of Schleswig, Holstein, and Denmark; and from island to island of the clear blue Baltic Sea. One can do these things, and visit even more distant shores, with a craft of very small tonnage if she be a good sea boat and provided one does not neglect the proper precautions; it was with a three-tonner, for example, that I cruised for three summers on the rough waters of the Baltic and the North Sea without meeting with an accident of any description, though I encountered plenty of heavy weather.
The reader will have gathered from preceding chapters that the style of craft best adapted for such voyages is the beamy boat with plenty of sheer, and not carrying too much ballast—for she must be buoyant, riding comfortably and easily like a sea-bird on the tossing water, and not plunging into the crest of every wave, thereby deluging herself with water and straining every timber and spar. She should be of light draught (having a centreboard or leeboards if necessary) so that she can safely enter pleasant little shallow havens and ascend creeks and rivers closed to the deeper boat; and lastly, she should be lightly sparred and snugly canvassed, yawl or ketch rigged for choice, so that she can be easily handled. A deep-keel, narrow boat is unfitted for cruising of this sort. She is likely to be wet in a sea-way; unless provided with legs to prop her up she will heel over at a most uncomfortable angle whenever left high and dry in
