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Sailing terminology

4K views 30 replies 14 participants last post by  bestfriend 
#1 ·
Seems that there are a lot of smart members here with a good knowledge of sailing, its history, and terminology. Terminology is what this thread is about. Sailing has a lot of strange words/phrases and sometimes with even stranger meanings. Examples: Why do we use "knots" instead of "MPH"? Whats a gunwale, and why is it called that? We don't "way anchor", we "weigh anchor". So anyone who's got some interesting tidbits, feel free to share.:)
 
#2 · (Edited)
My guess on knots being used as a measure of speed may come from the old chip log that was used to estimate the speed of a vessel. From the Wikipedia entry on the Chip Log:

A chip log is a navigational tool used by mariners to determine speed through the water - a combination of speed over ground and the effect of water current. A chip log, literally consisted of a piece of wood. The rope tied to the log had a number of measured knots tied in it. The speed of the ship was indicated by the number of knots passing over the stern during a certain period of time. The unit, knot, for nautical mile per hour, was derived from the knots tied in the rope of a log.

A chip log consists of a piece of wood, most often cut in the shape of a quarter circle, or "quadrangle", and a length of rope or line with knots tied every 47 feet and 3 inches (14.4 meters). To determine a ship's speed, the chip log would be placed into the water aft of the ship, line paid out, and the number of knots paid out in 28 seconds counted, giving the speed in knots. A number of considerations had to be taken into account -- the amount of following sea, stretch of the line, and inaccuracies in the measurement of 30 elapsed seconds. Time passage was most often marked with a "30 second glass", a small sand filled glass, which would often run fast or slow based on ambient temperature, humidity, and sea state. Frequent measurements helped in mitigating some of these inaccuracies by averaging out individual errors, and experienced navigators could determine their speed through the water with a fair degree of accuracy. Mechanical chip logs, operating on physical principles in a manner similar to a car's odometer, were eventually developed and replaced the traditional chip log.
The Gunwale was originally the term used for the bulkhead used to support guns in the older sailing ships. The word wale is defined as:

One of the heavy planks or strakes extending length-wise along the sides of a wooden ship. As in upper, middle and lower wale.
Hence the word gunwale is a descriptive term.

The word Halyard is probably a corrupted form of Haul Yard, which is a description of what the line was used for-hauling the yards up the mast on old sailing ships.
 
#3 ·
Also, a knot is a nautical mile per hour while 'mph' generally refers to a statute mile per hour. A nautical mile is defined as one minute of longitude at the equator and, as such, has a spherical trigonometry significance. A statute mile does not.
 
#4 ·
sailaway21 said:
Also, a knot is a nautical mile per hour while 'mph' generally refers to a statute mile per hour. A nautical mile is defined as one minute of longitude at the equator and, as such, has a spherical trigonometry significance. A statute mile does not.
BTW-1 nautical mile = 6076.1155 feet = 1.15078 statute miles = 1.852 kilometers = 1852 meters
 
#7 ·
sailaway21 said:
Also, a knot is a nautical mile per hour while 'mph' generally refers to a statute mile per hour. A nautical mile is defined as one minute of longitude at the equator and, as such, has a spherical trigonometry significance. A statute mile does not.
A nautical mile is more correctly one minute of latitude. Since the latitudes are parallels, there is no difference between minutes of latitudes between the equator and the poles and so the latitude scale can be used on any chart as a nautical distance scale.

As sailaway says, at the equator you can use either scale, but of course the meridians converge at the poles. Not many of us are on the equator very often.
 
#10 ·
"Posh" is an acronymn used by Brits traveling to the Middle East who wanted their cabin to be on the shaded side of the vessel on the way there and back -- a luxury they had to pay extra for. Anyway, posh stand for "Port Side Out, Starboard Home." I don't know how Posh Spice got her name.
 
#17 ·
sailhog said:
I guess lubberly would be a bit of condescension directed at landside folks? Years ago I read that "squared away" has its roots in Annapolis. Midshipmen are squared away, while the infantry are lubberly.
Sailhog
I beleive 'lubberly" is a landsman, aka a land lover who knows nothing about ships/boats/the sea. To do something lubberly would be to something as if yo didn't know what you were doing, sloppy.
To be ship shape in harbour the yards of a ship would be "squared away", or squared up with the ship and not at an angle. This way they would all match and look uniform and neat. The midshipmen would likely be responsible for making sure the yards were squared away.
 
#19 ·
sailhog said:
So my wife would say my love making is very "lubberly." Would that be a proper usage?
I think you misheard her...she probably said "blubberly".... ;)
 
#20 ·
Faster,
Without getting into the fact that the earth is an oblate spheroid, I will concede that either will work, and more to your point, miles are read off the latitude scale on a mercator projection chart.<g>

I too was under the belief that POSH was a result of British ticketing. I was told that this, in fact, was not true. Consultation of the Oxford English Dictionary show no reference to it being used in this way. I was sorry also, given I'd probably bored hundreds with the story.

The lubber's hole is the hole one goes through when passing through the platform between the mast and topmast. More experienced seamen climb over the outside by the futtock shrouds. I would assume that climbing through the lubber's hole would be considered "lubberly".
 
#22 ·
i cannot remember where i heard this, but 'Son of a Gun' roots to the English navy. when in port, oft times women would set up household in the lower decks, and nine months later would be right on time. however if a woman was having a particularly diffcult labour, she would be poisitoned between two guns, and blank charges would be fired to promote a quicker delivery
 
#23 ·
sailaway21 said:
Faster,

The lubber's hole is the hole one goes through when passing through the platform between the mast and topmast. More experienced seamen climb over the outside by the futtock shrouds. I would assume that climbing through the lubber's hole would be considered "lubberly".
My son used to crew on a Brigantine so I got to go for a ride. They suggested I could climb to the top of the main mast assuming I would not go there.
Well I did not have to be asked twice but when I got to the Lubber's hole I thought I should go through it as they were nervous enough with me going up there. Well let me tell you those Lubbers are skinny than I am so I was happy to hear a call saying I was to go out around.

Otherwise I might still be stuck in there. :)

Gary
 
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