THE term "Haul-off warp" is used to describe the rope which is made fast to an anchor laid out to sea opposite the launching place of the Life-boat, and with- out the he'p of this appliance there are many stations where the aid of the Life- boats might be called for in yain if a wreck took place with the wind blow- ing on shore, for in the absence of such help the boat could not possibly be got to sea.

The principal use of haul-off warps is at stations where there are large sailing Life-boats which have to be launched from open beaches on which it is im- possible, owing to their nature, to build slipways, and the boats themselves are too heavy to launch from carriages and be rowed out to sea.

Two sorts of warps are used, namely, single and double. The single warp is more generally employed, and is fitted as follows:—a mooring anchor (i.e. an anchor with only one arm) is sunk at a spot where there is sufficient water to float the Life-boat at low water spring- tides ; should, however, the beach be a steep one, that is to Bay, one where the tide never leaves the toe, or, if it does leave it, only for a few yards, it is then necessary to lay the mooring anchor sufficiently far off to take the Life-boat outside the heavy broken water which on such beaches does not usually extend very far, probably about 100 fathoms.

The weight of the anchor depends on the nature of the ground and on the size of the Life-boat, but speaking generally, anchors weighing from 3 to 7 hundred- weight are nsnaUy employed. It is, however, often found necessary to " back " one anchor by another, that is to say, to lay out two anchors in a straight line in order to prevent them from "coming home," or being dragged towards the beach when the Life-boat is warping out.

To the anchor is attached a short length of chain called a ground chain which varies in length according to the depth of the water, but it is usually about 5 fathoms of f-inch or £-inch chain. The haul-off warp is shackled on to the other end of this chain, and for the large class of sailing Life-boats is usually a 5-inch, cable laid, tarred manila rope; experience having shown that a rope of this descrip- tion is best for withstanding the action of the water and the chafe on the beach and is also sufficiently strong for its require- ments. On shore there is a pole about 20 feet high provided with a snatch block in which the warp is snatched, and when not in use triced up to keep it clear of the beach and prevent it from being chafed by the action of the tide; a tripod some- times takes the place of the pole, and occasionally it is unnecessary to trice the warp up at all.Two "lizards" (2 -inch manila ropes with a thimble spliced in to one end large enough to allow the warp to reeve through) are put on the warp ready for use, and it is then hauled taut by means of a tackle to keep it so far as possible clear of the bottom and from becoming sanded up.

Having described how a single haul-off •warp is fitted, it will readily be seen that such a rope cannot be nsed at places where the tide goes out a long distance and leaves a long flat sand, for it would be quite impossible to keep it from being sanded up and thus rendered useless.

The longest warps used in the Life-boat service are 240 fathoms, or about a quarter of a mile in length, and it is only by continual attention and frequent " under- running " that these are kept in efficient order. Winter-ton and Falling are the only two Life-boat stations using these enormously long warps. The usual length is from 80 to 150 fathoms.

It must be apparent that appliances of this character cannot be used on rooky and stony ground, for the action of the tide and sea would soon cut the rope through whether it were manila or wire. Haul-off warps are taken up in the summer months, when they are carefully inspected and tarred before being laid down again. The life of a warp is seldom more than two years, so that the expense of up-keep of a Life-boat station is much increased where they are used.

The practical working of haul-off warps demands considerable skill, and is one of the most interesting pieces of sea- manship connected with Life-boat work.

On steep beaches where the boat mil run down on skids, the warp is taken on board as soon as she is in the position for "letting go," that is to say, when she is on the skids and being held back by a chain which, on being slipped, allows the boat to run down the skids into the sea. The greatest possible care must always be taken to ensure the warp being taken on board the boat on .the side opposite to which she will be drifted or swept the moment she is afloat; it sometimes occurs, however, that the weather side, so far as the wind is con- cerned, is not the proper side, because the tide or " sweep " might be setting in the opposite direction and be stronger than the wind; in such cases therefore, if the warp were taken on board the weather side, the Life-b9at would be drifted over the rope, possibly capsized, and certainly cast back on the beach. When it has been decided as to which is the proper side, the warp is handed up to the man in the Life-boat, one of the lizards is passed through the stem-head cheeks and hauled taut, so as to bring the warp close up to the stem head, the tail of the lizard is then belayed and attended by one man, the other lizard being handed to the men on the after thwart and attended. The sails are then got ready, and the mizen hoisted, and the foresail and jib hooked on ready to hoist. The boat is now ready and the order to " slip " is given, and as the boat rushes down the beach over the skids, the slack of the warp is taken in smartly by the Life-boat's crew, and those on shore are careful to see that the shore end is let go, this being of vital importance. As soon as the Life-boat has charged the sea and is clear of the beach, a stopper is passed round the warp and attended by two men in the bows, and as she meets the first heavy curling breaker the cox- swain shouts " Stopper the warp; hold on everybody," or words to that effect, according to the locality. The warp thus stoppered or secured, the Life-boat rises to the sea, strains at the warp, and, being to a certain extent bound down by it, her buoyancy is somewhat impaired; the sea now strikes her, and although it is divided by the bows, probably a large amount falls on board; the moment the sea has passed, the stopper is eased up, and as the Life-boat springs ahead, the slack of the warp is gathered in; the same operation of stoppering is repeated as each breaker is met (and the breakers get bigger and bigger) until the last one is passed and the Life-boat is in the true sea. Theweather rigging is then set tip and the halyards manned, the coxswain, watching his opportunity of the wind coming on the weather bow, gives the order to hoist the foresail and let go the bow lizard, the the after lizard being held on until it is seen that the Life-boat is sure to cant the right way; then it is let go, and as the warp sinks clear the Life-boat starts off on her errand. Such is the manner of working a single warp on a steep beach, and the slightest mismanagement will result in the Life-boat being cast ashore, which means, if nothing else, a long delay.

At places where the beach is not steep enough to allow the Life-boat to run down on skids unaided by external force, different means have to be employed. The crew and as many helpers as are necessary shove the Life-boat over the skids until she is nearly afloat; the haul-off warp is then placed in the boat, and by aid of the crew hauling on the warp and the helpers pushing at the stern with a large pole called a "sett," the boat is launched into deep water; when once afloat, as soon as the boat begins to meet heavy breakers, the warp is stoppered as already described.

The sweep or set of the sea in heavy weather is always at an acute angle to an open beach; for instance, if the beach is open to the east the sweep of the sea will always be either in a southerly or a northerly direction; in consequence of this, an extremely efficient plan has been adopted and is most satisfactorily worked at some places, viz., of having two warps, each laid at an angle of 45 degrees with the line of the shore. For example, should the shore run due north and south facing east, one warp would be laid N.E.

and the other S.E. The Life-boat would, of course, always take on board theweather warp and by this means would not drift to leeward at all as she must do in the case of a warp laid out at right angles to the line of coast.

Single warps of smaller size are occa- sionally used with the pulling class of Life-boats, bat the greatest possible care is needed in such cases. In warping out it is impossible to avoid occasionally taking a sea broad on the bow, as the sea is rarely running true in broken water close to the shore. This may put a small boat in a very hazardous position.

Further, it is extremely difficult to get the oars ready and the men in their places also ready to get them out and to " give way " until the warp is let go and quite clear of the boat, and whilst prepara- tions are being made for the oars the warp is liable to get neglected and to catch the rowlocks or to get foul in other ways.

Double warps, that is to say, ropes rove through a sheave or block, either at the bottom secured by a chain to a mooring anchor or to a buoy floating on the surface, are used with success at a few stations, notably at Eamsey, Isle of Man, where the Life-boat on the carriage is warped out, and by the Goodwin Sands boats, which are large sailing Life-boats launching down a steep beach. In using warps of this description the lee part is taken into the boat and the weather part is either manned by the helpers or brought to a capstan or winch.

These warps, whether single or double, require a great deal of attention, as they require to be frequently underran, and in order to prevent them taking in turns the two ends are kept widely apart on shore. Some Life-boat men have a little distrust of this method of warping ont4 for they have not such complete command of their boat as they like when they are being hauled out by people on shore; nevertheless, in spite of this objection, these double warps have proved them- selves at certain places to be moat efficient and useful..