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Port - left Starboard - right Bow - front Stern - back Bulkhead - wall Deck - floor Galley - kitchen Colors - start of the day (raise the
flag) Sunset - end of the day (lower the flag) |
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Head - toilet Sickbay - hospital Ensign - flag Dais - platform for the officer to stand on Porthole - window Mess - eating area Aye-Aye - yes Kit - uniform
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| Boatswain's pipe - a whistle that makes a high,
shrill tweet to signal the sailors aboard ship |
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| Ballast - the extra
weight added to a hull to give it stability or to make it float evenly. |
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| Bermuda rig - the sail
arrangement used on most modern sailing boats, with a triangular mainsail
set on a tall mast. |
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| Bowsprit - a pole that
sticks out from the front of a boat, and to which jib sails are set. |
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| Bridge - the raised area
on a ship from which it is navigated or steered. |
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| Bulkheads - partitions
within the hull of a vessel, that divide it into watertight compartments
and give added strength. |
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| Canoe - a small, narrow,
open boat that can either be paddled or sailed. |
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| Catamaran - a sailing
boat with two narrow hulls connected together by the deck. |
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| Centreboard - a wooden or
metal plate that can be raised or lowered to allow a shallow-hulled boat
to sail in different depths of water. |
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| Compass - A compass has a needle that
can move freely in a circle. The
needle is a magnet, which has a marked end that always points north.
Hold the compass flat and wait until the needle stops moving.
Move the compass case around until N (north) is under the marked
end of the needle. Then you
can find other directions by just looking at the compass. |
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| Coracle - a small, light,
rounded boat made from a wooden frame covered with canvas or skin. Similar
boats are still used for river transport and fishing in some parts of the
world. |
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| Cutter - a single-masted
sailing vessel with a mainsail set from a gaff, a topsail set above, and
two jibs set to a bowsprit. |
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| Density - the weight of a
material in relation to its volume. |
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| Derrick - a large pole or
spar, fixed at its base to a mast with a system of ropes and pulleys, and
used on board ship as a crane for unloading and loading cargo. |
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| Fore and aft - running
along a line from the front of the vessel to the back. In a fore-and-aft
rig, the sails are set on either side of the mast along the line of the
hull. |
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| Forestay - a rope or
cable supporting the front of a mast of a sailing vessel, running from the
top of the mast to the bow or end of the bowsprit. |
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| Gaff - a pole or spar in
a fore-and-aft rig from which a mainsail is set. |
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| Halyard - a rope or wire
used to hoist or lower a sail. |
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| Hold - the space in a
vessel for storing cargo. |
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| Hull - the main body of a
vessel, the part that floats on the water. |
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| Jib - a triangular sail
used by sailing vessels set on rigging, called stays, at the bow. |
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| Keel - a long, strong,
wooden or steel girder running along the bottom of the hull, to which hull
frames are fastened. In some sailing vessels, the keel is extended into a
fin sticking out below the main hull. |
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| Knots - Later sailing ships fastened
a "log line" to a log thrown overboard.
Knots were tied at 304 foot intervals to measure how many fathoms
of line ran out with a three minute hour-glass.
A ship traveling five sea miles each hour would run out 1,520 feet
of line in three minutes - or until the fifth knot ran out.
Her speed would be "five knots".
Some clipper ships have sailed at an average of 17 to 21 knots. |
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| Lateen rig - a tall,
narrow, triangular sail fastened to a long pole or spar that is set fore
and aft at an angle on the mast. |
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| Main sheet - a rope used
to trim the mainsail by tightening or loosening it to make best use of the
wind. |
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| Mainsail - the largest
sail on a sailing vessel. The mainsail is usually the lowest sail on the
main mast. |
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| Nautical Map - a map used in sailing, which
tells a sailor how deep the water is, where underwater sand bars are, what
the shore of the land looks like, and where landmarks are. |
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| Outrigger - a log of wood
fastened on long poles to the side of a dugout canoe, to make the boat
more stable at sea when paddled or under sail. |
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| Propeller - A propeller is like a screw
but the parts that look like the ridges on a screw are called blades.
These blades slice through the water.
The slant of the blade pushes some water back.
Each time a blade pushes back on the water, the blade pushes the
boat forward a little bit. But
the blades keep whirling, and slicing, and pushing the water back, pushing
the boat farther through the water. |
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| Rig - the arrangement of
masts and sails on a sailing vessel. |
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| Rudder - a large board fastened to
the back or stern of a boat below the water. The rudder is mounted on
"hinges" and can be moved from side to side to steer the vessel. To steer a boat, you push or
pull a handle called a tiller to the left or right, which moves the
rudder.
Water pushes hard on the side of the rudder that faces forward.
The force of the water pushes the back of the boat to one side and
points the front in the direction you want to go. |
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| Sails in the wind - When the wind is blowing
from behind you, so you are sailing with the wind, you are
"running". But air
is pushing nearly as hard on the front of the sail as it pushes against
the back of the sail, so you don't really go very fast.
When the wind is blowing across your boat, it is
"reaching". The
wind slips past the slanted front of the sail and pushes harder on the
back of the sail. When you are "reaching" you can sail fast. |
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| Shroud - a rope or cable
used to support the mast of a sailing vessel from the sides. |
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| Single scull - a small,
light rowboat used for racing and rowed by one person. |
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| Spar - a wooden or metal
pole used to support a sail in some way. Booms, yards, gaffs and bowsprits
are all types of spars. |
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| Tacking - a means of
travelling a course against the wind, by sailing diagonally into the wind
in a series of zigzags or tacks. |
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| Thrust - the pushing
power that a propeller gives to a boat. |
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| Tiller - a long handle
that is connected to the top of the rudder on a small boat, and used for
steering a vessel by hand. |
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| Wheelhouse - an enclosed
cabin on the deck of a vessel that houses the wheel used for steering it. |
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| Winch - a drum or
cylinder powered by a motor or by hand and used to haul in or let out a
rope or cable. |
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| Yacht - any kind of
sailing boat used for sport or pleasure rather than for carrying cargo or
passengers. |
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