This required a bowsprit, but as we had little time to spare we used the
jib-boom of the ice boat, nailing it to the deck beam of the canoe. We
decided that the jib-sail could be used without a boom, as we had done
with the scow. The mast was braced by stays attached to the ends of the
runners and bowsprit. This spread of canvas was far greater than that
originally provided for sailing the canoe, but the heavy runners on each
side helped to keep the boat on even keel, and then to further balance the
sail a board was nailed across the aft end of the boat. This overhung the
runners about 18 inches each side, and in a strong wind we could sit out
on the windward end of this board, thus preventing the scooter from
heeling over too far.
CHAPTER XVII.
AN ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
As soon as our scooter canoe was completed we prepared for the
long-planned winter expedition to Willow Clump Island. The weather
conditions were ideal. We had had ten days of steady cold weather, which
had followed a heavy fall of snow, so that we could tramp up the island on
snow shoes, or we could use our scooter canoe and scooter scow on the
river. It was out of the question to use our skate sails or the ice boat
on the river, and the canal would be serviceable only in case the wind
should blow from a southerly quarter.
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