Language of the Sea 1

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Language of the Sea

BACK - To back an anchor - To carry out a smaller one ahead of the anchor on which the vessel rides, in order to release some tension.

BACK ASTERN! - In rowing, to impel the boat with her stern foremost by means of oars.

BACK A SAIL - Throw it aback

BACK AND FILL - Alternately back and fill the sails.

BACKSTAYS - Stays running from a masthead to a vessel's side, slanting a bit aft.

BAGGYWRINKLE or BAG O' WRINKLE - A tufted braid made from chopped rope strands which is wound round stays and shrouds to prevent chafing of sails.

BAGPIPE - Bagpipe the mizzen, is to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the weather mizzen rigging.

BALANCE-REEF -

A reef in a spanker, or fore-and-aft mainsail, which runs from the outer head-earing, diagonally, to the tack. It is the closest reef, and makes the sail triangular.

BALD-HEADED -

Said of a square-rigged vessel without royals, or a schooner without topmasts.

BALE -

To throw eject water from a vessel.

BALLAST -

Heavy material, as in iron, lead, stone, concrete, placed in the bottom of the hold, to keep a vessel from upsetting.

To freshen ballast - To shift the ballast

Shingle ballast - coarse gravel

BANK -

A boat is double-banked when two oars, one opposite the other, are pulled by persons sitting on the same thwart.

BAR -

A bank or shoal at the entrance to a harbor.

BARE POLES -

A vessel when no sails are set.

BARGE -

Scow. A commercial raft used for hauling an assortment of goods and materials; a double-banked vessel used by Navy ships' commander.

BARNACLE -

A shell-fish often attached to the submerged parts of a vessel.

BARK or BARQUE -

Sailing ship with three or more masts. Fore-and-aft rigged on after mast, square rigged on all others.

BARK or BARQUENTINE -

Sailing ship with three or more masts. Square rigged on foremast, fore-and-aft rigged on all others.

BARRATRY -

Any wrongful act knowingly done by the master or crew of a vessel to the detriment of the vessel's owner or its cargo, without the owners' consent or knowledge.

BATTENS -

Thin strips of wood placed around hatches to keep tarpaulin secure. Placed upon rigging to keep it from chafing. A large batten, widened at the end, and put upon the rigging, is called a scotchman.

BATTEN DOWN -

Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck.

BAY -

Inlet.

BEACON -

A lighted or unlighted fixed aid to navigation attached directly to the earth's surface. (Lights and day beacons both constitute "beacons.")

BEAM -

The maximum width of the vessel, not including fittings and rub rails.

BEAM AMIDSHIPS -

The width of the vessel measured midway between the ends.

EXTREME BEAM -

The maximum width of the vessel, including fittings and rub rails.

BEAM AT THE WATERLINE -

The maximum width of the vessel at the waterline plane.

BEAMS ENDS -

A vessel is said to be on her beams ends when she is lying over so much that her deck beams are nearly vertical.

BEAM REACH -

The point in which the boat is sailing at a right angle to the wind.

BEAR -

An object bears....when it is at a certain direction from the one looking at it..

to bear down upon a vessel is to approach her from the windward.

to bear up is to put the helm up and keep a vessel off from her course, moving her to leeward.

to bear away is to bear up, with the term applied to the vessel as opposed to the tiller.

to bear a hand is to make haste.

BEAR OFF -

To push off. Order given to bowman to push vessel away from another object.

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.

BEATING -

Moving toward the direction of the wind via alternating tacks.

BECALM -

To intercept the wind. A vessel to windward is said to becalm another. One sail becalms another.

BECKET -

A piece of rope placed so as to confine a spar or another piece of rope. A handle made of rope, in the form of a circle.

BEES -

Pieces of planking bolted to the outer end of the bowsprit to reeve the foretopmast stays through.

BEFORE THE BEAM -

Denotes an arch of the horizon comprehended between the line of the beam and line of the keel forward.

BEFORE THE MAST -

Said of a person who goes to sea as a rating, and lives forward. Forward of a mast.

BERGY BITS -

Large chunks of ice that have broken off from a glacier or hummocky ice.

BELAY -

To make a rope fast by turns around a pin or coil, without hitching or seizing it.

BELOW -

Beneath the deck

BEND -

To make fast

Bend a sail - Make a sail fast to the yard

Bend a cable - Make a cable fast to the anchor

A Bend - a knot which makes one rope fast to another

BENDS -

The strongest part of a vessel's side, to which the beams, knees and foothooks are attached.

The part between the water's edge and the bulwark.

Body's reaction from ascending from waters' depth too fast.

BENTICK SHROUDS -

Shrouds extending from the buttock staves to the opposite channel; no longer applicable

BERTH -

Place where a vessel lies; persons' sleeping quarters.

BESET -

Said of a vessel whose progress is prevented by surroundings of ice, or other matter.

BETWEEN DECKS ('tween-decks)

The space between any two decks of a ship.

BIBBS -

Pieces of timber bolted to the hounds of a mast to support the trestle-tree.

BIGHT -

The part of the rope or line, between the end and the standing part, on which a knot is formed. A shallow bay.

BILGE -

The interior of the hull below the floor boards.

Bilge-ways - Timber bolted together and placed under the hull for launching a vessel.

Bilged - When the bilge is broken in.

Bilge water - Water that settles in a bilge.

BILGE KEEL -

Longitudinal timber fastened along the bilges of some large flat-bottomed ships to reduce rolling.

BILGE PUMP -

Mechanical pump used to remove water from the bilge.

BILL -

The point at the extremity of the fluke of an anchor.

BINNACLE -

A box near the helm, containing the compass.

BITTS -

Perpendicular pieces of timber going through the deck, placed to secure anything to. The cables are fastened to them if there is no windlass. There are also bitts to secure the windlass, and on each side of the heel of the bowsprit.

BITTER END -

The last part of a rope or chain. The inboard end of the anchor rode.

BLADE -

The flat part of an oar which is submerged to displace water for propulsion.

BLEED THE MONKEY -

To remove spirits from a keg or cask by making a small hole and sipping through a straw.

BLOCK -

A wooden or metal case enclosing one or more pulleys and having a hook, eye, or strap by which it may be attached.

Bluff-bowed, or Bluff-headed vessel; Full and square forward.

BOARD -

The length a vessel makes upon one tack.

Stern-board - When a vessel goes stern foremost.

By-the-board - Said of masts when they fall over the side.

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.

BOATSWAIN (bo-s'n)-

A warrant officer in the Navy in charge of rigging and calling the crew to duty.

BOBSTAYS -

Used to confine the bowsprit down to the stem, or cutwater.

BOLD SHORE -

A steep coast, permitting the close approach of a ship.

BOLLARD -

Post at bow for securing lines.

BOLSTERS -

Pieces of soft wood, covered with canvas, placed on the trestle-trees for the eyes of the rigging to rest upon.

BOLTS -

Long cylindrical pieces of iron or copper used to secure various parts of the vessel.

BOLT-ROPE -

The rope that goes round the sail, and to which the canvas is secured.

BONE -

Foam at stem of a vessel in waterway. When noticeable. she is said to have a bone in her teeth.

BONNET -

An additional piece of canvas attached to the foot of a jib, or a schooners for sail, by lacing. Removed in bad weather.

BOOM -

A spar used to extend the foot of a for-and-aft sail, or a studding sail.

Boom-irons - Iron rings on the yards, through which the studding sails traverse.

BOOM VANG -

A line that adjusts downward tension on the boom.

BOOT-TOPPING -

Scraping off matter which may be on a vessel's bottom, and daubing it over with tallow, or similiar mixture.

BOTH SHEETS AFT -

The situation of a ship sailing right before the wind.

BOUND -

A vessel kept in one place.

Wind-blown - Vessel is kept in port because of a strong headwind.

Also, to be bound somewhere is to head to a destination.

BOW -

The forward part of a boat.

BOWER -

A working anchor, the cable of which is bent and reeved through a hawse-hole.

BOW-EYE -

Ring fittings for securing line to bow of vessel.

BOW-GRACE -

A frame of old rope, tires, etc., placed around the bow to protect the vessel from ice.

BOW LINE -

A docking line leading from the bow.

A rope leading from the leech of a square sail to keep the leech well out when sailing close-hauled.

On a bowline, or, On a taut bowline - When sailing close-hauled.

BOW-LINE BRIDLES -

Lines made fast to the cringles in the sides of the sails, and to which the bow-line is fastened.

BOUSE -

To heave, or haul, downwards on a rope. Originally, heave meant an upward pull, haul meant a horizontal pull, and bouse meant a downward pull.

BOWSE -

To pull upon a tackle.

BOW SPRING LINE -

A bow pivot line used in docking and undocking, or to prevent the boat from moving forward or astern while made fast to a pier.

BOWLINE KNOT -

A knot used to form a temporary loop in the end of a line.

BOX-HAULING -

Wearing a vessel by backing the headsails.

BOX -

To Box the compass - to repeat the thirty-two points of a compass in order.

BOXING -

It is performed by laying the head-sail aback, to pay off the ship's head when in the wind, in order to return the ship's head into the line of her course.

BOWSPRIT -

A spar extending forward from the bow.

BRACE -

A rope by which a yard is turned about.

To brace a yard - is to turn it about horizontally

To brace up -is to lay the yard fore fore-and-aft.

To brace in - is to lay it nearer square

To brace aback (see Aback)

To brace to - is to brace the head yards a little aback, in tacking or wearing.

BRAILS -

Ropes by which the foot or lower corners of fore and aft sails are hauled up.

BRAKE -

The handle of a ship's pump.

BRASH -

Ice broken into smaller pieces, and projecting faintly above the surface.

BREAK -

To break bulk - Begin to unload

Break ground - lift the anchor from the bottom.

Break shear - A vessel at anchor, in tending, is forced the wrong way by the wind or the current so she does not lie well for keeping herself clear of the anchor.

BREAKING SEAS -

Aided by a strong gale, waves in deep seas can form crests which, at their peak, fall forward ahead of the body of the wave.

BREAMING -

Cleaning a ship's bottom by burning.

BREAST-FAST -

A rope used to confine a vessel sideways to a wharf, or another vessel.

BREAST-HOOK -

Knees placed in the forward part of the vessel, across the stem, to unite the bows on each side.

BREAST-ROPE -

A rope passed round a man in the chains, while sounding.

BREECH -

The outside angle of a knee timber.

BREECHING -

A strong rope used to secure the breech of a gun to the ship's side.

BRIDLE -

Spans of rope attached to the leeches of square sails, to which the bowlines are made fast.

BRIDGE -

The location from which a vessel is steered and its speed controlled. "Control Station" is really a more appropriate term for small craft.

BRIG -

A square-rigged vessel with two masts.

Hermaphrodite Brig - vessel with brig's foremast and schooner's mainmast.

BRIGANTINE -

Originally, a ship of brigands, or pirates. Through 19th century, she was a two masted ship square-rigged on fore-mast and main topmast and fore-and-aft mainsail. Later, a two-masted vessel with foremast square-rigged, and mainmast fore-and-aft rigged.

BRING TO -

To bring to is to check the course of a ship when she is advancing, by arranging the sails in such a manner that they counteract with each other, preventing her from either retreating or advancing.

BROACH -

When a vessel comes along broadside near the crest of waves, it is said to broach.

BROADSIDE -

The whole side of a vessel.

BROAD REACH -

A point of sail in which the boat is sailing away from the wind, at an angle.

BROKEN-BACKED -

The state of a vessel when she is so worn out both ends droop.

BUCKLERS -

Blocks of wood made to fit in the hawse-holes, or holes in the half-ports. Those already in the hawse-holes are often called hawse-blocks.

BUCKO -

A bullying and tyrannical officer.

BULGE -

See Bilge

BULK -

The entire cargo when stored.

BULKHEAD -

A vertical partition separating compartments.

BULL -

A sailor's term for a small keg, usually holding one or two gallons.

BULLSEYE -

A small piece of stout wood with a hole in the center for a stay or rope to reeve through, without any sheave, and with a groove round it for a strap, which is usually iron. Also, a piece of thick glass inserted in the deck to let light through.

BULWARKs -

The woodwork round a vessel, above her deck, consisting of boards fastened to stanchions and timberheads.

BUM-BOATS -

Boats which lie alongside a vessel in port with provisions and goods to sell.

BUMPKIN -

Pieces of timber projecting from the vessel, to board the fore tack to; and from each quarter for the main brace blocks.

BUNT -

The middle of a sail.

BUNTINE -

Thin woolen material of which a ship's color are made.

BUNTLINES -

Ropes used for hauling up the body of a sail.

BUOY -

An anchored float used for marking a position on the water or a hazard or a shoal and for mooring.

To stream a buoy - to drop it into the water before letting go an anchor.

A buoy is said to watch when it floats upon the surface of the water.

BURGOO -

Seamen's name for oatmeal porridge.

BURTON -

A tackle, rove in a particular manner.

BUTTOCK -

That part of the convexity of a vessel abaft, under the stern, contained between the counter above and the after part of the bilge below, and between the quarter on the side and the stern-post.

BY -

by the head; said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the stern.

BY THE LEE -

To sail with the wind coming from behind and on the side the sails are set on.


Corrections, Additions & Clarifications - MMNETSEA

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