| Just for fun! TheYachtMarket brings you | | | | |
| sailing terms that you may not be familiar | | | | N is for... Nipper - Short rope used to bind |
| with. Why not test yourself? | | | | a cable to the "messenger" (a moving line |
| | | | propelled by the capstan) so that the cable |
| A is for... Aft - Towards the stern | | | | is dragged along too (Used because the cable |
| | | | is too large to be wrapped round the capstan |
| B is for... Baggywrinkle - A soft covering | | | | itself). During the raising of an anchor the |
| for cables that prevents sail chafing from | | | | nippers were attached and detached from the |
| occurring. | | | | (endless) messenger by the ship's boys. Hence |
| | | | the term for small boys: 'nippers'. |
| C is for... Chock-a-block - Rigging blocks | | | | |
| that are so tight against one another that | | | | O is for... Orlop deck - The lowest deck of a |
| they cannot be further tightened. | | | | ship of the line. The deck covering in the |
| | | | hold. |
| D is for... Deadeye - A round wooden plank | | | | |
| which serves a similar purpose to a block in | | | | P is for... Pipe down - A signal on the |
| the standing rigging of large sailing | | | | bosun's pipe to signal the end of the day, |
| vessels. | | | | requiring lights (and smoking pipes) to be |
| | | | extinguished and silence from the crew. A red |
| E is for... Embayed - The condition where a | | | | light at night. |
| sailing vessel is confined between two capes | | | | |
| or headlands, typically where the wind is | | | | Q is for... Quarterdeck - The aftermost deck |
| blowing directly onshore. | | | | of a warship. In the age of sail, the |
| | | | quarterdeck was the preserve of the ship's |
| F is for... Fathom - A unit of length equal | | | | officers. |
| to 6 feet (1.8 m), roughly measured as the | | | | |
| distance between a man's outstretched hands. | | | | R is for... Ratlines - Rope ladders |
| | | | permanently rigged from bulwarks and tops to |
| G is for... Gunwale - Upper edge of the hull. | | | | the mast to enable access to top masts and |
| | | | yards. Also serve to provide lateral |
| H is for... Hand over fist - To climb | | | | stability to the masts. |
| steadily upwards, from the motion of a sailor | | | | |
| climbing shrouds on a sailing ship | | | | S is for... Sampson post - A strong vertical |
| (originally "hand over hand"). | | | | post used to support a ship's windlass and |
| | | | the heel of a ship's bowsprit. |
| I is for... In Irons - When the bow of a | | | | |
| sailboat is headed into the wind and the boat | | | | T is for... Three sheets to the wind - On a |
| has stalled and is unable to manoeuvre . | | | | three-masted ship, having the sheets of the |
| | | | three lower courses loose will result in the |
| J is for... Jibboom - A spar used to extend | | | | ship meandering aimlessly downwind. Also, a |
| the bowsprit. | | | | sailor who has drunk strong spirits beyond |
| | | | his capacity. |
| K is for... Killick - A small anchor. A | | | | |
| fouled killick is the substantive badge of | | | | U is for... Under the weather - Serving a |
| non-commissioned officers in the RN. Seamen | | | | watch on the weather side of the ship, |
| promoted to the first step in the promotion | | | | exposed to wind and spray. |
| ladder are called 'Killick'. The badge | | | | |
| signifies that here is an Able Seaman skilled | | | | V is for... Vanishing angle - The maximum |
| to cope with the awkward job of dealing with | | | | degree of heel after which a vessel becomes |
| a fouled anchor. | | | | unable to return to an upright position. |
| | | | |
| L is for... Luffing - When a sailing vessel | | | | W is for... Windlass - A winch mechanism, |
| is steered far enough to windward that the | | | | usually with a horizontal axis. Used where |
| sail is no longer completely filled with wind | | | | mechanical advantage greater than that |
| (the luff of the sail is usually where this | | | | obtainable by block and tackle was needed |
| first becomes evident). | | | | (such as raising the anchor on small ships). |
| | | | |
| M is for... Mainsheet - Sail control line | | | | Y is for... Yardarm - The very end of a yard. |
| that allows the most obvious effect on | | | | Often mistaken for a "yard", which refers to |
| mainsail trim. Primarily used to control the | | | | the entire spar. As in to hang "from the |
| angle of the boom, and thereby the mainsail, | | | | yardarm" and the sun being "over the yardarm" |
| this control can also increase or decrease | | | | (late enough to have a drink). |
| downward tension on the boom while sailing | | | | |
| upwind, significantly affecting sail shape. | | | | How many did you already know?! |