| Weather side |
The side against which the wind blows. |
| Lee side |
The opposite to the weather side. |
| Starboard tack |
Sailing as nearly as possible in a direction towards the wind, with it blowing against the starboard side of the ship, and consequently the starboard tacks being in use. |
| Port tack |
Sailing as nearly as possible in a direction towards the wind, with it blowing against the port side of the ship, and consequently the port tacks being in use. |
| Tacking |
| Going about |
| Staying |
Going round from one tack to the other, passing head to the wind. |
| Wearing |
Going round from one tack to the other, passing stern to the wind. |
| Beating to windward |
Proceeding as nearly as possible in a direction towards the wind, and continually tacking. |
| To weather |
To pass on the weather side of anything. |
| On a wind |
| By the wind |
| Close hauled |
Sailing as close to the wind as possible. |
| Wide abeam |
Sailing with the wind directly on one side, or at right angles to the keel. |
| Off the wind |
| Going free |
| Sailing large |
| Running |
Sailing with the wind on the beam or quarter. |
| Before the wind |
Having the wind exactly aft. |
| Scudding |
Running before a gale of wind. |
| Conning |
Directing the helmsman in steering the ship. |
| To alter course, turning the ship’s head more away from the wind. |
| Luff |
To alter course, bringing the ship’s head nearer to the wind. |
| To keep the ship’s head steady in the same direction (used when the ship is sailing close-hauled). |
| Nothing off |
To bring the ship’s head nearer to the wind (used when the ship is sailing close-hauled). |
| No higher |
Not to bring the ship’s head nearer to the wind (used when the ship is sailing close-hauled). |
| Starboard (the helm) |
To alter course by putting the tiller or helm to starboard, so as to force the rudder and ship’s head to port when the ship is going ahead. |
| Port (the helm) |
To alter course by putting the tiller or helm to port, so as to force the rudder and ship’s head to starboard when the ship is going ahead. |
| Hauling to the wind |
Altering course, bringing the ship’s head as near to the wind as possible. |
| Hove to |
Keeping the ship stationary, by making one said act against another. |
| Lying to |
Keeping the ship to the wind in a gale with little sail. |
| Making asternboard |
Trimming the sails so as to force the ship astern. |
| Stern way |
Going astern. |
| Lee way |
Going sideways away from the wind. |
| Brought by the lee |
When running, if the wind changes from one quarter to the other |
| Broaching to |
When running with the wind on the quarter, and the ship’s head comes up towards the wind, in consequence of a sea striking the stern, or through bad steerage. |
| Gybing a sail |
When running nearly before the wind, if the wind gets on the lee side of a fore-and-aft sail, blowing it over to the other side of the ship. |
| Weather tide |
A tide which will carry the ship towards the wind or to windward. |
| Lee tide |
A tide which will carry the ship away from the wind or to leeward. |
| Bearing |
The situation of any distant object in relation to the ship. |
| Striking a mast |
Sending the mast down on deck. |
| Housing a mast |
Lowering the mast down as low as possible without taking the rigging off the masthead. |
| Single anchor |
Having only one anchor down. |
| Moored |
Having two anchors down. |
| Moorings |
Anchors and chains laid down ready for a ship to be secured to them. |
| Short stay |
When the cable is nearly straight up and down from the ground to the bows of the ship; or when the amount of the cable out is a little more than the depth of water. |
| Long stay |
When the anchor is some distance ahead, and the cable forms a small angle with the ground. |
| Foul hawse |
When moored, if one cable is twisted round another. |
| To veer cable |
To ease away or pay out the cable. |
| Surging |
The hawser slipping up the barrel of a capstand, or veering out the cable suddenly. |
| Warping |
Using a hawser to haul the ship ahead. |
| Kedging |
Using a kedge anchor to warp the ship ahead by, when there is no place to secure a hawser to. |
| A spring |
A rope led from aft and made fast to the cable, or an object a short distance off, in order to turn the ship’s head round, and present her broadside to any required direction. |
| Woolding |
A strong lashing around a spar or spars. After passing the turns it is wedged out to tighten them. |
| Binnacle |
A box containing a compass. |
| Lubber’s point |
A mark on the foremost side of the compass bowl, through which, if a line were drawn from the center of the compass, it would be parallel to the keel. It shows the helmsman how the ship’s head is pointing with regard to the compass. |
| Guesswarp |
A rope used to secure or haul a boat ahead with (In laying out a guesswarp, the whole hawser is taken on the boat, and the end is brought back to the ship, the distance being “guessed”). |
| Weighing |
Getting the anchor out of the ground and up to the bows. |
| Casting |
Trimming the sails in order to turn the ship’s head round away from the anchor after weighing. |
| Boxing off |
Backing a head sail in order to pay the ship’s head off if she has approached too near the wind, in consequence of bad steerage, or the wind drawing ahead. |
| Backing and filling |
Trimming the sails in order to go backwards and forwards across a river, letting the tide take the ship to windward. |
| Sued |
The condition of a ship when she has run ashore, and the water has partly left her. If the water has left her two feet, she has sued two feet. |
| The buoy watching |
The anchor buoy being above water. |
| Setting up rigging |
Hauling the shrouds, etc, taut by means of tackles on the lanyards. |
| Swifting in |
Steadying the shrouds in their places before putting on the ratlines. Also done in a gale of wind when rigging becomes slack. |
| Spar down |
Putting spars in the rigging for the men to stand upon while rattling down. |
| Scotchman |
A piece of hide, wood, or iron on a rope to prevent its being chafed. |
| Swamped |
A boat being filled with water. |
| Batten down |
Closing the hatchways with gratings and tarpaulings. |
| Wake of a ship |
The track left by a ship in the water. |
| Bonnet of a sail |
An additional part made to lace on to the bottom of a trysail or other sail. By taking the bonnet off, the sail becomes a storm sail. |
| Hogging |
Scrubbing the ship’s bottom under water. |
| Hogged |
The bow and stern of the ship having settled down in the water below the level of the midship part. |
| Sagged |
The midship part of the ship having settled down below the level of the bow and stern. |
| Athwart |
Lying across any part of the ship. |
| Sprung |
Signifies that a spar is strained, and that some of its fibers are broken. |
| Battledore |
A moveable iron arm in the cable bitts of most vessels. |
