GETTING UNDER WAY.
To unmoor. Getting under way from a single anchor. To cat and fish. To
get under way with a wind blowing directly out, and riding head to
it;--with a rock or shoal close astern;--when riding head to wind and
tide, and to stand out close-hauled;--wind-rode, with a weather
tide;--tide-rode, casting to windward;--tide-rode, wearing round.
UNMOOR.--Pay out on your riding cable, heaving in the slack of the
other. When the other is short, trip it, cat and fish, and heave in on
your riding cable. Instead of this method, the anchor which you are not
riding by may be weighed, if it is a small one, by the long boat. Send
the long boat out over the anchor, take aboard the buoy-rope, carrying
it over the roller in the boat's stern, or through the end of a davit,
clap the watch-tackle to it, and weigh it out of the ground. This done,
and the buoy-rope and tackle secured to the boat, heave in on the chain
on board, which will bring the anchor alongside, the boat approaching
at the same time. When under the bow, cast off the fasts to the boat,
heave up the anchor, cat and fish.
GETTING UNDER WAY FROM A SINGLE ANCHOR.--It is the duty of the chief
mate to see all ready forward for getting under way; the rigging fair
for making sail, the cat and fish-tackles rove, and the fish-davit at
hand. Heave short on your chain and pawl the windlass. Loose all the
sails, if the wind is light, and sheet home and hoist up topsails,
topgallant sails, and royals. If there is a stiff breeze, set topsails
alone, whole or reefed. You should always, if it will answer, cast on
the opposite side from your anchor; that is, if you are riding by your
starboard anchor, cast to port. Brace your head yards aback and your
after yards full, for the tack you mean to cast upon. The sails being
set, man the windlass again, give her a sheer with the helm, and trip
your anchor. The mate reports when it is away. As soon as it is away,
hoist the jib. The fore topsail aback will pay her head off. Put the
helm for stern-board. When her head is off enough, fill away the head
yards and haul out the spanker, shifting the helm for headway. Trim the
yards for your course, and make sail on her. If the wind is light and
the sea smooth, you may cat and fish your anchor after you get under
way; but it is best in a rough sea to keep the vessel hove-to until the
anchor is catted and fished.
TO CAT AND FISH AN ANCHOR.--When the anchor is lifted and brought under
foot, pawl the windlass, keeping a good hold on the chain. Overhaul
down the cat-block and hook it to the ring of the anchor. Stretch along
the cat-fall and let all hands tally on. Set taut on the cat-tackle and
pay out a little chain. Hoist away the anchor to the cat-head, and
belay the fall. Pass the cat-stopper through the ring of the anchor,
through the chock, belay it to the cat-tail, and seize it to its own
part. Overhaul down the fish-tackle, hook the lower block to the
pennant, and hook the fish-hook to the inner fluke of the anchor. Rig
out your fish-davit across the forecastle, and put the bight of the
pennant into the sheave-hole. Get a guy over it, near the outer end, to
keep it down, and another at the inner end, to keep it out. Get the
shoe over the side, to fend off the bill of the anchor. Hoist the fluke
well up, pass the shank-painter under the inner arm and shank, bring it
inboard, and belay and stop it to the timber-heads. Rig in the davit,
unreeve the cat-fall and fish-tackle.
A vessel may sometimes be got under way to advantage with the jib and
spanker; particularly if the wind is blowing directly out of the
harbor. Heave the anchor up at once. When it has broken ground, hoist
the jib, and, as she pays off, haul out the spanker. Keep her under
this sail until the anchor is catted and fished, then make sail and
stand out.
TO GET UNDER WAY, WITH A WIND BLOWING DIRECTLY OUT, AND RIDING HEAD TO
IT.--Suppose the ship to have her starboard anchor down. Heave short
and clear away the jib, and put the helm to port. Heave again until the
anchor is up to the bows. Cat and fish. When the anchor is a-weigh,
hoist the jib. Let her pay off under the jib. When she gathers headway,
shift the helm, and let fall the sails. When she gets before it, sheet
home and hoist the topsails, set the foresail, and haul down the jib.
Make sail aloft.
TO GET UNDER WAY, RIDING HEAD TO THE WIND, WITH A ROCK OR SHOAL CLOSE
ASTERN.--Suppose you wish to cast the ship on the starboard tack. Heave
in a safe scope on the chain, and run out a kedge with a hawser from
the starboard bow. Cast off the yard-arm gaskets and mast-head the
topsails, keeping the bunts fast. Heave taut on the hawser, and brace
the yards up for the starboard tack fore and aft, hauling the jib sheet
to windward. Heave up the anchor, taking in the slack of the hawser,
cat it, pass the stopper, and have all ready for letting go. Haul ahead
on the hawser, and as soon as the kedge is short a-peak or comes home,
sheet home the topsails, run up the jib, and put the helm a-starboard.
As soon as the jib fills, run the kedge up and take it in. When the
topsails take and she gathers headway, draw the jib, set the spanker,
board fore and main tacks, haul aft sheets, and right the helm. If she
falls off too rapidly when the topsails take, give her the spanker and
mainsail, easing off the jib sheet. When she comes to, haul aft the jib
sheet and board the fore tack. If, when the kedge is a-weigh, she falls
off on the wrong side, let go the anchor.
TO GET UNDER WAY, RIDING HEAD TO WIND AND TIDE, AND TO STAND OUT
CLOSE-HAULED.--Suppose you wish to cast to port. Heave short, keeping
the helm a-starboard. Set the topsails. Brace up the after yards for
the starboard tack, and back the head yards. Man the windlass and heave
up the anchor. When the anchor is a-weigh, hoist the jib. When she has
payed off sufficiently, fill away the head yards, shift the helm for
headway, set the spanker, and make sail. Cat and fish, either before or
after filling away.
If you have no room to cast on either side, but have a vessel on each
quarter, heave short, set the topsails, jib, and spanker, brace all the
yards half up for the starboard tack, weigh the anchor, and put the
helm to port. The tide acting on the rudder will sheer her head to
starboard. When the sails take aback and give her sternway, the rudder
and after sails will act against the head sails, and she will drift
fairly down between the two vessels. Keep her off or to, by the spanker
and jib. When you are clear, cast to port; or, haul up the spanker,
shiver the after yards, and let her go off before it.
TO GET UNDER WAY WIND-RODE, WITH A WEATHER TIDE; that is, a tide
setting to windward.--Suppose you wish to cast to port. Heave short,
loose the sails, and set the topsails. Square the after yards, and haul
in the starboard head-braces. Heave again, and, when you are a-weigh,
put the helm to port and hoist the jib. When she has payed off enough,
fill away the head yards and shift the helm for headway.
TO GET UNDER WAY, TIDE-RODE, CASTING TO WINDWARD.--Suppose the wind to
be a little on the starboard bow, and you wish to cast to starboard,
standing out on the larboard tack. Having hove short and set the
topsails, brace up the after yards for the larboard tack, and brace the
head yards aback. Weigh the anchor, keeping your helm to port, and
hauling the spanker boom well over to starboard. When she comes head to
the wind, hoist the jib, with the sheet to port. Shift the helm for
sternway. As she falls off, draw the jib, fill the head yards, and
shift the helm for headway.
TO GET UNDER WAY, TIDE-RODE, WEARING ROUND.--Suppose you have the wind
on your starboard quarter, and are obliged to wear her round and stand
out on the larboard tack. Set the topsails, square the head yards, and
shiver the after yards. When the anchor is a-weigh, put the helm hard
a-starboard, and give her the foresail, if necessary. Having headway,
she will go round on her keel, and you may proceed as in wearing.
If a vessel is in a confined situation, without room to cast by her
sails or by the tide, she may be cast by a spring upon her cable,
leading in at that which will be the weather quarter. The spring may be
bent to the ring of the anchor before it is let go, or it may be seized
to the cable just outside the hawse-hole.
It will be remembered that when a vessel is riding head to the tide,
the helm is to be put as though she had headway; and when the tide sets
from astern, as though she had sternway. But you should be reminded
that when you have the wind and tide both ahead, if the vessel, after
you weigh your anchor, goes astern faster than the current, the helm
must be used as for stern-board.
DICTIONARY OF SEA TERMS.
ABACK. The situation of the sails when the wind presses their surfaces
against the mast, and tends to force the vessel astern.
ABAFT. Toward the stern of a vessel.
ABOARD. Within a vessel.
ABOUT. On the other tack.
ABREAST. Alongside of. Side by side.
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. Near 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.
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. Above the deck.
ALOOF. At a distance.
AMAIN. Suddenly. At once.
AMIDSHIPS. In the centre of the vessel; either with reference to her
length or to her breadth.
ANCHOR. The machine by which, when dropped to the bottom, the vessel is
held fast.
ANCHOR-WATCH. (See WATCH.)
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.
APRON. A piece of timber fixed behind the lower part of the stem, 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.
ATHWART-SHIPS. Across the length of a vessel. In opposition to
fore-and-aft.
A-TRIP. The situation of the anchor when it is raised clear of the
ground. The same as a-weigh.
AVAST, or 'VAST. An order to stop; as, "Avast heaving!"
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.
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 to throw it aback.
_To back and fill_, is alternately to back and fill the sails.
BACKSTAYS. Stays running from a masthead to the vessel's side, slanting
a little aft. (See STAYS.)
BAGPIPE. _To bagpipe the mizzen_, is to lay it aback by bringing the
sheet to the weather mizzen rigging.
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.
BALLAST. Heavy material, as iron, lead, or stone, placed in the bottom
of the hold, to keep a vessel from upsetting.
_To freshen ballast_, is to shift it. Coarse gravel is called _shingle
ballast_.
BANK. A boat is _double banked_ when two oars, one opposite the other,
are pulled by men seated on the same thwart.
BAR. A bank or shoal at the entrance of a harbor.
_Capstan-bars_ are heavy pieces of wood by which the capstan is hove
round.
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, OR BARQUE. (See PLATE 4.) A three-masted vessel, having her fore
and main masts rigged like a ship's, and her mizzen mast like the main
mast of a schooner, with no sail upon it but a spanker, and gaff
topsail.
BARNACLE. A shell-fish often found on a vessel's bottom.
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.
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.
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 and 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.
BEARING. The direction of an object from the person looking. The
_bearings_ of a vessel, are the widest part of her below the
plank-shear. That part of her hull which is on the water-line when she
is at anchor and in her proper trim.
BEATING. Going toward the direction of the wind, by alternate tacks.
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 confine 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. To make a rope fast by turns round a pin or coil, without
hitching or seizing it.
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. (See PLATE 3.) 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. That part of the floor of a ship upon which she would rest if
aground; being the part near the keel which is more in a horizontal
than a perpendicular line.
_Bilge-ways._ Pieces of timber bolted together and placed under the
bilge, in launching.
_Bilged._ When the bilge is broken in.
_Bilge Water._ Water which settles in the bilge.
_Bilge._ The largest circumference of a cask.
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.
BITTS. Perpendicular pieces of timber going through the deck, placed to
secure anything to. 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.
BLACKWALL HITCH. (See PLATE 5 and page 49.)
BLADE. The flat part of an oar, which goes into the water.
BLOCK. A piece of wood with sheaves, or wheels, in it, through which
the running rigging passes, to add to the purchase. (See page 53.)
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.
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 lacings. Taken off in bad weather.
BOOM. A spar used to extend the foot of a fore-and-aft sail or
studdingsail.
_Boom-irons._ Iron rings on the yards, through which the studdingsail
booms traverse.
BOOT-TOPPING. Scraping off the grass, or other matter, which 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 rounded part of a vessel, forward.
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. (See page 16.)
BOW-GRACE. A frame of old rope 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.
_Bowline-knot._ (See PLATE 5 and page 49.)
BOWSE. To pull upon a tackle.
BOWSPRIT. (Pronounced _bo-sprit_.) A large and strong spar, standing
from the bows of a vessel. (See PLATE 1.)
BOX-HAULING. Wearing a vessel by backing the head sails. (See page 75.)
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 more 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. _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.
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. (See PLATE 3.)
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.
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. A square-rigged vessel, with two masts. An _hermaphrodite brig_
has a brig's foremast and a schooner's mainmast. (See PLATE 4.)
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.
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.)
BULK HEAD. Temporary partitions of boards to separate different parts
of a vessel.
BULL. A sailor's term for a small keg, holding a gallon or two.
BULL'S EYE. (See page 53.) 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. Also, a
piece of thick glass inserted in the deck to let light below.
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 woollen 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. (See page 54.)
BUTT. The end of a plank where it unites with the end of another.
_Scuttle-butt._ 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. (See
PLATE 3.)
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.)
CABIN. The after part of a vessel, in which the officers live.
CABLE. A large, strong rope, made fast to the anchor, by which the
vessel is secured. 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.
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._ 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 part of the mast next above it. (See PLATE 1.)
CAPSIZE. To overturn.
CAPSTAN. A machine placed perpendicularly in the deck, and used for a
strong purchase in heaving or hoisting. Men-of-war weigh their anchors
by capstans. Merchant vessels use a windlass. (See BAR.)
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. (See PLATE 5 and page 50.)
_Carrick-bitts_ are the windlass bitts.
CARRY-AWAY. To break a spar, or part a rope.
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. (See PLATE 5 and page 50.) A
light current of air seen on the surface of the water during a calm.
CAULK. To fill the seams of a vessel with oakum.
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. (See PLATE 1.) 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. Also,
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-PLATES. Plates of iron bolted to the side of a ship, to which the
chains and dead-eyes of the lower rigging are connected.
CHANNELS. Broad pieces of plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a
vessel. Used for spreading the lower rigging. (See CHAINS.)
CHAPELLING. Wearing a ship round, when taken aback, without bracing the
head yards. (See page 80.)
CHECK. A term sometimes 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. Now out
of use.
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.
CHOCK. A wedge used to secure anything with, or for anything to rest
upon. The long boat rests upon two large _chocks_, when it is stowed.
_Chock-a-block._ When the lower block of a tackle is run close up to
the upper one, so that you can hoist no higher. This is also called
hoisting up _two-blocks_.
CISTERN. An apartment in the hold of a vessel, having a pipe leading
out through the side, with a cock, by which water may be let into her.
CLAMPS. Thick planks on the inside of vessels, to support the ends of
beams. Also, crooked plates of iron fore-locked upon the trunnions of
cannon. Any plate of iron made to turn, open, and shut so as 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 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 so as to get as much as possible to windward. The same as _on
a taut bowline_, _full and by_, _on the wind_, &c.
CLOVE-HITCH. Two half-hitches round a spar or other rope. (See PLATE 5
and page 48.)
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. (See page 76.)
CLUBBING. Drifting down a current with an anchor out. (See page 77.)
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.
COXSWAIN. (Pronounced _cox'n_.) The person who steers a boat and has
charge of her.
COIL. To lay a rope up in a ring, with one turn or fake over another.
_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. (See PLATE 3.) 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_.
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 of the heels of the lower futtocks.
CROSS-JACK. (Pronounced _croj-jack_.) The cross-jack yard is the lower
yard on the mizzen mast. (See PLATE 1.)
CROSS-PAWLS. Pieces of timber that keep 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. (See PLATE 1.) 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 to suspend an
awning by.
CROWN of an anchor, is the place where the arms are joined to the
shank.
_To crown a knot_, is to pass the strands over and under each other
above the knot. (See PLATE 5, page 46.)
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.
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. Pieces of timber or iron, with sheaves or blocks at their ends,
projecting over a vessel's sides or stern, to hoist boats up to. Also,
a spar with a roller or sheave at its end, used for fishing the anchor,
called a _fish-davit_.
DEAD-EYE. 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. (See page 59.)
DEAD-FLAT. One of the bends, amidships.
DEAD-LIGHTS. Ports placed in the cabin windows in bad weather.
DEAD RECKONING. A reckoning kept by observing a vessel's courses and
distances by the log, to ascertain her position.
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_.) (See page 17.) 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.
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. Also, 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. (See PLATE I.)
DOUSE. To lower suddenly.
DOWELLING. A method of coaking, by letting pieces into the solid, or
uniting two pieces together by tenons.
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.
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.
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.
EARING. A rope attached to the cringle of a sail, by which it is bent
or reefed.
EIKING. A piece of wood fitted to make good a deficiency in length.
ELBOW. Two crosses in a hawse. (See page 89.)
ESCUTCHEON. The part of a vessel's stern where her name is written.
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.
EUVROU. A piece of wood, by which the legs of the crow-foot to an
awning are extended. (See UVROU.)
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 this eye, it is
called a _ring-bolt_.
_An Eye-splice_ is a certain kind of splice made with the end of a
rope. (See PLATE 5 and page 45.)
_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.
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.
FAIR-LEADER. 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 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.
FENDERS. Pieces of rope or wood hung over the side of a vessel or boat,
to protect it from chafing. The fenders of a neat boat are usually made
of canvass and stuffed.
FID. A block of wood or iron, placed through the hole in the heel of a
mast, and resting on the trestle-trees of the mast below. This supports
the mast. Also, a wooden pin, tapered, used in splicing large ropes, in
opening eyes, &c.
FIDDLE-BLOCK. A long shell, having one sheave over the other, and the
lower smaller than the upper.
FIDDLE-HEAD. (See HEAD.)
FIFE-RAIL. The rail going round a mast.
FIGURE-HEAD. A carved head or full-length figure, over the cut-water.
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.
FISH-HOOK. 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 its 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. (See PLATE 5 and page 45.)
FLEMISH-HORSE. An additional foot-rope at the ends of topsail yards.
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. (See PLATE 3.)
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.)
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. 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_.
FORE-AND-AFT. Lengthwise with the vessel. In opposition to
_athwart-ships_. (See SAILS.)
FORECASTLE. That part of the upper deck forward of the fore mast; or,
as some say, forward of the after part of the fore channels. (See PLATE
1.) Also, the forward part of the vessel, under the deck, where the
sailors live, in merchant vessels.
FORE-FOOT. A piece of timber at the forward extremity of the keel, upon
which the lower end of the stem rests. (See PLATE 3.)
FORE-GANGER. A short piece of rope grafted on a harpoon, to which the
line is bent.
FORE-LOCK. A flat piece of iron, driven through the end of a bolt, to
prevent its drawing.
FORE MAST. The forward mast of all vessels. (See PLATE 1.)
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. (See page 52.) 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.
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 its 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.
_Full-and-by!_ 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. (See PLATE 3.) 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_.
GAFF. A spar, to which the head of a fore-and-aft sail is bent. (See
PLATE 1.)
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_ or _lee gage_.
GALLEY. The place where the cooking is done.
GALLOWS-BITTS. A strong frame raised amidships, to support spare spars,
&c., in port.
GAMMONING. (See PLATE 1.) The lashing by which the bowsprit is secured
to the cut-water.
GANG-CASKS. Small casks, used for bringing water on board in boats.
GANGWAY. (See PLATE 1.) That part of a vessel's side, amidships, where
people pass in and out of the vessel.
GANTLINE. (See GIRTLINE.)
GARBOARD-STREAK. (See PLATE 3.) The range of planks next to 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
_yard-arm gasket_, according to their position on the yard.
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 more force, or to
begin pulling. The same as, _Lay out on your oars!_ or, _Lay out!_
GLUT. A piece of canvass sewed into the centre of a sail near the head.
It has an eyelet-hole in the middle for the bunt-jigger or becket to go
through.
GOB-LINE, or GAUB-LINE. A rope leading from the martingale inboard. The
same as _back-rope_.
GOODGEON. (See GUDGEON.)
GOOSE-NECK. An iron ring fitted to the end of a yard or boom, for
various purposes.
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. (See page 52.) 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 lattice work 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 fore-foot, under water, fastened to
the lower stem-piece. (See PLATE 3.) 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 ring-bolts 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. (See PLATE 5 and page 46.) A ring formed of rope, by laying
round a single strand.
GROUND TACKLE. General term for anchors, cables, warps, springs, &c.;
everything used in securing a vessel at anchor.
GROUND-TIER. The lowest tier of casks in a vessel's hold.
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 swinging-boom-end, when
in port.
GUN-TACKLE PURCHASE. A purchase made by two single blocks. (See page
54.)
GUNWALE. (Pronounced _gun-nel_.) The upper rail of a boat or vessel.
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.
HAIL. To speak or call to another vessel, or to men in a different part
of a ship.
HALYARDS. Ropes or tackles used for hoisting and lowering yards, gaffs,
and sails.
HALF-HITCH. (See PLATE 5 and page 48.)
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. (See page 17.) 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. (See PLATE 3.)
HARPOON. A spear used for striking whales and other fish.
HATCH, or HATCHWAY. An opening in the deck to afford a passage up and
down. The coverings over these openings are also called _hatches_.
_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, &c.
HAWSER-LAID, or CABLE-LAID rope, is rope laid with nine strands against
the sun. (See PLATE 5 and page 43.)
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 _mast-head_.
(See BY-THE-HEAD. See FAST.)
HEAD-LEDGES. Thwartship pieces that frame the hatchways.
HEAD-SAILS. A general name given to all sails that set forward of the
fore-mast.
HEART. A block of wood in the shape of a heart, for stays to reeve
through.
HEART-YARNS. The centre yarns of a strand.
HEAVE SHORT. To heave in on the cable until the vessel is nearly over
her anchor.
HEAVE-TO. To put a vessel in the position of lying-to. (See LIE-TO.)
HEAVE IN STAYS. To go about in tacking.
HEAVER. A short wooden bar, tapering at each end. Used as a purchase.
HEEL. The after part of the keel. Also, the lower end of a mast or
boom. Also, the lower end of the stern-post.
_To heel_, is to lie over on one side.
HEELING. The square part of the lower end of a mast, through which the
fid-hole is made.
HELM. The machinery by which a vessel is steered, including the rudder,
tiller, wheel, &c. Applied more particularly, perhaps, to the tiller.
HELM-PORT. The hole in the counter through which the rudder-head
passes.
HELM-PORT-TRANSOM. A piece of timber placed across the lower counter,
inside, at the height of the helm-port, and bolted through every
timber, for the security of that port. (See PLATE 3.)
HIGH AND DRY. The situation of a vessel when she is aground, above
water mark.
HITCH. A peculiar manner of fastening ropes. (See PLATE 5 and page 48.)
HOG. A flat, rough broom, used for scrubbing the bottom of a vessel.
HOGGED. The state of a vessel when, by any strain, she is made to droop
at each end, bringing her centre up.
HOLD. The interior of a vessel, where the cargo is stowed.
HOLD WATER. To stop the progress of a boat by keeping the oar-blades in
the water.
HOLY-STONE. A large stone, used for cleaning a ship's decks.
HOME. The sheets of a sail are said to be _home_, when the clews are
hauled chock out to the sheave-holes. An anchor _comes home_ when it is
loosened from the ground and is hove in toward the vessel.
HOOD. A covering for a companion hatch, skylight, &c.
HOOD-ENDS, or HOODING-ENDS, or WHOODEN-ENDS. Those ends of the planks
which fit into the rabbets of the stem or stern-post.
HOOK-AND-BUTT. The scarfing, or laying the ends of timbers over each
other.
HORNS. The jaws of booms. Also, the ends of cross-trees.
HORSE. (See FOOT-ROPE.)
HOUNDS. Those projections at the mast-head serving as shoulders for the
top or trestle-trees to rest upon.
HOUSE. To _house_ a mast, is to lower it about half its length, and
secure it by lashing its heel to the mast below. (See page 37.)
_To house a gun_, is to run it in clear of the port and secure it.
HOUSING, or HOUSE-LINE. (Pronounced _houze-lin_.) A small cord made of
three small yarns, and used for seizings.
HULL. The body of a vessel. (See A-HULL.)
IN-AND-OUT. A term sometimes used for the scantline of the timbers, the
moulding way, and particularly for those bolts that are driven into the
hanging and lodging knees, through the sides, which are called
_in-and-out bolts_.
INNER-POST. A piece brought on at the fore side of the main-post, and
generally continued as high as the wing-transom, to seat the other
transoms upon.
IRONS. A ship is said to be _in irons_, when, in working, she will not
cast one way or the other.
JACK. A common term for the _jack-cross-trees_. (See UNION.)
JACK-BLOCK. A block used in sending topgallant masts up and down.
JACK-CROSS-TREES. (See PLATE 1.) Iron cross-trees at the head of long
topgallant masts.
JACK-STAFF. A short staff, raised at the bowsprit cap, upon which the
Union Jack is hoisted.
JACK-STAYS. Ropes stretched taut along a yard to bend the head of the
sail to. Also, long strips of wood or iron, used now for the same
purpose.
JACK-SCREW. A purchase, used for stowing cotton.
JACOB'S LADDER. A ladder made of rope, with wooden steps.
JAWS. The inner ends of booms or gaffs, hollowed in.
JEERS. Tackles for hoisting the lower yards.
JEWEL-BLOCKS. Single blocks at the yard-arms, through which the
studdingsail halyards lead.
JIB. (See PLATE 2.) A triangular sail set on a stay, forward.
_Flying-jib_ sets outside of the jib; and the _jib-o'-jib_ outside of
that.
JIB-BOOM. (See PLATE 1.) The boom, rigged out beyond the bowsprit, to
which the tack of the jib is lashed.
JIGGER. A small tackle, used about decks or aloft.
JOLLY-BOAT. A small boat, usually hoisted at the stern.
JUNK. Condemned rope, cut up and used for making mats, swabs, oakum,
&c.
JURY-MAST. A temporary mast, rigged at sea, in place of one lost.
KECKLING. Old rope wound round cables, to keep them from chafing. (See
ROUNDING.)
KEDGE. A small anchor, with an iron stock, used for warping.
_To kedge_, is to warp a vessel ahead by a kedge and hawser.
KEEL. (See PLATE 3.) The lowest and principal timber of a vessel,
running fore-and-aft its whole length, and supporting the whole frame.
It is composed of several pieces, placed lengthwise, and scarfed and
bolted together. (See FALSE KEEL.)
KEEL-HAUL. To haul a man under a vessel's bottom, by ropes at the
yard-arms on each side. Formerly practised as a punishment in ships of
war.
KEELSON. (See PLATE 3.) A timber placed over the keel on the
floor-timbers, and running parallel with it.
KENTLEDGE. Pig-iron ballast, laid each side of the keelson.
KEVEL, or CAVIL. A strong piece of wood, bolted to some timber or
stanchion, used for belaying large ropes to.
KEVEL-HEADS. Timber-heads, used as kevels.
KINK. A twist in a rope.
KNEES. (See PLATE 3.) Crooked pieces of timber, having two arms, used
to connect the beams of a vessel with her timbers. (See DAGGER.)
_Lodging-knees_, are placed horizontally, having one arm bolted to a
beam, and the other across two of the timbers.
_Knee of the head_, is placed forward of the stem, and supports the
figure-head.
KNIGHT-HEADS, or BOLLARD-TIMBERS. The timbers next the stem on each
side, and continued high enough to form a support for the bowsprit.
(See PLATE 3.)
KNITTLES, or NETTLES. (See page 51.) The halves of two adjoining yarns
in a rope, twisted up together, for pointing or grafting. Also, small
line used for seizings and for hammock-clews.
KNOCK-OFF! An order to leave off work.
KNOT. A division on the log-line, answering to a mile of distance. (See
page 17.)
LABOR. A vessel is said to labor when she rolls or pitches heavily.
LACING. Rope used to lash a sail to a gaff, or a bonnet to a sail.
Also, a piece of compass or knee timber, fayed to the back of the
figure-head and the knee of the head, and bolted to each.
LAND-FALL. The making land after being at sea.
_A good land-fall_, is when a vessel makes the land as intended.
LAND HO! The cry used when land is first seen.
LANYARDS. Ropes rove through dead-eyes for setting up rigging. Also, a
rope made fast to anything to secure it, or as a handle, is called a
_lanyard_.
LARBOARD. The left side of a vessel, looking forward.
LARBOWLINES. The familiar term for the men in the larboard watch.
LARGE. A vessel is said to be going _large_, when she has the wind
free.
LATCHINGS. Loops on the head rope of a bonnet, by which it is laced to
the foot of the sail.
LAUNCH. A large boat. The LONG-BOAT.
LAUNCH HO! High enough!
LAY. To come or to go; as, _Lay aloft!_ _Lay forward!_ _Lay aft!_ Also,
the direction in which the strands of a rope are twisted; as, from left
to right, or from right to left.
LEACH. (See LEECH.)
LEACHLINE. A rope used for hauling up the leach of a sail.
LEAD. A piece of lead, in the shape of a cone or pyramid, with a small
hole at the base, and a line attached to the upper end, used for
sounding. (See HAND-LEAD, DEEP-SEA-LEAD.)
LEADING-WIND. A fair wind. More particularly applied to a wind abeam or
quartering.
LEAK. A hole or breach in a vessel, at which the water comes in.
LEDGES. Small pieces of timber placed athwart-ships under the decks of
a vessel, between the beams.
LEE. The side opposite to that from which the wind blows; as, if a
vessel has the wind on her starboard side, that will be the _weather_,
and the larboard will be the _lee_ side.
_A lee shore_ is the shore upon which the wind is blowing.
_Under the lee_ of anything, is when you have that between you and the
wind.
_By the lee._ The situation of a vessel, going free, when she has
fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take
her sails aback on the other side.
LEE-BOARD. A board fitted to the lee side of flat-bottomed boats, to
prevent their drifting to leeward.
LEE-GAGE. (See GAGE.)
LEEWAY. What a vessel loses by drifting to leeward. When sailing
close-hauled with all sail set, a vessel should make no leeway. If the
topgallant sails are furled, it is customary to allow one point; under
close-reefed topsails, two points; when under one close-reefed sail,
four or five points.
LEECH, or LEACH. The border or edge of a sail, at the sides.
LEEFANGE. An iron bar, upon which the sheets of fore-and-aft sails
traverse. Also, a rope rove through the cringle of a sail which has a
bonnet to it, for hauling in, so as to lace on the bonnet. Not much
used.
LEEWARD. (Pronounced _lu-ard_.) The lee side. In a direction opposite
to that from which the wind blows, which is called _windward_. The
opposite of _lee_ is _weather_, and of _leeward_ is _windward_; the two
first being adjectives.
LIE-TO, is to stop the progress of a vessel at sea, either by
counter-bracing the yards, or by reducing sail so that she will make
little or no headway, but will merely come to and fall off by the
counteraction of the sails and helm.
LIFE-LINES. Ropes carried along yards, booms, &c., or at any part of
the vessel, for men to hold on by.
LIFT. A rope or tackle, going from the yard-arms to the mast-head, to
support and move the yard. Also, a term applied to the sails when the
wind strikes them on the leeches and raises them slightly.
LIGHT. To move or lift anything along; as, to "_Light_ out to
windward!" that is, haul the sail over to windward. The _light sails_
are all above the topsails, also the studdingsails and flying jib.
LIGHTER. A large boat, used in loading and unloading vessels.
LIMBERS, or LIMBER-HOLES. Holes cut in the lower part of the
floor-timbers, next the keelson, forming a passage for the water
fore-and-aft.
_Limber-boards_ are placed over the limbers, and are movable.
_Limber-rope._ A rope rove fore-and-aft through the limbers, to clear
them if necessary.
_Limber-streak._ The streak of foot-waling nearest the keelson.
LIST. The inclination of a vessel to one side; as, a _list_ to port, or
a _list_ to starboard.
LIZARD. A piece of rope, sometimes with two legs, and one or more iron
thimbles spliced into it. It is used for various purposes. One with two
legs, and a thimble to each, is often made fast to the topsail tye, for
the buntlines to reeve through. A single one is sometimes used on the
swinging-boom topping-lift.
LOCKER. A chest or box, to stow anything away in.
_Chain-locker._ Where the chain cables are kept.
_Boatswain's locker._ Where tools and small stuff for working upon
rigging are kept.
LOG, or LOG-BOOK. A journal kept by the chief officer, in which the
situation of the vessel, winds, weather, courses, distances, and
everything of importance that occurs, is noted down.
_Log._ A line with a piece of board, called the _log-chip_, attached to
it, wound upon a reel, and used for ascertaining the ship's rate of
sailing. (See page 17.)
LONG-BOAT. The largest boat in a merchant vessel. When at sea, it is
carried between the fore and main masts.
LONGERS. The longest casks, stowed next the keelson.
LONG-TIMBERS. Timbers in the cant-bodies, reaching from the dead-wood
to the head of the second futtock.
LOOF. That part of a vessel where the planks begin to bend as they
approach the stern.
LOOM. That part of an oar which is within the row-lock. Also, to appear
above the surface of the water; to appear larger than nature, as in a
fog.
LUBBER'S HOLE. A hole in the top, next the mast.
LUFF. To put the helm so as to bring the ship up nearer to the wind.
_Spring-a-luff!_ _Keep your luff!_ &c. Orders to luff. Also, the
roundest part of a vessel's bow. Also, the forward leech of
fore-and-aft sails.
LUFF-TACKLE. A purchase composed of a double and single block. (See
page 54.)
_Luff-upon-luff._ A luff tackle applied to the fall of another.
LUGGER. A small vessel carrying lug-sails.
_Lug-sail._ A sail used in boats and small vessels, bent to a yard
which hangs obliquely to the mast.
LURCH. The sudden rolling of a vessel to one side.
LYING-TO. (See LIE-TO.)
MADE. A _made mast_ or _block_ is one composed of different pieces. A
ship's lower mast is a made spar, her topmast is a whole spar.
MALL, or MAUL. (Pronounced _mawl_.) A heavy iron hammer used in driving
bolts. (See TOP-MAUL.)
MALLET. A small maul, made of wood; as, _caulking-mallet_; also,
_serving-mallet_, used in putting service on a rope.
MANGER. A coaming just within the hawse hole. Not much in use.
MAN-ROPES. Ropes used in going up and down a vessel's side.
MARL. To wind or twist a small line or rope round another.
MARLINE. (Pronounced _mar-lin_.) Small two-stranded stuff, used for
marling. A finer kind of spunyarn.
MARLING-HITCH. A kind of hitch used in marling.
MARLINGSPIKE. An iron pin, sharpened at one end, and having a hole in
the other for a lanyard. Used both as a fid and a heaver.
MARRY. To join ropes together by a worming over both.
MARTINGALE. A short, perpendicular spar, under the bowsprit-end, used
for guying down the head-stays. (See DOLPHIN-STRIKER.)
MAST. A spar set upright from the deck, to support rigging, yards and
sails. Masts are whole or _made_.
MAT. Made of strands of old rope, and used to prevent chafing.
MATE. An officer under the master.
MAUL. (See MALL.)
MEND. _To mend service_, is to add more to it.
MESHES. The places between the lines of a netting.
MESS. Any number of men who eat or lodge together.
MESSENGER. A rope used for heaving in a cable by the capstan.
MIDSHIPS. The timbers at the broadest part of the vessel. (See
AMIDSHIPS.)
MISS-STAYS. To fail of going about from one tack to another. (See page
74.)
MIZZEN-MAST. The aftermost mast of a ship. (See PLATE 1.) The spanker
is sometimes called the _mizzen_.
MONKEY BLOCK. A small single block strapped with a swivel.
MOON-SAIL. A small sail sometimes carried in light winds, above a sky
sail.
MOOR. To secure by two anchors. (See page 88.)
MORTICE. A _morticed block_ is one made out of a whole block of wood
with a hole cut in it for the sheave; in distinction from a _made
block_. (See page 53.)
MOULDS. The patterns by which the frames of a vessel are worked out.
MOUSE. To put turns of rope yarn or spunyarn round the end of a hook
and its standing part, when it is hooked to anything, so as to prevent
its slipping out.
MOUSING. A knot or puddening, made of yarns, and placed on the outside
of a rope.
MUFFLE. Oars are muffled by putting mats or canvass round their looms
in the row-locks.
MUNIONS. The pieces that separate the lights in the galleries.
NAVAL HOODS, or HAWSE BOLSTERS. Plank above and below the hawse-holes.
NEAP TIDES. Low tides, coming at the middle of the moon's second and
fourth quarters. (See SPRING TIDES.)
NEAPED, or BENEAPED. The situation of a vessel when she is aground at
the height of the spring tides.
NEAR. Close to wind. "Near!" the order to the helmsman when he is too
near the wind.
NETTING. Network of rope or small lines. Used for stowing away sails or
hammocks.
NETTLES. (See KNITTLES.)
NINEPIN BLOCK. A block in the form of a ninepin, used for a
_fair-leader_ in the rail.
NIP. A short turn in a rope.
NIPPERS. A number of yarns marled together, used to secure a cable to
the messenger.
NOCK. The forward upper end of a sail that sets with a boom.
NUN-BUOY. A buoy tapering at each end.
NUT. Projections on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the
stock to its place.
OAKUM. Stuff made by picking rope-yarns to pieces. Used for caulking,
and other purposes.
OAR. A long wooden instrument with a flat blade at one end, used for
propelling boats.
OFF-AND-ON. To stand on different tacks towards and from the land.
OFFING. Distance from the shore.
ORLOP. The lower deck of a ship of the line; or that on which the
cables are stowed.
OUT-HAUL. A rope used for hauling out the clew of a boom sail.
OUT-RIGGER. A spar rigged out to windward from the tops or cross-trees,
to spread the breast-backstays. (See page 25.)
OVERHAUL. _To overhaul a tackle_, is to let go the fall and pull on the
leading parts so as to separate the blocks.
_To overhaul a rope_, is generally to pull a part through a block so as
to make slack.
_To overhaul rigging_, is to examine it.
OVER-RAKE. Said of heavy seas which come over a vessel's head when she
is at anchor, head to the sea.
PAINTER. A rope attached to the bows of a boat, used for making her
fast.
PALM. A piece of leather fitted over the hand, with an iron for the
head of a needle to press against in sewing upon canvass. Also, the
fluke of an anchor.
PANCH. (See PAUNCH.)
PARBUCKLE. To hoist or lower a spar or cask by single ropes passed
round it.
PARCEL. (See page 44.) To wind tarred canvass, (called _parcelling_,)
round a rope.
PARCELLING. (See PARCEL.)
PARLIAMENT-HEEL. The situation of a vessel when she is careened.
PARRAL. The rope by which a yard is confined to a mast at its centre.
PART. To break a rope.
PARTNERS. A frame-work of short timber fitted to the hole in a deck, to
receive the heel of a mast or pump, &c.
PAZAREE. A rope attached to the clew of the foresail and rove through a
block on the swinging boom. Used for guying the clews out when before
the wind.
PAUNCH MAT. A thick mat, placed at the slings of a yard or elsewhere.
PAWL. A short bar of iron, which prevents the capstan or windlass from
turning back.
_To pawl_, is to drop a pawl and secure the windlass or capstan.
PAY-OFF. When a vessel's head falls off from the wind.
_To pay._ To cover over with tar or pitch.
_To pay out._ To slack up on a cable and let it run out.
PEAK. The upper outer corner of a gaff-sail.
PEAK. (See A-PEAK.)
A _stay-peak_ is when the cable and fore stay form a line.
A _short stay-peak_ is when the cable is too much in to form this line.
PENDANT, or PENNANT. A long narrow piece of bunting, carried at the
mast-head.
_Broad pennant_, is a square piece, carried in the same way, in a
commodore's vessel.
_Pennant._ A rope to which a purchase is hooked. A long strap fitted at
one end to a yard or mast-head, with a hook or block at the other end,
for a brace to reeve through, or to hook a tackle to.
PILLOW. A block which supports the inner end of the bowsprit.
PIN. The axis on which a sheave turns. Also, a short piece of wood or
iron to belay ropes to.
PINK-STERN. A high, narrow stern.
PINNACE. A boat, in size between the launch and a cutter.
PINTLE. A metal bolt, used for hanging a rudder.
PITCH. A resin taken from pine, and used for filling up the seams of a
vessel.
PLANKS. Thick, strong boards, used for covering the sides and decks of
vessels.
PLAT. A braid of foxes. (See FOX.)
PLATE. (See CHAIN-PLATE.)
PLUG. A piece of wood, fitted into a hole in a vessel or boat, so as to
let in or keep out water.
POINT. To take the end of a rope and work it over with knittles. (See
page 51. See REEF-POINTS.)
POLE. Applied to the highest mast of a ship, usually painted; as,
_skysail pole_.
POOP. A deck raised over the after part of the spar deck. A vessel is
_pooped_ when the sea breaks over her stern.
POPPETS. Perpendicular pieces of timber fixed to the fore-and-aft part
of the bilge-ways in launching.
PORT. Used instead of _larboard_.
_To port the helm_, is to put it to the larboard.
PORT, or PORT-HOLE. Holes in the side of a vessel, to point cannon out
of. (See BRIDLE.)
PORTOISE. The gunwale. The yards are _a-portoise_ when they rest on the
gunwale.
PORT-SILLS. (See SILLS.)
PREVENTER. An additional rope or spar, used as a support.
PRICK. A quantity of spunyarn or rope laid close up together.
PRICKER. A small marlinspike, used in sail-making. It generally has a
wooden handle.
PUDDENING. A quantity of yarns, matting or oakum, used to prevent
chafing.
PUMP-BRAKE. The handle to the pump.
PURCHASE. A mechanical power which increases the force applied.
_To purchase_, is to raise by a purchase.
QUARTER. The part of a vessel's side between the after part of the main
chains and the stern. The _quarter_ of a yard is between the slings and
the yard-arm.
The wind is said to be _quartering_, when it blows in a line between
that of the keel and the beam and abaft the latter.
QUARTER-BLOCK. A block fitted under the quarters of a yard on each side
the slings, for the clewlines and sheets to reeve through.
QUARTER-DECK. That part of the upper deck abaft the main-mast.
QUARTER-MASTER. A petty officer in a man-of-war, who attends the helm
and binnacle at sea, and watches for signals, &c., when in port.
QUICK-WORK. That part of a vessel's side which is above the chain-wales
and decks. So called in ship-building.
QUILTING. A coating about a vessel, outside, formed of ropes woven
together.
QUOIN. A wooden wedge for the breech of a gun to rest upon.
RACE. A strong, rippling tide.
RACK. To seize two ropes together, with cross-turns. Also, a
_fair-leader_ for running rigging.
RACK-BLOCK. A course of blocks made from one piece of wood, for
fair-leaders.
RAKE. The inclination of a mast from the perpendicular.
RAMLINE. A line used in mast-making to get a straight middle line on a
spar.
RANGE OF CABLE. A quantity of cable, more or less, placed in order for
letting go the anchor or paying out.
RATLINES. (Pronounced _rat-lins_.) Lines running across the shrouds,
horizontally, like the rounds of a ladder, and used to step upon in
going aloft.
RATTLE DOWN RIGGING. To put ratlines upon rigging. It is still called
rattling _down_, though they are now rattled _up_; beginning at the
lowest. (See page 23.)
RAZEE. A vessel of war which has had one deck cut down.
REEF. To reduce a sail by taking in upon its head, if a square sail,
and its foot, if a fore-and-aft sail.
REEF-BAND. A band of stout canvass sewed on the sail across, with
points in it, and earings at each end for reefing.
A _reef_ is all of the sail that is comprehended between the head of
the sail and the first reef-band, or between two reef-bands.
REEF-TACKLE. A tackle used to haul the middle of each leech up toward
the yard, so that the sail may be easily reefed.
REEVE. To pass the end of a rope through a block, or any aperture.
RELIEVING TACKLE. A tackle hooked to the tiller in a gale of wind, to
steer by in case anything should happen to the wheel or tiller-ropes.
RENDER. To pass a rope through a place. A rope is said to _render_ or
not, according as it goes freely through any place.
RIB-BANDS. Long, narrow, flexible pieces of timber nailed to the
outside of the ribs, so as to encompass the vessel lengthwise.
RIBS. A figurative term for a vessel's timbers.
RIDE AT ANCHOR. To lie at anchor. Also, to bend or bear down by main
strength and weight; as, to _ride down_ the main tack.
RIDERS. Interior timbers placed occasionally opposite the principal
ones, to which they are bolted, reaching from the keelson to the beams
of the lower deck. Also, casks forming the second tier in a vessel's
hold.
RIGGING. The general term for all the ropes of a vessel. (See RUNNING,
STANDING.) Also, the common term for the shrouds with their ratlines;
as, the _main rigging_, _mizzen rigging_, &c.
RIGHT. To _right_ the helm, is to put it amidships.
RIM. The edge of a top.
RING. The iron ring at the upper end of an anchor, to which the cable
is bent.
RING-BOLT. An eye-bolt with a ring through the eye. (See EYE-BOLT.)
RING-TAIL. A small sail, shaped like a jib, set abaft the spanker in
light winds.
ROACH. A curve in the foot of a square sail, by which the clews are
brought below the middle of the foot. The _roach_ of a fore-and-aft
sail is in its forward leech.
ROAD, or ROADSTEAD. An anchorage at some distance from the shore.
ROBANDS. (See ROPE-BANDS.)
ROLLING TACKLE. Tackles used to steady the yards in a heavy sea.
ROMBOWLINE. Condemned canvass, rope, &c.
ROPE-BANDS, or ROBANDS. Small pieces of two or three yarn spunyarn or
marline, used to confine the head of the sail to the yard or gaff.
Rope-yarn. A thread of hemp, or other stuff, of which a rope is made.
(See page 43.)
ROUGH-TREE. An unfinished spar.
ROUND IN. To haul in on a rope, especially a weather-brace.
ROUND UP. To haul up on a tackle.
ROUNDING. A service of rope, hove round a spar or larger rope.
ROWLOCKS, or ROLLOCKS. Places cut in the gunwale of a boat for the oar
to rest in while pulling.
ROYAL. A light sail next above a topgallant sail. (See PLATE 2.)
ROYAL YARD. The yard from which the royal is set. The fourth from the
deck. (See PLATE 1.)
RUBBER. A small instrument used to rub or flatten down the seams of a
sail in sail-making.
RUDDER. The machine by which a vessel or boat is steered.
RUN. The after part of a vessel's bottom, which rises and narrows in
approaching the stern-post.
_By the run._ To let go _by the run_, is to let go altogether, instead
of slacking off.
RUNG-HEADS. The upper ends of the floor-timbers.
RUNNER. A rope used to increase the power of a tackle. It is rove
through a single block which you wish to bring down, and a tackle is
hooked to each end, or to one end, the other being made fast.
RUNNING RIGGING. The ropes that reeve through blocks, and are pulled
and hauled, such as braces, halyards, &c.; in opposition to the
_standing rigging_, the ends of which are securely seized, such as
stays, shrouds, &c. (See page 43.)
SADDLES. Pieces of wood hollowed out to fit on the yards to which they
are nailed, having a hollow in the upper part for the boom to rest in.
SAG. To _sag to leeward_, is to drift off bodily to leeward.
SAILS are of two kinds: _square sails_, which hang from yards, their
foot lying across the line of the keel, as the courses, topsails, &c.;
and _fore-and-aft sails_, which set upon gaffs, or on stays, their foot
running with the line of the keel, as jib, spanker, &c.
SAIL HO! The cry used when a sail is first discovered at sea.
SAVE-ALL. A small sail sometimes set under the foot of a lower
studdingsail. (See WATER SAIL.)
SCANTLING. A term applied to any piece of timber, with regard to its
breadth and thickness, when reduced to the standard size.
SCARF. To join two pieces of timber at their ends by shaving them down
and placing them over-lapping.
SCHOONER. (See PLATE 4.) A small vessel with two masts and no tops.
A _fore-and-aft schooner_ has only fore-and-aft sails.
A _topsail schooner_ carries a square fore topsail, and frequently,
also, topgallant sail and royal. There are some schooners with three
masts. They also have no tops.
A _main-topsail schooner_ is one that carries square topsails, fore and
aft.
SCORE. A groove in a block or dead-eye.
SCOTCHMAN. A large batten placed over the turnings-in of rigging. (See
BATTEN.)
SCRAPER. A small, triangular iron instrument, with a handle fitted to
its centre, and used for scraping decks and masts.
SCROWL. A piece of timber bolted to the knees of the head, in place of
a figure-head.
SCUD. To drive before a gale, with no sail, or only enough to keep the
vessel ahead of the sea. Also, low, thin clouds that fly swiftly before
the wind.
SCULL. A short oar.
_To scull_, is to impel a boat by one oar at the stern.
SCUPPERS. Holes cut in the water-ways for the water to run from the
decks.
SCUTTLE. A hole cut in a vessel's deck, as, a hatchway. Also, a hole
cut in any part of a vessel.
_To scuttle_, is to cut or bore holes in a vessel to make her sink.
SCUTTLE-BUTT. (See BUTT.)
SEAMS. The intervals between planks in a vessel's deck or side.
SEIZE. To fasten ropes together by turns of small stuff.
SEIZINGS. (See page 51.) The fastenings of ropes that are seized
together.
SELVAGEE. A skein of rope-yarns or spunyarn, marled together. Used as a
neat strap. (See page 50.)
SEND. When a ship's head or stern pitches suddenly and violently into
the trough of the sea.
SENNIT, or SINNIT. (See page 52.) A braid, formed by plaiting
rope-yarns or spunyarn together. Straw, plaited in the same way for
hats, is called sennit.
SERVE. (See page 44.) To wind small stuff, as rope-yarns, spunyarn,
&c., round a rope, to keep it from chafing. It is wound and hove round
taut by a serving-board or mallet.
SERVICE, is the stuff so wound round.
SET. To _set up rigging_, is to tauten it by tackles. The seizings are
then put on afresh.
SHACKLES. Links in a chain cable which are fitted with a movable bolt
so that the chain can be separated.
SHAKES. The staves of hogsheads taken apart.
SHANK. The main piece in an anchor, at one end of which the stock is
made fast, and at the other the arms.
SHANK-PAINTER. A strong rope by which the lower part of the shank of an
anchor is secured to the ship's side.
SHARP UP. Said of yards when braced as near fore-and-aft as possible.
SHEATHING. A casing or covering on a vessel's bottom.
SHEARS. Two or more spars, raised at angles and lashed together near
their upper ends, used for taking in masts. (See page 52.)
SHEAR HULK. An old vessel fitted with shears, &c., and used for taking
out and putting in the masts of other vessels.
SHEAVE. The wheel in a block upon which the rope works.
_Sheave-hole_, the place cut in a block for the ropes to reeve through.