Our Sea-Coast Heroes; or, Stories of wreck and of rescue by the lifeboat and rocket ... With numerous illustrations

Front matter

OUR SEA-COAST HEROES ON BOARD THE TUG. Page Si. Our Sea-Coast Heroes. THE LIFEBOAT. Œbomas melson an& Sona, LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK. OUR SEA-COAST HEROES; OR, Stories of TOrecf? an& of tRescue bs tbe OLiseboat ano IRocfeet. By ACHILLES DAUNT, Author of " Frank Rcdctiffe," " The Three Trappers," " With Pack and Rifle in the Far South-West," &>c. &c. With Numerous Illustrations Jkoitfcon: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. 1887. 1@>xzf&zt. In the following pages the writer has endeavoured to give a brief account of the origin and history, as well as of the principles of construction, of the lifeboat. He has also presented the reader with instances illus trative of the services rendered to shipwrecked persons by the brave men who form the crews of the lifeboats, and who are ever ready, by night as well as by day, to risk their lives in the attempt to save those of others.

If there be one subject rather than another which should commend itself to the sympathy of the British people, it surely must be the safety of those who carry the commerce of the country on every sea. But not withstanding the noble exertions of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the roll of disaster yearly grows longer, calling for increased support from the generosity of the public. It is to be hoped that this support will not be with held, and that the Institution will be enabled to add new boats to its already expensive fleet. The writer begs to acknowledge the assistance he

Preface

. has received in his task of writing this little work from the Journal of the National Lifeboat Institution, which was kindly lent for that purpose. He hopes that the perusal of these pages may be the humble means of extending the support which that splendid Institution receives from the charity of the public. The expenses it has to meet are annually growing larger owing to the extension of our shipping, and thus there is an increasing necessity for contributions. And surely no better interest can be obtained for money than the satisfaction of reflecting that it has been in strumental in the saving of human life, or in rescuing our fellow-creatures from suffering. (Ssontcnts.

Introduction

. WHAT LED TO THE INVENTION OF THE LIFEBOAT — GREAT NUMBER OF WRECKS ON THE BRITISH COASTS— LIONEL LUKIN's BOAT— APATHY OF THE PUBLIC- WRECK OF THE "ADVENTURE"— MODELS OF LIFEBOAT CALLED FOR— WOOD- HAVE'S PRINCIPLE OF SELF-RIGHTING— GREATHEAD'S BOAT — WRECK OF THE "MEANWELL" GREATHEAD'S SERVICES RECOGNIZED — SIR WILLIAM HILLARY — HIS APPEAL — FOUNDATION OF THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITU- TION — WRECK OF THE " ST. GEORGE " — PALMER'S LIFEBOATS 11

Chapter I. The Modern Lifeboat And Its Construction

— DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LIFE- BOAT AND ORDINARY BOATS — GREAT BUOYANCY: HOW SECURED — LATERAL stability: how secured — ballast: DIFFERENT KINDS — PROPULSION OF LIFEBOATS — LIFEBOAT EQUIPMENT — METHOD OF TRANSPORTING LIFEBOATS — LAUNCHING OF LIFEBOATS 26

Chapter XII. Deal

BEACH— THE GOODWIN SANDS— WRECK OF THE " LINDA " — ANIGHT OF HORRORS— THE LIFEBOATS UNSUCCESSFUL — AWFUL SUFFERINGS OF THE SURVIVORS— LIFEBOAT CAPSIZED— SAVED AT LAST 'Jfgt.x&t of illustrations. on board the tug, .. .. .. .. .. Frontispiece the lifeboat, . . . . . . . . . . . . Vignette THE MODERN LIFEBOAT, . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 THE LIFEBOAT UNDER SAIL, .. .. .. .. .. 33 LAUNCHING THE LIFEBOAT, .. .. .. .. .. 37 FIRING THE ROCKET OVER A SHIP IN DISTRESS, .. .. .. 43 CLINGING TO THE MAST, . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 THE "BRADFORD" GOING TO THE RESCUE, .. .. .. .. 97 "DID THAT REACH HER?" .. .. .. .. .. 129 RESCUE OF THE SURVIVORS OF THE " KILLARNEY," .. .. .. 183 THE RAMSGATE LIFEBOAT : MORNING AFTER A HEAVY GALE— WEATHER MODERATING, . . . . . . - • • • - ■ 19J, THE LIFEBOAT SETTING OUT, . . . . . . . ■ . - 197' A BREATHLESS MOMENT, . . . . . . . . ■ - • ■ 203 ON THE GOODWINS : THE LIFEBOAT TO THE RESCUE, . . . . . .

OUR SEA-COAST HEROES. introduction:. WHAT LED TO THE INVENTION OF THE LIFEBOAT — GREAT NUMBER OF WRECKS ON THE BRITISH COASTS — LIONEL LUKIN's BOAT — APATHY OF THE PUBLIC — WRECK OF THE "ADVENTURE" — MODELS OF LIFEBOAT CALLED FOR— WOOD- HA VE'S PRINCIPLE OF SELF-RIGHTING — GREATHEAD'S BOAT — WRECK OF THE "MEANWELL" — GREATHEAD'S SERVICES RECOGNIZED — SIR WILLIAM HILLARY — HIS APPEAL — FOUNDATION OF THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITU- TION — WRECK OF THE " ST. GEORGE" — PALMER'S LIFEBOATS. A GLANCE at the Wreck Chart of the British Islands affords an appalling glimpse of the dangers which those incur whose lot it is to " go down to the sea in ships." By referring to the chart issued by the National Life boat Institution, for the year 1879-80, we find that the total number of vessels lost or damaged on the coasts or in the seas of the United Kingdom in that year was 3,138, while the loss of life, although proportion ately small, was shocking to contemplate.

The tempestuous, wintry seas which strew our coasts with wrecks are not the sole cause of the long roll of disasters. Collisions are a fruitful source of danger, as also is the unseaworthiness of too large a proportion of the vessels used in the coasting or carrying trade. Yet WRECKS ON THE BRITISH COASTS. such is the greed of gain, and so intense is the selfish ness of some individual ship-owners, that (as an eminent statesman recently observed) so long as profit can be derived from sending* unsound vessels to sea, so lone the practice will continue, despite any legislation on the subject. What a contrast with the demoralization of these men is afforded by the noble self-sacrifice of our lifeboat-men, — true hearts of oak, — who, at the call of suffering humanity, risk their lives, and thereby frequently the fortunes of their families, in the effort for its deliverance !

Truly theirs is a noble life — a life of which the reward will survive the tomb. " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ; " and this is what many a lifeboat man has done, and what many others are ready to do. To appreciate the necessity for some method of sav ing life and property at sea, which our annually in creasing commerce occasions, we have only to consider the returns which have been issued illustrative of the loss of vessels and of life since the latter half of the year 1854. From these we ascertain that in the twenty-six following years — that is, until the year 1879-80 — the total number of vessels wrecked was 51,841 ; while, what is still more lamentable, the num ber of lives lost was 18,550— a total almost equal to the number of men who man the British fleet !

In 1882, without reckoning collisions, Gil steamships and 2,363 sailing vessels were lost or damaged on the British coasts. In 1883, casualties to ships in our harbours lukin's lifeboat. 13 and rivers increased to an alarming extent, and the Wreck Abstract shows a corresponding increase in the number of lives lost during the same period. In 1882 the lives lost amounted to 984 ; while in 1883 the number reached 1,097. From this it will be seen what need there was for the institution of a means of render ing effectual assistance to vessels in distress. We will, therefore, proceed to show how the lifeboat came to be invented, in order to meet the growing necessity for its services. About the year 1784 a lifeboat had actually been designed and built by a coach-builder of Long Acre, named Lionel Lukin, and called by him an " unimmer gible boat."

Lukin was born in the inland town of Dunmow, in Essex, and had not been a resident in a sea port up to the time of the invention of his boat. He was, however, well aware that many valuable lives were lost " by the oversetting and sinking of both sail ing and rowing boats;" and being a man of large heart, and full of sympathy for suffering seafarers, he de voted himself to the study of the subject. The Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., happened to know something of Lukin, and ascertaining the nature of the matter to which he had applied himself, gave him all the encouragement in his power, and undertook to de fray the whole expense of his experiments. We next find Lukin purchasing a Norway yawl, and fitting it in accordance with his plans. He added a projecting gunwale of cork to the outside of the upper APATHY of the public. frame; and within the boat he constructed a water-tight compartment reaching from the gunwale to the floor.

This gave great buoyancy to the little vessel, the air space running nearly from stem to stern. As it floated like a cork on the water, it was found necessary to ballast it with an iron keel; and finally, he further fitted up two additional air-chambers— one at the head, and the other at the stern. This was the original plan of lifeboat, and several others were constructed after the same pattern. Lukin took out a patent for his invention on the 2nd of November 1785, and the specification may be found in the third volume of the " Repertory of Arts." Like most other great and useful inventions, the life boat had a battle to fight for public recognition. Not withstanding that the Prince of Wales used his influence in its favour, and despite Lukin's unceasing efforts to secure for it the favourable notice of the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Deputy-Master of the Trinity House, and many others of the red tape confraternity, only one lifeboat on this plan was utilized for the purpose of saving life and property at sea ; and this single instance was due to the philanthropy of an individual — the Rev. Dr. Shairp of Bamborough.

This boat, which had been merely a coble, was altered to Lukin's plan ; and during the first year of its new career it was the means of saving several lives. Owing to the strange apathy of the public — whose sympathy was freely enough expressed on occasions of WRECK OF THE "ADVENTURE." 15 calamity — no further steps were taken by the public to avail themselves of the facilities placed at their disposal by Lukin, for the saving of life at sea, until the loss of the Adventure off the Tyne gave a fresh stimulus to their charity. In the year 1789 the eastern coasts of Great Britain were visited by a gale which raged with frightful violence off the mouth of the Tyne. While trying to effect an entrance, the Adventure of Newcastle missed the channel and was forced by the fury of the tempest on to the Herd Sand, at the mouth of the river.

Here she lay grounded, bumping heavily amid tremendous waves which broke over her in sheets of spray. Her crew took refuge in the rigging, and although only three hundred yards separated them from the shore, which was crowded with spectators, the narrow interval of water raged with such fury that no help could be given — no inducement could prevail on any one to venture to their assistance in such boats or cobles as then existed. Numbed and despairing, tbe ill-fated crew dropped one by one into the seething caldron of foam and were engulfed. Filled with horror at the scene they had just wit nessed, a number of the inhabitants of South Shields resolved themselves into a committee, and offered premiums for the best models of a lifeboat " calculated to brave the dangers of the sea, particularly of broken water."

A considerable number of competitors presented GREATHEAD'S BOAT. models. Two only were selected ; — one by Mr. William Woodhave, a painter; and the other by Mr. Henry Greathead. Woodhave derived his idea of a lifeboat, it is said, from observing the self-righting properties of a wooden dish floating in a pail of water, which a woman requested him to aid her in lifting. In turning the dish over several times, he remarked that it each time resumed its former position ; and he thus had presented to him the self-righting principle which he embodied in his boat. He does not appear, however, to have done more than construct a boat, which was long known at Shields as " Woodhave 's cork boat." In the boat suggested by Mr. Greathead, the chief feature consisted in substituting a curved for a straight keel.

This model recommended itself to the committee, who accordingly selected it, and awarded its inventor the premium. As he alone, amongst those who had answered the call of the committee to present models, was engaged in the boat-building trade, the construc tion of the lifeboat was intrusted to him. The cost was defrayed by a public subscription; and the boat was launched at South Shields in January 1790. The dimensions were as follows: — Extreme length, 30 feet ; length of keel, 20 feet ; breadth of beam, 10 feet ; depth of waist outside, 3£ feet ; depth inside to deck, 2 Jfeet ; stem and stern, each 5f feet high ; sheer of gunwale, 30 inches. It was made to pull ten oars, double-banked, with iron thole -pins and grum mets, and had a very raking stem and stern post 10| GREATHEAD'S BOAT. 17 inches to 1 foot.

The main keel measured 4 inches in depth, with a very considerable curvature, and three sliding keels. On each side, and running fore and aft, was a cork lining 12 inches thick, which reached from the deck to tbe thwarts ; and outside was placed a " fender " of similar material, 4 inches wide and 21 feet in length, which, however, did not reach within 4 J feet of either stem or stern. Nearly 7 cwt. of cork was used in the construction of this boat, which gives an adequate impression of its great buoyancy. Still, she was incapable of righting herself in the event of being upset, and possessed no means of dis charging the water which dashed on board. With the view of facilitating her launching, she was placed upon four low wheels. This, however, was improved upon in the following manner : — Two large wheels, twelve feet in diameter, fitted with a movable curved axis with a pole and lever attached, were made, and the boat was swung from near her centre under the axis and between the wheels.

With this arrangement, all that was necessary to launch the boat was to ele vate the pole perpendicularly, which effected a corresponding depression in the axis, and gave play to a pair of rope slings which girdled the boat, and which were secured to two iron pins fixed in the axis. The boat was now easily raised by means of the pole, which was then fastened down to the stern. The chief peculiarities which distinguished Great head's boat from that of Lukin were the substitution (19) WRECK OF THE " MEANWELL." 18 of cork for the air-chambers placed along the sides; and the curved keel, which is considered to be its chief excellence. His name was thus popularly con nected with the lifeboat principle, and has procured for him the reputation of being its inventor. It is singular that although the lifeboat was con structed by Mr. Greathead in 1789, it was not instru mental in saving life until the second year after, when it was utilized at the stranding of a brig at the mouth of the Tyne in 1791.

No other boat was built until the year 1798, when the then Duke of Northumber land, at his own expense, ordered Mr. Greathead to construct one ; which he further munificently endowed with a sufficient sum for its proper equipment and maintenance. Well satisfied with the performance of this boat, the same nobleman ordered another in the year 1800, to be built for Oporto ; and in this same year Mr. Cathcart Dempster commissioned Mr. Great head to construct another for St. Andrews. Here, on the 10th of January 1803, this boat saved the crew of the Meanwell of Scarborough, numbering twelve hands. This occasion may be said to have emphasized the value of the lifeboat. The weather was extremely bad, and a furious sea raged along the coast, which so daunted the bold fishermen, that although entreated by tbe magistrates to venture to the assistance of the vessel, not one would risk his life in the service.

Three gentlemen, however, whose names deserve to be resir williaji Hillary's appeal. 19 corded, — Mr. Dempster, Major Horsburgh, and Mr. David Stewart, a shipmaster, — nobly took cbarge of the lifeboat, when several fishermen volunteered ; and, as we have said, their efforts were crowned with success. In consideration of tbe great services which he had rendered to humanity, Mr. Greathead thought himself entitled to some national recognition. A committee of the House of Commons sat to take evidence on tbe matter, and after mature deliberation reported on the great value of his invention. He was accordingly voted the sum of £1,200. To this was added one hun dred guineas by the Trinity House ; a like sum was contributed by Lloyd's ; the Society of Arts added its gold medal and fifty guineas ; while a valuable diamond ring was presented by the Emperor of Russia.

It is nearly always the fate of great and useful inventions to encounter negligence at least, if not hos tility, at the outset, and the lifeboat formed no excep tion to this general rule. Although its eminent fitness for its task was patent to every one who thought at all on tbe matter, yet the heartrending scenes of wreck and death which had called it into existence still went on, unrelieved for want of jmblic philanthropy sufficient to establish lifeboat stations on a scale commensurate with the need tbere was for them. To educate public opinion, and to organize support for a lifeboat institution, a man of energy and devoted ness was necessary ; and in due time this man appeared. While a resident in the Isle of Man, Sir William Hillary ROYAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION. bad had many opportunities of becoming personally cognizant of the horrible scenes attendant on shipwrecks, and having a sympathetic heart, these terrible spectacles moved him to take public action for securing some means whereby they might be prevented, or at least much mitigated in future.

He addressed an appeal to the country in February 1823. A warm re sponse was made ; and among those who identified themselves with the cause were Mr. Thomas Wilson, M.P. for the city of London ; and Mr. George Hibbert, a West India merchant, and M.P. for Seaford. Through the influence possessed by these gentlemen, a public meeting was convened at the London Tavern on the 4th March 1824. Dr. Manners Sutton, Arch bishop of Canterbury, presided; and at this meeting was founded that noblest of noble institutions for the relief of suffering humanity, the Royal National Life boat Institution. As soon as Sir William returned to the Isle of Man he busied himself with establishing a district associa tion. This was accomplished in 1826, he himself being chosen president ; and in the discharge of the duties attendant on this position he was warmly aided by the governor and officers of the island.

It was indeed full time that means for saving life should be provided. Year by year the number of vessels wrecked round the coasts continued to be fearfully large, and, on the whole, to increase. We find by a parliamentary report that in the twenty -five years WRECK OF THE " ST. GEORGE." 21 between 1821 and 1846 no fewer than one hundred and forty -four wrecks took place off the Isle of Man, that one hundred and seventy-two lives were lost, while the amount of property lost reached a quarter of a million sterling. Between the years 1825 and 1830 Sir William Hill ary personally assisted in saving many lives ; but the chief enterprise in which he distinguished himself was in the year 1830, when the St. George, a mail steamer, drove from her anchors during a south-south-east gale, and became a hopeless wreck on St. Mary's Rock.

We will give the incidents at length, as detailed in the Journal of the National Lifeboat Institution. On Friday evening, the 29th November 1830, the St. George, a first-class steamer, commanded by Lieu tenant Tudor, R.N., arrived at Douglas, Isle of Man, with the mail from Liverpool, and anchored in the bay. The night was stormy, with heavy gusts of wind from the south-west, which, towards morning, came round to the south-east, blowing directly in, and soon in creased to a tremendous storm. About 5 a.m. the chain cable of the St. George gave way, when she began to drive in between the Pollock and St. Mary's (or Conister), two equally dangerous rocks under her lee. Steam had been kept up all night, with the men at their stations ; but the vessel was so near to the rocks, and the force of the waves so overwhelming, that in attempting to back her out she struck violently upon St. Mary's, and immediately filled and settled down GALLANT CONDUCT. forward with her head to the land, lying nearly broadside to the most rugged part of that fatal rock, from which few vessels that once strike ever escape.

Lieutenant Tudor immediately ordered the foremast to be cut away, with the view of forming a raft, by means of which the people might gain the rock ; and from thence, though covered at high water, he hoped when the day dawned they might be rescued off the lee side by boats from the shore. But this was found impracticable. Signals of distress were also made. Sir William Hillary, receiving speedy intimation of her danger, proceeded to the pier, and immediately put off in the lifeboat, accompanied by Lieutenant Robert Robinson, R.N. ; Mr. William Corlett, agent to tbe St. George's Company ; his coxswain, Isaac Vondy ; and a volunteer crew of fourteen boatmen. On approaching the St. George, the anchor of the lifeboat was let go to windward, and by veering down upon the wreck an attempt was made to take off the people from the weather quarter ; but the surf was found to be so violent as to render that plan impossible of execution.

It was therefore resolved at all hazards to back the boat in between tbe St. George and the rocks ; when Lieutenant Tudor, with the self-devotedness of a British seaman, entreated of them not to attempt his rescue by means which he found would be attended with inevi table destruction. It was, however, persevered in, and with great difficulty accomplished ; but the sea inside rolled so heavily that the boat was in danger of being CRITICAL AND PERILOUS. 23 instantly demolished. Her rudder was beaten off, six out of her ten oars broken or lost, some of her air-tight cases and her upper works much injured, and Sir Will iam Hillary, Mr. Corlett, and two boatmen washed overboard. Mr. Corlett and the two men were fortu nately soon got into the boat ; but Sir William Hillary, being unable to swim, providentially seized a rope which hung from the vessel's side, by which he sup ported himself in the waves until Lieutenant Tudor, assisted by Lieutenant Robinson, who had gained the wreck with much difficulty, got him also on board, considerably bruised and hurt.

From the disabled state of the boat, and the loss of the oars, it became impossible to take off the people and extricate themselves by hauling her up to her anchor to windward, as was originally intended. All passage to leeward was obstructed by the rigging of the mast, which had now been cut away. Thus hemmed in between the wreck and St. Mary's Rock, on which the surf broke tremendously, the situation of the crews of the St. George and of the lifeboat which floated alongside remained for nearly two hours critical and perilous. At length, by much labour and hazard to the men employed, the rigging of the fallen mast was cut away by means of knives and an axe which was fortunately in the boat. As the tide rose the sea increased, and every wave now swept the decks of the St. George, and nearly buried the lifeboat; it therefore became requisite to A GREAT LOSS. make a last effort to extricate themselves from a situation where to remain longer must have proved fatal to all.

The crew of the St. George consisted of twenty two persons, that of the lifeboat eighteen. They were all got into the boat; the water was baled out by buckets obtained from the vessel, and the remaining oars were manned. The boat was then cast off, and the cable veered away; but she struck violently on the low ridge of rock, filled, and striking again, was at length by the violence of the breakers washed over the reef, the people holding on by ropes. The cable was then cut, and the sea coming round the bow of the St. George, drove the boat broadside on upon the sheltered side of St. Mary's, being thus, through a mer ciful Providence, delivered from the awful situation in which they had been so long placed. They then proceeded for the shore, about a quarter of a mile distant. They were met by two boats which had put off and approached them under shelter of the rock : one boat relieving them of some of the people ; the other, brought out by Lieutenant Sleigh, R.N., promptly gave a tow-line to the lifeboat, and assisted her in making the beach, which she reached in a shattered condition, but saving all her crew !

The steamer went to pieces where she struck — a loss to the owners of £12,000. The Shipwreck Institution awarded, for this gallant service, a gold medal each to Sir William Hillary and to Lieutenant Robinson ; a silver medal each to Mr. PALMER'S LIFEBOATS. 25 Corlett and Isaac Vondy, coxswain; and £21 to the boat's crew. Tbe St. George's Packet Company also gave the crew £50 for their praiseworthy exertions on this occasion. Notwithstanding the injuries which he had received, Sir William Hillary lost none of that zeal which had prompted him to identify himself with the lifeboat cause. On the contrary, we soon again find him plead ing with his countrymen in its favour with unabated earnestness ; and to give force (if such an appeal needed it) to his words, he illustrated the awful perils and sufferings of the shipwrecked with instances within his own personal experience.

At length something like a general effect was pro duced. Public sympathy took a practical form, and subscriptions poured in. About the year 1826, the then member of Parliament for the southern division of Essex (the late George Palmer, Esq.) had become a member of the Lifeboat Institution, and to his earnest support, continued during many years, is also due much of the success which the Institution has achieved. He introduced a plan of fitting* lifeboats which was adopted and in use for a considerable number of years, and was only superseded in 1852 by the self-righting principle. During the years that Palmer's boats were in use, the services rendered by them to shipwrecked crews were almost incalculable, while a very great number of vessels were saved from destruction by their assistance.

Chapter I. The Modern Lifeboat And Its

CONSTRUCTION— DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LIFE- BOAT AND ORDINARY BOATS — GREAT BUOYANCY: HOW SECURED — LATERAL STABILITY: HOW SECURED — BALLAST : DIFFERENT KINDS — PROPULSION OF LIFEBOATS— LIFEBOAT EQUIPMENT— METHOD OF TRANSPORTING LIFEBOATS— LAUNCHING OF LIFEBOATS. We will now proceed to examine more minutely the method of construction of the modern lifeboat, and the principles which constitute its merits.* The term Lifeboat, although not conveying any very accurate figure to the mind, is generally supposed to mean a boat constructed in such a manner as to secure the greatest attainable amount of safety for its crew and passengers amid the strife of winds and waves. From a consideration of the risks to which ordinary boats are liable, it is clear that, to be safe, a lifeboat must possess properties which obviate them.

To attain this end, it is first of all requisite that a lifeboat should possess an excess or extra amount of buoyancy ; and it is this property which constitutes one of the chief merits of its construction. In a lifeboat this very necessary property should be present in so great a * The writer begs to acknowledge his indebtedness for the technical information in the following pages to an able lecture delivered at the Royal United Institution in 1862 by Captain Ward, R.N. LIFEBOATS : THEIR BUOYANCY. 27 degree as to enable it to carry its complement of pas sengers and crew while nearly full of water, without becoming so deeply immersed as to be unmanageable. In most of the lifeboats now built and stationed round our coasts, extra buoyancy is secured by provid ing an adequate number of water-tight compartments ; which, by being disposed along the sides and at both ends, possess the additional advantage of confining all water taken on board to the centre of the boat, thus minimising the danger from this source of oversetting.