OTHER BOATS

We have learned from the South Sea Islanders how to build and manage a
catamaran. This consists of two canoes or long thin boats, placed
parallel and joined together by wooden strips, which also answer for a
deck. This craft can be rowed or driven by a sail, placed well
forward. Its great advantage is its stiffness, for it cannot be upset
in an ordinary sea.

The dingey, shaped like the bottom of a flatiron, with a blunt stern
and a sharp nose, is the boat with which the boy in the country first
makes acquaintance. It is propelled by two oars, usually fastened to
the sides by pivot row-locks. This is a handy boat for getting about
in, but it is quite impossible to learn the art of rowing from such a
mechanical contrivance.

ROWING

Properly done, there is no single exercise that develops the arms,
chest, back and leg muscles as does rowing. Whether your boat is a
dingey or an expensive rowing shell, always enter it, if the purpose
is pleasure and exercise, with the determination to get the best out
of it.

Be sure that your oars are of the right length, so as to avoid the
contact of the ends. Have the row-locks so arranged that the oars will
turn or move in any direction without creaking or strain. The braces
for the feet should be movable, so as to accommodate any length of
leg, and the seat should not be too high.