of importance. If neglected, it is subversive of discipline. The owner should always address the master as Mr. , never as "Skipper" or "Cap," as is too often the case aboard a certain class of craft conducted after slipshod methods. The men should always address the sailing-master, and also the mate, as "Sir," and no departure from this rule should be tolerated. The sailing-master should be held responsible for any breach of discipline on the part of the crew, and his authority should always be sustained by the owner.
I have seen more than one sailing-master who, not content with tyrannizing over the crew, held the owner in complete subjection. It may be readily surmised what kind of worms these owners were. But take yacht skippers by and large, the average is worthy of confidence and respect. The percentage of black sheep among them is almost infinitesimal. The same remark applies to the mates and the men.
The following hints to sailing-masters were written by a dyspeptic martinet of a yacht owner, but there is much good sense in them. They are hung up in his sailing-master's berth:
1.—Never curse the crew. The owner
will do all the swearing.
2.—Should the owner or any of his guests not use tobacco, never smoke to windward of him or them. Have the goodness to step to leeward.
3.—Always be at the gangway when
