Boating and sailing terminology
Saling Glossary: || A - C || D - F || G - I || J - L || M - O || P - R || S - U || V - X || Y, Z ||
AABAFT: Toward the rear (stern) of the boat. Behind.
ABEAM: A direction that is at exactly 90 degrees, or right angles from the side of the boat
ABOARD: On or within the boat.
ABOVE DECK: On the deck (not over it - see ALOFT)
ABREAST: Side by side; by the side of.
ADRIFT: Loose, not on moorings or towline.
AFT: Toward the rear (stern) of the boat, to move aft is to move back
AGROUND: Touching or fast to the bottom.
AHEAD: In a forward direction.
AIDS TO NAVIGATION: Artificial objects external to the boat, that supplement natural landmarks, assisting safe passage by indicating safe and unsafe waters.
ALADDIN CLEAT: a cleat that attaches to the backstay over the cockpit, usually used for hanging a lantern
ALEE - Away from the direction of the wind. Opposite of windward.
ALL ROUND LIGHT: A navigation light on a pleasure craft showing an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 360 degrees.
ALOFT: Above the deck of the boat.
AMIDSHIPS: In or toward the centre of the boat.
ANCHOR: A heavy metal device, fastened to a chain or line, to hold a vessel in position, partly because of its weight, but chiefly because the designed shape digs into the bottom.
ANCHORAGE : A place suitable for anchoring in relation to the wind, seas and bottom.
ASTERN: In the direction of, or behind, the stern. The opposite of ahead.
ATHWARTSHIPS: At right angles to the centreline of the boat; rowboat seats are generally athwart ships.
AWEIGH - The position of anchor as it is raised clear of the bottom.
B
BACKSTAY: A support wire that runs from the top of the mast to the stern
BACKED: To back a headsail is to pull it’s clew to weather, or windward, thus setting the sail ‘inside out’. The practise is used in manoeuvring under sail to push a boat’s head to leeward.
BALLAST: Added weight in the boat's bottom to provide stability.
BARE POLES: To sail under ‘bare poles’ is to proceed, usually in heavy weather, by blowing downwind with no sail set and the engine off.
BATTEN DOWN: Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck.
BEACON: A lighted or unlighted fixed aid to navigation attached directly to the earth's surface. (Lights and day beacons both constitute "beacons.")
BEAM: The width of the boat at its widest point, usually the middle
BEAR AWAY: To turn away from the wind
BEARING: The direction of an object expressed either as a true bearing as shown on the chart, or as a bearing relative to the heading of the boat.
BELOW: Beneath the deck.
BEND : To attach a rope to an object e.g. bend on a sheet means to attach the sheet to the sail
BERTH: Sleeping bunk aboard the boat
BIGHT: The middle part of a rope between the load and the cleat or block. An unloaded bight falls into a curve, and so the term has been transported into coastal topography, where a long shallow bay is referred to as a ‘bight’.
BILGE: The part of the boat below the cabin sole, or floorboards, in which water can collect prior to pump out.
BILGE PUMP: An electric or manual pumping device to rid the bilge of any unwanted water. Having both is recommended.
BIMINI: Cover or roof to protect crew from sun and adverse weather on the bridge or in the cockpit the boat.
BITTER END: The last part of a rope or chain. The inboard end of the anchor rode.
BLOCK: A pulley on board ship in invariably called a block
BOAT: A fairly indefinite term. A waterborne vehicle smaller than a ship. One definition is a small craft carried aboard a ship.
BOAT HOOK: A short shaft with a fitting at one end shaped to facilitate use in putting a line over a piling, recovering an object dropped overboard, or in pushing or fending off.
BOLLARD: A heavy post set into the edge of the wharf or pier to which the lines of a boat may be tied.
BOOM: A pole running at a right angle from the mast.
BOOT TOP: A painted line that indicates the designed waterline.
BOW: The forward part of a boat.
BOW LINE: A docking line leading from the bow.
BOWLINE: A knot used to form a temporary loop in the end of a line.
BOW SPRING LINE: A bow pivot line used in docking and undocking, or to prevent the boat from moving forward or astern while made fast to a pier.
BOWSPRIT: A spar extending forward from the bow.
BRIDGE: The location from which a vessel is steered and its speed controlled.
BRIDLE: A line or wire secured at both ends in order to distribute a strain between two points.
BRIGHTWORK: Varnished woodwork and/or polished metal.
BULKHEAD: A vertical partition separating compartments.
BUOY: An anchored float used for marking a position on the water or a hazard or a shoal and for mooring.
BURDENED VESSEL: That vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rules, must give way to the privileged vessel. The term has been superseded by the term "give-way vessel".
BURGEE: Small, triangular flag flow at the masthead. It generally signifies membership of a specific yacht club, but sometime can be a blank or a private flag used mainly as a wind indicator.
BY THE LEE: Steering with the wind aft and on the same side of the stern as the mainsail, thus placing the boat in danger of gybing.
C
CABIN: A compartment for passengers or crew.
CABIN TRUNK: The vertical sides of the ‘coach roof’ or cabin top.
CAPSIZE: To turn a boat over
CAR: A point of attachment, or of fair-leading for a sheet, adjustable in the fore and aft plane. Typically found sliding on a metal track on the side deck (genoa sheet fairlead).
CAST OFF: To let go.
CATAMARAN: A twin-hulled boat, with hulls side by side.
CHAFE: Wearing through of a line, sail, etc. from rubbing.
CHAFING GEAR: Tubing or cloth wrapping used to protect a line from chafing on a rough surface.
CHANNEL: 1) That part of a body of water deep enough for navigation through an area otherwise not suitable. It is usually marked by a single or double line of buoys and sometimes by range markers. 2) The deepest part of a stream, bay, or strait, through which the main current flows. 3) A name given to a large strait, for example, the English Channel.
CHART: A map for use by navigators.
CHINE: The intersection of the bottom and sides of a flat or v-bottomed boat.
CHOCK: A fitting through which anchor or mooring lines are led. Usually U-shaped to reduce chafe.
CLEAT: A fitting to which lines are made fast. The classic cleat to which lines are belayed is approximately anvil-shaped.
CLEW: The aft lower corner of the sail, to which the sheet attaches.
CLOVE HITCH: A knot for temporarily fastening a line to a spar or piling.
COACH ROOF: The structure of the cabin top where it stands proud of the deck.
COAMING: The raised portion of decking surrounding the hatch or cockpit to prevent water on deck from running below.
COCKPIT: The ‘well’ in the deck, to the rear of the boat, from which the boat is handled.
COIL: To lay a line down in circular turns.
COLREGS: The collision regulations
COMPANIONWAY: The main entrance to the accommodation, usually found at the forward end of the cockpit.
COMPASS: Instrument for finding directions.
COMPASS CARD: Part of a compass, the card is graduated in degrees, to conform with the magnetic meridian-referenced direction system inscribed with direction which remains constant; the vessel turns, not the card.
COMPASS ROSE: The resulting figure when the complete 360° directional system is developed as a circle with each degree graduated upon it, and with the 000° indicated as True North. True North is also known as true rose. This is printed on nautical charts for determining direction.
COURSE: The direction in which a boat is steered.
CRINGLE: A reinforced eye worked into the luff or leech of a sail to form the new tack or clew when reefing.
CUDDY: A small shelter cabin in a boat.
CUNNINGHAM: (also called a Downhaul): Adjusting the tension of a sail's luff.
CURRENT: The horizontal movement of water.
Saling Glossary: || A - C || D - F || G - I || J - L || M - O || P - R || S - U || V - X || Y, Z ||