| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ |
A ___[Top]
ABACK - Said of a sail when its sheet is to windward and it drives the vessel astern.
ABAFT - Toward the rear (stern) of the boat. Behind. ABEAM - At right angles to the keel of the boat, but not on the boat. ABOARD - On or within the boat.
ABEAM - At right angles to the keel of the boat, but not on the boat.
ABOARD - On or within the boat.
ABOUT - On the other tack.
ABOVE DECK - On the deck (not over it - see ALOFT)
ABREAST - Side by side; by the side of.
ADRIFT - Loose, not on moorings or towline. AFT - Toward the stern of the boat.
AFT - Toward the stern of the boat.
AGROUND - Touching or fast to the bottom.
AHEAD - In a forward direction.
AIDS TO NAVIGATION - Artificial objects to supplement natural landmarks indicating safe and unsafe waters.
ALEE - Away from the direction of the wind. Opposite of windward.
ALOFT - Above the deck of the boat.
AMIDSHIP - 1. A position equal distance from each side. 2. Any position near the middle of the boat when measured aft of the bow and forward of the stern.
AMIDSHIPS - In or toward the center of the boat.
ANCHORAGE - A place suitable for anchoring in relation to the wind, seas and bottom.
ASTERN - In back of the boat, opposite of ahead.
ATHWARTSHIPS - At right angles to the centerline of the boat; rowboat seats are generally athwart ships.
AWEIGH - The position of anchor as it is raised clear of the bottom.
A-LEE - The position of the helm when it is put in an opposite direction to the wind.
A-PEEK - When the chain is hove taut and the vessel is over her anchor. A-TRIP - Said of an anchor when it is hauled clear of the ground - same as weighed.
B ___[Top]
BACKSTAY - A wire support for the mast, usually running from the stern to the head of the mast.
BALANCE REEF - A diagonal reef in a fore-and-aft sail extending from throat to clews.
BALE - A fitting on the end of a spar, such as the boom, to which a line may be led.
BALLAST WEIGHT - usually metal, placed low in a boat to provide stability.
BARBER HAULER - A line attached to the jib or jib sheet, used to adjust the angle of sheeting by pulling the sheet toward the centerline of the boat.
BATTEN DOWN - Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck.
BATTENS - Pieces of wood fastened to the reef-bands of lug sails to make them stand flat.
BEAM - The greatest width of the boat.
BEAMY - Broad; said of a vessel when her breadth is great in proportion to her length.
BEAR AWAY - To steer so that a vessel sails off her course to leeward.
BEARING - The direction of an object expressed either as a true bearing as shown on the chart, or as a bearing relative to the heading of the boat.
BECKETS - A loop or rope with a knot on one end and eye at the other used for confining ropes, tackle, oars, spars etc.
BELAY - To make fast the end of a rope temporarily by turning it round a cleat.
BELOW - Beneath the deck.
BIGHT - The part of the rope or line, between the end and the standing part, on which a knot is formed or the loop formed by a rope when a knot or hitch is being made.
BILGE - The interior of the hull below the floor boards.
BILGEBOARDS - Similar to centerboards, and used to prevent lee way. Bilgeboards are located on either side of the centerline at the bilges.
BINNACLE - A support for the compass, raising it to a convenient position.
BITTER END - The last part of a rope or chain.The inboard end of the anchor rode.
BITTS - A pair of posts in the deck of a ship for fastening cables, belaying ropes, etc.
BLOCK - Pulley or a group of pulleys in the same case.
BOARD BOAT - A small boat, usually mono rig. May have a shallow cockpit well. Typically has almost no freeboard.
BOAT - A fairly indefinite term. A waterborne vehicle smaller than a ship. One definition is a small craft carried aboard a ship.
BOAT HOOK - A short shaft with a fitting at one end shaped to facilitate use in putting a line over a piling, recovering an object dropped overboard, or in pushing or fending off.
BOBSTAY - Wire stay underneath the bowsprit; helps to counteract the upward pull exerted by the forestay.
BOLT ROPE - The rope surrounding a sail, and to which the canvas is sewed.
BOOM VANG - A system used to hold the boom down, particularly when boat is sailing downwind, so that the mainsail area facing the wind is kept to a maximum. Frequently extends from the boom to a location near the base of the mast. Usually tackle- or lever-operated.
BOOM - crutch Support for the boom, holding it up and out of the way when the boat is anchored or moored. Unlike a gallows frame, a crutch is stowed when boat is sailing. BOOMKIN - (bumpkin) Short spar extending aft from the transom. Used to anchor the backstay or the sheets from the mizzen on a yawl or ketch.
BOOMKIN - (bumpkin) Short spar extending aft from the transom. Used to anchor the backstay or the sheets from the mizzen on a yawl or ketch.
BOOT TOP - A painted line that indicates the designed waterline. BOW - The forward part of a boat. BOW LINE - A docking line leading from the bow.
BOW - The forward part of a boat.
BOWER - One of the principal anchors of a vessel, permanently attached to a cable or chain and stowed ready for immediate use.
BOWLINE - A knot used to form a temporary loop in the end of a line.
BOWSPRIT - A short spar extending forward from the bow. Normally used to anchor the forestay.
BRAIL UP - To furl a sail along the mast by hauling on a rope which is led from the mast round the sail.
BRAILED - Small ropes fastened to the edges of sails to truss them up before furling.
BREAMING - Cleaning a vessel's bottom by burning the paint or tar off.
BRIDGE DECK - The transverse partition between the cockpit and the cabin.
BRIDGE - The location from which a vessel is steered and its speed controlled. "Control Station" is really a more appropriate term for small craft.
BRIDLE - A line or wire secured at both ends in order to distribute a strain between two points.
BRIGHTWORK - Varnished woodwork and/or polished metal.
BROACH TO - To fall off so much, when going free, as to bring the vessel nearly broadside on to the wind.
BULKHEAD - A vertical partition separating compartments.
BULLSEYE - A round eye through which a line is led, usually in order to change the direction of pull. BULWARK - A vertical extension above the deck designed to keep water out and to assist in keeping people in.
BULWARK - A vertical extension above the deck designed to keep water out and to assist in keeping people in.
BUMPKIN - A spar projecting from a vessel to which a sheet or other rope is led; for instance, the mizzen sheet is led through a block or sheave hole at the end of the mizzen bumpkin.
BUOY - An anchored float used for marking a position on the water or a hazard or a shoal and for mooring.
BURDENED VESSEL - That vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rules, must give way to the privileged vessel. The term has been superseded by the term "give-way".
C ___[Top]
CABIN - A compartment for passengers or crew.
CAP - A piece of trim, usually wood, used to cover and often decorate a portion of the boat, i.e., caprail.
CAPSIZE - To turn over.
CAPSTAN - A spool-shaped vertical cylinder mounted on a spindle and bearing, turned by means of levers or bars; used for moving heavy loads, such as hoisting anchors., lifting yards or careening vessels.
CAST OFF - To let go.
CATAMARAN - A twin-hulled boat, with hulls side by side.
CATHEAD - A beam, or crane projecting from the bow and used for hoisting the anchor clear of the bow after it had surfaced.
CENTERBOARD - A board lowered through a slot in the centerline of he hull to reduce sideways skidding or leeway. Unlike a daggerboard, which lifts vertically, a centerboard pivots around a pin, usually located in the forward top corner, and swings up and aft.
CHAFING GEAR - Tubing or cloth wrapping used to protect a line from chafing on a rough surface.
CHAIN PLATE - The fitting used to attach stays to the hull. Chine A line, running along the side of the boat, where the bottom forms an angle to the side. Not found on round-bottom boats.
CHANNELS - Stout pieces of timber bolted on the outside of a vessel, to which the dead-eyes of the riggiog are fastened.
CHART - A map for use by navigators.
CHINE - The intersection of the bottom and sides of a flat or v-bottomed boat.
CHOCK A BLOCK - When the upper and lower blocks of a tackle touch each other and one can hoist no higher.
CHOCK - A fitting through which anchor or mooring lines are led. Usually U-shaped to reduce chafe.
CLEAT - A fitting to which lines are made fast. The classic cleat to which lines are belayed is approximately anvil-shaped.
CLEW - For a triangular sail, the aftmost corner.
CLIP-HOOK - A metal eye, with two hooks attached to it, working on the same pivot, so that they overlap when closed.
CLOSE-HAULED - Said of a vessel when she is sailing as close to the wind as possible.
CLOVE HITCH - A knot for temporarily fastening a line to a spar or piling.
COACH ROOF - Also trunk. The cabin roof, raised above the deck to provide headroom in the cabin.
COAMING - A vertical piece around the edge of a cockpit, hatch, etc. to prevent water on deck from running below.
COCKPIT - An opening in the deck from which the boat is handled.
COIL - To lay a line down in circular turns.
COMPANIONWAY - The main entrance to the cabin, usually including the steps down into the cabin.
COUNTER - At the stern of the boat, that portion of the hull emerging from below the water, and extending to the transom. Apr to be long in older designs, and short in more recent boats.
COXSWAIN - The helmsman of a boat; a petty officer having permanent charge of a ship's boat and crew.
COURSE - The direction in which a boat is steered.
CRANSE-IRON - An iron hoop at the bowsprit end, with eyes fitted to it, to which the bobstay and topmast stay are fastened.
CRINGLE - A rope eye spliced into the bolt rope of a sail enclosing an iron thimble, through which a reef earing is rove.
CROWN OF AN ANCHOR - Where the arms and shank join.
CRUTCH - A wooden support for the main-boom when the mainsail is furled.
CUDDY - A small shelter cabin in a boat.
CUNNINGHAM - A mainsail control device, using a line to pull down the mainsail a short distance from the luff to the tack. Flattens the sail.
CURRENT - The horizontal movement of water.
D ___[Top]
DAGGERBOARD - A board dropped vertically through the hull to prevent leeway. May be completely removed for beaching or for sailing downwind.
DANGER ZONE - The area encompassed from dead ahead of your boat to just abaft your starboard beam. You must stand clear of any boat in the "danger zone".
DAVIT - A curved piece of timber or iron with a roller or sheave at the end, projecting from the ship's bow, and used to fish the anchor. Also, one of a pair of cranes on the side or stern of a ship, fitted with tackle for suspending or lowering a boat.
DEAD AHEAD - Directly ahead.
DEAD ASTERN - Directly aft.
DEADEYES - A round, laterally flattened wooden block, pierced with three holes through which a lanyard is reeved, used for extending the shrouds.
DEADLIGHT - Either a cover clamped over a porthole to protect it in heavy weather or a fixed light set into the deck or cabin roof to provide light below.
DECK - A permanent covering over a compartment, hull or any part thereof. Any horizontal surface that is walked upon.
DINGHY - A small open boat. A dinghy is often used as a tender for a larger craft.
DISPLACEMENT - The weight of water displaced by a floating vessel, thus, a boat's weight.
DISPLACEMENT HULL - A type of hull that plows through the water, displacing a weight of water equal to its own weight, even when more power is added.
DOCK - A protected water area in which vessels are moored.The term is often used to denote a pier or a wharf.
DODGER - A screen, usually fabric, erected to protect the cockpit from spray and wind.
DOLPHIN - A group of piles driven close together and bound with wire cables into a single structure.
DOWNHAUL - A line used to pull a spar, such as the spinnaker pole, or a sail, particularly the mainsail, down.
DRAFT - The depth of water a boat draws.
DRY SAILING - When boats, especially smaller racers, are kept on shore instead of being left anchored or moored, they are dry sailed. The practice prevents marine growth on the hull and the absorption of moisture into it.
E ___[Top]
EARING - A rope which passes through the cringle of a sail and serves to reef it.
EBB - A receding current.
EYE-BOLT - A bolt with a circular opening at one end.
EYES OF THE RIGGING - The loops of the shrouds and stays which are passed ovet the mast-head and rest on the hounds.
F ___[Top]
FAIRLEAD - A fitting used to alter the direction of a working line, such as a bullseye, turning block, or anchor chock.
FAIR-LEADER - A block or comb cleat for running rigging, e.g., jib sheets to lead through.
FALSE KEEL - A plank, timber, or timbers attached to the bottom of the keel to protect it in the event of grounding or hauling. In North America from the eighteenth century onward false keels were called shoes.
FASHION PIECE - A timber that framed the shape of the stern.
FATHOM - Six feet.
FENDER - A cushion, placed between boats, or between a boat and a pier, to prevent damage.
FIGURE EIGHT KNOT - A knot in the form of a figure eight, placed in the end of a line to prevent the line from passing through a grommet or a block.
FIGUREHEAD - A carved bust of a person or mythical being at the foremost extremity of the bow below the bowsprit.
FLARE - The outward curve of a vessel's sides near the bow. A distress signal.
FLOOD - A incoming current.
FLOORBOARDS - The surface of the cockpit on which the crew stand.
FLUKE - The pointed or chisel-shaped end of an anchor arm, which was designed to dig into the bottom.
FOLLOWING SEA - An overtaking sea that comes from astern.
FOOT - For a triangular sail, the bottom edge.
FORE-AND-AFT - In a line parallel to the keel.
FOREFOOT - A piece of timber at the fore end of the keel, to which the heel of the stem fits.
FOREPEAK - A compartment in the bow of a small boat.
FOREREACH - To shoot ahead in stays.
FORESTAY - Wire, sometimes rod, support for the mast, running from the bowsprit or foredeck to a point at or near the top of the mast.
FORETRIANGLE - The triangle formed by the forestay, mast, and fore deck.
FORWARD - Toward the bow of the boat.
FOULED - Any piece of equipment that is jammed or entangled, or dirtied.
FRACTIONAL RIG - A design in which the forestay does not go to the very top of the mast, but instead to a point 3/4 ~ 7/8, etc., of the way up the mast.
FREEBOARD - The minimum vertical distance from the surface of the water to the gunwale.
FURL - To roll up and bind a sail neatly upon its respective yard or boom
G ___[Top]
GAAF - A spar used in ships to extend the heads of fore-and-aft sails which are not set on stays.
GALLERY - A balcony projecting from the stern or quarter of a large ship.
GALLEY - The kitchen area of a boat.
GANG-BOARD - A plank usually with cleats or steps nailed on it for walking upon, especially into or out of a boat.
GANGWAY - The area of a ship's side where people board and disembark.
GARBOARD STREAK - The range of planks on each side of the keel.
GARBOARD - Used in conjunction with strake. Refers to the planks, or strakes, on either side of and adjacent to the keel.
GEAR - A general term for ropes, blocks, tackle and other equipment.
GET IN IRONS - A vessel is in irons when she is in the wind's eye, and, having lost all headway, will not go off on either tack.
GIMBALS - A contrivance consisting of two or more metal hoops balanced on pivots, so that a compass or lamp swung within the gimbals will not oscillate, but preserve a vertical position.
GIVE-WAY VESSEL - A term used to describe the vessel which must yield in meeting, crossing, or overtaking situations.
GOLLYWOBBLER - A full, quadrilateral sail used in light air on schooners. It is flown high, between the fore and main mast, and is also known as a fisherman's staysail.
GOOSENECK - The fitting that connects the boom to the mast.
GRAB RAILS - Hand-hold fittings mounted on cabin tops and sides for personal safety when moving around the boat.
GRAPNEL - A small anchor having more than two arms.
GROG - A drink consisting of rum and water.
GROUND TACKLE - A collective term for the anchor and its associated gear.
GRUMMET - ring or wreath of rope, specifically one consisting of a single strand laid three times round.
GUNTER RIG - Similar to a gaff rig, except that the spar forming the "gaff" is hoisted to an almost vertical position, extending well above the mast.
GUNWALE - The upper edge of a boat's sides.
GUDGEON - A metal bracket attached to the sternpost into which a rudder pintle was hung; the female part of a rudder hinge.
GUY - A line used to control the end of a spar. A spinnaker pole, for example, has one end attached to the mast, while the free end is moved back and forth with a guy.
H ___[Top]
HALYARD - The Line (usually of wire) that is used to pull up or hoist a sail.
HARD CHINE - An abrupt intersection between the hull side and the hull bottom of a boat so constructed.
HAWSE-HOLE - The hole in the bows through which the chain runs.
HAWSER - A large rope used for warping, etc.
HATCH - An opening in a boat's deck fitted with a watertight cover.
HEAD - A marine toilet, the toilet itself or the room in which the toilet is located. . Also the upper corner of a triangular sail.
HEADFOIL - A grooved, streamline rod, often aluminum, fitted over the forestay. The primary purpose is to provide continuous support of the luff of the sail, but it may also help support the forestay.
HEADING - The direction in which a vessel's bow points at any given time.
HEADWAY - The forward motion of a boat. Opposite of sternway.
HELM DOWN - When the helm is put over in the direction towards which the wind is blowing.
HELM UP - When the helm is put over in the direction the wind is blowing from.
HELM - The wheel or tiller controlling the rudder.
HELMSMAN - The person who steers the boat.
HIKING STICK - An extension of the tiller that enables the helms man to steer at a distance from it.
HITCH - A knot used to secure a rope to another object or to another rope, or to form a loop or a noose in a rope.
HOLD - A compartment below deck in a large vessel, used solely for carrying cargo.
HOUNDS - The wooden shoulders at the masthead on which the eyes of the shrouds rest.
HOUSE - To house a topmast is to lower it.
HULL - The main body of a vessel, the basic "shell" of the boat.
I ___[Top]
INBOARD - More toward the center of a vessel; inside; a motor fitted inside a boat.
INSPECTION PORT - A watertight covering, usually small, that may be removed so the interior of the hull can be inspected or water removed.
INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY - ICW: bays, rivers, and canals along the coasts (such as the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts), connected so that vessels may travel without going into the sea.
IOR - International Offshore Rating
J ___[Top]
JACOBS LADDER - A rope ladder, lowered from the deck, as when pilots or passengers come aboard.
JETTY - A structure, usually masonry, projecting out from the shore; a jetty may protect a harbor entrance.
JIB - A triangular stay-sail stretching from the bowsprit to the mast-head in small vessels.
JIBE - When running, to bring the wind on the other quarter, so that the boom swings over.
JIFFY REEFING - A fast method of reefing. Lines pull down the luff and the leech of the sail, reducing its area.
JUMPER STAY - A short stay supporting the top forward portion of the mast. The stay runs from the top of the mast forward over a short jumper strut, then down to the mast, usually at the level of the spreaders.
K ___[Top]
KEDGE - A small anchor. To kedge, is to warp a vessel along with hawser and kedge.
KEEL - The centerline of a boat running fore and aft; the backbone of a vessel. The very bottom of the hull, usually extended fore and aft to add stability to the boat.
KEELSON - A structural member above and parallel to the keel. Kick-up Describes a rudder or centerboard that rotates back and up when an obstacle is encountered. Useful when a boat is to be beached.
KNIGHTSHEADS - The forwardmost frame timbers, which ran parallel to the stem, their heels being fayed to the forwardmost cant frames and their heads extending above deck to form bitts that supported the bowsprit between them.
KNOT - A measure of speed equal to one nautical mile (6076 feet - 1852 meters) per hour.
KNOT - A fastening made by interweaving rope to form a stopper, to enclose or bind an object, to form a loop or a noose, to tie a small rope to an object, or to tie the ends of two small ropes together.
L ___[Top]
LANYARD - A short piece of rope or line made fast to anything to secure , or as a handle. Used to secure the shrouds and stays.
LARBOARD - A term synonymous with port (left side of the boat).
LATITUDE - The distance north or south of the equator measured and expressed in degrees.
LAZARETTE - A storage space in a boat's stern area.
LEE - The side sheltered from the wind.
LEE-HELM - A vessel is said to carry lee-helm when she has a tendency to pay off before the wind and the tiller has to be kept down in order to counteract this.
LEEWARD - The direction away from the wind. Opposite of windward.
LEEWAY - The sideways movement of the boat caused by either wind or current.
LIMBERS - Holes cut in the floor timbers to allow the water in the bilge to flow freely.
LINE - Rope and cordage used aboard a vessel.
LIST - Said of a vessel when she leans sideways, for instance to leeward before the pressure of the wind.
LOG - A record of courses or operation. Also, a device to measure speed.
LONGITUDE - The distance in degrees east or west of the meridian at Greenwich, England.
LUBBER'S LINE - A mark or permanent line on a compass indicating the direction forward parallel to the keel when properly installed.
LUFF - To bring the head of a ship nearer to the wind .
M ___[Top]
MARLINE - Small cord or spun-yarn.
MARLINSPIKE - A tool for opening the strands of a rope while splicing.
MAST - A long pole or spar of timber set upright on a ship's keel to support the sails.
MIDSHIP - Approximately in the location equally distant from the bow and stern.
MOORING - An arrangement for securing a boat to a mooring buoy or a pier.
MOUSE - To put turns of rope yarn round a hook so as to prevent it slipping out from what it is hooked to. For instance, the sister hooks of the jib sheets are moused to prevent them escaping from the clew of the jib.
N ___[Top]
NAUTICAL MILE - One minute of latitude; approximately (1852 m.) 6076 feet - about 1/8 longer than the statute mile of 5280 feet.
NAVIGATION - The art and science of conducting a boat safely from one point to another.
NAVIGATION RULES - The regulations governing the movement of vessels in relation to each other, generally called steering and sailing rules.
NEAPED - When a vessel has got aground at the top of the spring tides and must await the next springs before she can get off.
O ___[Top]
OAKUM - Caulking material made from rope junk, old rope, and rope scraps; it was unwound, picked apart, and the fibers were rolled and soaked in pitch before being driven into the planking seams.
OUTBOARD - Toward or beyond the boat's sides. A detachable engine mounted on a boat's stern.
OVERBOARD - Over the side or out of the boat.
P ___[Top]
PAINTER - A rope attached to the bow of a boat for making it fast to a ship, stake, etc.
PIER - A loading platform extending at an angle from the shore.
PIKE - A long wooden shaft with a pointed iron head.
PILE - A wood, metal or concrete pole driven into the bottom. Craft may be made fast to a pile; it may be used to support a pier (see PILING) or a float.
PILING - Support, protection for wharves, piers etc.; constructed of piles (see PILE)
PILOTING - Navigation by use of visible references, the depth of the water, etc.
PLANING - A boat is said to be planing when it is essentially moving over the top of the water rather than through the water.
PLANING HULL - A type of hull shaped to glide easily across the water at high speed.
POMMEL - Handle of a cutlass.
POOP - The highest and aftermost deck of a ship.
PORT - The left side of a boat looking forward. A harbor.
PREVENTER - An additional rope placed to assist another one in supporting a strain, e.g., a preventer backstay.
PRIVELEGED VESSEL - A vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rule, has right-of-way (this term has been superseded by the term "stand-on").
PUMP WELL - The cavity or compartment in the bottom of a hull, usually near amidships, where bilge water collected and from which it was pumped out or bailed.
PURCHASE - An arrangement of ropes and pulleys by which a mechanical power is gained.
Q ___[Top]
QUARTER - The sides of a boat aft of amidships.
QUARTERING SEA - Sea coming on a boat's quarter.
R ___[Top]
RACKED - To bind two ropes together with cross-turns.
RANGE - To range chain, is to get a certain quantity before the windlass so that, when the anchor is let go, it will run out to the bottom without a check.
REEFING - To reduce the area of a sail by rolling and tying up a portion of it. Also to shorten the bowsprit by hauling it partly in board.
RIB - A small transverse member, often flexible and composed of one or several pieces, that stiffened the outer skin of a hull.
RIGGING - The shrouds, stays and ropes of a vessel.
RODE - The anchor line and/or chain.
ROPE - In general, cordage as it is purchased at the store. When it comes aboard a vessel and is put to use it becomes line.
ROUND IN - To haul in on a rope.
RUDDER - A vertical plate or board, that could be rotated about an axis for steering a boat.
RUN - The run of a vessel is the after-part of her narrowing up to the stern post. To let a halyard go by the run is to let it go altogether and not to slack it out gently.
RUNNING LIGHTS - Lights required to be shown on boats underway between sundown and sunup.
RUNNING RIGGING - The ropes, such as halyards, that are hauled upon in order to hoist or trim sails, as opposed to the standing rigging, shrouds and stays which are not moved in working a vessel.
RUNNING - Sailing before the wind.
S ___[Top]
SAG - To sag to leeward is to drift before the wind or make leeway.
SATELLITE NAVIGATION - A form of position finding using radio transmissions from satellites with sophisticated on-board automatic equipment.
SCOPE - Technically, the ratio of length of anchor rode in use to the vertical distance from the bow of the vessel to the bottom of the water. Usually six to seven to one for calm weather and more scope in storm conditions.
SCREW - A boat's propeller. SCUPPERS - Drain holes on deck, in the toe rail, or in bulwarks or (with drain pipes) in the deck itself.
SCULL - The means of propelling a boat by working an oar from side to side over the stern of a boat, reversing the blade at each turn.
SCUPPERS - Holes through w hich the water runs overboard off the decks.
SEA COCK - A through hull valve, a shut off on a plumbing or drain pipe between the vessel's interior and the sea.
SEAMANSHIP - All the arts and skills of boat handling, ranging from maintenence and repairs to piloting, sail handling, marlinespike work, and rigging.
SEA ROOM - A safe distance from the shore or other hazards.
SEAWORTHY - A boat or a boat's gear able to meet the usual sea conditions.
SECURE - To make fast.
SEIZING - To fasten two ropes or parts of a rope together, or to attach a rope to something else by binding with yarn or similar material.
SET - Direction toward which the current is flowing.
SHAKE UP - To luff up for a short time without losing a vessel's way, so that the sails may shake, and the pressure of the wind being taken off them, the crew are enabled to take a pull on the halyards or purchases.
SHANK - The shaft of an anchor.
SHEAVE-HOLE - A hole in a spar to reeve a rope through.
SHEET - A rope attached to the clews of a sail, by means of which the sail is trimmed to the wind.
SHIP - A larger vessel usually thought of as being used for ocean travel. A vessel able to carry a "boat" on board.
SHIPWRIGHT - A master craftsman skilled in the construction and repair of ships. In many instances, the person in charge of a ship's construction, including the supervision of carpenters and other personnel, control of expenditures and schedules, and acquisition of materials.
SHROUD - A pair of ropes, although sometimes occurring singly, used to steady a mast to the side of a hull. Connected to the head of the mast they form part of the standing rigging of a ship.
SLACK - Not fastened; loose. Also, to loosen.
SOLE - Cabin or saloon floor. Timber extensions on the bottom of the rudder. Also the molded fiberglass deck of a cockpit.
SOUNDING - A measurement of the depth of water.
SPAR - A general term for masts, yards, booms, gaffs, etc.
SPRING LINE - A pivot line used in docking, undocking, or to prevent the boat from moving forward or astern while made fast to a dock.
SPLICE - To join to ropes together by intertwining the strands.
SQUALL - A sudden, violent wind often accompanied by rain.
SQUARE KNOT - A knot used to join two lines of similar size. Also called a reef knot.
STANDING PART - That part of a line which is made fast.The main part of a line as distinguished from the bight and the end.
STAND-ON VESSEL - That vessel which has right-of-way during a meeting, crossing, or overtaking situation.
STARBOARD - The right side of a boat when looking forward.
STAY - A large rope used to support a mast, and leading from its head down to some other mast or spar, or to some part of the ship. IN STAYS - When a vessel is in the wind's eye while going about from one tack to another.
STEM - The forward most part of the bow.
STERN - The after part of the boat.
STERNBOARD - When a vessel is going stern foremost.
STERN LINE - A docking line leading from the stern.
STIFF - A vessel is stiff when she can carry plenty of sail without listing over. The opposite to crank.
STOCK - The cross bar at the end of an anchor's shank.
STOP - A fastening of small stuff.
STOW - To put an item in its proper place.
STROP - An eye of rope or wire spliced round a block.
STUDDING SAIL - A sail set beyond the leeches of any of the principal sails during a fair wind.
SWAMP - To fill with water, but not settle to the bottom.
T ___[Top]
TABERNACLE - A mast-step on deck, in which the mast works on an iron pivot, and so can be easily lowered.
TACK - The lower fore corner of a sail.
TACKLES - The running rigging or ropes used in working the sails with their pulleys.
TAFFRAIL - The rail round a vessel's stern.
THIMBLE - A broad ring of metal, having a concave outer surface, around which the end of a rope is spliced, so that the thimble forms an eye to the rope.
THWART - A transverse plank in a boat or galley; used to seat rowers, support masts, or provide lateral stiffness.
THWARTSHIPS - At right angles to the centerline of the boat.
TIDE - The periodic rise and fall of water level in the oceans.
TILLER - A bar or handle for turning a boat's rudder or an outboard motor.
TOGGLE - A pin fastened to the end of a rope, which can be thrust through the eye of another rope, and so secure them together. The jib sheets are often secured to the clew of the jib in this way.
TOPPING LIFT - The rope which sustains the weight of the end of the boom, and by hauling on which the boom can be raised to the required height.
TOPSIDES - The sides of a vessel between the waterline and the deck; sometimes referring to onto or above the deck.
TRANSOM - The stern cross-section of a square sterned boat. One of the athwartship members, fixed to the sternpost, that shaped and strengthened the stern.
TRIM - Fore and aft balance of a boat.
TRUCE - A circular block of wood at the masthead with holes in it through which the signal halyards are rove.
TRUNNEL - A round or multi-sided piece of hardwood, driven through planks and timbers to connect them. Treenails were employed most frequently in attaching planking to frames, attaching knees to ceiling or beams, and in the scarfing of timbers..
U ___[Top]
UNDERWAY - Vessel in motion, i.e., when not moored, at anchor, or aground.
V ___[Top]
V BOTTOM - A hull with the bottom section in the shape of a "V".
VESSEL - A broad term for all waterborne vehicles, used without reference to size.
W ___[Top]
WAIST - The midships section of a vessel.
WAKE - Moving waves, track or path that a boat leaves behind it, when moving across the waters.
WALE - A thick strake of planking, or a belt of thick planking strakes, located along the side of a vessel for the purpose of girding and stiffening the outer hull.
WASH-BOARDS - Board placed above the gunwale of a boat to keep the water out.
WATERLINE - A line painted on a hull which shows the point to which a boat sinks when it is properly trimmed (see BOOT TOP).
WATER-WAYS - The long timbers running fore and aft that divide the decks from the vessel's sides.
WAY - Movement of a vessel through the water such as headway, sternway or leeway.
WEATHER HELM - A ship is said to carry weather helm when she has a tendency to come up into the wind, and requires the tiller to be kept to windward so as to counteract this.
WHIP - A purchase formed by a rope rove through a single block.
WINDWARD - Toward the direction from which the wind is coming.
Y ___[Top]
YACHT - A pleasure vessel, a pleasure boat; in American usage the idea of size and luxury is conveyed, either sail or power.
YAW - To swing or steer off course, as when running with a quartering sea.
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