Chapter 3

Boating Terms #2

GAMMON IRON: A fitting at the bow through which the bowsprit passes.

GANTLINE: A piece of rope passing through a block at the masthead for hoisting a man aloft.

GARBOARD: The plank nearest the keel.

GASKET: A strip of canvas used to lash a sail after it has been furled.

GENOA: A large jib, often called a Jenny.

GOOSENECK: The device used to attach the forward end of a boom to a mast.

GROMMETS: The metal eyelets in the edge or along the reef points of a sail.

GROUND TACKLE: Anchoring equipment or gear.

GUYS: Lines used to steady a spar. GYBE: See JIBE.

HATCH: The cover over a companionway or other deck opening.

HEAD: The upper edge of a gaff sail or the upper point of a triangular sail.

HEEL: To tilt under the impetus of sails.

HELM: The tiller or wheel by. which a rudder is moved.

HIKE: To climb to windward to prevent excessive heeling.

HIKING STICK: A pivoted extension on a tiller that allows a helmsman to steer when he is hiked far to windward.

HITCH: A knot that can be quickly loosened.

HOOK: An anchor.

INBOARD: Toward a boat's fore-and-aft center line.

INWALE: A strip of wood around the in-sides of frame heads at the sheer line. In large, decked boats, usually called a clamp.

IRONS: In luffing, a boat without enough momentum may refuse to come about on the opposite tack. The sails will remain flapping. A boat in this position is said to be in irons.

JIB: Triangular sail forward of the mainmast.

JIBE: The opposite to TACK. If you are sailing with the wind coming from astern on the starboard side and you steer so the stern passes through the eye of the wind, the sails will swing over so the wind is now on their port side. This is a jibe.

JIGGER: The mizzenmast, especially in a yawl.

JUMBO: A large jib, usually of heavier canvas and smaller than a Genoa.

JUMPER: A length of wire rigging along the forward side of a mast, running from the masthead down over a short strut and then being made fast farther down the mast. Acts as a mast strengthener.

KEDGE: A light anchor. Also, to move a boat ahead by carrying an anchor out in a rowboat, dropping it, and then pulling the larger vessel ahead by hauling on the anchor line.

KEEL: The longitudinal timber along the center of the bottom of a boat.

KITE: Small light sail for light winds.

LACING: Light line used to attach a sail to a spar.

LAZY JACKS: Ropes on each side of a sail to keep it from billowing when lowered.

LEE: The side of a boat opposite to that from which the wind is blowing.

LEEBOARDS: Similar to centerboards except that they are attached to the sides of a boat.
 
LEEWAY: The amount a boat slides side-wise due to the pressure of the wind.

LEECH: The after edge of a sail.

LEG: A section of a regatta course.

LIFT: Rigging to take the weight off a spar when the sail is furled.

LINES: Rope used in handling a boat.

LOCKER: A storage space.

LOOSE-FOOTED: A sail with no boom or one not attached to a boom except at the tack and the clew.

LUFF: The forward edge of a sail. Also, the act of steering a boat so the bow is brought up into the eye of the wind.

MARCONI: A triangular mainsail. Also called jib-headed and Bermuda.

MISS STAYS: To get a boat into IRONS.

MIZZEN: The aftermost mast on a yawl or ketch.

MOORING: A heavy anchor that is left in position in a vessel's anchorage.

MOUSING: A lashing across the opening in a hook to prevent a block from jumping off.

MUSHROOM: A heavy anchor used for a permanent mooring.

NIGHT PENNANT: A light piece of bunting hoisted to the masthead at night or at other times when no flags are flown. A fly.

NUN: A conical red buoy, carrying an even number, to be found on the starboard side of a channel when entering port.

ONE-DESIGN CLASS: A number of boats, usually for racing, that are built exactly alike.

OWNER'S FLAG: A private signal sometimes flown as a matter of yacht etiquette.

PARRELS: Small wooden balls or beads on the forward circumferences of mast hoops that make it easier to hoist sail.

PIN RAIL: A plank with holes bored in it to hold BELAYING PINS.

PORT: The left side of a vessel as you face forward, opposite to STARBOARD.

POUNDING: The shock felt in rough water when a relatively flat portion of the boat lifts above water and then forcibly strikes the surface.

PURCHASE: Any rigging consisting of two or more blocks used to hoist a heavy weight.

QUARTER ROUND: A narrow, triangular piece of wood with one face rounded; used for trim along the edges of cabins.

REEF: To reduce the area of a sail by lowering it, making fast the reef points, and hoisting again.
 
REEVE: To make up a tackle or purchase by running lines through blocks.

RESTRICTED CLASS: A racing class where all boats may be different providing they meet certain general requirements.

RIGGING: The gear and equipment used to support and control sails.

ROLLER REEFING: A method of reducing the area of a sail by winding it up on a revolving boom or stay.

ROPE: Often confused with LINE. When a length is cut from a coil of rope, that length immediately is known as a line.

RUDDER: The underwater device by which a boat is steered.

RUN: To sail with the wind coming from astern.

RUNNER: A backstay that can be cast off.

RUNNING LIGHTS: The lights carried by vessels under way between sunset and sunrise.

RUNNING RIGGING: Any part of the rigging that is used to hoist or adjust sails.

SEAKINDLY: Comfortable and safe in rough weather.

SEAWORTHY: Able to stay at sea. Often used when SEAKINDLY would be a better word.

SHEER: Deck edge as viewed from the side.

SHEET: Line used to control the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind. The sheet is not the sail itself.

SHEET WINCH: See WINCH.

SHROUDS: Standing rigging, usually of wire, running from the masthead to the sides of a boat to support the mast.

SKEG: A projection below a keel, usually supporting the bottom of the rudder.

SPAR: A mast, boom, gaff, or other wooden device used to support a sail.

SPINNAKER: A large, light triangular sail used when the boat is sailing before the wind.

SPLICING: The method by which two lines or two parts of the same line are united by interweaving the strands. An art the sailor should acquire.

SPREADER: A light device, fastened to the upper portion of a mast in a sideways direction, over which shrouds pass.

STABILITY: The ability of a boat to return to an upright position when she has been heeled by some force such as the wind or a wave.

STARBOARD: Opposite to PORT. The right side of the boat as you face forward

STAYS: Fore-and-aft portions of the standing rigging.

STAYSAIL: The jib attached to the fore-stay in a boat carrying more than one head-sail.
 
STEERING WHEEL: The wheel that controls the movements of a boat's rudder.

STEM: The extreme forward portion of a hull.

STERN: The extreme after portion of a hull.

TACK: The lower forward corner of a sail. Also, that variety of sailing where you proceed to windward by sailing on alternate courses so the wind is first on one side of the boat and then on the other.

TACKLE: A purchase, a block and fall.

THIMBLE: A piece of metal forming the inside of an eye splice.

THROAT: That end of a gaff next to the mast.

TILLER: The device that operates the rudder when there is no steering wheel.

TOPPING LIFT: A line from the after end of the boom to the masthead used to lift the boom or support it when the sail is furled.

TOPSAIL: A sail set above the normal working canvas.

TRANSOM: The flat or curved piece at the extreme stern.

TRAVELER: A metal rod running ath-wartships to which the main-sheet block, or sometimes the jib-sheet block, is attached.

TRIM: The movement of a boat away from the upright in a fore-and-aft direction. As you walk forward, a boat will trim by the bow.

TURNBUCKLE: A pair of eyebolts threaded into a casting that can be turned to tighten wire standing rigging.

UNDERBODY: The entire hull below the water line.

UNDERWAY: A boat progressing on a course is underway.

V-BOTTOM: A bottom sectional form that looks like the letter V. Where the upper portion of the V meets the sides of the boat is the chine.

WAKE: The water in commotion immediately abaft a boat.

WARP: The line used to attach a boat to a dock.

WATER LINE: The line where the surface of the water touches the sides of the hull.

WEATHER: Another word for WINDWARD.

WINCH: A mechanical device used for putting more power on the running rigging than can easily be applied by hand, Also used to hoist an anchor.

WINDWARD: The opposite to LEEWARD. The side upon which the wind is blowing.

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