If sailing with the squadron in moderate breezes, run the yards in nearly square, or the men will lose time in getting on the weather yard-arm. Bracing in a topsail yard for reefing, in a fresh breeze, requires great force, and not unfrequently the brace, from being much worn, becomes stranded; as soon as you discover it, put on a good stopper above the strand, man the weather clewline and clew the sail up, bend the lee bowline to the extremity of the lee yard-arm, and get a preventerbrace on the weather one; then, by these, brace in the yard and clew it down; and while you are reeving new braces or splicing old ones, steady the yard by the bowlines and preventer-brace. When short-handed or working with the watch, clew the yards down, and get all ready for reefing before starting the men up; but with all hands, the topmen may be sent aloft at once, and ordered out as soon as the yards are on the cap, the braces steadied taut, and gear hauled up. In hoisting sails after reefing, be careful (particularly if it be blowing fresh) not to "swig" them up too taut, as the reef-bands are apt to be slewed under the yard in consequence, and the sail must be reefed afresh. In a seaway, and the vessel pitching, do not haul the braces too taut; it endangers the yard and the rigging; the lee braces should be kept slack to allow the yard a little play, but be particular that though the brace is slack, it is securely belayed to its pin. When double or treble reefing on a wind with courses set, bear in mind that the outer arms of the topsail yards are unsupported, and are unequal to the strain that may be brought to bear on them, by overmanning the reef-tackle. When the yard is laid, the duty of the reef-tackle is to give the earing men plenty of slack leech between itself and yard; and if it cannot effect this without much straining (and this can easily be judged of by observing the tautness of the leeches below the reef-tackles on each side), raise the clews at once with the clewlines, sufficiently for the purpose. Particular attention should be given to the fore topsail in this respect. The fore yard being braced sharper up than the main, unless the lee topsail sheet is checked a little, the sail cannot be as well hauled up for reefing as the main topsail. Bracing in the fore yard is less advisable than checking the lee sheet, as the yards should be kept sharper up forward than aft. Pull the buntlines well up so as to girt the sail in for the bunt points. Nothing is gained by permitting the men to get out on the yard for reefing, in a strong breeze, until the yard is laid and the sail ready for them. Yard-arms have been wrung off in the endeavor to make the reef-tackle do all the duty of other gear, and the earing men's lives saved only by a seeming chance. In reefing at night, in the line, observe if your next ahead and astern have more or less sail than topsails. If you have been sparing them courses, you will be run into; and if they have been sparing them to you, you will run into your leader, unless you are alert. A few fathoms of the main brace, checked by one hand, will often just regulate the pace and keep the ship in station; and, if let go at the instant, arrest danger.* After every evolution (especially at night), make the petty officers report their ropes, and also immediately after relieving the watch. Preventer-brace pendants, made long enough to reach from the yard-arm to the slings, are not only quickly attached to the whips, but the risk sometimes incurred in sending men on the yards greatly diminished. Preventer topsail braces have more drift, and a more downward pull than the standing ones; and, therefore, should never be so taut, or be hauled upon, until the lifts are well up. The general rule for topsail lift jiggers, is to put them on when the second reefs are taken. And it is good to make a habit of putting the spare parrels and preventer-braces on when the third reefs are taken. When topgallant yards are sent down on account of weather, unreeve the topgallant sheets, and reeve them through the bowline bridle of the topsails, up before all, and hitch them to the lugs of the tie blocks. They will act like the leechlines of courses when taking in topsails. Reefing a Spanker. Brail up as in blowing fresh, but do not haul up the clewrope. Lower the throat and peak halliards (or tackles clapped on to the pendants, if so fitted), steadying the gaff by the vangs. Pass a reef earing through the cringle in the leech and around the foot of the sail; if taken around the boom, the foot of the sail cannot be brailed up. Bring down the forward reef cringle and pass a tack-lashing through it. Reef the sail on the foot. The outhaul may be shifted to the reef cringle, but this is not always done. When ready, sway up the gaff till the luff is taut, easing the vangs and steadying aft the outhaul. Then haul out the head and get a final pull on the foot outhaul; easing off the spanker sheet as necessary. To Reef a Trysail. Proceed as above, shifting the sheet block from the clew to the reef cringle. The old balance reef in a spanker, from the close reef cringle diagonally toward the jaws, is rarely used. * This refers to sailing in line. Hardly too much can be said of the many and great advantages of squadron sailing; the constant rivalry excited among the several ships, making it one of the very highest schools of seamanship. A spanker or trysail is frequently set "reefed," by keeping fast the head downhaul, and hauling out the foot only. A few turns of the furling line at the head will assist in keeping it in. The storm mizzen is a substitute for the spanker set in this way. CHAPTER XXVI. THE WEATHER-LAW OF STORMS. The Weather. A change of weather comes almost always with a change of wind, and the extent of this change of weather depends on the fact of the new wind being warmer or colder, damper or drier, than that which has been blowing. Any conclusions drawn from its movements must be checked by observations of temperature, moisture of the air, present direction and force of wind, and state of the sky, before any correct opinion can be formed as to what may be expected. In general. whenever the level of the mercury continues steady, settled weather may be expected; but when it is unsteady, a change must be looked for, and perhaps a gale. A sudden rise of the barometer is very nearly as bad a sign as a sudden fall, because it shows that atmospherical equilibrium is unsteady. In an ordinary gale, the wind often blows hardest when the barometer is just beginning to rise, directly after having been very low. Besides these rules for the instruments, there is a rule about the way in which the wind changes, which is very important. It is well known to every sailor, and is contained in the following couplet: When the wind shifts against the sun, Trust it not, for back it will run. The wind usually shifts with the sun, i. e., from left to right, in the northern hemisphere. A change in this direction is called veering. Thus, an east wind shifts to west through southeast, south, southwest; and a west wind shifts to east through northwest, north, and northeast. If the wind shifts the opposite way, viz., from west to southwest, south, and southeast, the change is called backing, and it seldom occurs unless when the weather is unsettled. However, slight changes of wind do not follow this rule exactly; for instance, the wind often shifts from southwest to south and back again. In the southern hemisphere, the motion with the sun is, of course, from right to left, and therefore the above rules will necessarily be reversed. No reading from a mercurial barometer that is not hanging vertically should ever be relied upon. The Aneroid Barometer. In this instrument the atmospheric pressure is measured by its effect in altering the shape of a small hermetically-sealed metallic box, from which nearly all the air has been withdrawn, and which is kept from collapsing by a spring. When the pressure rises above the amount which was recorded when the instrument was made, the top is forced inwards, and vice versa; when the pressure falls below that amount, the top is forced outwards by the spring. These motions are transferred by a system of levers and springs to a hand moving over a graduated dial. The instrument is very sensitive, showing minute changes that are concealed by the "pumping" of the quicksilver, even in the best mercurial barometers, when the motion of the ship is violent. Nevertheless, the working of the aneroid should be used only for purposes of comparison and in conjunction with a good mercurial barometer. Note on the Use of the Barometer. "In all parts of the world, towards the higher latitudes. the quicksilver ranges, or rises and falls, nearly three inches, namely, between about thirty inches and eighttenths (30.8), and less than twenty-eight inches (28.0) on extraordinary occasions; but the usual range is from about 30.5 inches, to about 29 inches. Near the line, or in equatorial places, the range is but a few tenths, except in storms, when it sometimes falls to 27 inches." In the northern hemisphere, the effect of the veering of the wind on the barometer is according to the following law: With east, S. E., south winds, barometer falls. With S. W. winds, barometer ceases to fall and begins to rise. With west, N. W., north winds, barometer rises. With N.E. winds, barometer ceases to rise and begins to fall. In the southern hemisphere the law is as follows: With N.W. winds, barometer ceases to fall and begins to rise. With west, S. W., south winds, barometer rises. With S.E. wind, barometer ceases to rise and begins to fall. To appreciate correctly the indications of the barometer. we must have, as above stated, at the time of observation. the temperature indicated by a dry and a wet bulb ther mometer, and the thermometer attached to the barometer should be read with every reading of the latter. The wet bulb thermometer has a piece of linen tied around the bulb, wetted enough to keep it damp by a wick dipping into a cup of water. It will give a lower reading |
