Glossary
15.1
Aback: Describes a sail when the wind strikes it
on the lee side.
Abaft: Toward the rear of the boat, behind the
boat.
Abeam: At a right angle to the length of the boat.
Abreast: Off the side, even with the boat.
Admiralty
law:
The “law of the sea”.
Adrift: Floating free with the currents and tide,
not under control.
Aft, After: Toward the stern (rear) of the boat.
Aground: When a boat is in water too shallow for it
to float in, i.e: the boat’s bottom is resting
on the ground.
Aid to
naviga-
tion:
Any fixed object that a navigator may use
to find his position, such as permanent
land or sea markers, buoys, radio bea-
cons, and lighthouses.
Amid-
ships:
The center of the boat, athwartships and
fore and aft.
Anchor: (1) a heavy metal object designed such
that its weight and shape will help to hold
a boat in its position when lowered to the
sea bottom on a rode or chain. (2) The act
of using an anchor.
Anchor
locker:
A locker used to store the anchor rode
and anchor.
Anchor
windlass:
A windlass used to assist when raising
the anchor.
Anchor-
age:
A place where a boat anchors, usually an
established and marked area.
Anemom-
eter:
A device that measures wind velocity.
Anti-foul-
ing:
A poisonous paint compound used to
protect the underwater part of a hull from
marine growths.
Apparent
wind:
The direction and speed of the wind felt
by the crew. It is a combination of true
wind and that created by the movement
of the boat.
Astern: Toward the stern of a vessel, or behind
the boat; to go astern is to drive the boat
in reverse.
Athwart,
Athwart-
ships:
Lying along the ship’s width, at right
angles to the vessel’s centerline.
Auxiliary: A second method of propelling a vessel.
On a sailboat this could be an engine.
Aweigh: To raise an anchor off the bottom.
Back a
sail:
To sheet it to windward so that the wind
fills on the side that is normally to lee-
ward.
Backing
(wind):
The changing of the wind direction, oppo-
site of veering. Clockwise in the south-
ern hemisphere, counter-clockwise in the
northern hemisphere.
Back-
splice:
A method of weaving the end of a rope to
keep it from unraveling.
Backstay: A stay that supports the mast from aft and
prevents its forward movement.
Bail: To remove water from a boat, as with a
bucket or a pump.
Ballast: Weight at the bottom of the boat to help
keep it stable. Ballast can be placed
inside the hull of the boat or externally in
a keel.
Ballast
keel:
A mass of ballast bolted to the keel to
increase stability and prevent a keel boat
from capsizing.
Bar: A region of shallow water usually made of
sand or mud.
Batten: A light, flexible strip fed into a batten
pocket at the leech of the sail to support
the roach.
Beam: 1, the maximum breadth of a boat; 2,
a transverse member that supports the
deck; 3, on the beam means that an
object is at right angles to the centerline.
Bear
away,
bear off:
To fall off. A boat falls off the wind when it
points its bow further from the eye of the
wind. The opposite of heading up.
Beat: To sail a zigzag course towards the wind,
close-hauled on alternate tacks.
Beaufort
wind
scale:
Used to gauge wind speed using obser-
vations of the winds effects on trees and
other objects.
Belay: To make fast a rope around a cleat, usu-
ally with a figure-of-eight knot.
Bend: 1, to secure a sail to a spar before hoist-
ing; 2, to moor a boat; 3, a sleeping place
on board.
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