Explore "All Taut" by Oliver Optic on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The trial trip of the Lily was certainly a success so far, but her captain was not quite satisfied. She had made ten knots an hour; and he wanted to know if she was not equal to twelve, which was the ordinary speed of the Sylph. Above Split Rock the lake begins to widen, and the schooner had plenty of searoom. The sea had become tolerably smart, and the Lily pitched in a very oceanic style. The boys liked this sort of thing, though some of the new hands began to be seasick.
At the request of Captain Randolph, the principal consented to the setting of the gaff-topsails. It was blowing very fresh now; and it was not a very easy thing to get these sails aloft, especially with a crew not a half a dozen of whom had ever seen a gaff-topsail set. Even Dory had never seen this sail set, except at a distance; but he was perfectly familiar with theory.