cy to support weight.

Never overload a canoe. In one of the ordinary size--about seventeen
feet in length--three persons should be the maximum number at
anytime, and remember never to change seats in a canoe when out of
your depth.

{179}
[Illustration: This diagram illustrates some of the angles formed by
the boom and the keel line of the boat in different positions.]

Running free, or before the wind
Wind abeam Port tack
Wind abeam Starboard tack
Pointing into the wind Port tack
Pointing into the wind Starboard tack.

{180 continued}

Row-boats

There is a certain caution in the use of boats which you will always
find among sailors and fishermen and all persons who are using them
constantly. Such a person instinctively steps into the middle of the
boat when getting in, and always sits in the middle of the thwart or
seat. This is a matter of instinct with seafaring people, and so is
the habit of never fooling in a boat. Only landlubbers will try to
stand up in a small boat while in motion; and, as for the man who
rocks a boat "for fun," he is like the man "who didn't know the gun
was loaded."

Rowing

Row-boats are propelled either by rowing or by sculling; and rowing is
either "pulling" or "backing water." The usual way of rowing is to
"pull" and to do so, you sit with your back to the bow and propel the
boat by pulling the handles toward your body and so pressing the
blades of the oars against the water toward the stern, while pushing
with your feet against a brace. In backing water you reverse the
action of the oars, pushing the handles away from your body and
pressing the blades of the oars against the water toward the bow.

Turning

To turn your boat to the right, when pulling, you row only with the
left oar; or, if you wish to make a sharp turn "pull" with the left
oar and "back water" with the right. To turn your boat to the left the
action of the oars is reversed.

Feathering

To prevent the momentum of the boat from being checked by the wind
blowing on the blades of the oars, the blades must be turned into a
horizontal position as they leave the water. In "pulling" this is done
by turning the hands backward at {181} the wrist, and in backing water
it is done by turning the hands forward at the wrist.

Sculling

To scull is to propel a boat by a single oar at the stern. The boat
must be provided with rowlock or a semicircular scoop in the stern,
and the boat is prope