Well, I finally found out who my roommate is. However, I haven't heard back from her yet, and as I'm still not feeling back to normal, I needed something to do. So I thought to my self, why not write a blog about nautical terms. So I looked it up on the world wide web, and sure enough I found numerous sites all about sailing terms. So now we can all speak like sailors together. (OK, that was a crummy joke, but you know what I meant.)
About - on the other tack
Abyss- That volume of ocean lying below 300 fathoms from surface.
Adrift- Floating free with the currents and tide, not under control. A rope may be adrift if comes out place.
Avast! - The command to stop, or cease, in any operation.
Batten down-Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck.
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
Bilge- The lowest part of the interior hull below the waterline
Boatswain-- Also bosun, bos'n, bo's'n, and bo'sun, all of which are pronounced bosun. A crew member responsible for keeping the hull, rigging and sails in repair
Boom: - a horizontal spar attached to the bottom edge of of a sail, riding on the mast and controlled by sheet.
Capstan: - the drum-like part of the windlass, which is a machine used for winding in rope, cables or chain connected to an anchor cargo.
Dead reckoning-A calculation of determining position by using course speed last known position
Draft-The depth of water required float a vessel
Even keel -When a boat is floating on its designed waterline, it is said to be floating on an even keel.
Fathom-Measurement of six feet.
Furl - to fold or roll a sail and secure it to its main support
Halyards: - lines used to haul up the sail and the wooden poles (boom and gaff) that hold the sails in place.hanks -- metal hooks used to secure a sail to a stay; to hank on a sail is to hook it on a stay using the hanks
Heave to -To bring a vessel up in a position where it will maintain little or no headway, usually with the bow into the wind or nearly so.
Jib: - a triangular foresail in front of the foremast.
Keel stepped -A mast that is stepped (placed) on the keel at the bottom of the boat rather than on the deck. Keel stepped masts are considered sturdier than deck stepped masts.
leeward --The direction away from the wind. -downwind
Mainmast: - the tallest mast of the ship; on a schooner, the mast furthest aft.
Mainsail: - The sail set on the mainmast.-the lowest square sail on the mainmast.
Old salt -- a very experienced and/or old sailor
Port - left side of the ship when facing forward
Ready about - prepare to come about
Reef - to reduce the size of a sail
Reefing-The operation of reducing a sail by taking in one or more of the reefs.
Shake out - to release a reefed sail and hoist the sail aloft
Starboard - right side of the ship when facing forward
Stem: - the timber at the very front of the bow.
Wide berth - To avoid something by a large distance.
Now you know some very useful sailing terms. So you can now understand Horatio Hornblower, Pirates of the Caribbean, and my bedroom a little better.
Cheers!
You Literary and Sailing Junkohpile.
Amendment 1: My roommate's name is Ashley.
Amendment 2: I still intend to own a sail boat some day, but for now by model on my wall will have to suffice.
Amendment 3: Larboard is the old term for the left side of the ship. But because starboard and larboard sound so much alike larboard was switched to port. If you read any older sailing literature you will still hear about the starboard and larboard watches.
Amendment 4: Starboard/Larboard Watch - the watch rotation was spilt into two groups. Each watch might be on deck for eight hours with eight hours off, and then a four hour night watch. Or everyone could be on deck all day long with the night watch split evenly between the two watches. This is type of system that was used on the old sailing vessels.
