td Anchoring TO ANCHOR H EAD TO WIND -W IND FREE. See that th e officers a nd men are a t th eir stat ions, and the strictest sile nce prese rved , as th e ship nears her berth; ta ke in all the studding sails, get the burtons off the yards, and th e jiggers off the topgallant yards; send the booms and sails down from a loft; ma n the fore clew-garnets, buntlines a nd leech lines; the mainsail is ha ul ed up as the ship is going free; topga llant a nd royal elewlines; lay aloft and sta nd by to furl the sails snug, and squ a re the ya rd s by th e lifts and braces; have hands by th e for e tac k a nd shee t, topga lla nt and roya l sheets, halliards, weather braces, a nd bowlines; up foresail, ii;i to pga lla nt-sails a nq royals; furl th e sails snug, and square the yards by the lifts and braces, hauling taut the halliards. Man the topsail-clewlines a nd buntlines, weat her braces, jib-downhaul, a nd spa nk er-o uthaul ; att end th e sheets, halliards, a nd spa nk er-b ra ils, ease down the helm , ha ul down the jib, ha ul out th e spa nk er, a nd when the topsail lifts, clear away th e sheets, a nd clew them up; th en let go th e ha llia rd s, clew down, and sq ua re a way the yards immedi ately; ha ul a fi the spank er-s heet, and when the headway ceases, strea m the buoy, stand clear of the cable; when she begins to go astern, let go th e a nchor, brail up th e spa nker, crotch th e boom, ha ul ta ut the guys, light -to th e cable, as fa st as she will ta ke it, until a suffici ent scope is o ut , when stopper. Furl sails, ha ul ta ut a nd stop in the ri gg ing, se nd the boats' crews aft, to lower th e boats down . Let th e boats.wain go ahead to squ a re th e ya rds-clea r up the decks. - The Ked ge-A nc hor WILLIAM BRADY, 1850
Ca ked in th e mud of th e Riachuela, Waverlree's anc hor hangs in the sun on th e morning of her hi sto ri c passage to th e Buenos Aires Navy Ya rd in late t 968 . Thi s is the same a nchor she sa iled wit h from England 84 years ear li er.
WORRIED AT LAST On the eve ning o f th e third day it co mmenced to blow . The watches had been broken and o nl y o ne man and an officer kept watch a t ni ght. I was as leep in my cabin, when a bo ut I A.M. I was awakened by a rumbling so und which penetrated lo my room above the shrieking of th e wind in th e ri gging. It was the ship dra gging her a nch or. A little later I hea rd the Mate knock on the Captain's door. " What is it," he said . " The ship 's dragging her a nchor." "Well don ' t bother me, slack away the cable." Subsequently, I hea rd the chain running out as the Mate slack ed away, but I co uldn ' t go to sleep aga in as the noise of the wind was too lo ud a nd co nstant. About 2 A.M. the dragging reco mmenced with its acco mpan ying reverberation. Again th e Ma te kn ocked on the Captain' s door. "She is still dragging." "Well, slack away more cha in , don't keep bothering me." "Aye , Aye," said th e Mate. More chain was slacked, an d aga in a period of qui et; but at more freq uen t intervals I hea rd the cab le being slack ed away; until fin a ll y th e mate again
knocked on the Old Man's door. "Now what's up, " I heard . "S he's still dragging," from the Mate. "Well slack away more chain, slack away, yo u know wha t to do withou t pestering me." " I ca n't slack away anymore, it 's on th e bitter end ." "Well let go the other anchor, you fool." "Aye, Aye," said the Mate. The seco nd a nchor was dropped, and th en at interva ls the reverberation a nd a so und of chain being slacked. The wind by now had taken on a new note, th e shrieking in the ri gging was th ere, but with it a hea vy drumming noise. Suddenly the ship took a list to port , a very noticeable one, whi ch brought the Capta in o ut of his room in a hurry. The sh ip was aground on one of the sa nd bank s. In th e mornin g th e wind had dropped almost entirely, a nd we found we were surro unded with single piles, th e sh ip hav ing passed between two of them, and one of the ga rd en plots had sprout ed a full-rigged ship; listing over had brought sa nd into th e lee scuppers, backwash from the shoals, I suppose. Now the Old Man was worried at last. -Wavertree; An Ocean Wanderer GEORGE SP IE RS
25