Meantime I had to bestir myself to the serious business of fitting out the boat, and the first problem was that of a breakdown. We had to carry something that might take us out of a difficulty and the only conceivable thing was a sail of some sort. The high house of a motor cruiser precludes sails in the ordinary way, so that though I had read controversies on the Bermudian rig (only one halyard, me boy, and stowed in a moment) v. the gaff rig, I did not get much help. In any case, my type of boat would never tack against a wind. All I could hope for was a sail to give me steering way when running before it, so that with enough sea room I could reasonably hope to fetch a convenient anchorage.

So one day I set off for Andrew Noble, the sailmaker in Burghead, and on his knees that skilled and genial man drew my boat to scale (I in. to I ft.) in blue chalk on the floor of his once busy premises, and set the fourteen foot mast in its place. I had come to the conclusion that a gaff sail would be unsuitable for a high-decked boat and that, though not elegant to look at, a triangular sail would keep the centre of gravity low and do its work. Mr. Noble agreed and solved the two problems of rings and a boom by suggesting that the canvas be laced to the mast by a single rope which could be pulled taut in a moment once the sail was up and that a double sheet be provided without any boom. I was so pleased about this that I also got a foresail to lace to the forestay, with sheets running aft to the cockpit.

The height of the sails was twelve feet and the foot of the mainsail about the same length. For a twenty-seven foot motor cruiser these are just about the right dimensions (and here I add our own experience to what I have read). Halyards and sheets were to be fixed all ready for use and the whole sent to Duntulm in Skye. Two blocks for the top of the mast and various cleats, shackles, and odds and ends, I bought from Mitchell & Co., Inverness, the owner seeming to welcome my innumerable visits and difficulties, for he was an enthusiastic yachtsman himself. Often did we bless him for the double-acting gimbals from which our primus stove (No. 5) was slung. In truth I was surprised to find the number of persons who were keen on boats. Our banker—frequently in my mind those days—took me into his parlour to tell me about the one he had had for years. Here was a new brotherhood.

The little galley was to consist of a small platform for the primus, with suitable shelving, lined above and at the back with enamelled tin sheets. The important business of locker accommodation would have to be seen to in Skye.