Janet Taylor

Hand-book to the Local Marine Board Examination Janet Taylor

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1865 Excerpt: ...the difficulty of framing a simple and imperative rule of action for all circumstances, they have a tendency to promote caution on the part of the person in charge of the deck, and to check that disposition to indolence and carelessness, to which may be traced many of the collisions that happen in our seas. A few diagrams by way of illustration of what has been said, will probably be acceptable to our readers. In these diagrams I have supposed that a paddle-steamer, when going at full speed, on putting her helm down, will come round in a circle of which the diameter is about six times her own length:--if she slows her speed after the helm is down, she will come round in less,--and a screw-steamer will come round in much less. The first and most simple case of the Port-helm is that of two vessels meeting. (Fig. 1.) This is a clear case of meeting, and the Port-helm clears. It may also be given as an instance of the imperfection of the old rules, for both vessels are so near the wind, that they could not at night discover that their opponent was free, and if B imagined A to be on a wind she might give way, or starboard the helm, while A might also bear away, being on the port tack, and thus a collision would occur. The next is a case of Port and Starboard tack. (Fig. 2) By the Ktlle, A ports her helm, and B, if necessary, luffs or ports her helm, taking care to keep the vessel under command. In the next figure (Fig. 3) A is so far a-head that she will have crossed the track of B, and reached the dotted ship C, before B reaches her, and a collision will not ensue. The vessels are clearly not meeting and they must not port their helms. The position of these vessels, however, is one requiring great caution, and both, vessels must be prepared to act according to ...