Among the many articles that one must not forget to have on board when fitting out for a foreign cruise are marline-spikes; carpenter's tools; spare blocks, thimbles, and shackles; buckets, brooms, and mops; spare crutches for the dinghy; needles and palm for repairing sails; tarred twine; spare ropes; paint-brushes; tins of paint and varnish. One should carry strong fenders with which to protect the vessel's side when she is lying alongside a quay. The fenders sold by the yachting fitters look very smart in their white coats, but they will not stand much rough work. It is better to make one's own fenders; a few lengths of coir rope neatly seized together form a very efficient fender. See that you supply yourself with the above and other requirements before you sail from England; for you will have to pay much more for them if you do your purchasing at a ship-chandler's in a foreign port. The same rule applies to tinned meats and other non-perishable provisions.
The Cooking-stove is not the least important item on the yacht's inventory. A charcoal stove is the best if one is cruising in chilly autumn or winter weather, as it will keep the cabin warm. But a spirit or paraffin stove is much the more convenient for summer work, as it can be lighted in a moment when required, and extinguished as quickly when it has done its work. The spirit stove, on account of its superior cleanliness, is, in my opinion, far to be preferred to that which burns paraffin. The latter,
