"A weather-gall at morn,
Fine weather all gone."
(_See_ WIND-GALL.)
WEATHER-GLASS. A familiar term for the barometer.
WEATHER-GLEAM. A peculiar clear sky near the horizon, with great
refraction.
WEATHER-GO. The end of a rainbow, as seen in the morning in showery
weather.
WEATHER-HEAD. The secondary rainbow.
WEATHER-HELM. A ship is said to carry a weather-helm when she is
inclined to gripe, or come too near the wind, and therefore requires the
helm to be kept constantly a little to windward.
WEATHER-LURCH. A heavy roll to windward.
WEATHERLY. Said of a well-trimmed ship with a clean bottom, when she
holds a good wind, and presents such lateral resistance to the water,
that she makes but little lee-way while sailing close-hauled.
WEATHER ONE'S DIFFICULTIES, TO. A colloquial phrase meaning to contend
with and surmount troubles.
WEATHER-ROLLS. Those inclinations, so inviting to coming waves, which a
ship makes to windward in a heavy sea; the sudden rolls which she makes
to leeward being termed lee-lurches.
WEATHER-ROPES. An early term for those which were tarred.
WEATHER-SHEETS. Those fast to the weather-clues of the sails.--"Haul
over the weather-sheets forward," applies to the jib when a vessel has
got too close to the wind and refuses to answer her helm.
WEATHER-SHORE. The shore which lies to windward of a ship.
WEATHER-SIDE. That side of a ship on which the wind blows; it is the
promenade for superior officers. (See also its synonym WINDWARD.)
WEATHER THE CAPE, TO. To become experienced; as it implies sailing round
Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope.
WEATHER-TIDE. The reverse of _lee-tide_. That which, running contrary to
the direction of the wind, by setting against a ship's lee-side while
under sail, forces her up to windward.
WEATHER-WARNING. The telegraphic cautionary warning given by hoisting
the storm-drum on receiving the forecast.
WEATHER-WHEEL. The position of the man who steers a large ship, from his
standing on the weather-side of the wheel.
WEAVER. One of the popular names of the fish _Trachinus vipera_.
WEDGE [from the Anglo-Saxon _wege_]. A simple but effective mechanical
force; a triangular solid on which a ship rests previous to launching.
Many of the wedges used in the building and repairing of vessels are
called _sett-wedges_.
WEDGE-FIDS. For top and top-gallant masts; in two parts, lifting by
shores and sett-wedges. (_See_ SETTING-UP.)
WEDGE-SHAPED GULF. One which is wide at its entrance, and gradually
narrows towards its termination, as that of California.
WEDGING UP. Gaining security by driving wedges.
WEED, TO. To clear the rigging of stops, rope-yarns, and pieces of
oakum.
WEEKLY ACCOUNT. A correct return of the whole complement made every week
when in harbour to the senior officer. Also, a sobriquet for the white
patch on a midshipman's collar.
WEEL. A kind of trap-basket, or snare, to catch fish, made of twigs and
baited; contrived similarly to a mouse-trap, so that fish have a ready
admittance, but cannot get out again.
WEEPING. The oozing of water in small quantities through the seams of a
ship.
WEEVIL [from the Anglo-Saxon _wefl_]. _Curculio_, a coleopterous insect
which perforates and destroys biscuit, wood, &c.
WEFT. _See_ WAFT.
WEIGH, TO [from the Anglo-Saxon _woeg_]. To move or carry. Applied to
heaving up the anchor of a ship about to sail, but also to the raising
any great weight, as a sunken ship, &c.
WEIGHAGE. The charge made for weighing goods at a dock.
WEIGH-SHAFT. In the marine-engine, the same as _wiper-shaft_.
WEIGHT-NAILS. Somewhat similar to deck-nails, but not so fine, and with
square heads; for fastening cleats and the like.
WEIGHT OF METAL. The weight of iron which the whole of the guns are
capable of projecting at one round from both sides when single-shotted.
(_See_ BROADSIDE WEIGHT.)
WEIR. An old word for sea-weed. Also, a fishing inclosure; and again, a
dam, or strong erection across a river, to divert its course.
WELD, TO. To join pieces of iron or other metal by placing in contact
the parts heated almost to fusion, and hammering them into one mass.
WELKIN [from, the Anglo-Saxon, _weal can_]. The visible firmament.
"One cheer more to make the welkin ring."
WELL [from the Anglo-Saxon _wyll_]. A bulk-headed inclosure in the
middle of a ship's hold, defending the pumps from the bottom up to the
lower deck from damage, by preventing the entrance of ballast or other
obstructions, which would choke the boxes or valves in a short time, and
render the pumps useless. By means of this inclosure the artificers may
likewise more readily descend into the hold, to examine or repair the
pumps, as occasion requires.
WELL, OR TRUNK OF A FISHING-VESSEL. A strong compartment in the middle
of the hold, open to the deck, but lined with lead on every side, and
having the bottom perforated with small holes through the floor, so that
the water may pass in freely, and thus preserve the fish alive which are
put into it. Lobster-boats are thus fitted.
WELL-CABINS. Those in brigs and small vessels, which have no
after-windows or thorough draught.
WELL-END. _See_ PUMP-FOOT.
WELL FARE YE, MY LADS! An exclamation of approbation to the men at a
hard heave or haul.
WELL FOUND. Fully equipped.
WELL-GROWN. A term implying that the grain of the wood follows the shape
required, as in knee-timber and the like.
WELL OFF, TO. A mode of shutting off a leak by surrounding it by timbers
screwed home through the lining to the timbers, and carrying up this
trunk, like a log-hut, above the water-line.
WELL-ROOM OF A BOAT. The place in the bottom where the water lies,
between the ceiling and the platform of the stern-sheets, from whence it
is baled into the sea.
WELL THERE, BELAY! Synonymous with _that will do_.
WELSHMAN'S BREECHES. _See_ DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES.
WEND A COURSE, TO. To sail steadily on a given direction.
WENDING. Bringing the ship's head to an opposite course. Turning as a
ship does to the tide.
WENTLE. An old term signifying to roll over.
WENTLE-TRAP. The _Scalaria pretiosa_, a very elegant univalve shell,
much valued by collectors.
WEST-COUNTRY PARSON. A fish, the hake (_Gadus merluccius_), is so
called, from a black streak on its back, and from its abundance along
our western coast.
WESTER, OR WASTER. A kind of trident used for striking salmon in the
north.
WESTING. This term in navigation means the distance made by course or
traverses to the westward; or the sun after crossing the meridian.
WESTWARD [Anglo-Saxon _weste-wearde_].--_Westward-hoe._ To the west! It
was one of the cries of the Thames watermen.
WEST WIND. This and its collateral, the S.W., prevail nearly
three-fourths of the year in the British seas, and though boisterous at
times, are very genial on the whole.
WET. The owners and master of a ship are liable for all damage by wet.
(_See_ STOWAGE.)
WET-BULB THERMOMETER. One of which the bulb is kept moist by the
capillary attraction of cotton fibres from an attached reservoir.
WET-DOCK. A term used for _float_ (which see), and also _dock_.
WETHERS. The flukes or hands of a harpoon.
WETTING A COMMISSION. Giving an entertainment to shipmates on receiving
promotion.
WHALE. A general term for various marine animals of the order _Cetacea_,
including the most colossal of all animated beings. From their general
form and mode of life they are frequently confounded with fish, from
which, however, they differ essentially in their organization, as they
are warm-blooded, ascend to the surface to breathe air, produce their
young alive, and suckle them, as do the land mammalia. The cetacea are
divided into two sections:--1. Those having horny plates, called baleen,
or "whalebone," growing from the palate instead of teeth, and including
the right whales and rorquals, or finners and hump-backs (see these
terms). 2. Those having true teeth and no whalebone. To this group
belong the sperm-whale, and the various forms of bottle-noses,
black-fish, grampuses, narwhals, dolphins, porpoises, &c. To the larger
species of many of these the term "whale" is often applied.
WHALE-BIRD. A beautiful little bird seen hovering in flocks over the
Southern Ocean, in search of the small crustaceans which constitute
their food.
WHALE-BOAT. A boat varying from 26 to 56 feet in length, and from 4 to
10 feet beam, sharp at both ends, and admirably adapted to the intended
purpose, combining swiftness of motion, buoyancy, and stability.
WHALE-CALF. The young whale.
WHALE-FISHERIES. The places at which the capture of whales, or
"whale-fishery," is carried on. The principal are the coasts of
Greenland and Davis Straits, for the northern right whale; Bermuda, for
hump-backs; the Cape of Good Hope and the Australian seas, for the
southern right whale; the North Pacific, for the Japanese right whale;
and various places in the intertropical and southern seas, for the
sperm-whale. But the constant persecution to which these animals are
subjected causes a frequent change in their habitats. They have been
nearly exterminated, or rendered so scarce as not to be worth following,
in many districts where they formerly most abounded, and in order to
make the trade remunerative, new grounds have to be continually sought.
Maury's "whale charts" give much valuable information on this subject.
WHALER. A name for a vessel employed in the whale-fisheries.
WHALE'S FOOD. The name given in the North Sea to the _Clio borealis_, a
well-known mollusk, on which whales feed.
WHANGERS, OR COD-WHANGERS. Fish-curers of Newfoundland. An old term for
a large sword.
WHAPPER. The largest of the turtle kind, attaining 7 or 8 cwts., off
Ascension. [The name is supposed to be derived from _guapa_, Sp., grand
or fine.] (_See_ LOGGERHEAD.)
WHARF, OR QUAY. An erection of wood or stone raised on the shore of a
road or harbour for the convenience of loading or discharging vessels by
cranes or other means. A wharf is of course built stronger or slighter
in proportion to the effort of the tide or sea which it is intended to
resist, and the size of vessels using it.--_Wharf_, in hydrography, is a
scar, a rocky or gravelly concretion, or frequently a sand-bank, as Mad
Wharf in Lancashire, where the tides throw up dangerous ripples and
overfalls.
WHARFAGE DUES. The dues for landing or shipping goods at a wharf;
customs charges in particular. Thus for goods not liable to duty, and
forcibly taken for examination, wharfage charges are demanded even from
a ship of war!
WHARFINGER. He who owns or keeps a wharf and takes account of all the
articles landed thereon or removed from it, for which he receives a
certain fee.
WHARF-STEAD. A ford in a river.