Glossary
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.
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: at or towards the stern or after part of a ship, the opposite of bow.
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.
ALOFT: overhead, or above.
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.
ATHWART: across.
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.
BANK: a rising ground in the sea, differing from a shoal, because not rocky but composed of sand, mud or gravel.
BATTEN DOWN - Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck.
BEAM - The greatest width of the boat.
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.
BECALMED: to halt through lack of wind.
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. BILGE - The interior of the hull below the floor boards.
BITTER END - The last part of a rope or chain.The inboard end of the anchor rode.
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.
BOOT TOP - A painted line that indicates the designed waterline.
BOW LINE - A docking line leading from the bow.
BOW: the foremost end or part of a ship, the opposite of stern.
BOWLINE - A knot used to form a temporary loop in the end of a line.
BOWSPRIT: a large mast or piece of timber which stands out from the bows of a ship.
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.
BULKHEAD - A vertical partition separating compartments.
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".
BURTHEN: the older term used to express a ship's tonnage or carrying capacity. It was based on the number of tuns of wine that a ship could carry in her holds, the total number giving her burthen.
CABIN - A compartment for passengers or crew.
CAPSIZE - To turn over.
CAST OFF - To let go.
CATAMARAN - A twin-hulled boat, with hulls side by side.
CHAFING GEAR - Tubing or cloth wrapping used to protect a line from chafing on a rough surface.
CHART - A map for use by navigators.
CHINE - The intersection of the bottom and sides of a flat or v-bottomed boat.
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.
CLOVE HITCH - A knot for temporarily fastening a line to a spar or piling.
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.
COLORS: the name by which the national flag flown by a ship at sea is known, used to determine nationality.
COURSE - The direction in which a boat is steered.
CUDDY - A small shelter cabin in a boat.
CURRENT - The horizontal movement of water.
DEAD AHEAD - Directly ahead.
DEAD ASTERN - Directly aft.
DEAD RECKONING: a system of navigation where the position of a ship is calculated without the use of any astronomical observation whatever.
DECK - A permanent covering over a compartment, hull or any part thereof.
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.
DOLPHIN - A group of piles driven close together and bound with wire cables into a single structure.
DRAFT - The depth of water a boat draws.
EBB - A receding current.
FAIR WIND: a wind favourable to the direction a ship is sailing.
FATHOM: a measure of six feet, used to divide the lead (or sounding) lines in measuring the depth of water; and to calculate in the length of cables, rigging, etc.
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.
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 palm of an anchor.
FOLLOWING SEA - An overtaking sea that comes from astern.
FORE: the forward part of the ship.
FORE-AND-AFT - In a line parallel to the keel.
FOREPEAK - A compartment in the bow of a small boat.
FORWARD - Toward the bow of the boat.
FOULED - Any piece of equipment that is jammed or entangled, or dirtied.
FREEBOARD - The minimum vertical distance from the surface of the water to the gunwale.
GALLEY - The kitchen area of a boat.
GANGWAY - The area of a ship's side where people board and disembark.
GEAR - A general term for ropes, blocks, tackle and other equipment.
GIVE-WAY VESSEL - A term used to describe the vessel which must yield in meeting, crossing, or overtaking situations.
GRAB RAILS - Hand-hold fittings mounted on cabin tops and sides for personal safety when moving around the boat.
GROUND TACKLE - A collective term for the anchor and its associated gear.
GUNWALE - The upper edge of a boat's sides.
HARD CHINE - An abrupt intersection between the hull side and the hull bottom of a boat so constructed.
HATCH - An opening in a boat's deck fitted with a watertight cover.
HEAD - A marine toilet. Also the upper corner of a triangular sail.
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: the instrument by which the ship is steered, and includes both the wheel and the tiller, as one general term.
HELMSPERSON - The person who steers the boat.
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.
HULL - The main body of a vessel
INBOARD - More toward the center of a vessel; inside; a motor fitted inside a boat.
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.
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 sail set by sailing ships on the boom which runs out from the bowsprit.
JURY-MAST: a temporary makeshift mast erected to replace a mast that has been disabled or carried away.
JURY-RUDDER: a makeshift arrangement to give a ship the ability to steer when she has lost her rudder.
KEEL - The centerline of a boat running fore and aft; the backbone of a vessel.
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.
KNOT: the nautical measure of speed, one knot being a speed of one nautical mile (6,080 feet) per hour. As a measure of speed the term is always knots, and never knots an hour.
LANDFALL: the discovery of the land.
LAND-LOCKED: sheltered all round by the land, so that there is no view of the sea.
LATITUDE - The distance north or south of the equator measured and expressed in degrees.
LAZARETTE - A storage space in a boat's stern area.
LEAD: an instrument for discovering the depth of water, attached to a lead-line, which is marked at certain distances to measure the fathoms.
LEE SHORE: a coastline on to which the wind blows directly - consequently it can be dangerous as the wind tends to force the sailing ship down on it.
LEE: the side of a ship, promontory, or other object away from the wind; that side sheltered from the wind. It is the opposite side to windward.
LEEWARD: with the wind; towards the point to which the wind blows.
LEEWAY - The sideways movement of the boat caused by either wind or current.
LETTER OF MARQUE: a commission issued in Britain by the Lord High Admiral or Commissioners of the Admiralty authorizing the commander of a privately owned ship to cruise in search of enemy merchant vessels. The letter of marque described the ship, her owners and officers, the amount of surety which had been deposited and stressed the necessity of having all prize vessels or goods seized condemned and valued at a Vice Admiralty Court for the payment of 'prize money'.
LIE-TO: to prevent a vessel from making progress through the water - achieved by reducing sail in a gale. The objective is to keep the vessel in such a position, with the wind on the bow, as to ensure that heavy seas do not break aboard.
LINE - Rope and cordage used aboard a vessel.
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.
MAINSAIL: the principal sail of a sailing vessel.
MARLINSPIKE - A tool for opening the strands of a rope while splicing.
MIDSHIP - Approximately in the location equally distant from the bow and stern.
MIZZENMAST or MIZZEN: the name for the third, aftermost, mast of a square-rigged sailing ship or of a three-masted schooner.
MOORING - An arrangement for securing a boat to a mooring buoy or a pier.
MUSTER: to assemble the crew of a ship on deck and call through the list of names to establish who is present and accounted for.
MUSTER-BOOK: the book kept on board a vessel in which was entered the names of all men serving in the ship, with the dates of their entry and final discharge from the crew. It was the basis on which victuals were issued and payment made for services performed on board.
NAUTICAL MILE - One minute of latitude; approximately 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.
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.
PIER - A loading platform extending at an angle from the shore.
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.
PINTLE: a vertical metal pin attached to the leading edge of the rudder; it is fitted into the metal ring or 'gudgeon' bolted to the sternpost of a vessel. This provides the means for hinging the rudder on the sternpost and allows a rudder to be swung or turned as desired (by use of the tiller); where necessary (ie. when the rudder needs to be removed or repaired) the pintles can be unshipped quickly and the rudder detached.
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.
PORT: the left-hand side of a vessel as seen from the stern; also a harbour or haven.
PRIVATEER: a privately owned vessel armed with guns which operated in time of war against the trading vessels of an enemy nation. Each privateer was given a a 'letter of marque' which was regarded as a commission to seize any enemy shipping as a 'prize'. The name 'privateer' has come to refer to both the ship and the men who sailed in her.
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").
PRIZE COURT: Captured ships were to be brought before prize courts where it was decided whether the vessel was legal prize; if so, the whole value was divided among the owners and the crew of the ship.
PRIZE MONEY: the net proceeds of the sale of enemy shipping and property captured at sea - these proceeds were distributed to the captors on a sliding scale from highest rank to lowest seaman.
PRIZE: name used to describe an enemy vessel captured at sea by a ship of war or a privateer; also used to describe a contraband cargo taken from a merchant ship. A 'prize court' would then determine the validity of capture of ships and goods and authorize their disposal. 'Prize' in British naval history always acted as considerable incentive to recruitment with many men tempted to join the navy in anticipation of quick riches.
QUARTER: (1)the direction from which the wind was blowing, particularly if it looked like remaining there for some time; (2)the two after parts of the ship - strictly speaking a ship's port or starbord quarter was a bearing 45° from the stern.
QUARTERING SEA - Sea coming on a boat's quarter.
ROAD or ROADSTED: a stretch of sheltered water near land where ships may ride at anchor in all but very heavy weather; often rendered as 'roads', and does not refer to the streets of a particular port city but rather its anchorage, as in 'St Helens Roads', the designated anchorage for shipping located between St. Helens (Isle of Wight) and Portsmouth, or 'Funchal Roads' at the island of Madeira. (see Elizabeth Macquarie's 1809 Journal).
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.
RUDDER - A vertical plate or board for steering a boat.
RUN - To allow a line to feed freely.
RUNNING LIGHTS - Lights required to be shown on boats underway between sundown and sunup
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.
SEA COCK - A through hull valve, a shut off on a plumbing or drain pipe between the vessel's interior and the sea.
SEA ROOM - A safe distance from the shore or other hazards.
SEAMANSHIP - All the arts and skills of boat handling, ranging from maintenence and repairs to piloting, sail handling, marlinespike work, and rigging.
SEAWORTHY - A boat or a boat's gear able to meet the usual sea conditions.
SECURE - To make fast.
SET - Direction toward which the current is flowing.
SHIP: from the Old English scip, the generic name for sea-going vessels (as opposed to boats). Originally ships were personified as masculine but by the sixteenth century almost universally expressed as as feminine.
SHOAL: a bank or reef, an area of shallow water dangerous to navigation. Sounding: the of operation of determioning the depth of the sea, and the quality of the ground, by means of a lead and line, sunk from the ship to the bottom, where some of the sediment or sand adheres to the tallow in the hollow base of the lead.
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.
SOUND: (1) to try the depth of the water; (2) a deep bay.
SOUNDING: ascertaining the depth of the sea by means of a lead and line, sunk from a ship to the bottom.
SOUNDINGS: those parts of the ocean not far from the shore where the depth is about 80 to 100 fathoms.
SPAR: a general term for any wooden support used in the rigging of a ship - includes all 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.
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.
STEM - The forward most part of the bow.
STERN - after-part of a ship or boat.
STERN LINE - A docking line leading from the stern.
STOW - To put an item in its proper place.
SWAMP - To fill with water, but not settle to the bottom.
TACK: the nautical manouevre of bringing a sailing vessel on to another bearing by bringing the wind round the bow; during this manouevre the vessel is said to be 'coming about'.
THE LINE (or 'Crossing the Line') Sailing across the Equator. Nautical tradition where seamen celebrate the crossing of the equator by dressing up and acting out a visit by King Neptune. Those who have not previously crossed the line are summoned to the court of Neptune for trial, followed by a ritual ducking (in a bathing tub of seawater) and sometimes lathered and roughly shaved.
THWARTSHIPS - At right angles to the centerline of the boat.
TIDE - The periodic rise and fall of water level in the oceans.
TIDE OF FLOOD - the flow of the tidal stream as it rises from the ending of the period of slack water at low tide to the start of the period of slack water at high tide; its period is approximately six hours.
TILLER - A bar or handle for turning a boat's rudder or an outboard motor.
TO CHASE: to pursue a vessel in wartime with the aim of capturing, acquiring information from her, or destroying.
TO HAIL: to call to another ship.
TOPSIDES - The sides of a vessel between the waterline and the deck; sometimes referring to onto or above the deck.
TRADE WINDS: steady regular winds that blow in a belt approximately 30 N. and 30 S of the equator. In the North Atlantic the trades blow consistently all year round, from the north-east; in the South Atlantic they blow from the south-east, converging just north of the equator. The meeting of the trade winds just north of the equator created the infamous 'doldrums', where sailing ships could be becalmed for days or weeks waiting for a wind to carry them back into the trades.They were known as trade winds because of their regularity, thereby assisting sailing vessels in reaching their markets to carry out trade.
TRANSOM - The stern cross-section of a square sterned boat.
TRIM - Fore and aft balance of a boat.
UNDER WAY: the description of a ship as soon as she begins to move under canvas power after her anchor has been raised from the bottom; also written as 'under weigh.'
UNDERWAY - Vessel in motion, i.e., when not moored, at anchor, or aground.
V BOTTOM - A hull with the bottom section in the shape of a "V".
VOYAGE: a journey by sea. It usually includes the outward and homeward trips, which are called passages.
WAKE - Moving waves, track or path that a boat leaves behind it, when moving across the waters.
WATCH: (1) one of the seven divisions of the nautical day; (2) one of two divisions of the seamen forming the ship's company.
WATERLINE - A line painted on a hull which shows the point to which a boat sinks when it is properly trimmed (see BOOT TOP).
WAY - Movement of a vessel through the water such as headway, sternway or leeway.
WEAR: the nautical maneuver of bringing a sailing vessel on to another tack by bringing the wind around the stern.
WEATHER: in a nautical sense (rather than a meteorological) this is the phrase used by seamen to describe anything that lies to windward. Consequently, a coastline that lies to windward of a ship is a weather shore; the side of a ship that faces the wind when it is under way is said to be the weather side a ship, etc.
WEIGH ANCHOR: the raising of the anchor so that the ship is no longer secured to the sea or river bottom.
WEIGH: to haul up.
WINDWARD - Toward the direction from which the wind is coming.
WINDWARD: the weather side, or that direction from which the wind blows. It is the opposite side to leeward.
YACHT - A pleasure vessel, a pleasure boat; in American usage the idea of size and luxury is conveyed, either sail or power.
YARD: (1) a large wooden spar crossing the masts of a sailing ship horizontally or diagonally, from which a sail is set. (2) a shortened form of the word 'dockyard, in which vessels are built or repaired.
YAW - To swing or steer off course, as when running with a quartering sea.
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