Posted by Robert Hill on December 15, 2000 at 12:18:46 from 129.11.159.161:
In Reply to: Re: Canonical order SD and PD posted by Jon on December 13, 2000 at 14:38:10:
The luff is the edge of the sail nearest the mast, yes? The patch is at
the opposite edge, somewhat more than half way up from the boom to the
peak. It is visible in two pictures in PD, "The red-haired boy goes
overboard" and "Swallow at sea". Incidentally, since one of these shows
the port face of the sail and one the starboard (sorry if "face" is not
the correct nautical term but I don't want to use "side" as that can also
mean "edge"), we can see that a torn area of sail was cut out and
replaced by the patch, rather than adding the patch to one face as a
reinforcement for the original material.
In a quick scan last night I located the following relevant quotes:
SD chapter 6 (pp 88-9 in Red Fox edition):
Susan and Titty slid down the rocks to meet them as they lugged ashore the
brown sail heavy with water and almost black, still fastened to its spars.
They hauled it up. "Is it much torn?" asked John. "There's one awful
tear," said Mate Susan, "and a little one that doesn't matter. Nothing we
can't mend."
SD, near end of chap. 34 (Red Fox p. 472)
Spread on the beach, the damage done in the wreck neatly mended, lay the
old brown sail ...
PD, chapter 2 (Cape hardback 1955 p. 41)
Susan and Peggy were hauling up the old brown sail with its well-remembered
patch.