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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

A.B. - Ableseaman rating a man able to hand, reef and steer.

Aback -(backwinded) - The sail filling on wrong side in the casee of square rigged ship may cause the ship to go astern.(See All-Aback)

Abaft- towards the stern of a vessel.

Abaft the beam - aft a line which extends out from amidships.

Abandon Ship - an order given to leave a ship when it is in danger.

Abandonment - a marine insurance term indicating that the cost of repairs to a vessel is more than the cost of the vessel and cargo.

Abeam - At right angle to the middle of the ship's side

Aboard. Within a vessel.

Fall aboard - one vessel falls foul of another.
To Lay aboard - to sail alongside an enemy vessel with the intention of boarding.

Tacks aboard - to brace the yards around for sailing close hauled.

About - on the other tack. To pass through the eye of the wind.

Above board - above the deck.

Abreast - Along side or at right to.

Accommodation. (See LADDER)

A-Cock-Bill. The situation of the yards when they are topped up at an angle with the deck. The situation of an anchor when it hangs to the cathead by the ring only.

Adrift -Broken from moorings or fasts. Without Fasts.

Afloat. Resting on the surface of the water

Afore. Forward. The opposite of abaft.

Aft -After.  At, near or towards the stern. To move aft is to move to the back of the boat.

After Leading A line that lead from its point of attachment toward the stern.

Aground. Touching the bottom.

Ahead. In the direction of the vessel's head. Wind ahead is from the direction toward which the vessel's head points (opposite to A-stern).

Ahoy - seaman's call to attract attention

A-Hull. The situation of a vessel when she lies with all her sails furled and her helm lashed a-lee.

A-Lee.  The situation of the helm when it is put in the opposite direction from that in, which the wind blows.

All-Aback.  When all the sails are aback.

All Hands.  The whole crew.

All In The Wind When all the sails are shaking.

Aloft - up above, up the mast or in the rigging.

Aloof.    At a distance.

Amain.  Suddenly. At once.

Amidships - In the middle of the ship, either to the length or breadth.

Anchor - A hook which digs in to the bottom to keep the ship from drifting

Anchorage-A sheltered place or area where a boat can anchor.

Anchor Ball - A black ball visible in all direction display in the forward part of a vessel at anchor.

Anchor Watch - (see Watch) A member or members of the crew that keep watch and check the drift of ship.

Anchor Light - A white light visible in all direction display in the forward part of a vessel at anchor.

An-End. When a mast is perpendicular to the deck.

A-Peek.  When the cable is hove taut so as to bring the vessel nearly over her anchor. The yards are a-peek when they are topped up by contrary lifts.

Apparent Wind- Wind felt on a vessel underway.

Apron.  A piece of timber fixed behind the lower part of the stern [sic], just above the fore end of the keel. A covering to the vent or lock of a cannon.

Arm. Yard-Arm.   The extremity of a yard. Also, the lower part of an anchor, crossing the shank and terminating in the flukes.

Arming. A piece of tallow put in the cavity and over the bottom of a lead-line.

A-Stern.  In the direction of the stern. The opposite of ahead.

A-Taunt. (See TAUNT.)

Athwart. Across.

Athwart-ships. Across the line of the vessel's keel.
Athwart-hawse. Across the direction of a vessel's head. Across her cable.

A-Trip.  The situation of the anchor when it is raised clear of the ground. The same as a-weigh.

Avast! or 'Vast - The command to stop, or cease, in any operation.

 A-Weather.  The situation of the helm when it is put in the direction from which the wind blows.

A-Weigh. The same as a-trip.

Awning. A covering of canvass over a vessel's deck, or over a boat, to keep off sun or rain.

B

Back. To back an anchor, is to carry out a smaller one ahead of the one by which the vessel rides, to take off some of the strain.

To back a sail, is throw it aback.
To back and fill, is alternately to back and fill the sails.

Backstay - Mast support running to aft deck or another mast. (Stays)

Backstaff a navigation instrument used to measure the apparent height of a landmark whose actual height is known, such as the top of a lighthouse. From this information, the ship's distance from that landmark can be calculated.

Backwinded -when the wind hits the leeward side of the sails.

Baggywrinkle: - chafing gear made from old ropes.

Bagpipe. To bagpipe the mizzen, is to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the weather mizzen rigging.

Bail - Ironrod partially circling the boom to which sheet block is attached. (See Bale).

To remove water from the boat.

Bailers - Openings in the bottom or transom to drain water when sailing (See Self Bailers).

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, or nearly so.

Bale. To bale a boat, is to throw water out of her.

A fitting on the end of a spar, to which a line may be led.

Ballast-Is either pigs of iron, stones, or gravel, which last is called single ballast; and their use is to bring the ship down to her bearings in the water which her provisions and stores will not do. Trim the ballast that is spread it about, and lay it even, or runs over one side of the hold to the other.

To freshen ballast, is to shift it.
Coarse gravel is called shingle ballast

Bank. A boat is double banked, when men seated on the same thwart pull two oars, one opposite the other.

Bar. A bank or shoal at the entrance of a harbor.

Barber Hauler - A line attached to the jib or jib sheet, used to adjust the angle of sheeting by pulling the sheet towards the centre line of the boat.

Bare-Poles. The condition of a ship when she has no sail set.

Barge. A large double-banked boat used by the commander of a vessel, in the navy.

Bark- 3 Masted with Sq. rigged on fore and main mast

Barkentine- 3 Masted with Sq. rigged on fore mast only

Barnacle. A shellfish often found on a vessel's bottom.

Barratry. An unlawful or fraudulent act, or very gross and culpable negligence, by the master or mariners of a vessel in violation of their duty as such, directly prejudicial to the owner or cargo, and without his consent.  Smuggling, trading with an enemy, casting away the ship, and plundering or destroying cargo are considered barratry."      Rene de Kerchove, International Maritime Dictionary, 2nd. Ed., p.44.

A similar definition to that above and the ones listed by Nick Dean and others is within: W.A.  McEwen and A.H. Lewis, An Encyclopedia of Nautical Knowledge, p. 34.

An alternate slant is contained in: (Sec. 296) of part XLII- Crimes, of Department of Commerce, Navigation Laws of the United States 1923, p. 397.

"Whoever, on the high seas, or within the United States, willfully and corruptly conspires, combines, and confederates with any other person, such other person being either within or without the United States, to cast away or otherwise destroy any vessel, with intent to injure any person that may have underwritten or may thereafter underwrite any policy insurance thereon or on goods on board thereof, or with intent to injure any person that has lent or advanced, or may lend or advance, any money on such vessel on bottomry or respondentia; or whoever, within the        United States, builds, fits, out, or aids in building or fitting out, any vessel with intent that the same be cast away or destroyed, with the intent herinbefore mentioned, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than ten years. (Sec. 296.)"

British maritime writer AC Hardy, Wreck - SOS, 1944, p.33. Seems to define it as a crime against insurers when he writes:  "Insurance companies are wise in their generation. They employ technical experts to help them, and he would be a bold or resourceful man who is able to-day to sink his ship without detection."

 William D. Winter, Marine Insurance, Its Principles And Practice, 1919, p. 147, includes a full page of various types of barratry, but summarizes: "It includes every breach of trust committed with deserting her or by embezzling the cargo."

          Kevin J. Foster

          Chief, National Maritime Initiative

          National Park Service

          1849 C Street., NW

          Washington, DC  20240

Battens.  Thin strips of wood put around the hatches, to keep the tarpaulin down. Also, put upon rigging to keep it from chafing. A large batten widened at the end, and put upon rigging, is called a Scotchman.

Beacon.  A post or buoy placed over a shoal or bank to warn vessels off. Also as a signal-mark on land.

Beam - The widest part of the boat.

Beams. Strong pieces of timber stretching across the vessel, to support the decks.

On the weather or lee beam, is in a direction to windward or leeward, at right angles with the keel.

On beam ends. The situation of a vessel when turned over so that her beams are inclined toward the vertical.
Beam reach - A point of sail where the boat is sailing at a right angle to the apparent wind.

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.

The bearings of a vessel, is the widest part of her below the plank-shear. That part of her hull, which is on the waterline when she is at anchor, and in her proper trim.

Bear. An object bears so and so, when it is in such a direction from the person looking.

To bear down upon a vessel, is to approach her from the windward.
To bear up, is to put the helm up, keep a vessel off from her course, and move her to leeward.
To bear away, is the same as to bear up; being applied to the vessel instead of to the tiller.

To bear-a-hand. To make haste.

Beating. Going toward the direction of the wind, by alternate tacks.

Beaufort Scale - is a system for estimating wind strengths

Becalm. To intercept the wind. A vessel or highland to windward is said to becalm another. So one sail becalms another.

Becket. A piece of rope placed so as to confines a spar or another rope. A handle made of rope, in the form of a circle, (as the handle of a chest.) Is called a becket.

Bees. Pieces of plank bolted to the outer end of the bowsprit, to reeve the foretopmast stays through.

Belay - Change order; - To make a line secure to a pin, cleat or bitt.

Belay pin - Iron or wood pin fitted into railing to secure lines to.

Bend. To make fast.

To bend a sail, is to make it fast to the yard. 
To bend a cable, is to make it fast to the anchor.
A bend, is a knot by which one rope is made fast to another.

Bends. The strongest part of a vessel's side, to which the beams, knees, and foot-hooks are bolted. The part between the water's edge and the bulwarks.

Beneaped. (See NEAPED)

Bentick Shrouds. Formerly used, and extending from the futtock-staves to the opposite channels.

Berth. The place where a vessel lies. The place in which a man sleeps.

Between-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-trees.

Bight - The double part of a rope when it is folded; in contradistinction from the ends. Any part of a rope may be called the bight, except the ends. Also, a bend in the shore, making a small bay or inlet.

Bilge- The lowest part of the interior hull below the waterline

Bilge-ways. Pieces of timber bolted together and placed under the bilge, in launching.
Bilge Water. Water which settles in the bilge.
Bilge. The largest circumference of a cask.

Bilged. When the bilge is broken in

Bilge Pump-A mechanical, electrical, or manually operated pump used to remove water from the bilge.

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

Billet-Head. (See HEAD.)

Binnacle. A box near the helm, containing the compass.

Biscuit:  Bread intended for naval or military expeditions is now simply flour well kneaded, with the least possible quantity of water, into flat cakes and slowly baked."

 It has been around for a long time - Pliny(c. AD 100) calls it 'panis nauticus' ". Hard tack was another name for ship's biscuit and became a common term in the 1830s and 1840s.

Good biscuit was supposed to be one third heavier than the flour from which it was made. It was normally kept in cloth bags and rapidly became a home to weevils - no doubt increasing the protein content. It would keep for many years and was a major staple in ships until the advent of shipboard bakeries in the early years of the 20th Century.

Admiral Smyth's "Sailor's Word Book" (1867)

Bitt - A vertically posted above deck used to secure line. 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, Or Bitter-End. That part of the cable, which is abaft the bitts.

Blade. The flat part of an oar, which goes into the water.

Blanketing - A tactical maneuver whereby a boat uses its sails to cover another competitor's wind so causing him to slow down.

Block - A pulley used to gain mechanical advantage.

Bluewater Sailing - open ocean sailing, as opposed to sailing in protected waters e.g.. Lakes, bays.

Bluff. A bluff-bowed or bluff-headed vessel is one, which is full and square forward.

Board. The stretch a vessel makes upon one tack, when she is beating.

Stern-board. When a vessel goes stern foremost.
By the board. Said of masts, when they fall over the side.

Boarders - sailors used to make attack on other ships by boarding or used to repel boarders. Once the ship was captured they used to repair the ship and act as prize crew.

Boat-Hook.  An iron hook with a long staff, held in the hand, by which a boat is kept fast to a wharf, or vessel.

Boatswain. (Pronounced bo-s'n.)  A warrant officer in the navy, who has charge of the rigging, and calls the crew to duty.

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

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

Bolts. Long cylindrical bars of iron or copper, used to secure or unite the different parts of a vessel.

Bolt-Rope. The rope which goes round a sail, and to which the canvass is sewed.

Bonnet. An additional piece of canvass attached to the foot of a jib, or a schooner's foresail, by lacing. Taken off in bad weather.

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

Boom-irons. Iron rings on the yards, through which the studding-sail booms traverse.
Boom Crutch - Support for the boom, holding it up out of the way when the boat is at anchor or moored. Unlike a gallows frame, a crutch is stowed when sailing.
Boom Vang - A system used to hold the boom down when sailing downwind.

Boot Stripe - A different color strip of paint at the waterline.

Boot Top - A stripe near the waterline.

Boot-Topping. Scraping off the grass, or other matter, this may be on a vessel's bottom, and daubing it over with tallow, or some mixture.

Bound. Wind-bound. When a vessel is kept in port by a head wind.

Bow - The forward part of the vessel.

Bowline - A knot use to form an eye or loop at the end of a rope.

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

Best bower - is the larger of the two bowers.

Bow-Grace. A frame of old ropes or junk placed round the bows and sides of a vessel, to prevent the ice from injuring her.

Bowline. (Pronounced bo-lin.)  A rope leading forward from the leech of a square sail, to keep the leech well out when sailing close-hauled. A vessel is said to be on a bowline, or on a taut bowline, when she is close-hauled.

Bowline-Bridle. The span on the leech of the sail to which the bowline is toggled.

Bowse.   To pull upon a tackle.

Bowsies - are essentially long thin deadeyes used to tension the rig.

Bowsprit: - a long spar attached to the Jibboom in the bow; used to secure headsails.

Box-Hauling. Wearing a vessel by backing the head sails.

Box. To box the compass, is to repeat the thirty-two points of the compass in order.

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.

Break. the sudden rise or fall of the deck when not flush.

To break bulk, is to begin to unload.
To break ground, is to lift the anchor from the bottom.

To break shear, is when a vessel, at anchor, in tending, is forced the wrong way by the wind or current, so that she does not lie so well for keeping herself clear of her anchor.
Break of the poop - forward end of the poop deck.

Breaker. A small cask containing water.

Breaming.  Cleaning a ship's bottom by burning.

Breast-Fast. A rope used to confine a vessel sideways to a wharf, or to some other vessel.

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

Breast Line - A docking line going at a right angle from the boat to the dock.

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

Breech. The outside angle of a knee-timber. The after end of a gun.

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

Bridge Deck - A partition between the cockpit and the cabin.

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

Bridle-port. The foremost port used for stowing the anchors.

Brig- is a two-Masted vessel with both masts square rigged. On the sternmost mast, the main mast, there is also a gaff sail.

An hermaphrodite brig has a brig's foremast and a schooner's mainmast

Brigantine- is a two-Masted vessel fore mast being square rigged.

Bright work - varnished woodwork.

Broach - the boat swings and puts the beam against the waves.

Broach-To. To fall off so much, when going free, as to bring the wind round on the other quarter and take the sails aback.

Broad Reach - A point of sailing where the boat is moving away from the wind, but not directly downwind.

Broadside. The whole side of a vessel.

Broken-Backed .The state of a vessel when she is so loosened as to droop at each end.

Bucklers. Blocks of wood made to fit in the hawse-holes, or holes in the half-ports, when at sea. Those in the hawse-holes are sometimes called hawse-blocks.

Bulge. (See BILGE)

Bulk. The whole cargo when stowed.

Stowed in bulk, is when goods are stowed loose, instead of being stowed in casks or bags. (See BREAK BULK.)

Bulkhead ----The vertical partitions that divide the hull into separate compartments are called bulkheads. Some are watertight. These watertight bulkheads are so arranged that in case of accident at sea, water would be confined to one compartment only. The collision bulkhead in the front end is constructed to withstand heavy strain and shock in case the bow be staved in.

Bulkward ,Bulwark - Solid rail along ship side above deck to prevent men and gear from going overboard.

Bull. A sailor's term for a small keg, holding a gallon or two.

Bull's Eye. A small piece of stout wood with a hole in the centre for a stay or rope to reeve through, without any sheave, and with a groove round it for the strap, which is usually of iron. In addition, a piece of thick glass inserted in the deck to let light below.

Bung - A round wood plug inserted in hole to cover a nail screw or bolt.

Bunk: - a sleeping berth.

Buoy - A floating navigation aid.

Burdened Vessel - That vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rules, must give way to the privileged vessel.

Bulwarks. The wood work round a vessel, above her deck, consisting of boards fastened to stanchions and timber-heads.

Bum-Boats. Boats which lie alongside a vessel in port with provisions and fruit 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. (Pronounced buntin.) Thin woolen stuff of which a ship's colors are made.

Buntlines. Ropes used for hauling up the body of a sail.

Buoy. A floating cask, or piece of wood, attached by a rope to an anchor, to show its position. Also, floated over a shoal, or other dangerous place as a beacon.

To stream a buoy, is to drop it into the water before letting go the anchor.
A buoy is said to watch, when it floats upon the surface of the water.

Burton. A tackle, rove in a particular manner.

A single Spanish burton has three single blocks, or two single blocks and a hook in the bight of one of the running parts.
A double Spanish burton has three double blocks.

Butt. The end of a plank where it unites with the end of another.

Scuttlebutt. A cask with a hole cut in its bilge, and kept on deck to hold water for daily use.

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 (See LEE. See RUN.)

C

Cabin. The after part of a vessel, in which the officers live.

Cabin Sole .The bottom space of the enclosed space under the deck of a boat.

Cable - The rope or chain made fast to the anchor. It is usually 120 fathoms in length.

Cable-Tier. (See TIER.)

Caboose.      A house on deck, where the cooking is done. Commonly called the Galley.

Calk. (See CAULK.)

Cambered. When the floor of a vessel is higher at the middle than towards the stem and stern.

Camel. A machine used for lifting vessels over a shoal or bar.

Camfering. Taking off an angle or edge of a timber.

Canister - musket balls, put into thin tin or wooden containers designed to break apart on firing, and langrage as old chain links, scrap metal, horseshoe nails, stones, pottery pieces, etc. put into similar containers designed to break apart on firing. Langrage (Langrel Langrace) was considered barbaric, because it was almost certain to cause Tetanus. They didn't know about bacteria, but their clinical observations of causality were excellent.

Can-Hooks. Slings with flat hooks at each end, used for hoisting barrels or light casks, the hooks being placed round the chimes, and the purchase hooked to the centre of the slings. Small ones are usually wholly of iron.

Cant-Pieces.  Pieces of timber fastened to the angles of fishes and side-trees to supply any part that may prove rotten.

Cant-Timbers. Timbers at the two ends of a vessel, raised obliquely from the keel.

Lower Half cants [reads "cints"] Those parts of frames situated forward and abaft the square frames, or the floor timbers which cross the keel.

Canvass. The cloth of which sails are made. No. 1 is the coarsest and strongest.

Cap.  A thick, strong block of wood with two holes through it, one square and the other round, used to confine together the head of one mast and the lower art of the mast next above it.

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.

Capstan-bars - are heavy pieces of wood by which the capstan is hove round.

Carline Wood stringer support for hatches and cabins.

Capsize. To overturn.

Careen. To heave a vessel down upon her side by purchases upon the masts. To lie over, when sailing on the wind.

Carlings.  Short and small pieces of timber running between the beams.

Carrick-Bend. A kind of knot.

Carrick-Bitts are the windless bitts.

Carry-Away. To break a spar or part a rope.

Cascabel is the other term for the knob on a cannon, and comes from Spanish, Catalan, etc. Cascabellus = Little bell. I wonder if there is a connection in the similar way in which bronze bells and cannon were cast at the foundry.

Cast. To pay a vessel's head off, in getting under way, on the tack she is to sail upon.

Cat. The tackle used to hoist the anchor up to the cat-head.

Cat-block. The block of this tackle.

Cat-Harpin. An iron leg used to confine the upper part of the rigging to the mast.

Cat-Head. Large timbers projecting from the vessel's side, to which the anchor is raised and secured.

Cat's-Paw.  A kind of hitch made in a rope.

A light current of air seen on the surface of the water during a calm.

Caulk to fill wooden vessel seams with oakum and cotton using caulking irons and hammer.

Cavil. (See KEVEL.)

Ceiling. The inside planking of a vessel.

Chafe. To rub the surface of a rope or spar.

Chafing-gear - is the stuff put upon the rigging and spars to prevent their chafing.

Chains. Strong links or plates of iron, the lower ends of which are bolted through the ship's side to the timbers. Their upper ends are secured to the bottom of the dead-eyes in the channels. In addition, used familiarly for the CHANNELS, which see. The chain cable of a vessel is called familiarly her chain.

Rudder-chains - lead from the outer and upper end of the rudder to the quarters. They are hung slack.

Chain Boat - a boat fitted up for recovering lost cables, anchors, etc.

Chain Bolt -The bolt at the lower end of the chain plate, which fastens it to the vessel's side.

Chain-Plates.   Plates of iron bolted to the side of a ship, to which the chains and dead-eyes of the lower rigging are connected. Also used to support the standing rigging.

Chain Shot - Two cannon balls connected together with either chaian or an iron bar, was used to destroy the rigging other other ships.
Chain shot was first used in the 30 Years War. It was introduced by Gustavus Adolfus to be shot at a low, flat trajectory for breaking cavalry charges (and horses' legs). The naval use comes later.

Channels. Broad pieces of plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel. Used for spreading the lower rigging. (See CHAINS.)

Chanty - Shanties are the work songs that were used on the square-rigged ships of the Age of Sail. Their rhythms coordinated the efforts of many sailors hauling on lines

Chapelling.  Wearing a ship round, when taken aback, without bracing the head yards.

Charley noble: - galley stovepipe.

Check. A term sometime used for slacking off a little on a brace, and then belaying it.

Cheeks. The projections on each side of a mast, upon which the trestle-trees rest. The sides of the shell of a block.

Cheerly!  Quickly, with a will.

Chess-Trees. Pieces of oak, fitted to the sides of a vessel, abaft the fore chains, with a sheave in them, to board the main tack to.

Chimes.  The ends of the staves of a cask, where they come out beyond the head of the cask.

Chinse.  To thrust oakum into seams with a small iron.

Chips - Small pieces of timber offcuts left over from shipbuilding, Traditionally available to shipwrights and carpenters was much abused during the 17th cenury when whole house and furniture were buit.

Clamps. Thick planks on the inside of vessels, to support the ends of beams. In addition, crooked plates of iron fore-locked upon the trunnions of cannon. Any plate of iron made to turn, open, and shut to confine a spar or boom, as, a studdingsail boom, or a boat's mast.

Clasp-Hook. (See CLOVE-HOOK.)

Cleat A piece of wood with two horns used in different parts of a vessel to belay ropes to.

Clew. The lower corner of square sails, and the after corner of a fore-and-aft sail.

To clew up, is to haul up the clew of a sail.

Clew-Garnet. A rope that hauls up the clew of a foresail or mainsail in a square-rigged vessel.

Clewline. A rope that hauls up the clew of a square sail. The clew-garnet is the clewline of a course.

Clinch.A half-hitch stopped to its own part.

Close-Hauled. Applied to a vessel, which is sailing with her yards braced up to get as much possible to windward? The same as on a taut bowline, full and by, on the wind.

Clove Hitch - A knot. Two half hitches around a spar, post or rope

Clove-Hook. An iron clasp, in two parts, moving upon the same pivot, and overlapping one another. Used for bending chain sheets to the clews of sails.

Club-Haul. To bring a vessel's head round on the other tack, by letting go the lee anchor and cutting or slipping the cable.

Clubbing. Drifting down a current with an anchor out.

Coaking. Uniting pieces of spar by means of tabular projections, formed by cutting away the solid of one piece into a hollow, so as to make a projection in the other, in such a manner that they may correctly fit, the butts preventing the pieces from drawing asunder.

Coaks are fitted into the beams and knees of vessels to prevent their drawing.

Coal Tar. Tar made from bituminous coal.

Coamings. Raised work round the hatches, to prevent water going down into the hold.

Coat. Mast-Coat is a piece of canvass, tarred or painted, placed round a mast or bowsprit, where it enters the deck.

Cock-Bill. To cock-bill a yard or anchor. (See A-COCK-BILL.)

Cock-Pit. An apartment in a vessel of war, used by the surgeon during an action.

Codline. An eighteen thread line.

Coil - To lay a rope down in circular turns. A coil is a quantity of rope laid up in that manner.

Collar. An eye in the end or bight of a shroud or stay, to go over the mast-head.

Come.  Come home, said of an anchor when it is broken from the ground and drags.

To come up a rope or tackle, is to slack it off.

Companion. A wooden covering over the staircase to a cabin.

Companion-way, the staircase to the cabin.
Companion-ladder. The ladder leading from the poop to the main deck.

Compass. The instrument which tells the course of a vessel.

Compass-timbers - are such as are curved or arched.

Concluding-Line. A small line leading through the centre of the steps of a rope or Jacob's ladder.

Conning, Or Cunning. Directing the helmsman in steering a vessel.

Counter. That part of a vessel between the bottom of the stern and the wing-transom and buttock.

Counter-timbers are short timbers put in to strengthen the counter.
 To counter-brace yards, is to brace the head-yards one way and the after-yards another.

Courses. The common term for the sails that hang from a ship's lower yards. The foresail is called the fore course and the mainsail the main course.

Coxswain. (Pronounced cox'n.) The person who steers a boat and has charge of her.

Cranes. Pieces of iron or timber at the vessel's sides, used to stow boats or spars upon. A machine used at a wharf for hoisting.

Crank .The condition of a vessel when she is inclined to lean over a great deal and cannot bear much sail. This may be owing to her construction or to her stowage.

Creeper. An iron instrument, like a grapnell, with four claws, used for dragging the bottom of a harbor or river, to find anything lost.

Cringle. A short piece of rope with each end spliced into the bolt-rope of a sail, confining an iron ring or thimble.

Cross-Bars. Round bars of iron, bent at each end, used as levers to turn the shank of an anchor.

Cross-Chocks. Pieces of timber fayed across the dead-wood amidships, to make good the deficiency at the heels of the lower futtocks.

Cross-Jack. (Pronounced croj-jack.) The sail cross-jack yard, this is the lower crossed yard on the mizzen mast.

Cross-Pawls. Pieces of timber that keeps a vessel together while in her frames.

Cross-Piece. A piece of timber connecting two bitts.

Cross-Spales. Pieces of timber placed across a vessel, and nailed to the frames, to keep the sides together until the knees are bolted.

Cross-Trees.  Pieces of oak supported by the cheeks and trestle-trees, at the mast-heads, to sustain the tops on the lower mast, and to spread the topgallant rigging at the topmast-head.

Crow-Foot. A number of small lines rove through the uvrou [sic] to suspend an awning by.

Crown of an anchor, is the place where the arms are joined to the shank.

Crow's Nest - protected look-out position high on the foremast

Crutch. A knee or piece of knee-timber, placed inside of a vessel, to secure the heels of the cant-timbers abaft. Also, the chock upon which the spanker-boom rests when the sail is not set.

Cuckold's Neck. A knot, by which a rope is secured to a spar, the two parts of the rope crossing each other, and seized together.

Cuddy. A cabin in the fore part of a boat.

Cuntline. The space between the bilges of two casks stowed side by side. Where one cask is set upon the cuntline between two others, they are stowed bilge and cuntline.

Cut-Water. The foremost part of a vessel's prow, which projects forward of the bows.

Cutter.  A small boat. Also, a kind of sloop.

D

Dagger. A piece of timber crossing all the puppets of the bilge-ways to keep them together.

Dagger-knees. Knees placed obliquely, to avoid a port.

Davits: -small cranes, usually located astern that aare used to raise and lower smaller boats from the deck to the water. Also, a spar with a roller or sheave at its end, used for fishing the anchor, called a fish-davit.

Ditty bag: - a small bag for carrying or stowing all personal articles.

Deadeye  A circular block of wood, with three holes through it, for the lanyards of rigging to reeve through, without sheaves, and with a groove round it for an iron strap

Dead-Flat. One of the bends, amidships.

Dead-Lights. Ports placed in the cabin windows in bad weather.

Dead reckoning- A calculation of determining position by using course speed last known position

Dinghy A small boat, usually carried on hauled behind a bigger boat

Dead-Rising, Or Rising-Line. Those parts of a vessel's floor, throughout her whole length, where the floor-timber is terminated upon the lower futtock.

Dead-Water. The eddy under a vessel's counter.

Dead-Wood. Blocks of timber, laid upon each end of the keel, where the vessel narrows.

Deck. The planked floor of a vessel, resting upon her beams.

Deck-Stopper. A stopper used for securing the cable forward of the windlass or capstan, while it is overhauled. (See STOPPER.)

Deep-Sea-Lead. (Pronounced dipsey.) The lead used in sounding at great depths.

Departure. The easting or westing made by a vessel. The bearing of an object on the coast from which a vessel commences her dead reckoning.

Derrick. A single spar supported by stays and guys, to which a purchase is attached, used to unload vessels, and for hoisting.

Displacement-The weight of the water displaced by the vessel.

Displacement speed hull speed. The theoretical speed that a boat can travel without planing. This speed is 1.34 times the length of a boat at its waterline.

Dog.  A short iron bar, with a fang or teeth at one end, and a ring at the other. Used for a purchase, the fang being placed against a beam or knee, and the block of a tackle hooked to the ring.

Dog-Vane. A small vane, made of feathers or buntin, to show the direction of the wind.

Dog-Watches. Half watches of two hours each, from 4 to 6, and from 6 to 8, P.M. (See WATCH.)

Dolphin. A rope or strap round a mast to support the puddening, where the lower yards rest in the slings. In addition, a spar or buoy with a large ring in it, secured to an anchor, to which vessels may bend their cables.

Dolphin-Striker. The martingale

Dorade-A horn type of vent designed to let air into a cabin and keep water out.

Double Bottom ----The double bottom extends from the flat keel to the tank top. It is strongly constructed and is water tight so that in case of accident causing an inrush of water into the double bottom, the ship would still be able to keep afloat. The principal parts of the double bottom are the flat keel, vertical keel, floors, intercostal girders, bilge, brackets, tank top, longitudinals, bounding bars and angle clips.

Double Sheetbend -Join small to medium size rope.

Douse To drop a sail quickly.

Dowelling. A method of coaking, by letting pieces into the solid, or uniting two pieces together by tenoning.

Downhaul. A rope used to haul down jibs, staysails, and studdingsails.

Drabler. A piece of canvass laced to the bonnet of a sail, to give it more drop.

Draft-The depth of water required to float a vessel.

Drag A machine with a bag net, used for dragging on the bottom for anything lost.

Draught. The depth of water which a vessel requires to float her.

Draw. A sail draws when it is filled by the wind.

To draw a jib, is to shift it over the stay to leeward, when it is aback.

Dreadnoughts had a uniform main battery of 10-12 inch guns, in number at least twice as many as on Predreadnoughts and semidreadnought

Drift- A vessels leeway.

Drifts. Those pieces in the sheer-draught where the rails are cut off.

Drive. To scud before a gale, or to drift in a current.

Driver. A spanker.

Drop. The depth of a sail, from head to foot, amidships.

Drum-Head. The top of the capstan.

Dub. To reduce the end of a timber.

Duck. A kind of cloth, lighter and finer than canvass; used for small sails.

Dunnage. Loose wood or other matters, placed on the bottom of the hold, above the ballast, to stow cargo upon.

Dyce (Thus)keeping the attitude toward the wind as it is, and no higher. In other words, if the wind changes direction, change course to match. E.g.: if on the starboard tack (wind coming from the starboard), and the wind backs (anti-clockwise shift), fall off the wind (turn to port) as necessary to maintain the wind coming from the same direction with regard to the vessel.

E

Earing. A rope attached to the cringle of a sail, by which it is bent or reefed.

Ease Sheet-To let the sheet out slowly loosen a line while maintaining control,

Eiking. A piece of wood fitted to make good a deficiency in length.

Elbow. Two crosses in a hawse.

EPIRB Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. An emergency device that uses a radio signal to alert satellites or passing airplanes to a vessel's position.

Escutcheon.  The part of a vessels stern where her name is written.

Euvrou. A piece of wood, by which the legs of the crow-foot to an awning are extended. (See UVROU.)

Even-Keel. The situation of a vessel when she is so trimmed that she sits evenly upon the water, neither end being down more than the other.

Eye.  The circular part of a shroud or stay, where it goes over a mast.

Eye-bolt. A long iron bar, having an eye at one end, driven through a vessel's deck or side into a timber or beam, with the eye remaining out, to hook a tackle to. If there is a ring through eye, it is called a ring-bolt.
An Eye-splice is a certain kind of splice made with the end of a rope into a loop.
Eye of the wind-. The direction that the wind is blowing from.
Eyelet-hole. A hole made in a sail for a cringle or roband to go through.
The Eyes of a vessel. A familiar phrase for the forward part.

F

Fall-The hauling part of the tackle to which power is applied.

Fathom-Measurement of six feet.

Face-Pieces.  Pieces of wood wrought on the fore part of the knee of the head.

Facing.  Letting one piece of timber into another with a rabbet.

Fag.  A rope is fagged when the end is untwisted.

Fairleader. A strip of board or plank, with holes in it, for running rigging to lead through. Also, a block or thimble used for the same purpose.

Fake. One of the circles or rings made in coiling a rope.

Fall.      That part of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting.

False-fire - a tube when lit burnt with a blue flame, used for signalling.

False-Keel. Pieces of timber secured under the main keel of vessels.

Fancy-Line. A line rove through a block at the jaws of a gaff, used as a downhaul. Also, a line used for cross-hauling the lee topping-lift.

Fashion-Pieces. The aftermost timbers, terminating the breadth and forming the shape of the stern.

Fast. A rope by which a vessel is secured to a wharf. There are bow or head, breast, quarter, and stern fasts.

Fathom. Six feet.

Feather To feather an oar in rowing, is to turn the blade horizontally with the top aft as it comes out of the water.

Feather-Edged. Planks, which have one side thicker than another.

Fender-Pieces of wood or rope hung over the side to protect a vessel from chafing when alongside another vessel or dock

Fid. A block of wood or iron, placed through the hole in the heel of a mast, and resting on the trestletrees of the mast below. This supports the mast. Also, a wooden pin, tapered, used in splicing large ropes, in opening eyes.

Fiddle-Block A long shell, having one sheave over the other, and the lower smaller than the upper.

Fiddlehead. (See HEAD.)

Fife Rail-A rail around the mast with hole for belaying pins.

Figure Eight knot - A stopper knot for the end of the rope

Figurehead - carved figure on the front of the ship, over the cutwater.

Fillings. Pieces of timber used to make the curve fair for the mouldings, between the edges of the fish-front and the sides of the mast.

Filler. (See MADE MAST.)

Finishing. Carved ornaments of the quarter-galley, below the second counter, and above the upper lights.

Fish. To raise the flukes of an anchor upon the gunwale. Also, to strengthen a spar when sprung or weakened, by putting in or fastening on another piece.

Fish-front, Fishes-sides. (See MADE MAST.)

Fish-Davit. The davit used for fishing an anchor.

Fishhook A hook with a pennant, to the end of which the fish-tackle is hooked.

Fish-Tackle. The tackle used for fishing an anchor.

Flare. When the vessel's sides go out from the perpendicular. In opposition to falling-home or tumbling-in.

Flat.  A sheet is said to be hauled flat, when it is hauled down close.

Flat-aback, when a sail is blown with it's after surface against the mast.

Fleet. To come up a tackle and draw the blocks apart, for another pull, after they have been hauled two-blocks.

Fleet ho! The order given at such times. Also, to shift the position of a block or fall, so as to haul to more advantage.

Flemish Coil. (See FRENCH-FAKE.)

Flemish-Eye A kind of eye-splice.

Flemish horse The Flemish horse was made fast on the extreme outer end of the yard-arm, the inner end lapping in past the outer foot-rope, and was seized to a jack-stay eye-bolt about three feet in from where the main foot-rope was made fast at the shoulder on the yard.  This had no stirrup, as it was only a short loop.

The Flemish horse was for the man who straddled the yardarm, facing inward, whose duty it was to pass the reef-earring, when a sail was being reefed.

"I'd rather of a kicking mule be undisputed boss

Than passing this 'ere earing out on this 'ere flemish hoss"

---From an old seaman's ditty----

Floor. The bottom of a vessel, on each side of the keelson.

Floor Timbers. Those timbers of a vessel, which are placed across the keel.

Flowing Sheet. When a vessel has the wind free, and the lee clews eased off.

Flukes. The broad triangular plates at the extremity of the arms of an anchor, terminating in a point called the bill.

Fly. That part of a flag, which extends from the Union to the extreme end. (See UNION.)

Flying Jib sets outside of the jib; and the jib-o'-jib outside of that.

Fo'c'sle / fore castle The extreme forward compartment of the vessel.

That part of the upper deck forward of the fore mast; or, as some say, forward of the after part of the fore channels.

Foot. The lower end of a mast or sail. (See FORE-FOOT.)

Foot-Rope. The rope stretching along a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling, formerly called horses.

Foot-Waling. The inside planks or lining of a vessel, over the floor-timbers.

Fore the forward part of the vessel

Used to distinguish the forward part of a vessel, or things in that direction; as, fore mast, fore hatch, in opposition to aft or after

Foremast the mast in the forepart of a vessel, nearest the bow.

Foresail: - is set on the foremast of a schooner or the lowest square sail on the foremast of Sq riggers

Fore-And-Aft.

     Lengthwise with the vessel. In opposition to athwart-ships. (See SAILS.)

Forefoot. A piece of timber at the forward extremity of the keel, upon which the lower end of the stem rests.

Fore-Ganger.      A short piece of rope grafted on a harpoon, to which the line is bent.

Forelock.  A flat piece of iron, driven through the end of a bolt, to prevent its drawing.

Fore Mast. The forward mast of all vessels.

Forereach. To shoot ahead, especially when going in stays.

Fore-Runner. A piece of rag, terminating the stray-line of the log-line.

Forge. To forge ahead, to shoot ahead; as, in coming to anchor, after the sails are furled. (See FOREREACH.)

Formers. Pieces of wood used for shaping cartridges or wads.

Fother, Or Fodder.  To draw a sail, filled with oakum, under a vessel's bottom, in order to stop a leak.

Foul. The term for the opposite of clear.

Foul Anchor. When the cable has a turn round the anchor.

Foul Hawse. When the two cables are crossed or twisted, outside the stem.

Founder. A vessel founders, when she fills with water and sinks.

Fox. Made by twisting together two or more rope-yarns.

A Spanish fox is made by untwisting a single yarn and laying it up the contrary way.

Frames: - the wooden ribs that form the shape of the hull.

Frap. To pass ropes round a sail to keep it from blowing loose. Also, to draw ropes round a vessel which is weakened, to keep her together.

Free. A vessel is going free, when she has a fair wind and her yards braced in. A vessel is said to be free, when the water has been pumped out of her.

Freshen. To relieve a rope, by moving its place; as, to freshen the nip of a stay is to shift it, so as to prevent it's chafing through.

To freshen ballast is to alter its position.

French-Fake. To coil a rope with each fake outside of the other, beginning in the middle. If there are to be riding fakes, they begin outside and go in; and so on. This is called a Flemish coil.

Full-And-By. Sailing close-hauled on a wind.

The order given to the man at the helm to keep the sails full and at the same time close to the wind.

Furl. To roll a sail up snugly on a yard or boom, and secure it.

Futtock-Plates.  Iron plates crossing the sides of the top-rim perpendicularly. The dead-eyes of the topmast rigging are fitted to their upper ends, and the futtock-shrouds to their lower ends.

Futtock-Shrouds. Short shrouds, leading from the lower ends of the futtock-plates to a bend round the lower mast, just below the top.

Futtock-Staff. A short piece of wood or iron, seized across the upper part of the rigging, to which the catharpin legs are secured.

Futtock-Timbers.  Those timbers between the floor and naval timbers, and the top-timbers. There are two - the lower, which is over the floor, and the middle, which is over the naval timber. The naval timber is sometimes called the ground futtock.

G

Gaff: - a free-swinging spar attached to the top of a fore-and-aft  sail .

GAFF-TOPSAIL. A light sail set over a gaff, the foot being spread by it.

Gage. The depth of water of a vessel. Also, her position as to another vessel, as having the weather.

Galley: - The kitchen of a ship.

Gallows- A frame used to rest the boom when the sail is down.

Gammoning. The lashing by which the bowsprit is secured to the cutwater.

Gang-Casks. Small casks, used for bring water on board in boats.

Gangway. That part of a vessel's side, amidships, where people pass in and out of the vessel.

Gantline. (See GIRTLINE.)

Garboard-Strake. The range of planks next the keel, on each side.

Garland. A large rope, strap or grommet, lashed to a spar when hoisting it inboard.

Garnet. A purchase on the main stay, for hoisting cargo.

Gaskets. Ropes or pieces of plated stuff, used to secure a sail to the yard or boom when it is furled. They are called a bunt, quarter, or yardarm gasket, according to their position on the yard.

Gasket-Line used to secure a furled sail to the boom or yards.

Genoa Largest jib on a sailboat, also known as a genny.

Gimblet. To turn an anchor round by its stock. To turn anything round on its end.

Girt. The situation of a vessel when her cables are too taut.

Girtline. A rope rove through a single block aloft, making a whip purchase. Commonly used to hoist rigging by, in fitting it.

Give Way!  An order to men in a boat to pull with fore force, or to begin pulling. The same as, Lay out on your oars! Or, Lay out!

Glut. A piece of canvass sewed into the center of a sail near the head. It has an eyelet-hole in the middle for the bunt-jigger or becket to go through.

GMT -- Greenwich Meridian Time, also known as Universal Time or Zulu time

GPS- global positioning system; is a satellite-based radio navigation used to determine position

GOB-LINE, Or GAUB-LINE. A rope leading from the martingale inboard. The same as back-rope.

Goodgeon. (See GUDGEON.)

Gooseneck-The fitting, which secures the boom to the mast.

Goose-Winged. The situation of a course when the buntlines and lee clew are hauled up, and the weather clew down.

Gores. The angles at one or both ends of such cloths as increase the breadth or depth of a sail.

Goring-Cloths. Pieces cut obliquely and put in to add to the breadth of a sail.

Grafting. A manner of covering a rope by weaving together yarns.

Grains. An iron with four or more barbed points to it, used for striking small fish.

Grapnel. A small anchor with several claws, used to secure boats.

Grappling Irons. Crooked irons, used to seize and hold fast another vessel.

Grating.  Open latticework of wood. Used principally to cover hatches in good weather.

Greave To clean a ship's bottom by burning.

Gripe.  The outside timber of the forefoot, under water, fastened to the lower stem-piece.  A vessel gripes when she tends to come up into the wind.

Gripes. Bars of iron, with lanyards, rings and clews, by which a large boat is lashed to the ringbolts of the deck. Those for a quarter-boat are made of long strips of matting, going round her and set taut by a lanyard.

Grommet. A ring formed of rope, by laying round a single strand.

Ground Tackle - A collective term for the anchor and anchor gear and everything used in securing a vessel at anchor.

Guess-Warp Or Guess-Rope.  A rope fastened to a vessel or wharf, and used to tow a boat by; or to haul it out to the swing-boom-end, when in port.

Gun-Tackle Purchase. A purchase made by two single blocks.

Gunwale (gunnel)-The upper railing of a boat's side.

Guy. A rope attaching to anything to steady it, and bear it one way and another in hoisting.

Gybe. (Pronounced jibe.)  To shift over the boom of a fore-and-aft sail.

H

Hail. To speak or call to another vessel, or to men in a different part of a ship.

Half Hitch. Knot.

Halyards: - lines used to haul up the sail and the wooden poles (boom and gaff) that hold the sails in place.

Hammock. A piece of canvass, hung at each end, in which seamen sleep.

Hand.

To hand a sail is to furl it.
Bear-a-hand; make haste.
Lend-a-hand; assist.
Hand-over-hand; hauling rapidly on a rope, by putting one hand before the other alternately.

Hand-Lead. A small lead, used for sounding in rivers and harbors.

Handsomely. Slowly, carefully. Used for an order, as, "Lower handsomely!"

Handspike. A long wooden bar, used for heaving at the windlass.

Handy Billy. A watch-tackle.

Hanks. Rings or hoops of wood, rope, or iron, round a stay, and seized to the luff of a fore-and-aft sail.

Harpings. The fore part of the wales, which encompass the bows of a vessel, and are fastened to the stem. 

Harpoon. A spear used for striking whales and other fish.

Hatch or Hatchway: - an opening in the deck for entering below. Covers for these openings.

Hatch-bar is an iron bar going across the hatches to keep them down.

Haul.  Haul her wind, said of a vessel when she comes up close upon the wind.

Hawse. The situation of the cables before a vessel's stem, when moored. Also the distance upon the water a little in advance of the stem; as, a vessel sails athwart the hawse, or anchors in the hawse of another.

Open hawse. When a vessel rides by two anchors, without any cross in her cables.

Hawse-Hole. The hole in the bows through which the cable runs.

Hawse-Pieces. Timbers through which the hawse-holes are cut.

Hawse-Block. A block of wood fitted into a hawse-hole at sea.

Hawser. A large rope used for various purposes, as warping, for a spring.

Hawser-Laid, Or Cable-Laid Rope Is rope laid with nine strands against the sun.

Hawse hole-A hole in the hull for mooring lines to run through.

Haze.  A term for punishing a man by keeping him unnecessarily at work upon disagreeable or difficult duty.

Head. The work at the prow of a vessel. If it is a carved figure, it is called a figure-head; if simple carved work, bending over and out, a billet-head; and if bending in, like the head of a violin, a fiddle-head. Also, the upper end of a mast, called a masthead. (See BY-THE-HEAD. See FAST.)

Head-Ledges. Thwartship pieces that frame the hatchways.

Headsails: -any sail forward of the foremast.

Head-Ship toilet

Heart. A block of wood in the shape of a heart, for stays to reeve through.

Heart-Yarn