The selection of a boat is the subject of my opening chapter. Now, it is an exceedingly difficult matter to select a boat for another man. An old sailor once truly remarked that he would as soon trust a friend to choose a wife for him as to select his craft. Each man has his own taste in the matter of wives and boats. None save himself knows what will suit him best. All one can do is to proffer him some advice as to the selection of his vessel, give him some hints which are the fruit of personal experience, and then let him choose for himself.
As the novice, whether acting on the advice of friends or on his own responsibility, is almost certain to be dissatisfied with the first craft he may happen to possess, it is well that in the first instance he should purchase a cheap boat, so that when the inevitable divorce ensues the sacrifice may be the smaller. A small, stiff, open or half-decked boat snugly rigged will suit him best in the early days of his apprenticeship; but of what type that boat should be depends not only on his own idiosyncrasies but on a variety of circumstances—the character of the waters he purposes to navigate; whether his boat is to be kept on the banks of some smooth river or tideless lake, or on the shore of the restless sea; whether the water allows of the use of a deep-keel boat, or whether it be so shallow that he is compelled to employ a craft of light draft; whether he has a snug haven for his boat, or whether she has to be run through the breakers and beached
