]
Everything was now completed but the sail. This was a triangular or
"leg-of-mutton" affair, of the dimensions given in Fig. 222. It was made
of light canvas, 30 inches wide, of which we bought 14 yards. Out of this
we took one strip 18 feet long, one 13 feet, one 8 feet, and one 3 feet
long. We had no sewing machine, and therefore had to sew the strips
together by hand. The selvedge edges of the strips were lapped over each
other about an inch and then they were sewed together sailor fashion, that
is, each edge was hemmed down, as shown in Fig. 223. The strips were sewed
together so that at the foot each projected at least 21 inches below the
next shorter one. This done, the sail was cut to the dimensions given,
allowing 1-1/2 inches all around for the hem. The hem was turned over a
light rope, forming a strong corded edge. At the clew, tack and head loops
were formed in the rope which projected from the canvas, and at intervals
along the foot the canvas was cut away, exposing the rope so that the sail
could be laced to the boom, as illustrated. The boom was a pole 11 feet
long attached to the mast by means of a screw hook threaded into the end
of the boom and hooked into a screw eye on the mast, after which the screw
hook was hammered so it would close over the screw eye to keep it from
slipping off.
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