) hauled aft. In the case of a schooner the storm jib can be tacked inside the forestay to the bitta, with clew just to windward of the foremast ; main trysail close reefed, or storm trysail, as the weather requires.
A yawl would be hove to just the same as a cutter, but if she were riding to a floating anchor a storm mizen might be set, but no other sail. As a rule the more sail a vessel will bear when she is hove to in bad weather the better, as the sail will tend to check the weather rolling ; for this reason ships usually heave to under topsails, as the lower sail might be becalmed in the trough of the sea; for the same reason the trysail is cut narrow and high, and the same amount of canvas nearer the deck would not be nearly so effective. Sail at the extreme ends of a vessel is never required, and a yawl hove to under storm jib and mizen would not lie nearly so quiet as she would if hove to under storm trysail and storm jib inside the forestay, as every time the headsail was becalmed she would be fetched to against the sea very hard by the mizen, or as the mizen was becalmed as she scended, she would fall off to a troublesome extent.
The helm can be left to take care of itself, or the tiller lines will be belayed on each side, slack, so as to allow a great deal of freedom for falling off with the sea. The general practice, however, is to have a band to attend to the helm to humour the vessel as she falls off and bring her to again quietly up to the sea. A vessel will generally fall off as the crest of a wave comes in on the weather bow, and come to as the bow is in the hollow of a wave, or as the crest of a wave lifts the stern. Shallow vessels fall off much more freely than deep vessels, and come to with much more way on. The principal danger is that, if much way be gathered in coming to, a vessel should also meet with a big comber on the weather bow ; to avoid this danger the man at the helm should meet the vessel as she runs off, and bring her to with the helm so that she fairly bows the sea, always being careful not to get her head to wind. At the same time, as before said, a vessel must be allowed to fall off freely with the sea, to the extent perhaps of three or four points, or until the wind was nearly abeam ; but in bringing her to, her head should never be allowed to come within a couple of points of the wind.
To HEAVE TO AFTER RUNNING BEFORE A HEAVY SEA.—Give warning below that the vessel is about to be brought by the wind, and see that everything is well secured about the deck. Watch for a " smooth" (which is brought about by several large waves meeting, and being broken up and dispersed into several small ones). Put the helm down, rally in the main sheeb smartly ; meet the vessel with the weather helm before she gets head to wind. Trim the head sheets as necessary. If the vessel has been running with a great deal of canvas set, it must be reduced as the vessel is brought to the wind ; and the throat of the mainsail should be lowered half down, and the tack triced up as the vessel comes to.