IN the 18th Number of this Journal we inserted a Paper on the above subject, compiled in great part from information collected from the boatmen on the coasts of the United Kingdom.

The Committee of the NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION have deemed the subject of sufficient importance to publish in a separate shape some general instructions on it, for the information of those having charge or management of boats, especially in our merchant-service, who may not have had opportunity for practically acquainting themselves with the management of boats in heavy surfs.

Accordingly a small pamphlet having the above title has been published by the Institution, to which are added instructions for rescuing drowned persons, and for the restoration of the apparently drowned.

This little manual has been already well received, and a large number of copies have been ordered by the Admiralty for the use of the British Navy, and by the Trinity House, and other public departments. We now insert it at length for the information and consideration of those of our readers who may not have an opportunity to see the pamphlet itself:— ON THE MANAGEMENT OF OPEN ROWING BOATS IN A SURF ; BEACHING THEM, &c.

THE NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION some time since collected information from 128 different places on the coasts of the United Kingdom regarding the system of management of boats in a surf and broken water, pursued by fishermen and other coast boatmen.

It has appeared to the Committee of the Institution, that the information obtained in this manner and in other ways may with advantage be published and circulated, for the guidance of those who may have insufficient experience in the management of boats under such circumstances.

Rules for the management of boats in a surf arid broken water, naturally fall under two heads, viz.—1st. Their management when proceeding from the shore to seaward, against the direction of the surf. 2nd. Their management under the opposite circumstances of running for the shore before a broken sea.

Before stating the course to be pursued under each head, we may remark that it is an axiom almost universally acknowledged, that there is, as a general rule, far more danger when running for the shore before a broken sea, than when being propelled against it on going from the land; the danger consisting in the liability of a boat to broach-to and upset, either by running her bow under water, or by her being thrown on her beamends, and overturned broadside on.

RULES OF MANAGEMENT :— I. In rowing to seaward.

As a general rule, speed must be given to a boat rowing against a heavy surf. Indeed, under some circumstances, her safety will depend on the utmost possible speed being attained on meeting a sea. For if the sea be really heavy, and the wind blowing a hard on-shore gale, it can only be by the utmost exertions of the crew that any headway can be made. The great danger then is, that an approaching heavy sea may carry the boat away on its front, and turn it broadside on, or up-end it, either effect being immediately fatal. A boat's only chance, in such a case, is to obtain such way as shall enable her to pass, end on, through the crest of the sea, and leave it as soon as possible behind her. Of course, if there be a rather heavy surf, but no wind, or the wind off shore, and opposed to the surf, as is often the case, a boat might be propelled so rapidly through it that her bow would fall more suddenly and heavily after topping the sea than if her way had been checked; and it may therefore only be when the sea is of such magnitude, and the boat of such a character, that there may be chance of the former carrying her back before it, that full speed should be given to her.

It may also happen that, by careful management under such circumstances, a boat may be made to avoid the sea, so that each wave may break ahead of her, which may be the only chance of safety in a small boat; but if the shore be flat, and the broken water extend to a great distance from it, this will often be impossible.

The following general rules for rowing to seaward, may therefore be relied on:— 1. If sufficient command can be kept over a boat by the skill of those on board her, avoid or " dodge " the sea if possible, so as not to meet it at the moment of its breaking or curling over.

2. Against a head gale and heavy- surf, get ah1 possible speed on a boat on the approach of every sea, which cannot be avoided.

3. If more speed can be given to a boat than is sufficient to prevent her being carried back by a surf, her way may be checked on its approach, which will give her an easier passage over it.

II. On running before a broken sea, or surf, to the shore.

The one great danger, when running before a broken sea, is that of broacfung-to.

To that peculiar effect of the sea, so frequently destructive of human life, the utmost attention must be directed.

The cause of a boat's broaching-to when running before a broken sea or surf is, that her own motion being in the same direction as that of the sea, whether it be given by the force of oars or sails, or by the force of the sea itself, she opposes no resistance to it, but is carried before it. Thus if a boat be running with her bow to the shore, and her stern to the sea, the first effect of a surf or roller on its overtaking her, is to throw up the stern, and as a consequence to depress the bow; if she then has sufficient inertia (which will be proportional to weight) to allow the sea to pass her, she will in succession pass through the descending, the horizontal, and the ascending positions, as the crest of the wave passes successively her stern, her midships, and her bow, in the reverse order in which the same positions occur to a boat propelled to seaward against a surf. This may be defined as the safe mode of running before a broken sea.

But if a boat, on being overtaken by a heavy surf, has not sufficient inertia to allow it to pass her, the first of the three positions above enumerated alone occurs,—her stern is raised high in the air and the wave carries the boat before it, on its front, or unsafe side, sometimes with frightful velocity, the bow all the time deeply immersed in the hollow of the sea, where the water, being stationary or comparatively so, offers a resistance, whilst the crest of the sea, having the actual motion which causes it to break, forces onward the stern or rear end of the boat. A boat will in this position sometimes, aided by careful oar-steerage, run a considerable distance until the wave has broken and expended itself. But it will often happen, that if the bow be low it will be driven under water, when the buoyancy being lost forward, whilst the sea presses on the stern, the boat will be thrown (as it is termed,) end over end; or if the bow be high, or it be protected, as in some life-boats, by a bow air-chamber, so that it does not become submerged, that the resistance forward acting on one bow will slightly turn the boat's head, and the force of the surf being transferred to the opposite quarter, she will in a moment be turned round broadside to the sea, and be thrown by it on her beam-ends, or altogether capsized.

It is in this manner that most boats are upset in a surf, especially on flat coasts, and in this way many lives are annually lost amongst merchant-seamen when attempting to land after being compelled to desert their vessels.

Hence it follows that the management of a boat, when landing through a heavy surf, must as far as possible be assimilated to that when proceeding to seaward against one, at least so far as to stop her progress shoreward at the moment of being overtaken by a heavy sea, and thus enabling it to pass her.

There are different ways of effecting this object:— 1st. By turning a boat's head to the sea before entering the broken water, and then backing in stern foremost, pulling a few strokes ahead to meet each heavy sea and then again backing astern. If a sea be really heavy and a boat small, this plan will be generally the safest, as a boat can be kept more under command when the full force of the oars can be used against a heavy surf than by backing them only.

2nd. If rowing to shore with the stern to seaward, by backing all the oars on the approach of a heavy sea, and rowing ahead again as soon as it has passed to the bow of the boat, thus rowing in on the back of the wave; or, as is practised in some life-boats, placing the after-oarsmen, with their faces forward, and making them row back at each sea on its approach.

3rd. If rowed in bow foremost, by towing astern a pig of ballast or large stone, or a large basket, or a canvas bag, termed a "drogue" or drag, made for the purpose, the object of each being to hold the boat's stern back and prevent her being turned broadside to the sea or broaching-to.

Drogues are in common use by the boatmen on the Norfolk coast: they are conical shaped bags of about the same form and proportionate length and breadth as a candle extinguisher, about two feet wide at the mouth, and four and a-half feet long. They are towed with the mouth foremost by a stout rope, a small line, termed a trippingline, being fast to the apex or pointed end.

When towed with the mouth foremost they fill with water, and offer a considerable resistance, thereby holding back the stern ; by letting go the stouter rope and retaining the smaller line, their position is reversed when they collapse, and can be readily hauled into the boat.

Drogues are chiefly used in sailing-boats, when they both serve to check a boat's way and to keep her end on to the sea. They • are, however, a great source of safety in rowing-boats, and many rowing life-boats are now provided with them.

A boat's sail bent to a yard and towed astern loosed, the yard being attached to a line capable of being veered, hauled, or let go, will act in some measure as a drogue, and will tend much to break the force of the sea immediately astern of the boat.

Heavy weights should be kept out of the extreme ends of a boat; but when rowing before a heavy sea, the best trim is deepest by the stern, which prevents the stern being readily beaten off by the sea.

A boat should be steered by an oar over the stern or on one quarter when running before a sea, as the rudder will then at times be of no use.

The following general rules may therefore be depended on when running before, or attempting to land, through a heavy surf or broken water:— 1. As far as possible avoid each sea by placing the boat where the sea will break ahead of her.

2. If the sea be very heavy, or if the boat be small, and especially if she have a square stern, bring her bow round to seaward and back her in, rowing ahead against each heavy surf, sufficiently to allow it to pass the boat.

3. If it be considered safe to proceed to the shore bow foremost, back the oars against each sea on its approach, so as to stop the boat's way through the water as far as possible; and if there is a drogue, or any other instrument in the boat which may be used as one, tow it astern to aid in keeping the boat end on to the sea, which is the chief object in view.

4. Bring the principal weights in the boat towards the end that is to seaward; but not to the extreme end.

5. If a boat worked by both sails and oars be running under sail for the land through a heavy sea, her crew should, under all circumstances, unless the beach be quite steep, take down her masts and sails before entering the broken water, and take her to land under oars alone, as above described.

If she have sails only, her sail should be much reduced, a half-lowered foresail or other small head-sail being sufficient.

III. Beaching, or landing through a surf, The running before a surf or broken sea, and the beaching or landing of a boat, are two distinct operations; the management of boats as above recommended has exclusive reference to running before a surf where the shore is so flat that the broken water extends to some distance from the beach.

Thus on a very steep beach the first heavy fall of broken water will be on the beach itself, whilst on some very flat shores there will be broken water as far as the eye can reach, sometimes extending to even four or five miles from the land. The outermost line of broken water, on a flat shore, where the waves break in three and four fathoms water, is the heaviest, and therefore the most dangerous, and when it has been passed through in safety the danger lessens as the water shoals, until on nearing the land its force is spent and its power harmless. As the character of the sea is quite different on steep and flat shores, so is the customary management of boats on landing different in the two situations. On the flat shore, whether a boat be run or backed in, she is kept straight before or end on to the sea until she is fairly aground, when each surf takes her further in as it overtakes her, aided by the crew, who will then generally jump out to lighten her and drag her in by her sides. As above stated, sail will in this case have been previously taken in if set, and the boat will have been rowed or backed in by oars alone.

On the other hand, on the steep beach it is the general practice, in a boat of any size, to sail right on to the beach, and, in the act of landing, whether under oars or sail, to turn the boat's bow half round, towards the direction in which the surf is running, so that she may be thrown on her broadside up the beach, where abundance of help is usually at hand to haul her as quickly as possible out of the reach of the sea. In such situations we believe it is nowhere the practice to back a boat in stern foremost under oars, but to row in under full speed as above described.

IV. Boarding a Wreck or a Vessel, under Sail or at Anchor, in a Heavy Sea.

The circumstances under which life-boats or other boats have to board vessels, whether stranded or at anchor, or under weigh, are so various that it would be impossible to draw up any general rule for guidance. Nearly everything must depend on the skill, judgment, and presence of mind of the coxswain or officer in charge of the boat, who will often have those qualities taxed to the utmost, as undoubtedly the operation of boarding a vessel in a heavy sea or surf is frequently one of extreme danger.

It will be scarcely necessary to state that, whenever practicable, a vessel, whether stranded or afloat, should be boarded to leeward, as the principal danger to be guarded against must be the violent collision of the boat against the vessel, or her swamping or upsetting by the rebound of the sea, or by its irregular direction on coming in contact with a solid body; and as the greater violence of the sea on the windward side is much more likely to cause such accidents, the danger must, of course, also be much greater when the vessel is aground and the sea breaking over her.

The chief dangers to be apprehended on boarding a stranded vessel on the lee side, if broadside to the sea, is the falling of the masts; or if they have been previously carried away, the damage or destruction of the boat amongst the floating spars and gear alongside. It may, therefore, under such circumstances, be often necessary to take a wrecked crew into a life-boat from the bow or stern; otherwise a rowing-boat, proceeding from a lee-shore to a wreck, by keeping under the vessel's lee, may use her as a breakwater, and thus go off' in comparatively smooth water, or at least shielded from the worst of the sea. This is, accordingly, the usual practice in the rowing lifeboats around the United Kingdom. The larger sailing life-boats, chiefly on the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, which go off to wrecks on outlying shoals are, however, usually anchored to windward of stranded vessels, and then veered down to 100 or 150 fathoms of .cable, until near enough to throw a line on board. The greatest care under these circumstances has, of course, to be taken to prevent actual contact between the boat and the ship; and the crew of the latter have, sometimes, to jump overboard, and to be hauled to the boat by ropes.

In every case of boarding a wreck or a vessel at sea, it is important that the lines by which a boat is made fast to the vessel should be of sufficient length to allow of her rising or falling freely with the sea, and every rope should be kept in hand ready to cut or slip it in a moment if necessary. On wrecked persons or other passengers being taken into a boat in a seaway, they should be placed on the thwarts in equal numbers on either side, and be made to sit down.

All crowding or rushing headlong into the boat being prevented as far as possible; and the captain of the ship, if a wreck, should be called on to remain on board her to preserve order until every other person should have left the ship.