Chapter XVI: Getting Under Way (2)

HATCH, or HATCHWAY. An opening in the deck to afford a passage up and down. The coverings over these openings are also called _hatches_.

_Hatch-bar_ is an iron bar going across the hatches to keep them down.

HAUL. _Haul her wind_, said of a vessel when she comes up close upon the wind.

HAWSE. The situation of the cables before a vessel's stem, when moored. Also, the distance upon the water a little in advance of the stem; as, a vessel sails _athwart the hawse_, or anchors _in the hawse_ of another.

_Open hawse._ When a vessel rides by two anchors, without any cross in her cables.

HAWSE-HOLE. The hole in the bows through which the cable runs.

HAWSE-PIECES. Timbers through which the hawse-holes are cut.

HAWSE-BLOCK. A block of wood fitted into a hawse-hole at sea.

HAWSER. A large rope used for various purposes, as warping, for a spring, &c.

HAWSER-LAID, or CABLE-LAID rope, is rope laid with nine strands against the sun. (See PLATE 5 and page 43.)

HAZE. A term for punishing a man by keeping him unnecessarily at work upon disagreeable or difficult duty.

HEAD. The work at the prow of a vessel. If it is a carved figure, it is called a _figure-head_; if simple carved work, bending over and out, a _billet-head_; and if bending in, like the head of a violin, a _fiddle-head_. Also, the upper end of a mast, called a _mast-head_. (See BY-THE-HEAD. See FAST.)

HEAD-LEDGES. Thwartship pieces that frame the hatchways.

HEAD-SAILS. A general name given to all sails that set forward of the fore-mast.

HEART. A block of wood in the shape of a heart, for stays to reeve through.

HEART-YARNS. The centre yarns of a strand.

HEAVE SHORT. To heave in on the cable until the vessel is nearly over her anchor.

HEAVE-TO. To put a vessel in the position of lying-to. (See LIE-TO.)

HEAVE IN STAYS. To go about in tacking.

HEAVER. A short wooden bar, tapering at each end. Used as a purchase.

HEEL. The after part of the keel. Also, the lower end of a mast or boom. Also, the lower end of the stern-post.

_To heel_, is to lie over on one side.

HEELING. The square part of the lower end of a mast, through which the fid-hole is made.

HELM. The machinery by which a vessel is steered, including the rudder, tiller, wheel, &c. Applied more particularly, perhaps, to the tiller.

HELM-PORT. The hole in the counter through which the rudder-head passes.

HELM-PORT-TRANSOM. A piece of timber placed across the lower counter, inside, at the height of the helm-port, and bolted through every timber, for the security of that port. (See PLATE 3.)

HIGH AND DRY. The situation of a vessel when she is aground, above water mark.

HITCH. A peculiar manner of fastening ropes. (See PLATE 5 and page 48.)

HOG. A flat, rough broom, used for scrubbing the bottom of a vessel.

HOGGED. The state of a vessel when, by any strain, she is made to droop at each end, bringing her centre up.

HOLD. The interior of a vessel, where the cargo is stowed.

HOLD WATER. To stop the progress of a boat by keeping the oar-blades in the water.

HOLY-STONE. A large stone, used for cleaning a ship's decks.

HOME. The sheets of a sail are said to be _home_, when the clews are hauled chock out to the sheave-holes. An anchor _comes home_ when it is loosened from the ground and is hove in toward the vessel.

HOOD. A covering for a companion hatch, skylight, &c.

HOOD-ENDS, or HOODING-ENDS, or WHOODEN-ENDS. Those ends of the planks which fit into the rabbets of the stem or stern-post.

HOOK-AND-BUTT. The scarfing, or laying the ends of timbers over each other.

HORNS. The jaws of booms. Also, the ends of cross-trees.

HORSE. (See FOOT-ROPE.)

HOUNDS. Those projections at the mast-head serving as shoulders for the top or trestle-trees to rest upon.

HOUSE. To _house_ a mast, is to lower it about half its length, and secure it by lashing its heel to the mast below. (See page 37.)

_To house a gun_, is to run it in clear of the port and secure it.

HOUSING, or HOUSE-LINE. (Pronounced _houze-lin_.) A small cord made of three small yarns, and used for seizings.

HULL. The body of a vessel. (See A-HULL.)

IN-AND-OUT. A term sometimes used for the scantline of the timbers, the moulding way, and particularly for those bolts that are driven into the hanging and lodging knees, through the sides, which are called _in-and-out bolts_.

INNER-POST. A piece brought on at the fore side of the main-post, and generally continued as high as the wing-transom, to seat the other transoms upon.

IRONS. A ship is said to be _in irons_, when, in working, she will not cast one way or the other.

JACK. A common term for the _jack-cross-trees_. (See UNION.)

JACK-BLOCK. A block used in sending topgallant masts up and down.

JACK-CROSS-TREES. (See PLATE 1.) Iron cross-trees at the head of long topgallant masts.

JACK-STAFF. A short staff, raised at the bowsprit cap, upon which the Union Jack is hoisted.

JACK-STAYS. Ropes stretched taut along a yard to bend the head of the sail to. Also, long strips of wood or iron, used now for the same purpose.

JACK-SCREW. A purchase, used for stowing cotton.

JACOB'S LADDER. A ladder made of rope, with wooden steps.

JAWS. The inner ends of booms or gaffs, hollowed in.

JEERS. Tackles for hoisting the lower yards.

JEWEL-BLOCKS. Single blocks at the yard-arms, through which the studdingsail halyards lead.

JIB. (See PLATE 2.) A triangular sail set on a stay, forward.

_Flying-jib_ sets outside of the jib; and the _jib-o'-jib_ outside of that.

JIB-BOOM. (See PLATE 1.) The boom, rigged out beyond the bowsprit, to which the tack of the jib is lashed.

JIGGER. A small tackle, used about decks or aloft.

JOLLY-BOAT. A small boat, usually hoisted at the stern.

JUNK. Condemned rope, cut up and used for making mats, swabs, oakum, &c.

JURY-MAST. A temporary mast, rigged at sea, in place of one lost.

KECKLING. Old rope wound round cables, to keep them from chafing. (See ROUNDING.)

KEDGE. A small anchor, with an iron stock, used for warping.

_To kedge_, is to warp a vessel ahead by a kedge and hawser.

KEEL. (See PLATE 3.) The lowest and principal timber of a vessel, running fore-and-aft its whole length, and supporting the whole frame. It is composed of several pieces, placed lengthwise, and scarfed and bolted together. (See FALSE KEEL.)

KEEL-HAUL. To haul a man under a vessel's bottom, by ropes at the yard-arms on each side. Formerly practised as a punishment in ships of war.

KEELSON. (See PLATE 3.) A timber placed over the keel on the floor-timbers, and running parallel with it.

KENTLEDGE. Pig-iron ballast, laid each side of the keelson.

KEVEL, or CAVIL. A strong piece of wood, bolted to some timber or stanchion, used for belaying large ropes to.

KEVEL-HEADS. Timber-heads, used as kevels.

KINK. A twist in a rope.

KNEES. (See PLATE 3.) Crooked pieces of timber, having two arms, used to connect the beams of a vessel with her timbers. (See DAGGER.)

_Lodging-knees_, are placed horizontally, having one arm bolted to a beam, and the other across two of the timbers.

_Knee of the head_, is placed forward of the stem, and supports the figure-head.

KNIGHT-HEADS, or BOLLARD-TIMBERS. The timbers next the stem on each side, and continued high enough to form a support for the bowsprit. (See PLATE 3.)

KNITTLES, or NETTLES. (See page 51.) The halves of two adjoining yarns in a rope, twisted up together, for pointing or grafting. Also, small line used for seizings and for hammock-clews.

KNOCK-OFF! An order to leave off work.

KNOT. A division on the log-line, answering to a mile of distance. (See page 17.)

LABOR. A vessel is said to labor when she rolls or pitches heavily.

LACING. Rope used to lash a sail to a gaff, or a bonnet to a sail. Also, a piece of compass or knee timber, fayed to the back of the figure-head and the knee of the head, and bolted to each.

LAND-FALL. The making land after being at sea.

_A good land-fall_, is when a vessel makes the land as intended.

LAND HO! The cry used when land is first seen.

LANYARDS. Ropes rove through dead-eyes for setting up rigging. Also, a rope made fast to anything to secure it, or as a handle, is called a _lanyard_.

LARBOARD. The left side of a vessel, looking forward.

LARBOWLINES. The familiar term for the men in the larboard watch.

LARGE. A vessel is said to be going _large_, when she has the wind free.

LATCHINGS. Loops on the head rope of a bonnet, by which it is laced to the foot of the sail.

LAUNCH. A large boat. The LONG-BOAT.

LAUNCH HO! High enough!

LAY. To come or to go; as, _Lay aloft!_ _Lay forward!_ _Lay aft!_ Also, the direction in which the strands of a rope are twisted; as, from left to right, or from right to left.

LEACH. (See LEECH.)

LEACHLINE. A rope used for hauling up the leach of a sail.

LEAD. A piece of lead, in the shape of a cone or pyramid, with a small hole at the base, and a line attached to the upper end, used for sounding. (See HAND-LEAD, DEEP-SEA-LEAD.)

LEADING-WIND. A fair wind. More particularly applied to a wind abeam or quartering.

LEAK. A hole or breach in a vessel, at which the water comes in.

LEDGES. Small pieces of timber placed athwart-ships under the decks of a vessel, between the beams.

LEE. The side opposite to that from which the wind blows; as, if a vessel has the wind on her starboard side, that will be the _weather_, and the larboard will be the _lee_ side.

_A lee shore_ is the shore upon which the wind is blowing.

_Under the lee_ of anything, is when you have that between you and the wind.

_By the lee._ The situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side.

LEE-BOARD. A board fitted to the lee side of flat-bottomed boats, to prevent their drifting to leeward.

LEE-GAGE. (See GAGE.)

LEEWAY. What a vessel loses by drifting to leeward. When sailing close-hauled with all sail set, a vessel should make no leeway. If the topgallant sails are furled, it is customary to allow one point; under close-reefed topsails, two points; when under one close-reefed sail, four or five points.

LEECH, or LEACH. The border or edge of a sail, at the sides.

LEEFANGE. An iron bar, upon which the sheets of fore-and-aft sails traverse. Also, a rope rove through the cringle of a sail which has a bonnet to it, for hauling in, so as to lace on the bonnet. Not much used.

LEEWARD. (Pronounced _lu-ard_.) The lee side. In a direction opposite to that from which the wind blows, which is called _windward_. The opposite of _lee_ is _weather_, and of _leeward_ is _windward_; the two first being adjectives.

LIE-TO, is to stop the progress of a vessel at sea, either by counter-bracing the yards, or by reducing sail so that she will make little or no headway, but will merely come to and fall off by the counteraction of the sails and helm.

LIFE-LINES. Ropes carried along yards, booms, &c., or at any part of the vessel, for men to hold on by.

LIFT. A rope or tackle, going from the yard-arms to the mast-head, to support and move the yard. Also, a term applied to the sails when the wind strikes them on the leeches and raises them slightly.

LIGHT. To move or lift anything along; as, to "_Light_ out to windward!" that is, haul the sail over to windward. The _light sails_ are all above the topsails, also the studdingsails and flying jib.

LIGHTER. A large boat, used in loading and unloading vessels.

LIMBERS, or LIMBER-HOLES. Holes cut in the lower part of the floor-timbers, next the keelson, forming a passage for the water fore-and-aft.

_Limber-boards_ are placed over the limbers, and are movable.

_Limber-rope._ A rope rove fore-and-aft through the limbers, to clear them if necessary.

_Limber-streak._ The streak of foot-waling nearest the keelson.

LIST. The inclination of a vessel to one side; as, a _list_ to port, or a _list_ to starboard.

LIZARD. A piece of rope, sometimes with two legs, and one or more iron thimbles spliced into it. It is used for various purposes. One with two legs, and a thimble to each, is often made fast to the topsail tye, for the buntlines to reeve through. A single one is sometimes used on the swinging-boom topping-lift.

LOCKER. A chest or box, to stow anything away in.

_Chain-locker._ Where the chain cables are kept.

_Boatswain's locker._ Where tools and small stuff for working upon rigging are kept.

LOG, or LOG-BOOK. A journal kept by the chief officer, in which the situation of the vessel, winds, weather, courses, distances, and everything of importance that occurs, is noted down.

_Log._ A line with a piece of board, called the _log-chip_, attached to it, wound upon a reel, and used for ascertaining the ship's rate of sailing. (See page 17.)

LONG-BOAT. The largest boat in a merchant vessel. When at sea, it is carried between the fore and main masts.

LONGERS. The longest casks, stowed next the keelson.

LONG-TIMBERS. Timbers in the cant-bodies, reaching from the dead-wood to the head of the second futtock.

LOOF. That part of a vessel where the planks begin to bend as they approach the stern.

LOOM. That part of an oar which is within the row-lock. Also, to appear above the surface of the water; to appear larger than nature, as in a fog.

LUBBER'S HOLE. A hole in the top, next the mast.

LUFF. To put the helm so as to bring the ship up nearer to the wind. _Spring-a-luff!_ _Keep your luff!_ &c. Orders to luff. Also, the roundest part of a vessel's bow. Also, the forward leech of fore-and-aft sails.

LUFF-TACKLE. A purchase composed of a double and single block. (See page 54.)

_Luff-upon-luff._ A luff tackle applied to the fall of another.

LUGGER. A small vessel carrying lug-sails.

_Lug-sail._ A sail used in boats and small vessels, bent to a yard which hangs obliquely to the mast.

LURCH. The sudden rolling of a vessel to one side.

LYING-TO. (See LIE-TO.)

MADE. A _made mast_ or _block_ is one composed of different pieces. A ship's lower mast is a made spar, her topmast is a whole spar.

MALL, or MAUL. (Pronounced _mawl_.) A heavy iron hammer used in driving bolts. (See TOP-MAUL.)

MALLET. A small maul, made of wood; as, _caulking-mallet_; also, _serving-mallet_, used in putting service on a rope.

MANGER. A coaming just within the hawse hole. Not much in use.

MAN-ROPES. Ropes used in going up and down a vessel's side.

MARL. To wind or twist a small line or rope round another.

MARLINE. (Pronounced _mar-lin_.) Small two-stranded stuff, used for marling. A finer kind of spunyarn.

MARLING-HITCH. A kind of hitch used in marling.

MARLINGSPIKE. An iron pin, sharpened at one end, and having a hole in the other for a lanyard. Used both as a fid and a heaver.

MARRY. To join ropes together by a worming over both.

MARTINGALE. A short, perpendicular spar, under the bowsprit-end, used for guying down the head-stays. (See DOLPHIN-STRIKER.)

MAST. A spar set upright from the deck, to support rigging, yards and sails. Masts are whole or _made_.

MAT. Made of strands of old rope, and used to prevent chafing.

MATE. An officer under the master.

MAUL. (See MALL.)

MEND. _To mend service_, is to add more to it.

MESHES. The places between the lines of a netting.

MESS. Any number of men who eat or lodge together.

MESSENGER. A rope used for heaving in a cable by the capstan.

MIDSHIPS. The timbers at the broadest part of the vessel. (See AMIDSHIPS.)

MISS-STAYS. To fail of going about from one tack to another. (See page 74.)

MIZZEN-MAST. The aftermost mast of a ship. (See PLATE 1.) The spanker is sometimes called the _mizzen_.

MONKEY BLOCK. A small single block strapped with a swivel.

MOON-SAIL. A small sail sometimes carried in light winds, above a sky sail.

MOOR. To secure by two anchors. (See page 88.)

MORTICE. A _morticed block_ is one made out of a whole block of wood with a hole cut in it for the sheave; in distinction from a _made block_. (See page 53.)

MOULDS. The patterns by which the frames of a vessel are worked out.

MOUSE. To put turns of rope yarn or spunyarn round the end of a hook and its standing part, when it is hooked to anything, so as to prevent its slipping out.

MOUSING. A knot or puddening, made of yarns, and placed on the outside of a rope.

MUFFLE. Oars are muffled by putting mats or canvass round their looms in the row-locks.

MUNIONS. The pieces that separate the lights in the galleries.

NAVAL HOODS, or HAWSE BOLSTERS. Plank above and below the hawse-holes.

NEAP TIDES. Low tides, coming at the middle of the moon's second and fourth quarters. (See SPRING TIDES.)

NEAPED, or BENEAPED. The situation of a vessel when she is aground at the height of the spring tides.

NEAR. Close to wind. "Near!" the order to the helmsman when he is too near the wind.

NETTING. Network of rope or small lines. Used for stowing away sails or hammocks.

NETTLES. (See KNITTLES.)

NINEPIN BLOCK. A block in the form of a ninepin, used for a _fair-leader_ in the rail.

NIP. A short turn in a rope.

NIPPERS. A number of yarns marled together, used to secure a cable to the messenger.

NOCK. The forward upper end of a sail that sets with a boom.

NUN-BUOY. A buoy tapering at each end.

NUT. Projections on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock to its place.

OAKUM. Stuff made by picking rope-yarns to pieces. Used for caulking, and other purposes.

OAR. A long wooden instrument with a flat blade at one end, used for propelling boats.

OFF-AND-ON. To stand on different tacks towards and from the land.

OFFING. Distance from the shore.

ORLOP. The lower deck of a ship of the line; or that on which the cables are stowed.

OUT-HAUL. A rope used for hauling out the clew of a boom sail.

OUT-RIGGER. A spar rigged out to windward from the tops or cross-trees, to spread the breast-backstays. (See page 25.)

OVERHAUL. _To overhaul a tackle_, is to let go the fall and pull on the leading parts so as to separate the blocks.

_To overhaul a rope_, is generally to pull a part through a block so as to make slack.

_To overhaul rigging_, is to examine it.

OVER-RAKE. Said of heavy seas which come over a vessel's head when she is at anchor, head to the sea.

PAINTER. A rope attached to the bows of a boat, used for making her fast.

PALM. A piece of leather fitted over the hand, with an iron for the head of a needle to press against in sewing upon canvass. Also, the fluke of an anchor.

PANCH. (See PAUNCH.)

PARBUCKLE. To hoist or lower a spar or cask by single ropes passed round it.

PARCEL. (See page 44.) To wind tarred canvass, (called _parcelling_,) round a rope.

PARCELLING. (See PARCEL.)

PARLIAMENT-HEEL. The situation of a vessel when she is careened.

PARRAL. The rope by which a yard is confined to a mast at its centre.

PART. To break a rope.

PARTNERS. A frame-work of short timber fitted to the hole in a deck, to receive the heel of a mast or pump, &c.

PAZAREE. A rope attached to the clew of the foresail and rove through a block on the swinging boom. Used for guying the clews out when before the wind.

PAUNCH MAT. A thick mat, placed at the slings of a yard or elsewhere.

PAWL. A short bar of iron, which prevents the capstan or windlass from turning back.

_To pawl_, is to drop a pawl and secure the windlass or capstan.

PAY-OFF. When a vessel's head falls off from the wind.

_To pay._ To cover over with tar or pitch.

_To pay out._ To slack up on a cable and let it run out.

PEAK. The upper outer corner of a gaff-sail.

PEAK. (See A-PEAK.)

A _stay-peak_ is when the cable and fore stay form a line.

A _short stay-peak_ is when the cable is too much in to form this line.

PENDANT, or PENNANT. A long narrow piece of bunting, carried at the mast-head.

_Broad pennant_, is a square piece, carried in the same way, in a commodore's vessel.

_Pennant._ A rope to which a purchase is hooked. A long strap fitted at one end to a yard or mast-head, with a hook or block at the other end, for a brace to reeve through, or to hook a tackle to.

PILLOW. A block which supports the inner end of the bowsprit.

PIN. The axis on which a sheave turns. Also, a short piece of wood or iron to belay ropes to.

PINK-STERN. A high, narrow stern.

PINNACE. A boat, in size between the launch and a cutter.

PINTLE. A metal bolt, used for hanging a rudder.

PITCH. A resin taken from pine, and used for filling up the seams of a vessel.

PLANKS. Thick, strong boards, used for covering the sides and decks of vessels.

PLAT. A braid of foxes. (See FOX.)

PLATE. (See CHAIN-PLATE.)

PLUG. A piece of wood, fitted into a hole in a vessel or boat, so as to let in or keep out water.

POINT. To take the end of a rope and work it over with knittles. (See page 51. See REEF-POINTS.)

POLE. Applied to the highest mast of a ship, usually painted; as, _skysail pole_.

POOP. A deck raised over the after part of the spar deck. A vessel is _pooped_ when the sea breaks over her stern.

POPPETS. Perpendicular pieces of timber fixed to the fore-and-aft part of the bilge-ways in launching.

PORT. Used instead of _larboard_.

_To port the helm_, is to put it to the larboard.

PORT, or PORT-HOLE. Holes in the side of a vessel, to point cannon out of. (See BRIDLE.)

PORTOISE. The gunwale. The yards are _a-portoise_ when they rest on the gunwale.

PORT-SILLS. (See SILLS.)

PREVENTER. An additional rope or spar, used as a support.

PRICK. A quantity of spunyarn or rope laid close up together.

PRICKER. A small marlinspike, used in sail-making. It generally has a wooden handle.

PUDDENING. A quantity of yarns, matting or oakum, used to prevent chafing.

PUMP-BRAKE. The handle to the pump.

PURCHASE. A mechanical power which increases the force applied.

_To purchase_, is to raise by a purchase.

QUARTER. The part of a vessel's side between the after part of the main chains and the stern. The _quarter_ of a yard is between the slings and the yard-arm.

The wind is said to be _quartering_, when it blows in a line between that of the keel and the beam and abaft the latter.

QUARTER-BLOCK. A block fitted under the quarters of a yard on each side the slings, for the clewlines and sheets to reeve through.

QUARTER-DECK. That part of the upper deck abaft the main-mast.

QUARTER-MASTER. A petty officer in a man-of-war, who attends the helm and binnacle at sea, and watches for signals, &c., when in port.

QUICK-WORK. That part of a vessel's side which is above the chain-wales and decks. So called in ship-building.

QUILTING. A coating about a vessel, outside, formed of ropes woven together.

QUOIN. A wooden wedge for the breech of a gun to rest upon.

RACE. A strong, rippling tide.

RACK. To seize two ropes together, with cross-turns. Also, a _fair-leader_ for running rigging.

RACK-BLOCK. A course of blocks made from one piece of wood, for fair-leaders.

RAKE. The inclination of a mast from the perpendicular.

RAMLINE. A line used in mast-making to get a straight middle line on a spar.

RANGE OF CABLE. A quantity of cable, more or less, placed in order for letting go the anchor or paying out.

RATLINES. (Pronounced _rat-lins_.) Lines running across the shrouds, horizontally, like the rounds of a ladder, and used to step upon in going aloft.

RATTLE DOWN RIGGING. To put ratlines upon rigging. It is still called rattling _down_, though they are now rattled _up_; beginning at the lowest. (See page 23.)

RAZEE. A vessel of war which has had one deck cut down.

REEF. To reduce a sail by taking in upon its head, if a square sail, and its foot, if a fore-and-aft sail.

REEF-BAND. A band of stout canvass sewed on the sail across, with points in it, and earings at each end for reefing.

A _reef_ is all of the sail that is comprehended between the head of the sail and the first reef-band, or between two reef-bands.

REEF-TACKLE. A tackle used to haul the middle of each leech up toward the yard, so that the sail may be easily reefed.

REEVE. To pass the end of a rope through a block, or any aperture.

RELIEVING TACKLE. A tackle hooked to the tiller in a gale of wind, to steer by in case anything should happen to the wheel or tiller-ropes.

RENDER. To pass a rope through a place. A rope is said to _render_ or not, according as it goes freely through any place.

RIB-BANDS. Long, narrow, flexible pieces of timber nailed to the outside of the ribs, so as to encompass the vessel lengthwise.

RIBS. A figurative term for a vessel's timbers.

RIDE AT ANCHOR. To lie at anchor. Also, to bend or bear down by main strength and weight; as, to _ride down_ the main tack.

RIDERS. Interior timbers placed occasionally opposite the principal ones, to which they are bolted, reaching from the keelson to the beams of the lower deck. Also, casks forming the second tier in a vessel's hold.

RIGGING. The general term for all the ropes of a vessel. (See RUNNING, STANDING.) Also, the common term for the shrouds with their ratlines; as, the _main rigging_, _mizzen rigging_, &c.

RIGHT. To _right_ the helm, is to put it amidships.

RIM. The edge of a top.

RING. The iron ring at the upper end of an anchor, to which the cable is bent.

RING-BOLT. An eye-bolt with a ring through the eye. (See EYE-BOLT.)

RING-TAIL. A small sail, shaped like a jib, set abaft the spanker in light winds.

ROACH. A curve in the foot of a square sail, by which the clews are brought below the middle of the foot. The _roach_ of a fore-and-aft sail is in its forward leech.

ROAD, or ROADSTEAD. An anchorage at some distance from the shore.

ROBANDS. (See ROPE-BANDS.)

ROLLING TACKLE. Tackles used to steady the yards in a heavy sea.

ROMBOWLINE. Condemned canvass, rope, &c.

ROPE-BANDS, or ROBANDS. Small pieces of two or three yarn spunyarn or marline, used to confine the head of the sail to the yard or gaff.

Rope-yarn. A thread of hemp, or other stuff, of which a rope is made. (See page 43.)

ROUGH-TREE. An unfinished spar.

ROUND IN. To haul in on a rope, especially a weather-brace.

ROUND UP. To haul up on a tackle.

ROUNDING. A service of rope, hove round a spar or larger rope.

ROWLOCKS, or ROLLOCKS. Places cut in the gunwale of a boat for the oar to rest in while pulling.

ROYAL. A light sail next above a topgallant sail. (See PLATE 2.)

ROYAL YARD. The yard from which the royal is set. The fourth from the deck. (See PLATE 1.)

RUBBER. A small instrument used to rub or flatten down the seams of a sail in sail-making.

RUDDER. The machine by which a vessel or boat is steered.

RUN. The after part of a vessel's bottom, which rises and narrows in approaching the stern-post.

_By the run._ To let go _by the run_, is to let go altogether, instead of slacking off.

RUNG-HEADS. The upper ends of the floor-timbers.

RUNNER. A rope used to increase the power of a tackle. It is rove through a single block which you wish to bring down, and a tackle is hooked to each end, or to one end, the other being made fast.

RUNNING RIGGING. The ropes that reeve through blocks, and are pulled and hauled, such as braces, halyards, &c.; in opposition to the _standing rigging_, the ends of which are securely seized, such as stays, shrouds, &c. (See page 43.)

SADDLES. Pieces of wood hollowed out to fit on the yards to which they are nailed, having a hollow in the upper part for the boom to rest in.

SAG. To _sag to leeward_, is to drift off bodily to leeward.

SAILS are of two kinds: _square sails_, which hang from yards, their foot lying across the line of the keel, as the courses, topsails, &c.; and _fore-and-aft sails_, which set upon gaffs, or on stays, their foot running with the line of the keel, as jib, spanker, &c.

SAIL HO! The cry used when a sail is first discovered at sea.

SAVE-ALL. A small sail sometimes set under the foot of a lower studdingsail. (See WATER SAIL.)

SCANTLING. A term applied to any piece of timber, with regard to its breadth and thickness, when reduced to the standard size.

SCARF. To join two pieces of timber at their ends by shaving them down and placing them over-lapping.

SCHOONER. (See PLATE 4.) A small vessel with two masts and no tops.

A _fore-and-aft schooner_ has only fore-and-aft sails.

A _topsail schooner_ carries a square fore topsail, and frequently, also, topgallant sail and royal. There are some schooners with three masts. They also have no tops.

A _main-topsail schooner_ is one that carries square topsails, fore and aft.

SCORE. A groove in a block or dead-eye.

SCOTCHMAN. A large batten placed over the turnings-in of rigging. (See BATTEN.)

SCRAPER. A small, triangular iron instrument, with a handle fitted to its centre, and used for scraping decks and masts.

SCROWL. A piece of timber bolted to the knees of the head, in place of a figure-head.

SCUD. To drive before a gale, with no sail, or only enough to keep the vessel ahead of the sea. Also, low, thin clouds that fly swiftly before the wind.

SCULL. A short oar.

_To scull_, is to impel a boat by one oar at the stern.

SCUPPERS. Holes cut in the water-ways for the water to run from the decks.

SCUTTLE. A hole cut in a vessel's deck, as, a hatchway. Also, a hole cut in any part of a vessel.

_To scuttle_, is to cut or bore holes in a vessel to make her sink.

SCUTTLE-BUTT. (See BUTT.)

SEAMS. The intervals between planks in a vessel's deck or side.

SEIZE. To fasten ropes together by turns of small stuff.

SEIZINGS. (See page 51.) The fastenings of ropes that are seized together.

SELVAGEE. A skein of rope-yarns or spunyarn, marled together. Used as a neat strap. (See page 50.)

SEND. When a ship's head or stern pitches suddenly and violently into the trough of the sea.

SENNIT, or SINNIT. (See page 52.) A braid, formed by plaiting rope-yarns or spunyarn together. Straw, plaited in the same way for hats, is called sennit.

SERVE. (See page 44.) To wind small stuff, as rope-yarns, spunyarn, &c., round a rope, to keep it from chafing. It is wound and hove round taut by a serving-board or mallet.

SERVICE, is the stuff so wound round.

SET. To _set up rigging_, is to tauten it by tackles. The seizings are then put on afresh.

SHACKLES. Links in a chain cable which are fitted with a movable bolt so that the chain can be separated.

SHAKES. The staves of hogsheads taken apart.

SHANK. The main piece in an anchor, at one end of which the stock is made fast, and at the other the arms.

SHANK-PAINTER. A strong rope by which the lower part of the shank of an anchor is secured to the ship's side.

SHARP UP. Said of yards when braced as near fore-and-aft as possible.

SHEATHING. A casing or covering on a vessel's bottom.

SHEARS. Two or more spars, raised at angles and lashed together near their upper ends, used for taking in masts. (See page 52.)

SHEAR HULK. An old vessel fitted with shears, &c., and used for taking out and putting in the masts of other vessels.

SHEAVE. The wheel in a block upon which the rope works.

_Sheave-hole_, the place cut in a block for the ropes to reeve through.

SHEEP-SHANK. A kind of hitch or bend, used to shorten a rope temporarily. (See PLATE 5 and page 50.)

SHEER, or SHEER-STRAKE. The line of plank on a vessel's side, running fore-and-aft under the gunwale. Also, a vessel's position when riding by a single anchor.

SHEET. A rope used in setting a sail, to keep the clew down to its place. With square sails, the sheets run through each yard-arm. With boom sails, they haul the boom over one way and another. They keep down the inner clew of a studdingsail and the after clew of a jib. (See HOME.)

SHEET ANCHOR. A vessel's largest anchor: not carried at the bow.

SHELL. The case of a block.

SHINGLE. (See BALLAST.)

SHIP. A vessel with three masts, with tops and yards to each. (See PLATE 4.) To enter on board a vessel. To fix anything in its place.

SHIVER. To shake the wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind strikes upon the leech.

SHOE. A piece of wood used for the bill of an anchor to rest upon, to save the vessel's side. Also, for the heels of shears, &c.

SHOE-BLOCK. A block with two sheaves, one above the other, the one horizontal and the other perpendicular.

SHORE. A prop or stanchion, placed under a beam. To _shore_, to prop up.

SHROUDS. A set of ropes reaching from the mast-heads to the vessel's sides, to support the masts.

SILLS. Pieces of timber put in horizontally between the frames to form and secure any opening; as, for ports.

SISTER BLOCK. A long piece of wood with two sheaves in it, one above the other, with a score between them for a seizing, and a groove around the block, lengthwise.

SKIDS. Pieces of timber placed up and down a vessel's side, to bear any articles off clear that are hoisted in.

SKIN. The part of a sail which is outside and covers the rest when it is furled. Also, familiarly, the sides of the hold; as, an article is said to be stowed _next the skin_.

SKYSAIL. A light sail next above the royal. (See PLATE 2.)

SKY-SCRAPER. A name given to a _skysail_ when it is triangular.

SLABLINE. A small line used to haul up the foot of a course.

SLACK. The part of a rope or sail that hangs down loose.

_Slack in stays_, said of a vessel when she works slowly in tacking.

SLEEPERS. The knees that connect the transoms to the after timbers on the ship's quarter.

SLING. To set a cask, spar, gun, or other article, in ropes, so as to put on a tackle and hoist or lower it.

SLINGS. The ropes used for securing the centre of a yard to the mast.

_Yard-slings_ are now made of iron. Also, a large rope fitted so as to go round any article which is to be hoisted or lowered.

SLIP. To let a cable go and stand out to sea. (See page 90.)

SLIP-ROPE. A rope bent to the cable just outside the hawse-hole, and brought in on the weather quarter, for slipping. (See page 90.)

SLOOP. A small vessel with one mast. (See PLATE 4.)

SLOOP OF WAR. A vessel of any rig, mounting between 18 and 32 guns.

SLUE. To turn anything round or over.

SMALL STUFF. The term for spunyarn, marline, and the smallest kinds of rope, such as ratline-stuff, &c.

SNAKE. To pass small stuff across a seizing, with marling hitches at the outer turns.

SNATCH-BLOCK. A single block, with an opening in its side below the sheave, or at the bottom, to receive the bight of a rope.

SNOTTER. A rope going over a yard-arm, with an eye, used to bend a tripping-line to in sending down topgallant and royal yards in vessels of war.

SNOW. A kind of brig, formerly used.

SNUB. To check a rope suddenly.

SNYING. A term for a circular plank edgewise, to work in the bows of a vessel.

SO! An order to 'vast hauling upon anything when it has come to its right position.

SOLE. A piece of timber fastened to the foot of the rudder, to make it level with the false keel.

SOUND. To get the depth of water by a lead and line. (See page 85.) The pumps are _sounded_ by an iron _sounding rod_, marked with a scale of feet and inches.

SPAN. A rope with both ends made fast, for a purchase to be hooked to its bight.

SPANKER. The after sail of a ship or bark. It is a fore-and-aft sail, setting with a boom and gaff. (See PLATE 2.)

SPAR. The general term for all masts, yards, booms, gaffs, &c.

SPELL. The common term for a portion of time given to any work.

_To spell_, is to relieve another at his work.

_Spell ho!_ An exclamation used as an order or request to be relieved at work by another.

SPENCER. A fore-and-aft sail, set with a gaff and no boom, and hoisting from a small mast called a _spencer-mast_, just abaft the fore and main masts. (See PLATES 2 and 4.)

SPILL. To shake the wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind may strike its leech and shiver it.

SPILLING LINE. A rope used for spilling a sail. Rove in bad weather.

SPINDLE. An iron pin upon which the capstan moves. Also, a piece of timber forming the diameter of a made mast. Also, any long pin or bar upon which anything revolves.

SPIRKETING. The planks from the water-ways to the port-sills.

SPLICE. (See PLATE 5 and page 44.) To join two ropes together by interweaving their strands.

SPOON-DRIFT. Water swept from the tops of the waves by the violence of the wind in a tempest, and driven along before it, covering the surface of the sea.

SPRAY. An occasional sprinkling dashed from the top of a wave by the wind, or by its striking an object.

SPRING. To crack or split a mast.

_To spring a leak_, is to begin to leak.

_To spring a luff_, is to force a vessel close to the wind, in sailing.

SPRING-STAY. A preventer-stay, to assist the regular one. (See STAY.)

SPRING TIDES. The highest and lowest course of tides, occurring every new and full moon.

SPRIT. A small boom or gaff, used with some sails in small boats. The lower end rests in a becket or snotter by the foot of the mast, and the other end spreads and raises the outer upper corner of the sail, crossing it diagonally. A sail so rigged in a boat is called a _sprit-sail_.

SPRIT-SAIL-YARD. (See PLATE 1.) A yard lashed across the bowsprit or knight-heads, and used to spread the guys of the jib and flying jib-boom. There was formerly a sail bent to it called a _sprit-sail_.

SPUNYARN. (See page 44.) A cord formed by twisting together two or three rope-yarns.

SPURLING LINE. A line communicating between the tiller and tell-tale.

SPURS. Pieces of timber fixed on the bilge-ways, their upper ends being bolted to the vessel's sides above the water. Also, curved pieces of timber, serving as half beams, to support the decks where whole beams cannot be placed.

SPUR-SHOES. Large pieces of timber that come abaft the pump-well.

SQUARE. Yards are _squared_ when they are horizontal and at right angles with the keel. Squaring by the lifts makes them horizontal; and by the braces, makes them at right angles with the vessel's line. Also, the proper term for the length of yards. A vessel has square yards when her yards are unusually long. A sail is said to be very square on the head when it is long on the head.

_To square a yard_, in working ship, means to bring it in square by the braces.

SQUARE-SAIL. A temporary sail, set at the fore-mast of a schooner or sloop when going before the wind. (See SAIL.)

STABBER. A PRICKER.

STAFF. A pole or mast, used to hoist flags upon.

STANCHIONS. (See PLATE 3.) Upright posts of wood or iron, placed so as to support the beams of a vessel. Also, upright pieces of timber, placed at intervals along the sides of a vessel, to support the bulwarks and rail, and reaching down to the bends, by the side of the timbers, to which they are bolted. Also, any fixed, upright support; as to an awning, or for the man-ropes.

STAND BY! An order to be prepared.

STANDARD. An inverted knee, placed above the deck instead of beneath it; as, _bitt-standard_, &c.

STANDING. The _standing part_ of a rope is that part which is fast, in opposition to the part that is hauled upon; or the main part, in opposition to the end.

The _standing part_ of a tackle is that part which is made fast to the blocks and between that and the next sheave, in opposition to the hauling and leading parts.

STANDING RIGGING. (See page 43.) That part of a vessel's rigging which is made fast and not hauled upon. (See RUNNING.)

STARBOARD. The right side of a vessel, looking forward.

STARBOWLINES. The familiar term for the men in the starboard watch.

START. To _start a cask_, is to open it.

STAY. To tack a vessel, or put her about, so that the wind, from being on one side, is brought upon the other, round the vessel's head. (See TACK, WEAR.)

_To stay a mast_, is to incline it forward or aft, or to one side or the other, by the stays and backstays. Thus, a mast is said to be _stayed_ too much forward or aft, or too much to port, &c.

_Stays._ Large ropes, used to support masts, and leading from the head of some mast down to some other mast, or to some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called _fore-and-aft stays_; and those which lead down to the vessel's sides, _backstays_. (See BACKSTAYS.)

_In stays_, or _hove in stays_, the situation of a vessel when she is _staying_, or going about from one tack to the other.

STAYSAIL. A sail which hoists upon a stay.

STEADY! An order to keep the helm as it is.

STEERAGE. That part of the between-decks which is just forward of the cabin.

STEEVE. A bowsprit _steeves_ more or less, according as it is raised more or less from the horizontal.

The _steeve_ is the angle it makes with the horizon. Also, a long, heavy spar, with a place to fit a block at one end, and used in stowing certain kinds of cargo, which need be driven in close.

STEM. (See PLATE 3.) A piece of timber reaching from the forward end of the keel, to which it is scarfed, up to the bowsprit, and to which the two sides of the vessel are united.

STEMSON. A piece of compass-timber, fixed on the after part of the apron inside. The lower end is scarfed into the keelson, and receives the scarf of the stem, through which it is bolted.

STEP. A block of wood secured to the keel, into which the heel of the mast is placed.

_To step a mast_, is to put it in its step.

STERN. (See PLATE 3.) The after end of a vessel. (See BY THE STERN.)

STERN-BOARD. The motion of a vessel when going stern foremost.

STERN-FRAME. The frame composed of the stern-post transom and the fashion-pieces.

STERN-POST. (See PLATE 3.) The aftermost timber in a ship, reaching from the after end of the keel to the deck. The stem and stern-post are the two extremes of a vessel's frame.

_Inner stern-post._ A post on the inside, corresponding to the _stern-post_.

STERN-SHEETS. The after part of a boat, abaft the rowers, where the passengers sit.

STIFF. The quality of a vessel which enables it to carry a great deal of sail without lying over much on her side. The opposite to _crank_.

STIRRUPS. Ropes with thimbles at their ends, through which the foot-ropes are rove, and by which they are kept up toward the yards.

STOCK. A beam of wood, or a bar of iron, secured to the upper end of the shank of an anchor, at right angles with the arms. An iron stock usually goes with a key, and unships.

STOCKS. The frame upon which a vessel is built.

STOOLS. Small channels for the dead-eyes of the backstays.

STOPPER. A stout rope with a knot at one end, and sometimes a hook at the other, used for various purposes about decks; as, making fast a cable, so as to overhaul. (See CAT STOPPER, DECK STOPPER.)

STOPPER BOLTS. Ring-bolts to which the deck stoppers are secured.

STOP. A fastening of small stuff. Also, small projections on the outside of the cheeks of a lower mast, at the upper parts of the hounds.

STRAND. (See page 43.) A number of rope-yarns twisted together. Three, four or nine strands twisted together form a rope.

A rope is _stranded_ when one of its strands is parted or broken by chafing or by a strain.

A vessel is _stranded_ when she is driven on shore.

STRAP. A piece of rope spliced round a block to keep its parts well together. Some blocks have iron straps, in which case they are called _iron bound_.

STREAK, or STRAKE. A range of planks running fore and aft on a vessel's side.

STREAM. The _stream anchor_ is one used for warping, &c., and sometimes as a lighter anchor to moor by, with a hawser. It is smaller than the _bowers_, and larger than the _kedges_.

_To stream a buoy_, is to drop it into the water.

_Stretchers._ Pieces of wood placed across a boat's bottom, inside, for the oarsmen to press their feet against, in rowing. Also, cross pieces placed between a boat's sides to keep them apart when hoisted up and griped.

STRIKE. To lower a sail or colors.

STUDDINGSAILS. (See PLATE 2.) Light sails set outside the square sails, on booms rigged out for that purpose. They are only carried with a fair wind and in moderate weather.

SUED, or SEWED. The condition of a ship when she is high and dry on shore. If the water leaves her two feet, she sues, or is sued, two feet.

SUPPORTERS. The knee-timbers under the cat-heads.

SURF. The breaking of the sea upon the shore.

SURGE. A large, swelling wave.

To _surge_ a rope or cable, is to slack it up suddenly where it renders round a pin, or round the windlass or capstan.

_Surge ho!_ The notice given when a cable is to be _surged_.

SWAB. A mop, formed of old rope, used for cleaning and drying decks.

SWEEP. To drag the bottom for an anchor. Also, large oars, used in small vessels to force them ahead.

SWIFT. To bring two shrouds or stays close together by ropes.

SWIFTER. The forward shroud to a lower-mast. Also, ropes used to confine the capstan bars to their places when shipped.

SWIG. A term used by sailors for the mode of hauling off upon the bight of a rope when its lower end is fast.

SWIVEL. A long link of iron, used in chain cables, made so as to turn upon an axis and keep the turns out of a chain.

SYPHERING. Lapping the edges of planks over each other for a bulkhead.

TABLING. Letting one beam-piece into another. (See SCARFING.) Also, the broad hem on the borders of sails, to which the bolt-rope is sewed.

TACK. To put a ship about, so that from having the wind on one side, you bring it round on the other by the way of her head. The opposite of _wearing_.

A vessel is on the _starboard tack_, or has her _starboard tacks on board_, when she has the wind on her starboard side.

The rope or tackle by which the weather clew of a course is hauled forward and down to the deck.

The _tack_ of a fore-and-aft sail is the rope that keeps down the lower forward clew; and of a studdingsail, the lower outer clew. The tack of the lower studdingsail is called the _outhaul_. Also, that part of a sail to which the tack is attached.

TACKLE. (Pronounced _tay-cle_.) A purchase, formed by a rope rove through one or more blocks.

TAFFRAIL, or TAFFEREL. The rail round a ship's stern.

TAIL. A rope spliced into the end of a block and used for making it fast to rigging or spars. Such a block is called a _tail-block_.

A ship is said to _tail_ up or down stream, when at anchor, according as her stern swings up or down with the tide; in opposition to _heading_ one way or another, which is said of a vessel when under way.

TAIL-TACKLE. A watch-tackle. (See page 54.)

TAIL ON! or TALLY ON! An order given to take hold of a rope and pull.

TANK. An iron vessel placed in the hold to contain the vessel's water.

TAR. A liquid gum, taken from pine and fir trees, and used for caulking, and to put upon yarns in rope-making, and upon standing rigging, to protect it from the weather.

TARPAULIN. A piece of canvass, covered with tar, used for covering hatches, boats, &c. Also, the name commonly given to a sailor's hat when made of tarred or painted cloth.

TAUT. Tight.

TAUNT. High or tall. Commonly applied to a vessel's masts.

_All-a-taunt-o._ Said of a vessel when she has all her light and tall masts and spars aloft.

TELL-TALE. A compass hanging from the beams of the cabin, by which the heading of a vessel may be known at any time. Also, an instrument connected with the barrel of the wheel, and traversing so that the officer may see the position of the tiller.

TEND. To watch a vessel at anchor at the turn of tides, and cast her by the helm, and some sail if necessary, so as to keep turns out of her cables.

TENON. The heel of a mast, made to fit into the step.

THICK-AND-THIN BLOCK. A block having one sheave larger than the other. Sometimes used for quarter-blocks.

THIMBLE. An iron ring, having its rim concave on the outside for a rope or strap to fit snugly round.

THOLE-PINS. Pins in the gunwale of a boat, between which an oar rests when pulling, instead of a rowlock.

THROAT. The inner end of a gaff, where it widens and hollows in to fit the mast. (See JAWS.) Also, the hollow part of a knee.

The _throat_ brails, halyards, &c., are those that hoist or haul up the gaff or sail near the throat. Also, the angle where the arm of an anchor is joined to the shank.

THRUM. To stick short strands of yarn through a mat or piece of canvass, to make a rough surface.

THWARTS. The seats going across a boat, upon which the oarsmen sit.

THWARTSHIPS. (See ATHWARTSHIPS.)

TIDE. To _tide up or down_ a river or harbor, is to work up or down with a fair tide and head wind or calm, coming to anchor when the tide turns.

TIDE-RODE. The situation of a vessel, at anchor, when she swings by the force of the tide. In opposition to _wind-rode_.

TIER. A range of casks. Also, the range of the fakes of a cable or hawser.

The _cable tier_ is the place in a hold or between decks where the cables are stowed.

TILLER. A bar of wood or iron, put into the head of the rudder, by which the rudder is moved.

TILLER-ROPES. Ropes leading from the tiller-head round the barrel of the wheel, by which a vessel is steered.

TIMBER. A general term for all large pieces of wood used in ship-building. Also, more particularly, long pieces of wood in a curved form, bending outward, and running from the keel up, on each side, forming the _ribs_ of a vessel. The keel, stem, stern-posts and timbers form a vessel's outer frame. (See PLATE 3.)

TIMBER-HEADS. (See PLATE 3.) The ends of the timbers that come above the decks. Used for belaying hawsers and large ropes.

TIMENOGUY. A rope carried taut between different parts of the vessel, to prevent the sheet or tack of a course from getting foul, in working ship.

TOGGLE. A pin placed through the bight or eye of a rope, block-strap, or bolt, to keep it in its place, or to put the bight or eye of another rope upon, and thus to secure them both together.

TOMPION. A bung or plug placed in the mouth of a cannon.

TOP. A platform, placed over the head of a lower mast, resting on the trestle-trees, to spread the rigging, and for the convenience of men aloft. (See PLATE 1.)

To _top_ up a yard or boom, is to raise up one end of it by hoisting on the lift.