Safe and Unsafe Boats
Categories:
X On And In The Water
One seldom goes on the long trail, or into camp, without encountering
water, and boats of some kind must be used, generally rowboats or
canoes. The safest boat on placid water is the heavy, flat-bottomed
rowboat with oars secured to the oar-locks. In my younger days we owned
such a boat, and no one felt in the least anxious when I would put off
for hours alone on the lake at our camp in Pike County, Pa.; especially
as
he creaking turn of the oar-locks could easily be heard at camp
loudly proclaiming that I still lived, while I enjoyed the luxury of
solitary adventure. But a tub of this kind is not adapted to all waters
and all purposes, and the safest boat on any water is the one best
adapted to it and to the purpose for which the boat is used.
Round-bottomed boats tip easily and should, therefore, not be used when
learning to row, though they are safe enough in the hands of those
accustomed to their management. The best of oarsmen, however, cannot
prevent her boat from capsizing if her passenger does not know how to
enter or leave it, or to sit still when aboard.