To toss oars command: (1) _Stand by to toss_, (2) _TOSS_. The command of execution is given while the oars are in the water, the stroke is completed and the oars raised smartly to the vertical, with blades in fore-and-aft plane, handles of oars on bottom boards, the wrists of the inboard hands resting on the thighs, outboard hands grasping the looms at the height of the chin, crew sitting upright. To place the oars in the boat give the command _BOAT YOUR OARS_. At this command the oars are lowered toward the bow (not swung outboard) and laid in the boat as before described. This command may be given from the position of _Let fall_, in which case the men toss their oars and proceed as above. NOTES. In rowing the blade of the oar should be raised as high as the gunwale after leaving the water and feathered by dropping the wrist. A barely perceptible pause should be made, and the oar next thrown well forward and dropped edgewise into the water, taking care to avoid splashing and chopping. Now swing the oar smartly through the water without giving it any final jerk, and repeat as above. With green crews it may be found necessary for the coxswain to call _stroke, stroke_, in order to get the men to pull exactly together. There should be a mark on the loom of the oar (about the height of the eyes when the oar is at _toss_) to show when the blade is fore-and-aft, thus avoiding the necessity of the men gazing up for the purpose of finding out when this is the case. Never allow a boat’s crew to splash with the blades when executing _Let fall_. When resting on oars, insist that they be kept level with the gunwale and at right angles to the keel. Talking among the crew and turning the heads to look at any object should never be allowed while the boat is under way. In most cases, boats should be permanently equipped with a small breaker of fresh water, a spare oar and oarlock and a suitable anchor or grapnel. The anchor rope to withstand a storm should be six (6) times as long as the greatest depth liable to be used as an anchorage. For any small boat in our service a 20-pound anchor and 12-thread (about 1 inch) manila hawser should easily weather a hurricane. A boat should never go out at night without a good, well-filled lantern. Many a boat has been run down through its inability to make its presence known. Before leaving the shore in foggy weather, provide the boat with some sort of a foghorn and a compass, and calculate as nearly as possible the bearings of the landing you wish to make. Take the opposite of this upon returning, making due allowance for tide and wind in both cases. To ride out a gale of wind in an open boat, lash the oars and grating together, making them into a bulky bundle and weight them if possible; span them with the painter and pitch them overboard. This will keep the boat’s head to the sea and prevent her from drifting fast. Assist the boat to take the seas head-on by means of a steering oar. In