United States or United States Minor Outlying Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Getting out the mildewed chart, he laid off his course, carefully trimmed and lighted the binnacle lamp, and going up on deck hauled in the kedge-anchor. He could not break the main one out, though he worked savagely with a tackle, and deciding to slip it, he managed to lash three reefs in the mainsail and hoist it with the peak left down.
She was safe at sea again una de multis with a damaged foreyard, and a loss of all the ornamental work about her bow and stern, three anchors, one kedge-anchor, fourteen lengths of chain, four boats, the jib-boom, bobstay, and bands and fastenings of the bowsprit.
The launch and cutter were now hoisted out, and I jumped into the first to carry out the kedge-anchor, with two hawsers, in order to warp the ship clear. We worked away with a will, for we did not like the thoughts of being seen on shore by the rest of the fleet at daybreak. That was all we just then thought about.
I crawled out from the folds, and saw him standing by the mast in a reverie. 'It's not much use, he said, 'on a falling tide, but we'll try kedging-off. Pay that warp out while I run out the kedge. Like lightning he had cast off the dinghy's painter, tumbled the kedge-anchor and himself into the dinghy, pulled out fifty yards into the deeper water, and heaved out the anchor.
Late in the afternoon the Captain returned riding in a sidebar buggy with a man. Behind the buggy they towed a skeleton lumber wagon four wheels connected by an extension pole. The man drove away in the sidebar leaving the Captain and the lumber wagon. Barnacles, who had been moored to a kedge-anchor, watched the next day's proceedings with interest.
On the 4th, while we were waiting for a wind, we amused ourselves by fishing, and gathering shells and seeds of various kinds; and early in the morning of the 5th, we cast off the hawser, hove short on the bower, and carried the kedge-anchor out in order to warp the ship out of the cove, which having done about two o clock in the afternoon, we hove up the anchor and got under sail; but the wind soon failing, we were obliged to come to an anchor again a little above Motuara.
Seeing this, the captain ordered a kedge to be carried out to warp her off; which, as she hung very lightly, could easily be done. To perform this operation the launch was lowered; but being a heavy boat, it took some time to get her into the water. Warps and the kedge-anchor were then placed in her, and her crew pulled away with the kedge in the proper direction to haul her off.
Before we had dined, the afternoon was too far spent to do any thing on shore; and all hands were employed, setting up the rigging, and repairing some defects in it. But seeing a man bring along the strand a buoy, which they had taken in the night from the kedge-anchor, I went on shore for it, accompanied by some of the gentlemen.
The kedge-anchor was immediately let go, to hold her till the floating buoy and broken chain should be got on board. But while this was in operation the hawser of the kedge was chafed through on the rocky bottom and parted, when the vessel was again adrift.
I managed to launch my small dory from the deck, and ran out a kedge-anchor and warp; but it was too late to kedge the sloop off, for the tide was falling and she had already sewed a foot.
Word Of The Day