abeam: at right angles to a ship’s length or keel.

after corner: see clew in this glossary. See illustration

athwartship: across the course or length of.

Auxiliary engine: an engine that can provide supplementary power to a sailing ship.

belaying pin: a removable wooden or metal pin in the rail of a ship, around which ropes can be fastened.

bend: to fasten sails into position for sailing.

bilges: the lowest part of the interior of a vessel’s hull; the part either side of the keel which is most nearly horizontal. It is consequently the area where any internal water collects. See also keel.

blackjack: a small, leather-covered bludgeon with a flexible handle.

block: a pulley or system of pulleys in a frame, with a hook, loop, etc. for attachment. (See illustration)

boat basin: a bay or harbor for docking yachts or other vessels.

boom: a long pole used to hold or extend the bottom of certain sails.

Bristol-fashion: in good order.

capital ship: an armored surface vessel of war, other than an aircraft carrier, carrying guns exceeding 8-inch caliber, and usually crewed by more than 200 men.

carburetor: the part of an engine that regulates the amount of fuel used.

carvel-built: a sailing vessel built with a broad bow and a high narrow stern.

Chee-Chalker: a newcomer to Alaska and the Klondike.

Class I: boats over 14 feet in length, but under 26 feet.

Class II: boats over 26 feet in length, but under 40 feet.

Class III: boats over 40 feet in length, but under 65 feet.

clew: a lower corner of a sail. (See illustration.)

coast pilot: a manual published by a government for mariners, containing descriptions of coastal waters, harbor facilities, water hazards, currents, tides, etc., for a specific area.

coldcocking: (slang) striking so as to make unconscious.

companionway: a stairway leading from the deck of a ship to the cabins or space below.

cordage: the ropes in a ship’s rigging.

crankshaft: a shaft that turns a crank or by a crank, as in an automobile engine.

dead reckoning: the finding of a ship’s location by using compass readings and other data recorded in the log, such as speed and distance travel, rather than astronomical observations.

double ended: pointed at both bow and stern.

draft: the depth of water that a ship displaces. This value is critical when entering waters near or at the draft of a vessel.

dynamics: there could be said to be eight urges (drives, impulses) in life. These we call dynamics. These are motives or motivations. We call them the eight dynamics. These are urges for survival as or through (1) self, (2) sex and family, (3) groups, (4) all mankind, (5) living things (plants and animals), (6) the material universe, (7) spirits, and (8) infinity or the Supreme Being.

eddy: a contrary movement or trend; a current of water moving against the main current.

essay: to test or try.

fallen away about ten points: allowed the ship to turn or come off course by ten points. See also points.

fathom: a unit of length equal to 6 feet (1.8 meters).

fishpot: a junk fishing boat.

fix: the position of a ship or aircraft determined from the bearings of two or more known points or from radio signals.

float: a raft-like platform anchored near a shore for use by boats which cannot approach a beach due to rocks or shallow water.

foot: the lower edge of a sail. (See illustration.)

foundered: filled with water, as during a storm, and sunk.

Gobi Desert: a desert in East Asia, mostly in Mongolia.

greyback: a large wave.

grommets: eyelets, as of metal or plastic, protecting an opening in cloth, leather etc.

gunwale: the upper edge of a vessel’s or boat’s side.

haul wake: to change course away from the ship’s wake.

hawser: a large rope or small cable, often of steel, by which a ship is anchoring, mooring or towing a ship.

hawsepipe: an iron or steel pipe in a hole in a ship’s bow, through which rope or steel cable is passed for use in anchoring, mooring or towing a ship.

headland: a point of high land jutting out into a body of water.

heel: to tilt to one side.

Herreshoff: a type of anchor with diamond-shaped points at the end of each of two opposite hook-type arms.

herring rake: a North American Indian fishing tool. It was a long pole with a jagged point used for spearing herring, which were collected on the long pole.

honey chile: (dialect) honey child. A southern U.S. phrase of endearment, applied to both children and adults.

hoodwinking: misleading or confusing someone by trickery.

hooks: anchors.

jackstaff: a small flagstaff on which a flag is flown. Commonly used to fly a flag identifying the nationality, ownership or sponsor of a vessel.

keel: the chief timber or steel piece extending along the entire length of the bottom of a boat or ship and supporting the frame; it sometimes protrudes beneath the hull.

kedge: a light anchor, usually with two hook-type arms attached to the end of the stock. (See illustration.) This type of anchor is also used for moving a ship from place to place by carrying the anchor out to a distance from the ship and dropping it. The ship is then pulled to it by means of winches. This process is called "kedging."

knot: a unit of speed of one nautical mile (6,076 feet) an hour.

laths: thin, narrow strips of wood used in building lattices.

lay day: any day that a ship remains in port.

lead line: a line with a lead weight at one end, used for measuring the depth of water.

lee: the side or direction away from the wind.

log line: a graduated line with a special piece of wood attached at the end. It is thrown into the water and used to measure a ship’s rate of speed.

mill: (slang) a typewriter.

millrace: the current.

nipple: a short piece of pipe with both ends threaded and used for attaching one item to another.

nomograph: any device which depicts numeric relations graphically. (See illustration.)

nor’wester: northwester, a wind or gale from the northwest.

Old Nick’s stoke hold: nautical slang for hell. From "Old Nick," meaning the devil, and "stoke hold" meaning the room on a ship where the boilers are tended, where the fires are stoked.

outhaul: a rope used to haul something out into position.

patent anchor: a stockless-type anchor. (See illustration.)

pike pole: the long wooden shaft on which a weapon, such as a knife or spearhead, is attached.

piloting: see coast pilot in this glossary.

pilot: see coast pilot in this glossary.

pilot house: an enclosed structure, usually in the forward part of a ship, containing the steering wheel and compass.

plug: spark plug; a piece fitted in a gasoline engine which ignites the fuel by carrying an electrical current which sparks between two terminals.

points: the 32 marks showing direction on a compass. Each mark, or point, is equal to 11.25 degrees. Ten points, for example, would be equal to 112.50 degrees.

Polaroids: sunglasses made of special lens material which cuts glare reflecting from surfaces such as water. As a result one can see objects underwater which have been hidden due to the sun’s glare.

quartermaster: an officer aboard a ship who attends to the ship’s compass, navigation, signals, etc.

reach: a direction sailed with the wind coming more or less from abeam. See also abeam

reaches: continuous, uninterrupted stretches of water.

reduce: to lose weight.

reeve: to slip (a rope end) through a block or ring; to pass in, through or around something.

righting: putting in or restoring to an upright or proper position.

rode: all the gear between a boat and her anchor whether synthetic or natural fiber rope, chain, wire or any combination of these.

scarps: steep slopes; a cliff extending along the edge of a plateau, mesa, etc.

screw: the propeller of a ship.

seaway: a place where a moderate or rough sea is running.

seine boat: a fishing boat which uses large fishing nets with floats along the top edge and weights along the bottom.

sextant: an instrument used by navigators for measuring the angular distance of the sun or a star from the horizon in order to find the position of a ship.

sheet: a rope or chain attached to a lower corner of a sail: it is shortened or slackened to control the set of the sail.

shoal: a shallow place in a river, sea, etc.; a rising ground which forms a shallow place that is a danger to navigation.

sight: aim or an observation taken with mechanical aid, as on a sextant, gun etc.

slack water: the condition of the tide when there is no surface motion.

sou’easter: southeaster; a storm or strong wind from the southeast.

Southern Ocean: that part of the Indian Ocean south of Australia.

sou’wester: southwester; a storm or strong wind from the southwest.

stockless: a type of anchor which has no long beam forming the basic body of the anchor to which other parts are attached. This type of anchor usually has arms which are not fixed, but free to rotate.

stooge: a small auxiliary boat towed behind a larger vessel and used in going ashore or moving into shallow water.

stove tanks: storage tanks aboard a vessel in which fuel for cooking and heating is kept.

strake: a breadth of planking which runs the length of a vessel on the outside hull from bow to stern.

survey: a cutter; any boat or small vessel that can cut swiftly through the water; a single-masted yacht or sailboat having two sails for ward of the mast.

tachometer: a device that indicates or measures the rate of rotation of a revolving shaft.

third dynamic: see dynamics in this glossary.

Thomas Basin: the small harbor at Ketchikan, Alaska.

Three Sheets: name of the Magician’s stooge.

tiller: bar or handle at the stern used to turn the rudder in steering a boat.

topside: on or to the upper deck of a vessel.

toredo: a termite-type worm which bores its way into wood. Usually found only in harbors and waterways of the Pacific Northwest.

tork clock: a special clock used to turn on or off a piece of equipment at predetermined times.

trawler: a boat which pulls a large, baglike fishing net along the bottom of the ocean.

troll: to fish with a bait or lure trailed on a line behind a slowly moving boat.

trolling mast: the vertical pole or spar mounted on a fishing vessel used for letting out or hauling in fishing nets.

underwriters: employees of an insurance company who determine the acceptability of risks and the premiums that should be charged.

wheel: the helm of a vessel.

whisker pole: a pole used for spreading a sail.