and can be launched and put to sea even in very rough weather. The coble (Fig. 40) has a considerable draught of water forward; her keel, deepest at the bows, tapers away to nothing amidships, so that abaft that point she has a perfectly flat floor, and draws very little water. This deep bow and the rudder, which is large and descends far below the boat's bottom, provide sufficient lateral resistance to stop the leeway. It will be noticed that the bow is high and flaring, so that the coble rises to the seas, and is not readily swamped.
When a coble is to be beached, the rudder is unshipped, the stern is turned to the shore, and she is backed in with the oars until her flat stern grounds. Both when launching and beaching her high bow is thus presented to the surf; it is astonishing to see with what safety these boats, skilfully handled, can be carried across the line of the North Sea breakers when the winter wind blows hard on shore.
THE CENTRE-BOARD
The most effective method of preventing the leeway of a small boat is to provide her with a centre-board. The centre-board, now so familiar to all who boat on English waters, is generally constructed of iron, but if lightness is an important consideration, it might be better to have it of wood, as is often the case with the American boats. On the other hand, the iron centre-board acts as ballast, and, being so
