taut along the boom before the sail is hoisted, this should be done before the peak is right up, and before the tack is fast.
When the sail is up, stow away in a locker, or other place set apart for the purpose, the boom-crutch, mainsail-coat, and tyers; for nothing is more unseamanlike than to leave lying about on deck gear which is not required for immediate use. 'Where the dickens have those other two tyers got to?' 'I don't know, Ted. They must have been washed overboard when we shipped that sea,' is the sort of conversation, over the stowing of a sail after a cruise, that betokens a slovenly crew.
Having belayed the halyards, coil them neatly, 'with the sun,' and then capsize them—that is, turn the coils over, so that the last coil is on the top and the halyard end is underneath. Unless this is done, the halyards, if let go in a hurry, are likely to twist round some of the coils and carry them up the mast, to jam the block and prevent the sail from lowering more than half-way down.
To reef a mainsail. One reef-pennant, or reef-earring, at least, should always be kept rove, in readiness for use. A reef-pennant is a rope which passes through a comb-cleat (see Fig. 64) at the end of the boom, through the reef-cringle on the sail, and down through a comb-cleat on the opposite side of the boom. The comb-cleat has three reef-holes or more—one for each reef-pennant. At the
