Posted by Jon on November 09, 2004 at 13:22:46 from 151.121.50.1 user Jon.
In Reply to: Re: steering while sailing solo-proper fore/aft balance posted by Ed Kiser on November 08, 2004 at 18:17:10:
Ed Kiser wrote:
I have noticed that in the Ransome stories, that there are times a shift of the crew fore or aft is necessary to affect its sailing properly, thus shifting the center of gravity. In sailing WITH the wind, especially a strong wind, there is a tendancy of the force of the sail to push the bow down into the water, so Roger had to give up his look-out position before the mast and come aft, to help lift the bow up to counter this diving tendancy. But then, the loss of the look-out in his original position does fail to report the nearness of Pike Rock in time.
If you haven't encountered it, beg, borrow, or check out of your local library (what did you think I was going to say?) L. Francis Herreshoff's The Compleat Cruiser, which, among other useful bits of real nauticalia and historical notes on boat design, contains a passage on steering a small boat entirely by shifting crew positions. The whole, like is namesake (acknowledged in the foreward) all wrapped in a thoroughly enjoyable narrative that all Ransomites should appreciate.
I'll also note that, before Ed needs to ask, the origin of the expression Una boats, referred to in The Best of Childhood, is given in here, as from the Cape Cod Cat Una, which came over to England from Massachusetts in the 1800s.