throat and peak halyards must be taken off the main gaff to be hooked on to the trysail gaff. The topping lifts must be unhooked and be fastened in the main rigging—so too must be the peak-halyards if the trysail is jib-headed and is therefore hoisted with the throat halyards only.
If a small vessel be overtaken by such heavy weather, when she is on the open sea, that she is in danger, even when hove-to under her storm canvas, a Drogue or Floating Anchor can be put out, a contrivance which has enabled even small open boats to ride out the heaviest gales with safety. A drogue generally consists of a framework of iron or wood, with strong canvas stretched across it, so as to offer great resistance to the water when dragged through it broadside on. I carried a drogue with me on the Falcon during her South Atlantic cruise, but never had occasion to use it save in the shark-infested anchorage off the desert island of Trinidad, where I hung it overboard each morning and had my bath in it, without risk of being snapped up by one of the voracious monsters ever on the watch around us. This drogue (Fig. 66), was thus fashioned:—A conical bag of stout canvas, about five feet in diameter, was bent on to an iron ring, which was attached to the hawser by a bridle; a tripping line of light rope was also fastened to the pointed end of the drogue, by means of which it could be capsized and relieved of the pressure of the water before being hauled on board.
