Balling was winding a rope into a ball.
To beat.
To bend was to tie, fasten on, or make fast and to bend a sail is to make it fast
to the yard or stay.
The two anchors carried at the starboard and port bows were the bower anchors. The
port anchor is the small bower and the starboard is the best bower.
The two anchors carried at the starboard and port bows were the bower anchors. The
port anchor is the small bower and the starboard is the best bower.
To bring-to (past tense - brought-to) was to stop a vessel by bringing her head to
the wind.
The bulk heads were upright partitions serving to divide the hold into distinct
water-tight compartments, for safety in case of collision or other damage.
The bumkin (boomkin) was a short boom projecting from either side of the bow of a ship,
used to extend the lower edge of the foresail to windward.
The buoy rope was the rope connecting an anchor on the sea bottom to a small buoy
marking its position.
A cable was a unit of measurement of 607.56 feet, or one-tenth of a sea mile.
A cartel ship was one commissioned in time of war to exchange the prisoners of any
two hostile powers; also to carry any particular proposal from one to another.
The action of caulking was to stop up the seams of a ship by driving in oakum, or the like,
melted pitch or resin being afterwards poured on, so as to prevent leaking.
A chaldron was a dry measure of 36 bushels, normally only used for quantities of
coal.
A cross-jack was a square sail bent to the lower yard of the mast.
A cutter was a small boat belonging to a ship, fitted for rowing and sailing, and
used for in shore work, including surveying.
To drive was to be forced to leeward by the wind and sea (or to run before a gale).
An earing was a short legth of rope employed to fasten the upper corner of a sail
to the yard-arm.
A fathom was a measure of 6 feet used in taking soundings or depths of water.
A fluke was a triangular flattened barb at the end of the anchor arm.
The forecastle was a short raised part of the upper deck, back as far as the fore
mast.
A futtock was one of the middle timbers of the frame of a ship, between the floor
and the top timbers. (The word was probably a corruption of foot-hook).
A gaff.
The gantlope or gauntlet was a means of punishment where the offender sat on a
wooden grating and was pulled past seamen who struck him with knotted cord (as in
running the gauntlet).
The gripe (or fore-foot), was a projection forward at the lowest part of the stem,
joins the stern with the keel.
A hawser was a large rope or small cable, used in warping and mooring .
To heave down (past tense hove down) was to turn a ship over on one side by means
of purchases attached to the masts, for cleaning, repairing, etc.
A hogshead was a large cask for liquids and hence a liquid measure containing
52½ imperial gallons.
The jeers were tackles for hoisting and lowering the lower yards.
A jib was a triangular sail set on a stay before the foremast.
The kedge was a small anchor with an iron stock. It was used in mooring and to
keep a ship steady whilst it rode in bad holding ground. The kedges were also used in
warping a ship from one part of a harbour to another.
The keel.
To lace was to fasten the head of a sail to the mast, yard or gaff by a line turned
spirally round them and reeved through eyelet holes in the sail.
The larboard (port) and starboard were terms for the left and right sides of a ship
respectively (looking forward).
Latitude.
A league was a measure of distance of approximately 3 nautical miles.
Leeward.
The log was an instrument for measuring the distance sailed through the water, and
hence the ship's speed. It was let into the water on a line.
Longitude.
A mat was a flat piece of coarse fabric made of interwoven strands of rope used for
various protective purposes on a ship, eg to protect the standing rigging from the
friction of other ropes.
Measurement of the Sun's meridian altitude (or noon sight) allowed latitude to be
calculated.
A nettle was a small line composed of two or three rope yarns twisted together. It
was used to fasten the service on the cable or to reef the sails.
The navigational term "on with" denoted that all the features being sighted were
in one line.
The ordnance stores were materials, stores, or supplies; implements of war; missiles, etc
discharged in war.
To pay was to smear (with pitch, tallow, etc) as a defence against the wet,
especially sea water.
To ply was to beat up against the wind; to work to windward, putting the vessel
about frequently.
The port (larboard) and starboard were terms for the left and right sides of a ship
respectively (looking forward).
To reef was to reduce the extent of a sail by taking in or rolling up a part and
securing it.
A reef point was a short length of line attached to the sails in order to tie the
reefed part of the sail to the yard.
A roband (or rope-band; and pronounced roebin) was a piece of small rope passed
through an eyelet-hole in the head of a sail and used to secure it to the yard or
jackstay.
A rother was an old term for a rudder.
The running rigging comprised the ropes or chains employed to work or set the yards,
sails, etc.
A schooner was a small sea-going fore-and-aft rigged vessel, with two masts, and
carrying one or more topsails. The rig characteristic of a schooner has been defined
as consisting essentially of two gaff sails, the after sail not being smaller than
the fore, and a head sail set on a bowsprit.
The phrase "scrubbed between wind and water" appears to have been Cook's term to
describe cleaning all of the vessel above the water-line.
A shallop was a boat, fitted with one or more masts and carrying fore-and-aft or
lug sails and sometimes furnished with guns.
The shrouds were a set of ropes, usually in pairs, leading from the head of a mast and
serving to relieve the latter of lateral strain; they form part of the standing
rigging of a ship.
The two anchors carried at the starboard and port bows were the bower anchors. The port
anchor is the small bower and the starboard is the best bower.
A snow was a small sailing-vessel resembling a brig, carrying a main and fore mast
and a supplementary trysail mast close behind the mainmast.
To sound was to employ the line and lead in order to ascertain the depth of the
sea, a channel, etc., or the nature of the bottom.
Spruce essence or extract was made from the leaves and branches of the spruce fir
and added to beer to help offset scurvy.
A spunyarn was a small line comprising two or three ropes twisted together.
A squall was a sudden and violent gust, a blast or short sharp storm, of wind.
The standing rigging comprised the ropes or chains employed in supporting the
masts.
The starboard and larboard (port) were terms for the right and left sides of a ship
respectively (looking forward).
The swell was the rising or heaving of the sea in a succession of long rolling
waves.
To tack was to work to windward changing course alternately from starboard to port
tack.
The tallow was a grease or fat made from animal bones and applied as a protective
coating.
To veer was to put a vessel on to the other tack by putting the stern into the
wind.
Victualling was the action of providing or storing a ship with victuals, ie food
or provisions of any kind.
A warp was a rope or light hawser attached at one end to some fixed object, and
used in hauling or in moving a ship from one place to another in a harbour or
anchorage.
The action of warping was to move a ship by hauling on a warp.
To weigh was to heave up the ship's anchor from the sea bed, before sailing.
Windward.
The yard(-arm).
The yard-slings were the ropes or chains used to support a yard, which did not
travel up or down the mast.
An isthmus is a narrow neck of land joining two larger pieces of land.
2: Topographical terms.
A hummock was a name given by mariners to a hillock, or small elevation of land
resembling the figure of a cone.3: Other terms.
A hake is a shoal fish of the cod family.