CAPTAIN BOYTON’S MISTAKES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 791, 15 June 1877, Page 4

CAPTAIN BOYTON’S MISTAKES.

—o Apropos of some recent cruise? of Captain Boyton in Italian waters, the New Yoik Times writes :—“ Everyone knows that Captain Boyton wears a life-preserving dress, in which he floats on his back in water, and propels himself either with a paddle or a small sail. It is difficult to see how he can find much pleasure in this pursuit. He is in no danger of sinking unless he knocks a hole in himself by running on a sharp ’•eef; but ho is compelled to remain in a tedious and uncomfortable position. If he weie aide to go on deck, so to speak, and stretch his legs by walking up and down his abdomen, or if he could go aloft and scan the horizon from the lofty clevatiou of his nose, the wearisome sameness of his voyage would be to some extent broken up. Owing to the way in which he is constructed, these recreations are impossilde, and be can only vary the monotony of paddling head first by occasionally hacking astern and slowly forcing his blunt hoots through the water. These inconveniences are, however, unavoidable, so long as Captain Boyton persists in converting himself into a tea-going vessel. Where he is at fault is in his stubborn refusal to avad himself of modem improvements in the art of propulsion. Whether we regard him as a sailing or a paddling craft, he is equally behind the age, and he has even failed to adopt the most efficient means of securing speed and weatherly qualities when under sail. He made a grave mistake when he had himself cat-rigged ins l ead of cutter-rigged. He carries hut one sail, and when he is running before a fresh breeze and rolling heavily—as he inevitably must, in consequence of his depth of hold and the dead weight of his shirt pookets—he is very apt f o roll the extremity of his boom under, and thus run the risk of a capsize. Had he adopted the cutter-rig, he could have safely scudded before a gale of wind under his foresail alone, his mainsail being stowed and his topmast housed. A graver mistake, however, was hia failure to provide himself with a centre-board, or even a temporary false keel. Owing to this unaccountable omission, he cannot beat to windward, and he makes an enormous amount of lee-way when sailing with a beam wind. Hence, unless he has tho wind directly astern or on his quarter, his sail is worse than useless. It is idle to say that this is the fault of his model. Hia model is well enough, though he was evidently not designed for speed, hut no light draught man without either keel or centre-hoard can go to windward. For Captain Boyton to claw off a lee-shore would be an absolute impossibility, and if ever ho finds himself in such a situation, and his paddle breaks down, he may make up his mind that he will have to abandon himself to his underwriters and claim a total loss.”