The log is hove in the following way:—One man takes the reel in his hand while another holds the log-glass upright, with all the sand lying in the lower cup. When the word is given the log-ship is thrown overboard and drops astern. The moment that the bunting, marking the end of the stray-line, is seen to go over the quarter, the order turn is given and the man holding the glass reverses it so that the sand begins to run. The log-ship, owing to the resistance of the water, drags the line out from the reel. As the last sand runs out of the upper cup of the glass, the man holding it calls stop. The line is immediately checked, and the number of knots that have gone overboard show the number of nautical miles or knots per hour that the vessel is making through the water. The check on the line at the end of the operation releases the bridle-peg of which I have spoken, so that the log-ship is now easily hauled on board.
The patent self-registering logs are scarcely to be recommended for small craft. Though answering excellently on steamers, they are apt to register a less distance than has in reality been made if a vessel is sailing slowly in light winds. After some practice the yachtsman should be able, by looking at the water over the side, to gauge pretty accurately the rate at which his little craft is going; and it is rare indeed, even in the course of a long coasting voyage, that he will find it necessary to use a log of any description—at any rate that is my experience.
