The oars of Norwegian boats are worked not in rowlocks, or crutches,
or between thole pins, as at home, but on a single thole pin, to which
they are attached by a "strop" or loop.
This is a useful dodge to know of in case one of your thole pins
breaks, as sometimes happens.
[Illustration: How the oars in Norwegian boats are worked.]
In Norway, the strop is made of a stick of birchwood (hazel does
equally well), which is first twisted and twisted round to such an
extent that it is as flexible and as strong as a length of rope, and
is tied by twisting its ends round itself, as shown in _Scouting for
Boys_.
A Scout should be able at any time to twist a stick into rope, but to
do it successfully he must know which kind of wood to pick out for it.
That is one reason for knowing the different kinds of trees by sight.
While we sailed along we trailed a line astern of us with some
tempting-looking flies on it in the hope that we might get a trout for
dinner.
Suddenly, just when we were in the middle of a busy time over a squall
of wind, there came a tug, tug, and a pull at our line.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171