The Double Swedish Sail.

Bill evolved some new types of sails which differed materially from the type described in the first chapter.  One was a double sail—­“the kind they use in Sweden,” he explained.  One of the sheets which the foraging party brought in was extra large; it measured approximately two yards and a half square.  This was folded on itself, making a parallelogram seven feet six inches long and three feet nine inches wide.  The sheets we had were all rather worn and some were badly torn, so that we had to make our sails of double thickness, sewing patches over the weak spots.  A broad hem was turned down at each end, and heavy tape was sewed on, leaving loops as before, to attach them to the spars.  This reduced the length of our sail to seven feet three inches.  The end spars were spaced apart by a light pole about ten feet long, to which they were tied at the points of intersection.  The spars were also braced by halyards looped over the ends of the pole in the manner indicated in the drawing (Fig. 7).  It took a crew of two boys to manipulate this sail.  In use, the pole of the rig was carried on the shoulders, and the sail was guided by means of ropes attached to the lower corners of the vertical spars.  These ropes in nautical language are called “sheets.”  The boy at the rear was the pilot and did the steering, because his position behind the sail gave him an unobstructed view in all directions.  When changing tack the sail was lifted overhead to the other side of the crew.

[Illustration:  Fig. 6.  Dimensions of Double Swedish Sail.  N. B.—­The mark (’) means feet and (”) means inches.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 7.  Halyards Looped onto Pole.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 8.  The Double Swedish Sail.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 9 Changing Tack.]

The Single Swedish Sail.

[Illustration:  Fig. 10.  The Single Swedish Sail.]

Another sail of similar form, but for use of one boy only, is shown in Fig. 10.  This had a height of six and one-half feet at the forward end and three feet at the rear; and its length was five feet.  This sail was very satisfactory in light winds, owing to its great area.  In use we found that it was very important to keep the lower edge against the leg, as indicated by the arrow.  The rig was manipulated just like the double Swedish sail, lifting it over the head when it was desired to change tack.

The Lanteen Sail.

[Illustration:  Fig. 11.  The Lanteen Sail.]

The lanteen sail we found to be a very good rig.  It was made in the form of a triangle, measuring eight feet on one side, seven and one-half feet on another side and six and one-half feet on the third.  The six and one-half foot side was secured to a boom, and the seven and one-half foot side to a yard.  The yard and boom were hinged together by a leather strap nailed on as shown in Fig. 12, and to this hinge a rope was attached, which served as a sheet.