"Becalm" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... aft, and 2 transversely; these plates, as the sail goes up, are slipped into the grooves of the battens, the rollers preventing friction, and the battens keeping the luff fixed to the after centre line of the mast—without this ingenious arrangement the huge mast would, if on a wind, becalm at least three feet of the sail—three lazy-jacks are fitted to support the huge mass of canvas ...
— Lands of the Slave and the Free - Cuba, The United States, and Canada • Henry A. Murray |
