Language of the Sea 10

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Language of the Sea

LABOR -

A vessel is said to labor when she rolls or pitches heavily.

LACING -

Rope used to lash a sail to a gaff, or a bonnet to a sail.

Also, a piece of compass or knee-timber, fayed to the back of the figurehead and the knee of the head, and bolted to each.

LADING -

The act of loading goods onto a ship.

LAND-FALL -

The making of land after being asea.

A good landfall is when the vessel makes the land point as intended.

LAND-HO! -

The cry used when land is first spotted.

LANYARDS -

Ropes rove through dead-eys for setting up rigging.

Also, a rope made fast to anything to secure it, or, as a handle, is called a lanyard.

LARBOARD -

The left side of a vessel, looking forward.

LARBOWLINES -

The familiar term for the sailors in the larboard watch.

LARGE -

A vessel is said to be going large when she has the wind free.

LASHING -

To tie tightly with a rope.

LATCHINGS -

Loops on the head rope of a bonnet, by which it is laced to the foot of the sail.

LAUNCH -

A large boat. The long boat.

LAUNCH-HO!

High enough.

LAY -

To come or to go. As Lay aloft! or Lay forward! or Lay aft!.

Also, the directions which the strands of a rope are twisted.

LAY OUT! -

Order to seamen to spread out at given intervals along a yard.

LAY THE LAND -

When land disappears from the horizon by sailing away from it.

LAZARETTE -

Storeroom containing provisions of the ship.

Also, enclosed area in which persons are quarantined.

LEACH - See ( leech )

LEACHLINE -

A rope used for hauling up the leach of a sail.

LEAD -

A piece of lead, in the shape of a cone or pyramid, with a small hole at the base, and a line attached to the upper end, used for taking soundings.

LEADING-WIND -

A fair wind. More particularly applied to a wind abeam or quartering.

LEAGUE -

Measure of distance three miles in length, or one-twentieth of a degree of latitude.

LEAK -

A hole or breach in a vessel that allows water through.

LEDGES -

Small pieces of timber placed athwart-ships under the decks of a vessel, between the beams.

LEE -

The side opposite to that from which the wind blows. If a vessel has the wind on her starboard side, that is the weather, and the larboard is the lee.

A lee shore is the shore upon which the wind is blowing.

Under the lee is that which separates you from the wind.

By the lee - Situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side.

LEE-BOARD -

A board fitted to the lee side of flat-bottomed boats, to prevent their drifting to leeward.

LEE TIDE -

The wind and the tide run in the same direction. Opp: see WEATHER TIDE

LEEWARD -

The direction away from the wind. Opposite of windward.

LEEWAY -

The sideways movement of the boat caused by either wind or current.

LEECH -

The border or edge or a sail, at the sides.

LEEFANGE -

An iron bar, upon which the sheets of fore-and-aft sails traverse.

Also, a rope rove through the cringle of a sail which has a bonnet to it, for hauling in, so as to lace on the bonnet.

LENGTH ON DECK -

Length from foremost to aftermost of deck.

LENGTH OVERALL -

Extreme measurement. From the foremost to the aftermost of the vessel; Including everything.

LENGTH BETWEEN PERPENDICULARS -

Measured between the forward part of the stem and the afterpart of the rudderpost.

LIE -

To remain in a particular place.

LIE-TO -

To stop the progress of a vessel at sea, either by counterbracing the yards, or by reducing sail so that she will make little or no headway, but will merely come to and fall off by the counteraction of the sail and helm.

LIFE-LINES -

Ropes carried along yards, booms, etc, for sailors to hold onto.

LIGHT -

To move or lift anything along; as, to "Light out to windward!", that is, haul the sail over to windward. The Light sails are all above the topsails, also the studdingsails and flying jib.

LIGHTER -

A large boat, used in loading and unloading vessels.

LIGHT HAND -

A young, but able-bodied and intelligent seaman.

LIGHT PORT -

Scuttle or porthole with glass.

LIMBER or LIMBER-HOLES -

Holes cut in the lower part of the floor timbers, next to the keelson, forming a passage for the water fore-and-aft.

Limber-boards are removable boards placed over the limbers.

Limber-rope A rope rove fore-and-aft through the limbers, to clear them if necessary.

Limber-streak the streak of foot-waling nearest the keelson.

LINE -

Rope and cordage used aboard a vessel.

LIPPER or LAPPER -

Small sea that rises just above the bow.

LIST -

The inclination of a vessel to one side; as, a list to port, or a list to starboard.

LIZARD -

A piece of rope, sometimes with two legs, and one or more iron thimbles spliced into it. It is used for various purposes. One with two legs, and a thimble to each, is often made fast to the topsail tye, for the buntlines to reeve through. A single one is sometimes used on the swinging-boom topping-lift.

LOCKER -

A chest, or box, to store anything away in.

Chain-locker - Where the chain cable is stored.

Boatswain's locker - Where tools and small items for working on rigging are kept.

LOG -

A record of courses or operation. Also, a device to measure speed.

LOGLINE -

Line with a free-wheeling float tied to end. A White rag is tied 12 fathoms from the float. Following the rag, knots are tied in the line at 47.25 ft intervals. Used with a sandglass, or stopwatch, timed at 28 seconds, the float is thrown overboard. When the rag reaches the taffrail, the sandglass or stopwatched is stopped. The number of knots that passes the taffrail by 28 seconds equals the vessel's speed in nautical miles per hour, or knots per hour.

LONG-BOAT -

The largest boat in a merchant vessel. When at sea, it is usually carried between the fore and main masts.

LONG-TIMBERS -

Timbers in the cant-bodies, reaching from the deadwood to the head of the second futtock.

LOOF -

That part of a vessel where the planks begin to bend as they approach the stern.

LOOM -

That part of an oar which is within the oar-lock.

Also, to appear above the surface of the water.

LOP -

Fast-running sea, usually small.

LUBBER -

An unskilled sailor is a lubber.

LUBBER'S HOLE -

A hole in the top, next to the mast.

LUBBER'S LINE -

A mark or permanent line on a compass indicating the direction forward; parallel to the keel when properly installed.

LUFF -

To put the helm so as to bring the ship up nearer the wind.

Also, the roundest part of a vessel's bow.

Also, the forward leech of fore-and-aft sails.

LUFF-TACKLE -

A purchase composed of a double and single block.

LUG-SAILS -

A sail used in boats and small vessels, bent to a yard which hangs obliquely to the mast.

LUGGER -

A small vessel carrying lug-sails.

LUMPER -

Person who loads and unloads ships, or takes a ship from one port or terminal to another. Paid in lump sum.

LURCH -

The sudden rolling of a vessel to one side.


Corrections, Additions & Clarifications - MMNETSEA

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