stream the buoy

stream the buoy (third-person singular simple present streams the buoy, present participle streaming the buoy, simple past and past participle streamed the buoy)

streams the buoy (present singular third-person)
streaming the buoy (participle present)
streamed the buoy (participle past)
streamed the buoy (past)

I was aft attending to the sails and bringing the brig to her berth, Boyd and some others standing by the anchor. On streaming the buoy it of course went adrift, but was not missed till after the anchor was let go. When I went forward to attend to the cable and looked for the buoy I saw it floating away astern, and was told the buoy-rope must have been cut by the rocks.

1892, James Choyce, The Log of a Jack Tar:

(nautical, dated) To drop the anchor buoy overboard, before letting go of the anchor. This is done to avoid the buoy getting obstructed by the anchor chain.


fetch a compass

en-verb

fetch a compass (third-person singular simple present fetches a compass, present participle fetching a compass, simple past and past participle fetched a compass)

fetches a compass (present singular third-person)
fetching a compass (participle present)
fetched a compass (participle past)
fetched a compass (past)

(nautical, archaic, idiomatic) To make a circuit; to take a circuitous route to a place.


French fake

(nautical) A way of coiling a rope by running it backward and forward in parallel bends, so that it may run freely.


good leg

In a minute or two the Swash was under what Mrs. Budd might have called her "attacking" canvas, and was close by the wind, looking on a good leg well up the harbour.

(nautical) A course sailed on a tack near to the desired course.


Spanish fox

(nautical) A yarn twisted against its lay.


Spanish burton

(nautical) A purchase composed of two single blocks, or (double Spanish burton) one double and two single blocks.


watch tackle

(nautical) A small, handy purchase, consisting of a tailed double block, and a single block with a hook.


sail fine

sail fine (third-person singular simple present sails fine, present participle sailing fine, simple past and past participle sailed fine)

sails fine (present singular third-person)
sailing fine (participle present)
sailed fine (participle past)
sailed fine (past)

(nautical) To sail as close to the wind as possible.


stake boat

A boat used to mark the start line in a sailing race.


dead wind

(nautical) A wind directly ahead, or opposed to the ship's course.


between wind and water

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-between wind and water.wav

(nautical) In that part of a ship's side or bottom which is frequently brought above water by the rolling of the ship, or fluctuation of the water's surface.


Spanish reef

(nautical) A knot tied in the head of a jib-headed sail.


fiddle block

(nautical) A long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block.


traverse table

(nautical, surveying) A table by means of which the difference of latitude and departure corresponding to any given course and distance may be found by inspection. It contains the lengths of the two sides of a right-angled triangle, usually for every quarter of a degree of angle, and for lengths of the hypotenuse, from 1 to 100.


traverse sailing

(nautical) Sailing by compound courses; the method or process of finding the resulting course and distance from a series of different shorter courses and distances actually passed over by a ship.


in the wind's eye

(nautical) Directly toward the point from which the wind blows.


slip the cable

slip the cable (third-person singular simple present slips the cable, present participle slipping the cable, simple past and past participle slipped the cable)

slips the cable (present singular third-person)
slipping the cable (participle present)
slipped the cable (participle past)
slipped the cable (past)

(nautical, dated) To release the end of the cable on board and let it all run out and go overboard, as when there is not time to weigh anchor.


fire roll

The dark, dingy smoke which now began to pervade the deck, left no doubt in the captain's mind as to the correctness of the seaman's suspicions. […] Staunch directed the drummer to beat the 'Fire-roll.'

1829, Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, page 76:

As soon as he could recall his scattered senses, with his usual presence of mind he desired the "fire-roll" to be beat by the drummer, and sent down to ascertain the extent of the mischief. A strong sulphureous smell pervaded the ship […]

1838, Frederick Marryat, The King's Own, page 377:

[…] beat the fire roll. Then I hurried back to the main deck, without even thinking of making a report to the captain. The fire drill had been practiced every day […]

2000, Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel, Ronald E. Coons, Pascal James Imperato, Over Land and Sea: Memoirs of an Austrian Rear Admiral's Life in Europe and Africa, 1857-1909, page 149:

(nautical, historical) A special drumbeat used to summon men to their quarters in case of fire.


red ensign

Both Worthing and Brighton sail under the red ensign and are excellent testimonials to their British builders, William Denny & Brothers, from whose yard so many notable cross-channel and shallow-draught vessels have come.

1939 June, G. W. Tripp, “The Modern Railway Steamer”, in Railway Magazine, page 392:

The flag flown by a British merchant ship.

(historical, Canada) Such a flag bearing the coat of arms of Canada, formerly used as a semi-official national flag of Canada.


quarter badge

(nautical) An ornament on the side of a vessel near the stern.


spring stay

(nautical) A preventer stay, to assist the regular one; a smaller stay placed above the stays as a duplicate if needed.


shot prop

(nautical) A wooden prop covered with tarred hemp, to stop a hole made by the shot of an enemy in a ship's side.


span iron

(nautical) A special kind of harpoon, usually secured just below the gunwale of a whaleboat.


span block

(nautical) Any of the blocks at the topmast and topgallant-mast heads, for the studding-sail halyards.


in the eye of the wind

A ship sails in the eye of the wind.

(nautical) In a direction opposed to the wind.


span shackle

(nautical) A large bolt driven through the forecastle deck, with a triangular shackle in the head to receive the heel of the old-fashioned fish davit.


dead rise

(nautical) The transverse upward curvature of a vessel's floor.


quarter bill

(nautical) A list specifying the different stations to be taken by the officers and crew in time of action, and the names of the men assigned to each.


dead rising

(nautical) An elliptical line drawn on the sheer plan to determine the sweep of the floorheads throughout the ship's length.


watch gun

(nautical) A gun sometimes fired on shipboard at 8 p.m., when the night watch begins.


watch and watch

(nautical) The regular alternation in being on watch and off watch of the two watches into which a ship's crew is commonly divided.


horse marine

(nautical, slang) An awkward, lubberly person.

Tell it to the horse marines!

(nautical, slang) One of a mythical body of marine cavalry, for whom wild flights of imagination are best reserved.


quarter gunner

(nautical) A petty officer who assists the gunner.


on the quarter

(nautical) In a direction between abeam and astern; opposite, or nearly opposite, a vessel's quarter.


bilgeway

(nautical, historical) Either of a pair of rails down which a ship is launched.


feather spray

(nautical) The spray thrown up, like pairs of feathers, by the cutwater of a fast-moving vessel.


life car

From this hawser the breeches-buoy or life-car is suspended and drawn between the ship and shore of the endless whip-line. The life-car can also be drawn like a boat between ship and shore without the use of a hawser. The breeches-buoy is a cork life-buoy to which is attached a pair of short canvas breeches, the whole suspended from a traveller block by suitable lanyards. It usually carries one person at a time, although two have frequently been brought ashore together. The life-car, first introduced in 1848, is a boat of corrugated iron with a convex iron cover, having a hatch in the top for the admission of passengers, which can be fastened either from within or without, and a few perforations to admit air, with raised edges to exclude water.

1911, Robert M. Ballantyne, Charles Dibdin and Alfred T. Thorson, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Life-boat and Life-saving Service:

This was no explanation to the girls until Tom Cameron came running back from the house and announced that the crew were going to try to reach the schooner with a line.
"They'll try to save them with the breeches buoy," he said. "They've got a life-car here; but they never use that thing nowadays if they can help. Too many castaways have been near smothered in it, they say. If they can get a line over the wreck they'll haul the crew in, one at a time."

1913, Alice B. Emerson, Ruth Fielding at Lighthouse Point, Chapter 9:

(historical) A watertight boat or box, travelling on a line from a wrecked vessel to the shore, used to haul people through the waves in a rescue.


work double tides

work double tides (third-person singular simple present works double tides, present participle working double tides, simple past and past participle worked double tides)

works double tides (present singular third-person)
working double tides (participle present)
worked double tides (participle past)
worked double tides (past)

Alluding to a practice of working by the night tide as well as by the day.

(nautical) To perform the labour of three days in two.


shoe block

(nautical) A block with two sheaves, one above the other, and at right angles to each other.


forecourse

(nautical) The lowest foresail on a square-rigged foremast.


devil's claw

(nautical) A metal hook for grabbing a ship's anchor chain.


kevil

The following new ones will have to be supplied: Two pairs of sheave chocks similar to those now in use on board, and twelve large kevils at least four feet long and of heavy pattern.

1898, Annual Reports of the War Department, U.S. War Department, page 3184

The halliard is belayed on the kevil with figure-of-eight turns (not hitched), and the coil is carried up to the pin-rail, where the 1-inch rope is passed round it, the eye at the end of this rope being finally passed over the pin.

1935, Walter Henry Johnston, Building a Little Ship:

(nautical) A sturdy belaying pin for the heavier cables of a ship.


kellet

(nautical) A weight placed on an anchor to stop it dragging.


bowrider

A kind of runabout boat with an open bow area.


yankee

(nautical) A headsail resembling a genoa or a jib but with a high-cut clew, normally used together with a staysail. A sailing boat is typically equipped with three yankee sails of different sizes, number one being the largest.


plushers

(historical, nautical) Left-over residue in a cask of rum.


forehander

Then he heard the wailing cry of the forehander as the crowd manned the braces.

1940, Roland Barker, Jonah's Ark, page 59:

I had not been below ten minutes when I heard Mr. Hughes shouting orders; then there came the cries of the forehander, and the creaking of brace blocks, as the yards were trimmed once more.

(sailing) The crew member in charge of managing the foresail.


fiddley

(nautical) The iron framework round the deck opening that leads to the stokehole of a steamer, usually covered by a grating of iron bars.

(nautical) The space below this framework.


merchant fleet

the global merchant fleet

the Norwegian merchant fleet

A fleet of merchant ships, calculated either on a country-by-country basis, or on a global basis.


BAP

(nautical, military, initialism) The ship prefix for a ship from the navy of Peru


marine aerodrome

en-noun

marine aerodrome (plural marine aerodromes)

(nautical, maritime) a type of airport or airfield where the landing and take-off area is a body of water, such as a lake, river, or the sea.


fall aboard of

en-verb

fall aboard of (third-person singular simple present falls aboard of, present participle falling aboard of, simple past fell aboard of, past participle fallen aboard of)

falls aboard of (present singular third-person)
falling aboard of (participle present)
fell aboard of (past)
fallen aboard of (participle past)

(nautical) To strike (the side of another ship).


belandre

Borrowed from French belandre, from Dutch bijlander (whence also English bilander), equivalent to by- + lander.

(nautical) A small flat-bottomed craft, used principally on the rivers, canals, and roadsteads of France.


foretackle

(nautical) The tackle that attaches or hooks on to the pendant (on a masthead or foremast) for the purposes of hoisting, tautening, or securing a stay.


raceabout

(nautical) A small sloop-rigged racing yacht carrying about six hundred square feet of sail, distinguished from a knockabout by having a short bowsprit.


jury mast

[P]erhaps the Jury Masts may just serve to carry me into Harbour, (as they have done,) and then the ship is to sink:—very likely, for such events happen perpetually.

1787 October 11, Hester Thrale Piozzi, Thraliana:

(nautical) A temporary mast, in place of one that has been carried away or broken.


telemotor

(nautical) A hydraulic device by which the movement of the wheel on the bridge operates the steering gear at the stern.


anchor light

(nautical) The lantern shown at night by a vessel at anchor.


port of entry

For the Japanese, continued Russian control of Ying-k'ou was not simply a legal matter. Since Ying-k'ou was the major port of entry for Japanese goods into Manchuria, the Russian occupation threatened to undermine Japanese commercial interests.

1996, S. C. M. Paine, Imperial Rivals: China, Russia, and Their Disputed Frontier, M. E. Sharpe, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 212:

The Motor Carrier Act that opened the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexican border shows that on average 46.4. local trucking and courier service establishments left each port of entry.

2014, John T. Jones, The Economic Impact of Transborder Trucking Regulations, →ISBN:

A harbor, airport, or border crossing where goods or immigrants enter a country.


loofward

en-adv

loofward (comparative more loofward, superlative most loofward)

more loofward (comparative)
most loofward (superlative)

From loof + -ward. Compare Dutch loefwaarts (“loofward”).


close-winded

en-adj

close-winded (comparative more close-winded, superlative most close-winded)

more close-winded (comparative)
most close-winded (superlative)


torpedo catcher

en-noun

torpedo catcher (plural torpedo catchers)

(military, nautical) A small, fast gunboat for pursuing and destroying torpedo boats.


dugout canoe

(nautical) A canoe made by digging out the centre of a tree trunk.


dipsey

a dipsey line

"Soundin' is a trick, though," said Dan, "when your dipsey lead's all the eye you're like to hev for a week. What d'you make it, Dad?"

1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:

(nautical, slang, attributive) Deep sea.


clew line

(sailing) Alternative spelling of clewline


running rigging

running rigging (countable and uncountable, plural running riggings)

(nautical) The ropes used in bracing the yards, making and shortening sail, etc., such as braces, sheets, halyards, clew lines, and the like.


standing rigging

standing rigging (plural standing riggings)

(nautical) The shrouds and stays of a sailboat.


doublehand

en-verb

doublehand (third-person singular simple present doublehands, present participle doublehanding, simple past and past participle doublehanded)

doublehands (present singular third-person)
doublehanding (participle present)
doublehanded (participle past)
doublehanded (past)

Whether you're sailing with a full crew complement or doublehanding with your spouse,...

2014, Ralph Naranjo, The Art of Seamanship, →ISBN, page 67:


doublehanded

This section uses a survey of thirteen couples to look at typical shorthanded solutions to watchkeeping and then discusses some standard watch schedules for doublehanded crews.

2006, Beth Leonard, The Voyager's Handbook: The Essential Guide to Blue Water Cruising, →ISBN:

(sailing) Requiring or using a crew consisting of two people.


commerce destroyer

en-noun

commerce destroyer (plural commerce destroyers)

(military, nautical, dated) A fast, unarmoured, lightly armed naval vessel designed to capture or destroy merchant vessels of an enemy.


lighthanded

en-adj

lighthanded (comparative more lighthanded, superlative most lighthanded)

more lighthanded (comparative)
most lighthanded (superlative)

Being so lighthanded the vessel could not be properly managed and could carry but little sail, consequently her progress was but slow.

1887, The Contributor: Representing the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations of the Latter-day Saints, Volume 8, page 168:

“We will hold on to the last, while he must begin to take in soon, or the squall will come upon him too fast for a light-handed vessel.”

1836, James Fenimore Cooper, The Water Witch:

(nautical or military) Not having a full complement of workers.


ITB

Coordinate term: ATB

(nautical) Abbreviation of integrated tug and barge.


knotter

1905, Hansard, “Navy Estimates,” 13 March, 1905,
His hon. and gallant friend raised the question as to the two classes of destroyers, one for ocean work and the other for work in narrow waters. It was not true to say that the new twenty-five-and-a-half “knotters” had proved inferior to the old thirty “knotters.” In anything like dirty weather the twenty-five-and-a-half “knotters” had shown their superiority. As he had stated to the Committee, they had failed to produce a better design which would combine greater speed with greater stability at a limited cost.

Their engines being “simple,” they consumed a perfectly ruinous amount of coal, sixty-four tons for the round trip; considerably more than the coal consumption of the present twenty-four knotters.

1920, Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton, chapter 3, in The Days Before Yesterday, London: Hodder & Stoughton, page 62:

(nautical, in compounds) A vessel capable of reaching a specified speed in knots.

“See how the canvass unfurls itself like great white wings, and spreads its volumes upon the air. The wind is a strong eight-knotter, and will give her a firm headway for Tom’s purpose.”

1847, Joseph Holt Ingraham, The Surf Skiff; or, The Heroine of Kennebec, New York: R. M. De Witt, published 1867, page 55:

(nautical, in compounds) A wind blowing at a specified velocity in knots.


headrail

(nautical) A railing, on a sailing ship, behind the figurehead.

Initially, our man was the favourite, the boat's crew cheering him on as usual: 'Now my boy! Knock out his head rails' . . .

2011, Frederick Chamier, Life of a Sailor, page 148:

(nautical, slang, obsolete, in the plural) A person's tooth.


knarr

This summer, one of these Knarrs is being delivered to Johannes Westergaard of New York, and another to Gerhard Lorenz of the Grosse Isle Yacht Club, Michigan.

The Knarr soon attracted the interest of local regatta sailors, who liked its lines and performance.
Back in Scandinavia, the Danish Sailing Association became interested in building Knarrs.

2008, Dieter Loibner, Folkboat Story: From Cult to Classic—the Renaissance of a Legend, page 39:

A type of modern long-keeled sailing boat.


roader

(nautical) A vessel sheltering in a roadstead


throwline

(nautical) A line that may be thrown to assist a person at peril in the water.


bug shoe

(nautical) A length of ironbark or other hardened material on the skeg of a ship that protects from shipworm damage.


supertrawler

The proposition that foreigners may be depriving British workers of their cod is politically potent. […] This argument, of course, denies the long British history of overfishing and the fact that the dread Spanish supertrawlers, which are now so universally denounced, wre a British invention.

(nautical) A very large, industrialised trawler


inherent vice

en-noun

inherent vice (usually uncountable, plural inherent vices)

Leather, badly tanned, is susceptible to deterioration from inherent vice induced by poor quality manufacturing.

1988 February 21, Thomas C. Albro II, “Books and their Enemies Caring for your Library”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2015-07-17:

[T]he insurance was stated to cover “all risks of loss or damage” except that “caused by inherent vice or nature of the subject matter covered”.

2011 June 23, Locke Lord LLP, “Supreme Court confirms reduced scope of inherent vice exclusions”, in lexology.com, retrieved 2015-07-17:

The court also considered these principles in the context of the CMR Rules, in particular articles 3, 17 and 18.
Article17.2. The carrier shall, however, be relieved of liability if the loss, damage or delay was caused by the wrongful act or neglect of the claimant, by the instructions of the claimant given otherwise than as the result of a wrongful act or neglect on the part of the carrier, by inherent vice of the goods or through circumstances which the carrier could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent.

2012 October 8, Karl Grech Orr, “Carrier responsible for all damages during shipment”, in Times of Malta, retrieved 2015-07-17:

Ms. Figgis favors rich colors that bubble, ooze and marbleize as if alive. Her scenes . . . frequently feature daffy but spectral creatures and leering ghouls with top hats and canes. The art conservationist’s term “inherent vice” describes both the instability of the images and the general sense of the macabre.

2014 October 23, Roberta Smith, “Art & Design: Genieve Figgis: ‘Good Morning, Midnight’”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-07-17:

(commercial law) An intrinsic shortcoming in an object, especially an object's in-built tendency to degrade, which adversely affects its evaluation, preservability, insurability, or acceptability to be transported by a shipper, and which usually limits the legal liability of those who handle or care for it.

Inherent vice (library and archival science)


wringbolt

(nautical, historical) A bolt with a ring or eye, used by shipwrights to temporarily bend and secure the planks against the timbers until they are fixed in place.


drop anchor

en-verb

drop anchor (third-person singular simple present drops anchor, present participle dropping anchor, simple past and past participle dropped anchor)

drops anchor (present singular third-person)
dropping anchor (participle present)
dropped anchor (participle past)
dropped anchor (past)

(nautical) To release the anchor of a ship or boat, allowing it to fall to the bed of a body of water and thereby securing the vessel in place.


ushkuinik

Borrowed from Russian ушку́йник (uškújnik).

Vasily tells his mother that he wants to travel to Jerusalem because the time has come for him to repent his earlier misdeeds, possibly an allusion to a life of fighting, killing, and robbery as a Viking-like ushkuinik.

1998, James Bailey, Anthology Russian Folk Epics, M.E. Sharpe, page 319:

A medieval Novgorodian pirate who led a life similar to that of a Viking.


salvagee

The salvagee or sub-division system is intended to remove this objection. The gradual and progressive re-action, which forms a distinctive character of this system, generates the strongest adhesion of the twists, or component parts of the rope, . (which at the same time are in spiral directions) nearly parallel; and of consequence, with a power but fractionally inferior to a combination of yarns parallel to each other.

1800, The Commercial Agricultural and Manufacturer's Magazine:

Take a piece of good rope, splice a thimble in one end, and fit the other like a salvagee.

1834, Charles Martelli -, The naval officer's guide for preparing ships for sea, page 81:

My mind misgives me, sir, that we Were wrong about that salvagee— I should restore it.

1872, William Schwenck Gilbert, More "Bab" Ballads: Much Sound and Little Sense, page 193:

She had then only to be steered very close to the buoy, when the salvagee was laid hold of with a boat-hook, and the bite of the hawser thrown over the cross-head. But the salvagee, by this method, was always left at the buoy, and was, of course, more liable to chafe and wear than a hawser passed through the ring, which could be wattled with canvas, and shifted at pleasure.

2011, Robert Louis Stevenson, Records of a Family of Engineers, →ISBN, page 119:

(nautical) A free rope on a sailing ship (one that does not have a single dedicated purpose).


lee-ho

(nautical) Used by the helm to announce that the vessel is tacking.


anchor ball

(nautical) A sphere, usually black, that is either attached to the vessel or to the anchor buoy, used as a signal to state the vessel is anchored


Oppy

I suggest you go somewhere else and use your talents where they will be admired, like maybe North Korea, and leave those poor children in their Oppies to have fun.


chart table

(nautical) A table, below deck, on which charts are placed to navigate.


tidal diamond

(nautical, navigation) A diamond-shaped symbol on a chart, indicating the direction and speed of tidal streams


tidal stream

(nautical) The flow of the water caused by rising and falling tide


furling drum

(nautical) A drum out of which a sail is furled


drying height

(nautical) On a chart, the vertical distance of the seabed exposed by the tide at the lowest astronomical tide.


lateral mark

(nautical) A buoy or other navigational mark denoting the port or starboard edge of a channel


cardinal mark

(nautical) A sea mark (a buoy or other floating or fixed structure) used in pilotage to indicate the position of a hazard and the direction of safe water.


spinnaker pole

(nautical) A spar used to support the spinnaker.


PCG

Philippine Coast Guard
w:Philippine Coast Guard

(Philippines, law enforcement, nautical) Initialism of Philippine Coast Guard.


secondary port

(navigation) A port whose tidal predictions are not given directly in tide tables, and must be calculated based on the tidal curve of a standard port.


standard port

(navigation) A port whose tidal predictions are given directly in tide tables


SOG

en-noun

SOG (countable and uncountable, plural SOGs)

Coordinate term: COG

(nautical) Initialism of speed over ground.


clinkerwise

planks laid clinkerwise

(nautical) In the clinker or lapstrake fashion.


ambatch

ambatch (usually uncountable, plural ambatches)

Likely borrowed from an Ethiopian language.

(countable) A raft made from bundles of the stems of this plant.


yardsnap

(nautical) A strap equipped with snaps at the outer end of a yard for securing signal halyards.


cruising chute

(nautical) A type of spinnaker designed for cruising


goose-wing

en-verb

goose-wing (third-person singular simple present goose-wings, present participle goose-winging, simple past and past participle goose-winged)

goose-wings (present singular third-person)
goose-winging (participle present)
goose-winged (participle past)
goose-winged (past)

(nautical) To sail with the sails in a goose wing position


hot shot

After being struck by three hot shot from the coastal fort, the attacking ship of the line burned uncontrollably until the flames reached her powder magazine and she blew up.

(historical, military, nautical) Round shot that has been heated to a glow before firing in order to set wooden enemy ships afire.


on the wind

(nautical) As close as possible to the direction that the wind is blowing.


bawley

It is ten o'clock in the day; the bawleys have returned from the fishing grounds, and scores of them have anchored in the Ray—a deep stretch of water lying between the spit of sand that extends from the end of Canvey Island close up to Southend Pier, and the mud-flats of Leigh.

1891, G. A. Henty, chapter 1, in A Chapter of Adventures:

What a sight it must have been a century ago when Harwich Quay was lined with bawleys—east coast sailing craft designed for catching shrimps and whitebait.

2010 June 5, Brian Jackman, “Walton Backwaters: Going with the flow in Essex”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2015-09-20:

(nautical) A small fishing boat, equipped with sails, used mainly in the estuary of the Thames, England.


heave to

heave to (third-person singular simple present heaves to, present participle heaving to, simple past heaved to or hove to, past participle heaved to or hove to or hoven to)

heaves to (present singular third-person)
heaving to (participle present)
heaved to (past)
hove to (past)
heaved to (participle past)
hove to (participle past)
hoven to (participle past)

(intransitive, nautical, sailing) To cause (one's vessel) to become dead in the water by pointing the bows directly towards the wind.

(intransitive, nautical, of a ship or other naval vessel) To come to a halt.


free port

A port or other area with relaxed jurisdiction of customs, tax rule or related national regulations.


blirty

en-adj

blirty (comparative blirtier or more blirty, superlative blirtiest or most blirty)

blirtier (comparative)
more blirty (comparative)
blirtiest (superlative)
most blirty (superlative)

a blirty day

(nautical, chiefly Scotland) Characterised by blirts or gusts of wind and rain.


upmaking

en-noun

upmaking (usually uncountable, plural upmakings)

(nautical, historical) Pieces of plank or timber piled on each other as filling up in building, especially between the bilgeways and ship's bottom, preparatory to launching.


no no

(nautical) Response to ahoy if no officer is in the boat.


tiddly suit

Probably connected to tidy. Granville (1950) claims that it is "from tidy, influenced by titivate", while Jolly (2018) states that it "appears merely to be a whimsical corruption of tidily".

(nautical) A sailor's best uniform, often tailored and not strictly to regulation.


pulwar

When at sail, the Halder budgerow always towed another, smaller boat in its wake, a pulwar […]

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 40:

A keelless riverboat used in northeast India and Bangladesh, chiefly to carry cargo.


able whackets

Possibly from able, as in able seaman, and whack.

The chief amusement or game in use in the midshipmen's berth, was ‘able whackets’, a pastime in which cards, blasphemy, and hard knocks were agreeably mingled.

1905, John Masefield, Sea Life in Nelson's Time, section IV:

Instead of the usual sailors' games of cards and ablewhackets, there was the clicking of dice, with games of parcheesi unfolding on chequerboards of rope […].

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 15:

(nautical slang, now historical) Blows on the hand from a knotted or twisted handkerchief, especially given as a punishment to the loser of certain card games.


death roll

(nautical) In a keel boat, the act of broaching to windward, putting the spinnaker pole into the water and causing a crash-gybe of the boom and mainsail, which sweep across the deck and plunge down into the water.


boardsman

Earley in the morning there was an altercation between some of the Boardsmen and one of the Ships Corperals.

1865 February 20, William Benjamin Gould, Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor, page 223:

Why, blast, I mind when I wor boardsman o' the Rose of Sharon. The mate, I f 'rget his name, went hoom unexpected-like one night and found a man in bed 'long o' his old woman.

1948, George Goldsmith Carter, The smacksmen: a story of the fishermen of the Borough:

The crews of the later ketches numbered nine; a master (who was often also owner), mate, boardsman, and under-boardsman, whose duties were to bait and shoot the lines, the haulers and backer-in, who coiled down and removed the stale bait, and the boy, who was also cook.

(nautical) A sailor on a smack whose job is to bait and shoot the lines

By adjusting their position on the boards, the crew can compensate for subtle changes in wind and course. One wrong move may be enough to send everyone into the drink, so the job of the boardsman is a tricky one.

1984, July 2, The Star-Democrat (Easton, Maryland), page 27

Roger Vaughn explains the tack, in relation to the boardsmen, stating: Part of the fun, not to mention exercise, in log canoe sailing smooth crew work with the heavy planks that keep these hulls on their feet or close to it.

1989, Nelson Lyles Forbes, The racing log canoe: Ancient traditions alive on the Chesapeake Bay, thesis submitted to Middle Tennessee State University, page 34-36

In a stiff wind, the boardsmen run up 12-15 foot boards from side to balance the craft

2010, Stephen R. Brown, Tidewater: Images of the Chesapeake Bay, page 62:

(nautical) One who rides on the boards of a log canoe in order to balance it.


trywork

From try (“to extract oil from whale blubber”) + work.

affix

(nautical) A furnace on a ship used to heat try pots.


try pot

From try (“to extract oil from whale blubber”) + pot.

Along Salamanca Wharf […] was a reminder of what first made the early colony of Tasmania: a large black whaler's trypot, used to boil stripped whale blubber so as to produce oil.

2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 183:

(nautical) A large pot used to remove and render the oil from blubber obtained from cetaceans, pinnipeds and also to extract oil from penguins.

taraipāta

large pot used to remove and render the oil from blubber and to extract oil from penguins


bring to

en-verb

bring to (third-person singular simple present brings to, present participle bringing to, simple past and past participle brought to)

brings to (present singular third-person)
bringing to (participle present)
brought to (participle past)
brought to (past)

(nautical, transitive) To turn into the wind; to check the course of (a ship) by trimming the sails so as to counteract each other.


go below

go below (third-person singular simple present goes below, present participle going below, simple past went below, past participle gone below)

goes below (present singular third-person)
going below (participle present)
went below (past)
gone below (participle past)

The weather's getting bad; you had better go below!

(intransitive, nautical) To go below deck on a ship; to leave the top deck of a ship.


send below

send below (third-person singular simple present sends below, present participle sending below, simple past and past participle sent below)

sends below (present singular third-person)
sending below (participle present)
sent below (participle past)
sent below (past)

(transitive or intransitive, nautical) To order someone to go below the top deck on a ship.


midshipmite

CHAPTER VII. In which our hero and Gascoigne ought to be ashamed of themselves, and did feel, what might be called midshipmite compunction.

1836, [Frederick Marryat], “In which our hero and Gascoigne ought to be ashamed of themselves, and did feel, what might be called midshipmite compunction”, in Mr. Midshipman Easy […], volume III, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 127:

(nautical, slang, archaic) A little or petty midshipman.


reefable

(nautical) Of a sail: capable of being reefed.


beamshelf

(nautical) The structure that supports each end of a crossbeam


Yankee cheese-box

en-noun

Yankee cheese-box (plural Yankee cheese-boxes)

The old description of her departed predecessor, " a Yankee cheese-box on a raft," will give one a better idea of her external appearance than any chapter which could be written.

1866, William O. Blake, Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion, volume 2, page 228:

(slang, dated, US) The USS Monitor, USS Montauk and similar American Civil War-era ironclad ships.


careener

(nautical) A person employed to expose the side of a ship by tilting it to carry out cleaning and repairs.


mooring post

(nautical) A bollard, or similar fixed post that a vessel may be moored to


ship ahoy

(nautical) Interjection used to hail another ship or vessel, or to attract attention to the presence of another vessel nearby.

vaixell a la vista

interjection used to hail another ship or vessel, or to attract attention to it


dunsel cap

"[The suspect was] described as black, 17-20 years old and wearing a dunsel cap and black plaid jacket..."

1975 December 18, The Cincinnati Enquirer:

"McLaughlin said the suspect was wearing a yellow tank top shirt and possibly glasses and a dunsel cap, which is similar to a ski cap with a tassel."

"Her long white hair was stuffed haphazardly into a dunsel cap..."

2011, Joani Lacy, Hollister House: The Banyan Tree Awakens, page 83:

In the school yard he saw his grammar-school self in dunsel cap and leather boots...

2013, Thomas Berger, Reinhart in Love: A Novel (Open Road Media), pages not numbered


dunsel

Possible coinage as a variation of English dunnage as dun + -sel with the suffix indicating singulative or diminutive. Earliest so-far documented use was in a Star Trek episode, "The Ultimate Computer". May not be a real word but merely an invention by a Star Trek writer.

If I'm not part of the crew and earn my keep, then I'm a dunsel. And you'll not have a dunsel aboard long […]

1982, Marteen Dee Graham, Silver Sundown, New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing, →ISBN, page 42:

[page 229] For those of you who don't recognize the term, dunsel was a term first used in Star Trek to characterize Captain Kirk in the episode "The Ultimate Computer." The plotline was about a scientist, Doctor Richard Daystrom, who installs a computer that is designed to operate the Enterprise without the need for the crew. The new M5 computer would enable mankind to explore the galaxy without putting human life in danger. Without a crew, a captain is pretty useless, and at one point Kirk was referred to as Captain Dunsel. […] Well, I'm using dunsel here to describe software or applications that don't need to be on your computer. […] [page 234] More than a few systems have been accessed via the guest account or other default accounts, so one thing we need to do is to remove all the dunsel default user accounts.

2007, Mark S. Kadrich, “Linux”, in Endpoint Security, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, pages 229 and 234:

I struggled down through the galley. / And again up to the mast. / I even checked on the dunsel, / Wrapped my girl's sails down, I wrapped 'em low and I wrapped 'em fast.

2015 September 2, Chris Mentch, “In the Face of Her Storm”, in As I See It: Reasons, Rhymes, and Reflections; the Spirit of a “Well-versed” Philosophy, Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, →ISBN:

(nautical) Something (especially part of a vessel) that is useless, or superfluous or unnecessary.

McCoy: “Who the blazes is ‘Captain Dunsel’?” / Spock: “Dunsel, Doctor, is a term used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy. It refers to a part which serves no useful purpose.”

[1968, D[orothy] C[atherine] Fontana, “The Ultimate Computer”, in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 2, episode 53 (DVD), Hollywood, Calif.: Paramount Pictures, published 2014, →ISBN:

DUNSEL – slang term for token human commanders aboard EDF [Earth Defense Force] rammer ships.

[2005, Kevin J[ames] Anderson, Scattered Suns (The Saga of Seven Suns; book 4), New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, →ISBN, glossary:

In EARTHBOUND we have the exact same story. There is nothing wrong with Simmonds per se, but, just like Captain Kirk in THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER [a Star Trek episode], he has become "Captain Dunsail"^([sic – meaning Dunsel]) in the sense of no longer having any function. He is suffering from the same state of lacked recognition that Gwent talks about.

2015 January 10, “The Infernal Machine”, in John K. Balor, editor, SPACE: 1999 – The 40th Anniversary Celebration: A New Episode by Episode Commentary and Analysis by Online Alpha, Raleigh, N.C.: Lulu, published September 2015, →ISBN, page 290:

(nautical, by extension) A captain of a vessel who has little or no authority.


megaship

2000, Leigh B. Boske, "Policy Research Project on Transportation in the Americas" in "Transportation in the Americas: its role in international trade, economic integration, and sustainable development"
"The cost structure of a megaship has characteristics associated with economies of scale because fixed costs are extremely high and marginal costs are low. Megaships' reduce transport costs on the margin because they are able to ship […] "

a very large ship; a ship that is among the world's largest


boomless

Another advantage of our boomless staysail is that it can overlap the mast a bit. This gives you a little more sail area and an increase in slot efficiency compared to the shorter-footed boomed staysail.

2010, Lin and Larry Pardey, The Capable Cruiser: 3rd edition, page 102:


skylarker

(dated, originally nautical) One who frolics or plays tricks.


fishing vessel

A fishing boat, usually a relatively large one.


midshipman's nuts

(nautical, slang) Broken pieces of biscuit eaten as dessert.


heavy cruiser

US Navy hull classification symbol: CA

(nautical) A type of cruiser, defined in the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty and 1930 London Naval Treaty as having a main gun battery of roughly 8-inch caliber (203mm).


hexerei

(historical, nautical) A galley with six banks of oars.


funnel stay

(nautical) Any of the ropes, wires or rods steadying a ship's funnel.


gun deck

(nautical) The deck on an armed ship (man-of-war) on which the guns are placed.


helm port

The advantage arising from this form of rudder and mode of hanging it is this, that the hole through the counter or stern of the ship which is called the helm port, is wholly closed up by the head of the rudder passing through it, with almost a close joint, as the line of the centre of the pintles or hinges is made to pass through the centre of the rudder head, whereby the round head of the rudder becomes a large pintle before the fore side of the rudder head, and the rudder, necessarily working on the centre of the pintles, required that the hole through the counter of the ship for the reception of the head of the rudder should be made large enough to allow of the rudder working over with a radius equivalent to the diameter of the rudder head; the large helm port which was thence formed was found to be the source of leakage in the ship at all times, and, in the event of the loss of rudder at sea, the large aperture endangered the safety of the vessel.

1897, The Elementary Principles of Naval Architecture, page 273:

The 16th-century fluyts underwent yet another change: the cove, which we can see on Brueghel's engraving, and which had a helm port in it, through which the tiller entered the ship, disappeared.

1968, Hans Jürgen Hansen, Art and the Seafarer, page 32:

Towards the end of the century the size of the helm port on large ships was much reduced by bringing the head of the rudder inside the ship.

1989, Michael W. Marshall, Ocean traders, page 89:

(historical, nautical) A hole through the counter of a ship, through which the rudderstock passes.


horn timber

The truncated horn timbers had been led through the transom (exposing end grain to the elements incidentally) and firmly fastened to it.

1986, Jonathan Watson, Janet, the restoration of a Victorian yacht, page 28:

The rabbet for the comparatively horizontal horn timber is taken from the sections in the body plan.

1993, Robert Steward, Boatbuilding Manual, →ISBN, page 147:

The archboard assembly can now be erected, springing aft from the after most frame, and supported by the horn timber.

2013, Nick Miller, The Lancashire Nobby, →ISBN, page 96:

(nautical) A timber that angles up from the sternpost to support the overhang of the stern. A single vessel may have multiple horn timbers.


LHA

Abbreviation
* (data compression): Short for Lempel-Ziv Huffman archiver, after the mathematicians on whose work it was based.

Coordinate term: LHD

amphibious assault ship
amphibious assault ship#English

(nautical, military, aviation) Initialism of landing, helicopter, assault.: A type of amphibious assault ship, a warship.


navigation light

navigation light (plural navigation lights)

(nautical, aviation) one of two or more lights fitted to a ship or aircraft, which indicate position and direction taken, especially important at night. Internationally recognised colours are red on the port side, and green on the starboard side.


weatherbound

en-adj

weatherbound (comparative more weatherbound, superlative most weatherbound)

more weatherbound (comparative)
most weatherbound (superlative)

WEATHERBOUND IN THE SUBURBS [title]. The air is damp, the skies are leaden; / The ominous lull of impending rain / Presses upon me, and seems to deaden / Every sense but a sense of pain. // Hopes of getting again to London / Lapse into utter and grim despair; […]

1869, Henry S[ambrooke] Leigh, “Weatherbound in the Suburbs”, in Carols of Cockayne, London: John Camden Hotten, Piccadilly, →OCLC, page 99:

[I]n Denmark, a proverbially windy country, the season was exceptionally stormy. In consequence of all this we were frequently weather-bound, as a rule in the least interesting harbours, for several days at a time; […]

1889, Edward Frederick Knight, The “Falcon” on the Baltic. A Coasting Voyage from Hammersmith to Copenhagen in a Three-ton Yacht, London: W. H. Allen & Co., →OCLC:

We shall have to lie here weatherbound more than one twenty-four hours, with the southwest wind beginning work like this.

1908, Knud Rasmussen, edited by G. Herring, The People of the Polar North: A Record, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd. Dryden House, Gerrard Street, W., →OCLC, page 86:

A crowd of Arabs, Zeid's men, weather-bound here on their way to Feisal, ran out when they heard her trumpeting approach, and shouted with joy at so distinguished an entry into the village.

1927, T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, Revolt in the Desert, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

The idea behind the cruiser is a vessel in which my wife and I could cruise in comfort the year round, and yet fast enough to take part in an occasional ocean race, a vessel that in meeting a head wind in the channel could make good on her passage instead of spending weeks weatherbound. For having left trading schooners and ketches and wholesome yachts weatherbound in Dover when in a little 6-metre, which made the passage to Newhaven dead to windward in 12 hours, I realise that the ability to go to windward is very desirable however much cruising men may scorn it, for it was not the weather, although it blew hard, that kept these vessels weatherbound, but the knowledge that with the wind and sea against them they would only fetch back to Dover again after a long tack off and on.

1934, Uffa Fox, Sailing Seamanship and Yacht Construction, London: Edward Davies, OCLC 3581707; republished Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2002, ISBN 978-0-486-42329-6, page 262

Next morning a gale was blowing and even the fishing fleet was weatherbound, huddled together in the lee of the outer breakwater as the sea feathered and plumed over the esplanade.

1986, Jonathan Raban, Coasting, London: Collins Harvill, ISBN 978-0-00-272119-6; republished London: Picador, 1987, ISBN 978-0-330-29977-0, page 55

I see in the paper circulated, that the enemy last night used 210 bombers over Great Britain. Have they had losses similar to those we suffered? Or are our aerodromes far more weatherbound than theirs?

1995, Geoffrey Williams, Flying through Fire: FIDO – the Fogbuster of World War Two, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing, →ISBN, page 2:

[T]here is Judgment Day—a sense of visitation, the smell of fear, the appearance of the unwanted, ten nights in a barroom and the thrill of waiting around for the end of the world—in the most weatherbound.

1997, Greil Marcus, Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 978-0-8050-3393-9; republished as The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes, New York, N.Y.: Picador, 2001, ISBN 978-0-312-42043-7

(often nautical) Delayed or prevented by bad weather from doing something, such as travelling.


mooring buoy

(nautical) a buoy at which a boat or ship can moor (tie up), usually in a harbour, but also in coastal waters for large ships.


light buoy

(nautical) A buoy with a light on top which is lit at night to aid navigation.


smart steaming

(nautical) The optimisation of ship speed with respect to competing targets to reduce fuel usage while maintaining good customer service.


slow steaming

(nautical) The practice of deliberately operating a ship at a speed slower than its design speed in order to achieve a reduction in total fuel usage.


portsill

(nautical) A horizontal wooden member that forms the sill of a gunport.


courtesy flag

(nautical) a flag (of the country being visited) flown by a visiting vessel as a token of respect, as well as the vessel's own national or house flag.


deadleg

Companies can transport on a nationwide basis but usually only carry their products out and have a deadleg on the return trip, e.g., the sugar distributors.

1984, Gavin Grant Maasdorp, Transport Policies and Economic Development in Southern Africa:

Our convoy appeared as a huge centipede, winding its way uphill that had acquired various deadlegs at random.

2001, Andrew Gurr, A Little Piece of England, page 79:

(shipping) A vehicle that is traveling on a leg of its route in which it does not carry any cargo.


six-water grog

(nautical, historical) Rum diluted with six measures of water instead of the normal three, formerly used as a disciplinary measure for sailors.


rodmeter

(nautical) A blade that extends into the water under the hull of a vessel, used in measuring the vessel's speed.


pitometer

(nautical) A log (speed measuring device) somewhat similar to a pitot tube.


put to sea

en-verb

put to sea (third-person singular simple present puts to sea, present participle putting to sea, simple past and past participle put to sea)

puts to sea (present singular third-person)
putting to sea (participle present)
put to sea (participle past)
put to sea (past)

(nautical, of a boat or ship) To leave a port or harbour on a voyage, or for other purposes such as fishing.


WPG

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of weather, patrol, gunship/gunboat. (a designation shiptype for the U.S. Coast Guard ocean-going cutters) These USCG patrol vessels also function as meteorological stations, and are equipped with deck guns.

WDE

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval frigate shiptype

WAVP

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the seaplane tender shiptype

WHEC

high endurance, cutter; a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval light cruiser shiptype

WMEC

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval destroyer shiptype

WPC

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval patrolcraft shiptype

WPB

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval patrolboat shiptype


afterguardsman

1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 12, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0608511h.html
"I found an afterguardsman in our part of the ship here and I bid him be off where he belongs."

(historical, nautical) A member of the afterguard on a sailing ship


mainmastman

[…] the mainmastmen unhook the tackles when the barrels are landed.

1863, William H. Parker, Questions on Practical Seamanship: together with harbor routine and evolutions prepared for the midshipmen of the C. S. Navy, Richmond, Virginia, page 40:

Now there was a veteran aboard who because his years began to disqualify him for more active work had been recently assigned duty as mainmastman in his watch, looking to the gear belayed at the rail roundabout that great spar near the deck.

1924, Herman Melville, chapter 8, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.:

Twenty-two years ago David Harrington was mainmastman on the Saint Ann out of Gloucester, Mass., a 62-foot Desco wood shrimp boat rigged for purse seining and built in 1954 for Capt. Leo Favalora.


logboard

Attested since 1659 as log-board. A compound of log + board.

1659, Navigation by the Mariners Plain Scale New Plain'd, by John Collins
Every Noon the Master and his Mates take the reckoning off the Log-board, and double the Knots run, and then divide the Product, which is the number of Miles run by three, the quotient is the Leagues run since the former Noon, and according to custom the Log is thrown every two hours, and I never knew the course nearer expressed on the Log-board, then to half a point of the Compass.

(nautical) A board on a vessel displaying the current portion of the log, to be transcribed later into the logbook.


ASDS

autonomous spaceport drone ship
autonomous spaceport drone ship#English

(aerospace, nautical) Initialism of autonomous spaceport drone ship.


shikara

You can also take a shikara to a library right in the heart of the Dal.

2016 June 19, “Cafe culture brews in chinar country”, in The Times of India:

(India, nautical) A type of small wooden boat


COMPACFLT

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, U.S. Navy Pacific fleet.


USPACFLT

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of U.S. Navy Pacific fleet.


COMSUBPAC

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, submarine force, U.S. Navy Pacific fleet.


MARCOM

(nautical, military) Abbreviation of maritime forces command.


MARPAC

(Canada, nautical, military) Abbreviation of Canadian maritime forces, Pacific.


COMMARCOM

(nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, maritime forces command.


CANMARCOM

(Canada, nautical, military) Abbreviation of Canadian maritime forces command.


COMMARPAC

Unlike NORAD where a formally constituted bi-national command staff existed to handle emergencies, the bilateral naval organization, which was every bit as complex as that of NORAD but did not have the same history of political sensitivity, relied on liaison between the key headquarters: COMASWFORLANT in the United States and COMARLANT in Canada to deal with the Atlantic with a parallel structure on the Pacific through COMTHIRDFLT and COMMARPAC respectively.

2007, Peter T. Haydon, “Canadian Involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis Re-Reconsidered”, in The Northern Mariner, volume 17, number 2, CNRS & NASOH, →ISSN, page 62:

When I was assigned to COMMARPAC headquarters in 1973, it was for two reasons. The first was to get headquarters staff officer experience which helps your career down the road, and the second was I had some health issues and the flight surgeons wanted me out of the cockpit for a while.

2021, Lewis Allen Lambert, chapter 28, in On the 8th Day, God Created a Marine, Bloomington: AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

(Canada, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, maritime forces, Pacific.


COMSUBFOR

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, submarine forces.


landlubbing

Back-formation from landlubber, using -ing.

Some sweet motion of the sea
And feathered form the Chickadee
Twenty-seven miles from land
it makes landlubbing mind expand.

1983 August 20, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 6, page 18:

(nautical, derogatory) Unfamiliar with the sea or seamanship.


deep draft

(nautical) Synonym of draft (depth of water needed to float a vessel)


air draft

(nautical) The distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel


faltboat

From German Faltboot, literally "folding boat".


masthead sloop

(nautical) A sailboat whose forestay goes from the masthead to the bow


unweatherly

en-adj

unweatherly (comparative more unweatherly, superlative most unweatherly)

more unweatherly (comparative)
most unweatherly (superlative)


forehood

Where the curvature is sharp they should be scribed very close together. The batten is next taken off the ship and laid on the timber from which the forehood is to be cut.

1919, William Henry Curtis, The Elements of Wood Ship Construction:

(nautical, ship-building) One of the most forward of the outside and inside planks


luff up

en-verb

luff up (third-person singular simple present luffs up, present participle luffing up, simple past and past participle luffed up)

luffs up (present singular third-person)
luffing up (participle present)
luffed up (participle past)
luffed up (past)

(nautical) To turn towards the wind so that the sails flap


lay to

lay to (third-person singular simple present lays to, present participle laying to, simple past and past participle laid to)

lays to (present singular third-person)
laying to (participle present)
laid to (participle past)
laid to (past)

(nautical) To turn towards the wind so that the boat stops; to remain stationary in open water or to lie to.


fluyt

From Dutch fluyt, archaic spelling of fluit. Doublet of flauta and flute.

Thanks to the adoption by Amsterdam shipyards of standardized designs and labour-saving devices, the fluyt maximized carrying capacity and minimized cost.

2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 97:

(historical) A kind of Dutch sailing vessel developed in the 16th century, used to transport cargo.


mizzensail

Six of the Krabben's massive tentacles had wrapped themselves around the mizzensail.

2015, J. L. Ficks, J. E. Dugue, The Weeping Grounds:

(nautical) A fore-and-aft sail set on a mizzenmast.


cable ferry

(nautical) a type of ferry which propels itself by means of one or more steel cables laid across a body of water.


ghoster

(nautical) A vessel that sails seemingly without wind.


unbitt

unbitt (third-person singular simple present unbitts, present participle unbitting, simple past and past participle unbitted)

unbitts (present singular third-person)
unbitting (participle present)
unbitted (participle past)
unbitted (past)

Unbitt the cable!

(nautical, transitive) To remove from the bitts.


gas boat

Round noon the gas boat’s impudent sputter ticked out across the wide face of the Naas River.

1941, Emily Carr, chapter 9, in Klee Wyck:

(Canada, US) A boat powered by a petrol engine.


patrol boat

A relatively small naval vessel designed for coastal defence.

巡邏艇

small naval vessel designed for coast defence


lakatoi

A double-hulled sailing watercraft of Papua New Guinea.


motor ship

internal combustion engine
internal combustion engine

(nautical) A seagoing vessel powered by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel. Compare with steamship.

moottorilaiva

ship powered by an internal combustion engine


moon pool

From moon + pool, from the fact that, on some nights, moonlight can be seen reflected by the surface of the sea through the opening, making it resemble a swimming pool.

(nautical, chiefly oil industry) An opening in the base of the hull of a vessel (especially a marine drilling platform), which is used for lowering equipment into the sea below.

moonpool

opening in the base of the hull of a vessel, which is used for lowering equipment into the sea below


broad reach

We're sailing on a broad reach.

(nautical) The point of sail where the wind is blowing sternwards of the side of the vessel


broad reach

broad reach (third-person singular simple present broad reaches, present participle broad reaching, simple past and past participle broad reached)

broad reaches (present singular third-person)
broad reaching (participle present)
broad reached (participle past)
broad reached (past)


beam reach

We're sailing on a beam reach.

(nautical) The point of sail where the wind is blowing directly onto the side of the vessel


beam reach

beam reach (third-person singular simple present beam reaches, present participle beam reaching, simple past and past participle beam reached)

beam reaches (present singular third-person)
beam reaching (participle present)
beam reached (participle past)
beam reached (past)


land ho

(nautical) Shouted by the ship's watch to inform the crew that land has been spotted.


gaff sail

(nautical). A quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail supported from a spar rising aft from a mast.


go on the account

go on the account (third-person singular simple present goes on the account, present participle going on the account, simple past went on the account, past participle gone on the account)

goes on the account (present singular third-person)
going on the account (participle present)
went on the account (past)
gone on the account (participle past)

And as for serving under Goffe, I hope it is no new thing for gentlemen of fortune who are going on the account, to change a Captain now and then?

At this island he ran away from his ship, and associating himself with some desperate fellows, they stole a canoe, and went away to the Grand Camanas, to join some others of their own stamp, who lurked thereabouts, with design to go on the account, the term for pirating.

1836, Ezra Strong, “Captain Thomas Howard”, in The Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates:

However, during peacetime, privateers and navy men were left without employment, so they often went on the account.

1999, Hans Turley, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 118:

(nautical) To become a pirate; to join a pirating or filibustering expedition.


beskozyrka

en-noun

beskozyrka (plural beskozyrki or beskozyrkas)

beskozyrki (plural)
beskozyrkas (plural)

(nautical, navy) A flat visorless sailor's cap.


match race

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A race in sport sail yachting where two sailboats race against one-another, head-to-head, on the same course, at the same time.

water sports; yachting; water sports; yachting

fleet race

where many sailing yacht go head-to-head


fleet race

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A race in sport sail yachting where a squadron of sailboats race as a fleet, against one another, on the same course, at the same time.

match race

where only two sailing yacht go head-to-head


fleet racing

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A type of sport sail yachting event where a squadron of sailboats race as a fleet, against one another, on the same course, at the same time. (The famous Whitbread or Volvo Ocean Race, is of this type, as is the America's Cup World Series, and Extreme Sailing Series.)


match racing

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A type of sport sail yachting event where two sailboats race against one-another, head-to-head, on the same course, at the same time. (The America's Cup, the most famous sport yachting event, is of this type.)


stadium sailing

The in-port races for this Volvo Ocean Race are following the latest 'stadium sailing' trends by being held on a fixed course to gain maximum spectator appeal.

2011 October 29, James Boyd, “Abu Dhabi claims first Volvo Ocean Race in-port race”, in Daily Sail:

For the first time in history, the America's Cup would be visible to fans on the shoreline, part of Ellison's vision of "stadium sailing".

2018, Mary Pilon, The Kevin Show: An Olympic Athlete’s Battle with Mental Illness, page 218:

The Premiere Sailing League USA (PSL) has announced its choice of the new RS21 to elevate the dynamic of the sport through its stadium sailing program.

2018 August 16, Jan Harley, “Premiere Sailing League USA chooses RS21 as the new boat for Stadium Sailing”, in Sail World:

At the end of August the Extreme Sailing Series™, now in its 12th year, arrives in Cardiff Bay, UK and from 24th – 27th August an array of Olympians, world champions and America’s Cup superstars racing on identical hydrofoil catamarans called GC32 will battle it out to win the only UK leg of the ultimate stadium sailing race global championship.

2018 August 21, “Schiller Water Bike Races at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Cardiff”, in Superyacht News:

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A type of sport sail yachting close to the shore in an in-shore environment with tight courses, with shore-based fan stands comprising the "stadium". (Olympic sailing events typically are stadium sailing events. All Extreme Sailing Series races are stadium sailing events. Many of the America's Cup World Series fleet racing regattas are stadium sailing events.)


padeye

(nautical) A ring attached to a vessel and used as a fairlead.


deckplate

(nautical) A watertight plate (purlin) at the edge of a deck


sternport

(nautical) An opening in the rear part of a vessel.


water bike

A hydrofoil bike; a bicycle frame with the rear wheel replaced by a lift hydrofoil and propeller, and the front wheel replaced by a rudder, lift hydrofoil and elevator hydrofoil


moor up

en-verb

moor up (third-person singular simple present moors up, present participle mooring up, simple past and past participle moored up)

moors up (present singular third-person)
mooring up (participle present)
moored up (participle past)
moored up (past)

We have to moor up for the night.

(intransitive, nautical) To cast anchor or become fastened.

All the fleet was moored up in harbour.

(transitive, nautical) To fix or secure (e.g. a vessel) in a particular place by casting anchor, or by fastening with ropes, cables or chains or the like


wager-boat

From where they sat they could get a glimpse of the main stream […]; and just then a wager-boat flashed into view, the rower—a short, stout figure—splashing badly and rolling a good deal, but working his hardest. The Rat stood up and hailed him, but Toad—for it was he—shook his head and settled sternly to his work.

1908, Kenneth Grahame, chapter 1, in The Wind in the Willows, London: Methuen:

A high-performance boat for sculling, and winning wagers.


auxiliary cruiser

en-noun

auxiliary cruiser (plural auxiliary cruisers)

(military, nautical) An armed merchantman, typically used as a commerce raider or as a convoy escort.

German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
auxiliary cruiser


woggin

Unknown. Found from at least 1762 through the late 1800s, at first in reference to auks. Olson and Lund speculate it initially referred to auks, followed penguin in being applied to Southern penguins, and fell out of use for auks after they went extinct, and for penguins after being displaced by penguin; they say "Beane’s (1905: 88) rendering of the cry of a penguin as “wauk” suggests a possible onomatopoeic origin", or it may be connected to woggle (“wobble”), a word "used in connection with the great auk" (e.g. in a 1672 work by John Josselyn; and the 1885 Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York says early writers "quaintly called [auks] 'wobble-birds'").

4 mo 19th [19 April 1762] wind Started to Northward got on the [North Carolina Outer] Banks On the Latter Part Calm. Caught 10 wogens. […]
5 mo 10th [10 May 1762] the Wind Came Round to the Northward in a Flurry or hard Squall. Spoke with Seth Clark [master of an unidentified whaler]. Saw Wogæns. I Judge we are Nigh the Banks.

1762, Journal of Micajah Coffin / logbook of the Sandwich, sloop of Nantucket, voyage of 1762, quoted by Olson and Lund (see further reading)

Sept 1775 [saw] wargins.

1775, logbook of the Desire, schooner of Wareham, Massachusetts, voyage of 1775–1775 to Davis Straits, quoted by Olson and Lund (see further reading)

Sea Waggin found on the banks of Newfound Land.

1793, Abraham Russell, caption on a sketch (in his school navigation book) of an auk, held in the New Bedford Whaling Museum

The poor woggins were also periodically kept alive for a few months in Louis XVI's menagerie at Versailles.

2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 81:

(chiefly nautical, slang, now historical) A great auk (in the northern hemisphere).

at 1 PM Sent our Boat on Shore After Some refreshments She returned with A Plenty of Woggins we Cooked Some for Supper.

1792 December 20, Silvanus Crosby, logbook of the Asia, ship of Nantucket, Massachusetts, voyage of 1791–1794, quoted by Olson and Lund (see further reading)

It was accordingly done by the command of the Captain, when the woggin, in a stately manner, walked as, and showed signs of happiness and contentment. He was perfectly tame, would suffer the approach of any one of the crew, ...

1831, The Philadelphia Album and Ladies' Literary Port Folio, page 262:

One of the crew leaped upon the whale, and the woggin came fearlessly to his hand, and was taken on board. On holding a consultation, it was, determined to kill the strange bird and make a purse of his skin; but one, more humane than the [others, saved him].

The White man looked over his shoulder, and slowly wrinkled his leathem cheeks into an encouraging smile. 'Like ter near killed a woggin,' replied he sententiously. 'Will be ashore in a brace of shakes.' […]

1880, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, a Popular Journal of General Literature, page 519:

"And there's a bag full of woggins' hearts, which we can roast on sticks, and who doubts that we shall make a heart-y supper?"

1887, W. H. Macy, beyond Desolation, in Ballou's Monthly Magazine, pages 234-5

(obsolete, nautical, slang) A penguin (in the southern hemisphere).


mainmast head

What early philosophic hours he keeps,
How regular his meals, how sound he sleeps!
Not sounder he that on the mainmast head,
While morning kindles with a windy red,
Begins a long look-out for distant land,
Nor quits till evening-watch his giddy stand,
Then swift descending with a seaman’s haste,
Slips to his hammock, and forgets the blast.

1782, William Cowper, “Retirement”, in Poems, London: J. Johnson, page 280:

Fedallah first descried this jet. For of these moonlight nights, it was his wont to mount to the main-mast head, and stand a look-out there, with the same precision as if it had been day.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Chapter 51”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

1912, George H. Read, The Last Cruise of the Saginaw, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Chapter 2, p. 12,
With the homeward-bound pennant flying from the mainmast head and with the contractor’s working party on board, we sailed from the Midway Islands on Friday, October 29, at 4 P.M. for San Francisco.

(nautical) The top of a sailing ship’s mainmast.


squat effect

(nautical) The hydrodynamic phenomenon by which a vessel moving quickly through shallow water creates an area of lowered pressure that causes the vessel to be closer to the seabed than would otherwise be expected.


Welman

All clandestine equipment devised at Station IX in Welwyn Garden City had names starting with Wel, e.g. Welbike, Welrod.

(historical) A one-man British midget submarine developed for use in World War II, though barely used.


loxodograph

For this purpose he has contrived an instrument which he calls a "loxodograph," which consists of a compass placed below the ordinary ship's compass, so as to occupy the same relative position in the ship, and so that it can be compared from time to time with the normal instrument.

1867, The Popular Science Review, volume 6, page 110:

(nautical, obsolete) An apparatus that records the course that a ship has travelled


trehantiri

trehantiri (plural trehantiris or trehantiria)

trehantiris (plural)
trehantiria (plural)

Cognate with Greek τρεχαντήρι (trechantíri, “small watercraft”)

A Greek small, double-ended watercraft, chiefly used for fishing.


twakow

(nautical, historical) A kind of single-masted traditional boat with a junk rig, formerly used on the Singapore River along with the tongkang.


home port

(nautical) Alternative spelling of homeport


helicopter carrier

helicopter carrier (plural helicopter carriers)

(military) A class of aircraft carrier designed to operate helicopters


woman overboard

(nautical) Announcement that a woman has fallen over the side of the vessel.


junk rig

(nautical) A type of sail rig in which rigid members called battens span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast.


displacement speed

displacement speed (plural displacement speeds)


hull speed

(nautical) The speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the boat length. In the sailship era the hull speed was regarded as an approximate limit for the speed a ship could reach.


saxboard

(nautical) The top strake (edge of the side) of a rowing boat


oil tanker

(nautical) A ship that transports oil (petroleum), such as crude oil or bunker oil.


sounding line

(nautical) A weighted line with distances marked off at regular intervals, used to measure the depth of water under a boat.


ship canal

(nautical) A canal designed for use by ships


slave ship

(historical) A ship designed for the transportation of slaves, especially during the 17th and 18th century.


all-ports warning

all-ports warning (plural all-ports warnings)

(UK, law enforcement) A form of all-points bulletin circulated to international ports so that a fleeing suspect can be identified and apprehended.


forestem

From Middle English forestempne, forestavne, forstanyg, perhaps continuing Old English frumstemn (“the forepart of a ship; prow”), otherwise, equivalent to fore- + stem.

der

When the ship was in position with the forestem to the south, a grave chamber was constructed just behind the mast.

2014, Anders Winroth, The Age of the Vikings, page 93:

Above the waterline they were more symmetrical with a transom-shaped bow above the fore-stem.

2015, Sean McGrail, Early Ships and Seafaring:

Magnus walked to one of the ships and put his hand on the forestem at the front.

2017, Sabrina Jarema, Lord of the Mountains:


top-flag

[…] when he shall know it lies in vs,
To banish him, and then to call him home,
Twill make him vaile the topflag of his pride,
And feare to offend the meanest noble man.

1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

1647, John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, The Double Marriage, Act II, Scene 1, in The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, Edinburgh: John Ballantyne, 1812, Volume 8, p. 36,
Duke. Of whence now?
Sailor. Of Naples, Naples, Naples!
I see her top-flag, how she quarters Naples.

(nautical, obsolete) A flag flown from the top of the mast of a sailing ship.


sail under false colors

en-verb

sail under false colors (third-person singular simple present sails under false colors, present participle sailing under false colors, simple past and past participle sailed under false colors)

sails under false colors (present singular third-person)
sailing under false colors (participle present)
sailed under false colors (participle past)
sailed under false colors (past)

They were all not exactly sailing under false colours, but deceiving themselves as to their motives—and one another, to a lesser degree, by their actions.

1869, Annie Thomas, “Miss Vargrave Nearly Lands a Fish”, in False Colours. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 251:

(idiomatic, nautical, obsolete) To deceive or intentionally mystify.


water-breaker

(nautical) Alternative form of water breaker


water breaker

[…] I came on deck, put down my own stock behind the rudder head and well out of the coxswain’s reach, went forward to the water-breaker, and had a good deep drink of water, and then, and not till then, gave Hands the brandy.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Chapter 25”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

I had only one canvas water-breaker; that was a big one, too big for me to carry single-handed from the spring to the dinghy. I should only be able to fill it half full—say seven or eight gallons on each journey.

1926, Neville Shute, chapter 4, in Marazan, London: Cassell:

[…] under Hornblower’s eye the French captain and mate served out a biscuit of hard bread to each person in the boat, and filled the pannikin for each man in turn from the water breakers under the thwarts.

1950, C. S. Forester, “The Penalty of Failure”, in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, London: Michael Joseph:

(nautical) A container for storing water on a ship or other watercraft.


chain shot

en-noun

chain shot (countable and uncountable, plural chain shots)

(historical, military, nautical) A projectile consisting of two cannon balls or half balls linked by a chain, fired from cannons mostly to attack spars and rigging.

kettingkogel

projectile consisting of two cannon balls linked by a chain


float-on float-off

(transport, nautical) A form of marine vessel which allows large floating objects (such as other ships, or oil platforms, etc) to be floated atop and floated off the ship's transport decktop.


Gunsway

(historical) A Mogul treasure ship that was captured by famed pirate Henry Avery in August of 1695.


port authority

port authority (plural port authorities)

A public authority which operates a port or other transportation infrastructure.


jear

a jear-block


luffward

en-adv

luffward (comparative more luffward, superlative most luffward)

more luffward (comparative)
most luffward (superlative)

(nautical, archaic) Alternative form of loofward


chart plotter

(nautical) A device that uses GPS to maintain a (normally digital) chart of a ship's course.


oarhole

From Middle English ore hol, equivalent to oar + hole.

Oarholes were sealed when not in use by wooden covers that rotated in place to keep out water. A slot cut into the oarhole allowed the blade of the oar to pass through the oarhole so oars could be deployed entirely inboard of the ship.

2016, William R. Short, Icelanders in the Viking Age:

(nautical) a slot or opening in the side of a galley or ship through which an oar is fitted


brown-water navy

en-noun

brown-water navy (plural brown-water navies)

Gunboats and other vessels with shallow drafts that could navigate inland waterways were part of the Civil War's brown-water navies.

2005, Clifford L. Linedecker, Civil War, A to Z: The Complete Handbook of America's Bloodiest Conflict, page 57:

(military, nautical, broadly) A naval force capable of military operations in riverine and coastal environments.

(military, nautical, strictly) A naval force capable of military operations only in inland waters.

(military, nautical) The portion of a naval force that is optimized for riverine operations.


take the helm

en-verb

take the helm (third-person singular simple present takes the helm, present participle taking the helm, simple past took the helm, past participle taken the helm)

takes the helm (present singular third-person)
taking the helm (participle present)
took the helm (past)
taken the helm (participle past)

Coordinate term: take the con

(nautical, literal) To assume responsibility for steering a ship.


where away

(nautical) A query uttered by the officer of the deck as to the direction of an object sighted by the lookout.


forebridge

The Carmania was struck by a shell which passed through the cabin under the forebridge and started a fire, in consequence of which the forebridge had to be abandoned, no water being available to extinguish the flames owing to the fire main having been shot through.

1916, The Nineteenth Century and After, volume 79, page 452:

The forebridge itself was a polyhedral room with so many 'walls' that it was almost spherical, with a diameter of about a hundred meters.

2003, Viktoria Wealth, Aadorn Universe of Challenges, page 152:

The masts, each with two large military tops, gave a rather impressive profile, while the modified arrrangement of forebridge and conning tower introduced in the first six ships gave them a unique appearance.

2013, R A Burt, British Battleships 1889-1904, →ISBN:

(nautical) A raised platform or pilothouse at the front of the bridge.


set adrift

set adrift (third-person singular simple present sets adrift, present participle setting adrift, simple past and past participle set adrift)

sets adrift (present singular third-person)
setting adrift (participle present)
set adrift (participle past)
set adrift (past)

To send a ship, boat or raft out to sea without a crew or resources to steer it.


run adrift

run adrift (third-person singular simple present runs adrift, present participle running adrift, simple past ran adrift, past participle run adrift)

runs adrift (present singular third-person)
running adrift (participle present)
ran adrift (past)
run adrift (participle past)

To continue without being steered (usually having been abandoned). (of a ship)


two lamps burning and no ship at sea

en-adjective

two lamps burning and no ship at sea (not comparable)

(New England, nautical, idiomatic) Said of an unwisely or overly extravagant person.


on the bow

(nautical) Within 45° of the point right ahead.


bowsie

(sailing) A simple device with three holes used for tensioning stays on boats or guy-lines on tents.


ooch

en-verb

ooch (third-person singular simple present ooches, present participle ooching, simple past and past participle ooched)

ooches (present singular third-person)
ooching (participle present)
ooched (participle past)
ooched (past)

The verb is possibly a variant of scooch or scoot, or an onomatopoeia representing the movement. The noun is possibly derived from the verb.

liikauttaa

(transitive) to move or slide (oneself or someone, or something) by a small amount

But if you are racing a boat without a chute, especially a single-hander, ooching is usually more effective.

1977, Yacht Racing, volume 16, Chicago, Ill.: One-Design Yachtsman, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 46, column 2:

Ooching involves the lower haIf of the body and the board. By pushing the board back and forth in small places, by minimal extension and retraction of the knees, the planing condition can be induced or enhanced.

1985, Sail Boarder International, volume 5, number 4, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.: Surfer Publishing Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 75:

You go below to check on Bud and review the racing rules. Prohibited actions include: sculling, pumping, and ooching.

1989, Anne Lorimer Sirna, ChapWoman’s Alwomanac: Pilot Handling throughout the Year, Camden, Me.: Seven Seas Press, →ISBN, page 34:

Moving the trunk of the body forward and backwards, even in strong winds, can flap the leech and increase the sail's drive (ooching).

2013, Bryan Willis, “Means of Propulsion”, in The Rules in Practice: 2013–2016, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Nautical, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 84:

(sailing) To propel a boat or sailboard by rocking one's body back and forth.

sysätä

(intransitive) to propel a boat or sailboard by rocking one’s body back and forth


ooch

Presumably, this means that one may ooch only to initiate surfing or planing and that, if challenged, one must be prepared to defend one's ooching behavior in light of the conditions and the wave pattern. Potential problems: How many ooches are permitted per wave?

I suspect it will take an ooch or two on the boom to get the upper batten to clear.

1999 June, Chuck Paine, “Design”, in Yachting, volume 185, number 6, page 56:

(sailing) An act of propelling a boat or sailboard forward by rocking one's body.

sysäys

act of propelling a boat or sailboard forward by rocking one’s body


stock tackle

(nautical) Tackle used in hoisting an anchor on board ship to keep its stock clear of the ship's side.


outdraft

The outdraft is like a funnel, pulling the boat and tow out into the river, away from the lock and toward the dam.

2004, Virginia Thorndike, On Tugboats, page 290:

Only a person stationed at the front of the lead barge or on one of the assist boats could have alerted the captain to the moment when the tow hit the outdraft.

2017, Diane Wood, Larry Alexander v. Ingram Barge Company:

(nautical) An outward current, often specifically a river current pulling toward a downstream dam.


hurricane deck

(nautical) A cross-deck about amidships, a bridge-deck or bridge: the upper light deck of a passenger-steamer.


apoop

Thus, she made as much lee-way as head-way, could get along very nearly as fast with the wind ahead as when it was apoop, and was particularly great in a calm.

1839, Washington Irving, A History of New York:


jet boat

a boat with water jet propulsion used primarily in shallow water


deperm

deperm (third-person singular simple present deperms, present participle deperming, simple past and past participle depermed)

deperms (present singular third-person)
deperming (participle present)
depermed (participle past)
depermed (past)

From de- (prefix indicating removal or reversal) + perm(anent magnet).

prefix

Vessels wiped and depermed as outlined above were found to age towards their original state, so the processes as described were only effective for comparatively short periods and had to be repeated at regular intervals.

1948, The School Science Review: A Magazine for Science Teachers, volume 30, London: John Murray for the Science Masters' Association and the Association of Women Science Teachers, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 46:

Our present system deperms more reliably and is arranged to deperm the sensor each time the power source for the magnetometer is turned on.

1964 June, Manual for Fluxgate Ferrite Magnetometer (CRSR; 172), Ithaca, N.Y.: Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, →OCLC, page 6:

When it is not possible to deperm the assembly below 95% of the post exposure magnitude, ascertain if the component contains parts with permanent magnets such as relays which would not deperm in the 50 gauss field.

1966 April, C[hester] L. Parsons, C. A. Harris, “Appendix C: Test Procedure”, in IMP-I Spacecraft Magnetic Test Program (NASA Technical Note; D-3376), Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-03-12, page 33:

Deperming the boards individually lead to a significant decrease in the magnetic moment of the whole unit, this was then repeated on all units.

2008, M. Ludlam et al., “The THEMIS Magnetic Cleanliness Program”, in J[ames] L. Burch, V[assilis] Angelopoulos, editors, The THEMIS Mission: […], [New York, N.Y.]: Springer Science+Business Media, published 2009, →DOI, →ISBN, section 4 (Unit Testing), page 176:

(transitive, chiefly nautical) To degauss or demagnetize; especially, to degauss a ship by dragging a large powered electrical cable along its side.


deperm

Fortunately a very pronounced extension of life was found to be possible for wipes and deperms by making the initial current very strong so that, for example, a positive component was made a larger negative one before being reduced to zero […]

One interesting feature of the S/N 008A and S/N 009 data is that the residual moment after deperms one through three increased from 735 to 870 pole-cm for S/N 008A, but decreased from 854 to 659 pole-cm for S/N 009.

1968 December 23, A. W. Fihelly, “Appendix III: Memorandum by A. W. Fihelly re SNAP-19 S/N 009 Magnetic Moments Measurement”, in W[illia]m S. West, J. Michael Holman, Herbert W. Bilsky, Techniques for Achieving Magnetic Cleanliness on Deep-space Missions: A Report Covering Task III Effort under the Study: NASA Evaluation with Models of Optimized Nuclear Spacecraft (NEW MOONS), Greenbelt, Md.: Goddard Space Flight Center, published April 1969, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-03-03, pages III-3–III-4:

(chiefly nautical) The act or process of deperming.


pigstick

Above the truck there is frequently a slender vertical extension of the mast, called a pigstick.

1959, The Bluejackets' Manual, volume 15, page 198:

Haul away, keeping strain on both parts of the halyard so that the pigstick remains vertical as it goes up and doesn't foul the spreaders.

Pull the flag up with the hauling part, then tighten the downhaul part to bring the pigstick vertical.

1989, Roger C. Taylor, Knowing the ropes: a sailor's guide to selecting, rigging, and handling lines aboard:

As the owner of this sailboat, I fuss about on deck, lashing down oars and fishing rods, pigsticks and awnings, for what might be a bouncy overnight passage.

1997 July, Yachting, volume 181, number 7, page 70:

(nautical) A staff that carries a flag or pennant above the mast of a sailboat.


hawser-laid

(nautical, of rope) Consisting of three strands twisted together, usually right-handed (turning in a clockwise direction).


tap the admiral

en-verb

tap the admiral (third-person singular simple present taps the admiral, present participle tapping the admiral, simple past and past participle tapped the admiral)

taps the admiral (present singular third-person)
tapping the admiral (participle present)
tapped the admiral (participle past)
tapped the admiral (past)

John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary (1873) mentions a tale of this having been done with the rum cask in which Lord Nelson's body was brought to England.

(nautical, slang) To steal some liquor from a cask that is in storage or transit.


dredgeboat

Probably a borrowing from Scots dreg-boat, dreg-bot, equivalent to dredge + boat.


heave the log

heave the log (third-person singular simple present heaves the log, present participle heaving the log, simple past and past participle heaved the log)

heaves the log (present singular third-person)
heaving the log (participle present)
heaved the log (participle past)
heaved the log (past)

(nautical) To determine the speed of a ship by logline and glass.


flog someone round the fleet

flog someone round the fleet (third-person singular simple present flogs someone round the fleet, present participle flogging someone round the fleet, simple past and past participle flogged someone round the fleet)

flogs someone round the fleet (present singular third-person)
flogging someone round the fleet (participle present)
flogged someone round the fleet (participle past)
flogged someone round the fleet (past)

(nautical, historical) To row a prisoner around the fleet, where he would receive a number of lashes at each ship in turn, as a penalty for serious offences.


heel-and-toe

It is most essential on a passage where the watches are heel and toe, four on, four off, that the watch below be a time of real rest.

1965, Boating (volume 18, numbers 1-6, page 28)

Back when we'd started the heel-and-toe watches, I'd offset the schedule six hours in order to have both squadrons up and ready during the initial attack.

2011, Phil Geusz, No Victory Won, page 354:

(nautical, military) Of a system of watches: comprising equal-length periods on and off watch.


mini-cup

After eliminations in four Southern California areas, the number one teams will race in early February in a mini-cup series.

1971 March, “Best Test In the West”, in MotorBoating, volume 127, number 3:

The pros will instruct you about your position before you set off for the race course in the waters off Phillipsburg for an exciting three-hour mini-cup regatta.

2000 January-October, “Twelves in St. Maarten”, in Cruising World, volume 26, numbers 1-10, page 131:

(sailboat racing) A race that is modeled after, but smaller than, the America's Cup.


drag boat

A powerboat or motorboat used for drag racing, particularly a purpose-built one.


dromometer

(nautical, historical) An instrument affixed to the side of a ship, measuring the distance travelled.


viol block

(nautical) A large single block big enough to reeve a small hawse.


floating dock

(nautical) a dry dock which can float, and is submersible when a ship is entering or leaving it.


shot garland

Kydd went to the shot garland around the main hatch and rolled a ball on to the cradle.

2002, Julian Stockwin, Kydd: A Naval Adventure, →ISBN, page 214:

One 12 -pound shot was found resting in the shot garland in the bow and the other under the forward deck.

2002, John R. Bratten, The Gondola Philadelphia and the Battle of Lake Champlain, →ISBN, page 121:

A disaffected sailor is able to lift a cannon ball out of a shot garland and allow it to decide for itself what damage it will do.

2013, William Golding, To the Ends of the Earth, →ISBN:

(nautical) A wooden or rope frame for holding shot, attached to the coamings or ledges of the deck of a ship.


jeep carrier

(military, nautical, aviation) A general purpose aircraft carrier, used in a variety of ways (hence 'general purpose', "GP" or jeep), such as aircraft transport ship, invasion support airstrip, ocean patrol airstrip, fleet/convoy defense airstrip. They were used to alleviate demands made on fleet carriers which have higher levels of defensive capabilities and underway speeds able to keep up with the battle fleet.


cat-rigged

(nautical) Having one great fore-and-aft mainsail spread by a gaff at the head and a boom at the foot, for smooth water only.


soft tommy

(UK, nautical, slang, obsolete) Soft bread, as opposed to hardtack or sea biscuit.


HSC

Coordinate term: HS

(nautical) Initialism of high speed craft.. A motor vessel watercraft capable of high speed traversals


sternpicker

The modern sternpickers are quite a different matter. Sleek, efficient, redolent of power, they easily spool their 1,500-foot nets off large drums set on the afterdeck and have taken most of the back-breaking work out of fishing, although enough remains to still qualify it as very hard work.

1985, Earl Roberge, Columbia: Great River of the West, page 146:

Word got around that it had won the Columbia River fishing boat race, as a bowpicker, before being rebuilt as a sternpicker for the Inlet fishery.

2008, Bert Bender, Catching the Ebb: Drift-fishing for a Life in Cook Inlet, →ISBN, page 145:

As the fishery evolved, the practical and beautiful butterfly fleet—dories named for their widespread sails—gave way to more prosaic but still handsome diesel sternpickers and bowpickers.

2012, Robert Michael Pyle, Sky Time in Gray's River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place, →ISBN:

A gillnet boat that deploys the net from the stern of the boat.


mud scow

(nautical) A flat barge used for transporting mud from a dredger


craftmaster

(US, nautical) A senior enlisted sailor qualified to operate small vessels and support craft.


trajinera

Borrowed from Spanish trajinera, from trajinar (“to transport”).

A type of small colourful boat maneuverered with a pole


tramp trade

(shipping) The commercial activity of a tramp steamer.


close reach

We're sailing on a close reach.

(nautical) The point of sail where the wind is blowing just ahead of the beam of the vessel


close reach

close reach (third-person singular simple present close reaches, present participle close reaching, simple past and past participle close reached)

close reaches (present singular third-person)
close reaching (participle present)
close reached (participle past)
close reached (past)


square rig

(nautical) A sailing rig consisting of sails set mainly perpendicular to the line of the keel.


dayboard

(nautical) A shape affixed to the top of a sea mark or other aid to navigation (ATON) to indicate its status by day.


tenderman

How much do you think a tenderman should be paid per day? If a roe fisherman can make $20,000 on one day should the tenderman be paid at a rate per ton handled rather than so much per day?

1979, Western Fisheries - Volume 98, page 7:

Fishers would not have realized any gains in 1964 if shoreworkers and tendermen had not voted to cancel their newly negotiated agreements in order to support the demands of the net fleet.

1996, Alicja Muszynski, Cheap Wage Labour: Race and Gender in the Fisheries of British Columbia, →ISBN:

Despite the crisis, the adrenaline that must have been feeding his own alarm, Tim managed to maintain his control and spoke in a subdued tone, assuring the tenderman and all of us that things would be okay.

2017, Dave Atcheson, Dead Reckoning, →ISBN:

(nautical) A person who works on a tender.


sea area

(UK, nautical) Any of the 31 areas of sea, surrounding the British Isles, that are used in the Shipping Forecast


weather anchor

[…] the weather anchor is likelier to go clear of the ship than the lee one […]

1791, William Hutchinson, A Treatise Founded Upon Philosophical and Rational Principles:

(nautical) The anchor lying to windward.


depper

en-adjective

depper (comparative more depper, superlative most depper)

more depper (comparative)
most depper (superlative)

Don't be that one guy who shows up to boot camp in his depper clothes.

(US, military, nautical, slang) Of or pertaining to the Delayed Entry Program.


depper

The recruiting officer led the deppers outside to do PT in the hot sun.

(US, military, nautical, slang) A member of the Delayed Entry Program.


BBG

(military, nautical) Initialism of guided-missile battleship (a battleship equipped with cruise missiles as one of its primary armaments).

guided-missile battleship

(military, nautical) Abbreviation of battleship battle group.


miss stays

en-verb

miss stays (third-person singular simple present misses stays, present participle missing stays, simple past and past participle missed stays)

misses stays (present singular third-person)
missing stays (participle present)
missed stays (participle past)
missed stays (past)

(nautical) To fail in going about from one tack to another.


lazy jacks

(nautical, sailing) A type of running rigging to assist in handling a fore-and-aft-rigged sail during reefing and furling; consist of a network of cordage which is rigged to a point on the mast and to a series of points on either side of the boom.


nail sickness

(roofing, nautical) The degradation of the roofing nails of a house or the nails of a boat, necessitating repair.


cast anchor

cast anchor (third-person singular simple present casts anchor, present participle casting anchor, simple past and past participle cast anchor)

casts anchor (present singular third-person)
casting anchor (participle present)
cast anchor (participle past)
cast anchor (past)

(nautical) To drop anchor or otherwise moor a ship.


under canvas

(nautical) Having the sails unfurled; under sail.


lazy painter

(nautical) A small painter for use in fine weather only.


sooji-mooji

(nautical, archaic, slang) A composition of caustic soda and quicklime for cleaning off old paint, varnish, etc.


mooring ring

(nautical) A ring of metal attached to a dock to which boats may be attached by a rope.


relieving tackle

en-noun

relieving tackle (plural relieving tackles)

(nautical) A temporary tackle attached to the tiller of a vessel during a storm.


rap-full

(nautical) Full of wind; used of sails when close-hauled.


change tack

en-verb

change tack (third-person singular simple present changes tack, present participle changing tack, simple past and past participle changed tack)

changes tack (present singular third-person)
changing tack (participle present)
changed tack (participle past)
changed tack (past)


smallcraft

The hotel nightlights shine behind the drawn venetian blinds and the slatted patterns on the curbside cars give them the look of anchored smallcraft with lapstrake hulls.

1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 188:


stand on

stand on (third-person singular simple present stands on, present participle standing on, simple past and past participle stood on)

stands on (present singular third-person)
standing on (participle present)
stood on (participle past)
stood on (past)

(nautical) To continue following the same course.