|
terminology question
Ahoy, petith. The reason sailing language is so strange and colorful is because it developed in the olden days when ships carried men of many nationalities, many of whom could not understand each others language. If I am not mistaken, the actual instruction was Jibe ''O not Ho. The O was kind of like hut in football. It notified everyone when to act on the order and got them off together. When tacking today, most people simply say, "Ready about", which is short for get ready to come about. And then, "helm''s alee" which tells them the helm is being put over. For jibing, the usual is ''prepare to jibe" or "stand by to jibe" followed by "jibe O".
|