The Black Joke

by David Bramhall

A brig

  Glossary

  Ships and sailing have a vocabulary all their own, hundreds of words that are perfectly clear to sailors but rather mystifying to land-lubbers. Here are a few of them ...

  aft ... at or towards the back of a boat. “Abaft” is similar, meaning “behind”

  barky ... an old slang word for a ship, corruption of “barque”

  beam ... the width of a ship. If the wind's on the beam it's coming from one side or the other, not from the front or the back

  beating ... sailing ships can’t sail straight into the wind, but by careful management of the sails and steering they can go at about 45 degrees towards it. So a ship will make its way to windward by “beating” - going at 45 degrees one way, then turning (“tacking”) and going at 45 degrees the other way, zig-zagging towards its eventual destination

  bilges ... the bottom of a boat where water tends to collect, also used for the lower part of a boat's side just where it enters the water

  binnacle ... a wooden or metal column near the ship's wheel, with the ship's compass mounted in the top

  bone ... as in “bone in her teeth”, an expression meaning that a boat is moving quickly and creating a bow wave

  boom ... the wooden spar that holds the bottom of a sail

  bow ... the front of a boat

  bowsprit ... long wooden yard that sticks forward from the bow

  brig ... a square-rigged ship with two masts. The front mast (foremast) will be a little shorter than the back one (“mainmast”). Although most sails will be square and hung from yards across the ship, there will be some triangular foresails or “jibs” in front of the foremast, possibly one or two triangular “staysails” between the masts, and a large fore-and-aft sail on the back of the mainmast, known as a “spanker” or “mizzen”

  bunt ... the middle of a sail as opposed to the edges

  cast off ... untie a rope

  copper ... old sailing ships often had their hulls sheathed in thin copper against various tropical worms that would eat the timber if they got the chance

  course ... the direction in which a ship is steered. “Course made good” is the track the ship has followed after taking in to account tides, currents and the sideways force of the wind

  courses ... the square sails of a ship

  dinghy ... a very small boat

  drawing ... when a sail is full of wind and driving the ship, it's said to be “drawing”

  ebb ... the tide when it's going out. Coming in it’s the “flood”

  fathom ... six feet depth of water

  foc'sle ... short for “fore-castle”, the accommodation in the bows of a ship, where usually the ordinary seamen have their quarters

  fore-and-aft ... a sailing boat that has its sails arranged along the centre of the boat, as opposed to a square-rigger which has them arranged across the boat, though in both cases the sails can be moved to catch the wind. Fore-and-aft is more modern, and usually more efficient, but as the ship gets larger so do the sails, and very large fore-and-aft sails can be so big the crew can't control them, so that the larger the ship, the more attractive square rig becomes as the sail area is broken into manageable units

  forefoot ... the bit of a boat's bow where it turns under to meet the keel, in other words the bottom of the front of the boat

  forestay ... rope that runs from the foremast to the bow of the ship. It holds the mast up, but various foresails or “jibs” may also be set on it

  forward ... towards the bow of a boat

  foul anchor ... an anchor with a rope wrapped round it

  gaff ... the spar that supports the top of a fore-and-aft sail

  gunwhale ... the outer edge of a boat, the top of the sides. Pronounced “gun'l”

  gybe ... turn the boat with its stern through the wind, so that the wind suddenly catches the sail and bangs it across to the other side which can be very alarming, though less so on a square-rigger

  halliards or halyards ... ropes used to pull the sails up the mast

  headsails ... triangular fore-and-aft sails that are hoisted between the bowsprit and the foremast

  helm ... the steering of a boat, either by tiller or wheel. The helmsman usually sits with his back to the wind so if he puts the helm down (i.e. pushes the tiller away from him) the boat will turn towards the wind, and if he puts it up (pulls it towards him) the boat will go downwind or “fall away”

  keel ... the very bottom of a ship's hull

  leeward ... downwind, or away from the wind. Pronounced “loo'erd”

  leeway ... sailing boats don't just go forwards, they also slip sideways a bit. This is called leeway

  mooring rope ... rope used to tie a boat to the shore, sometimes called a mooring warp

  painter ... a thin rope used to tie a very small boat up

  pay off ... a boat with her head (front) directly into the wind will eventually “pay off” or turn to one side or the other

  port ... the left side of a ship as you face the front. “Port tack” means the wind is coming over the left side of the ship

  ratlines ... rope ladders in the rigging so that sailors may climb up

  reach ... two meanings: a fairly straight bit of river, or sailing with the wind coming from the side of the boat. For most boats this is much the fastest way to go. A “broad” reach has the wind slightly abaft the beam (somewhere between the side and the back of the boat)

  reefing lines ... small ropes used to tie the bottom of a sail into a bundle so the sail is effectively smaller in bad weather

  rig ... the number of masts a ship has, and the way the sails are arranged on them

  rigging ... the ropes that hold the masts up, and those that hoist and control the sails

  rudder ... a vertical plank of wood which is turned to steer the ship

  scuppers ... the “gutter” round the edge of a ship's deck, or the holes in her sides to drain away water

  sheave ... a pulley

  sheet ... rope attached to the bottom corner of a sail to control it. The mainsheet is the most important rope in a fore-and-aft ship, controlling the angle of the main sail to the wind

  splice ... join lengths of rope by unravelling them and “plaiting” the strands together. Stronger than tying a knot

  square rig ... see “fore-and-aft”

  starboard ... the right side of a ship as you face the front. “Starboard tack” means the wind is coming over the ship’s right side

  stay ... rope that holds up the mast.

  staysails ... fore-and-aft sails hoisted on the stays

  stern ... the back of a boat

  sternsheets ... any space at the back of a boat where you can sit

  thwart ... a seat, usually just a plank of wood fixed across the boat

  tiller ... length of wood used to turn the rudder in a ship that doesn't have a wheel for steering

  windward ... towards the wind – in other words, towards where the wind's coming from, not where it's going to. It's the opposite of “leeward”. Sailing ships can't sail directly to windward – see “beating”. Sailors often tend to think of “to windward” as “up hill” and “to leeward” as “down”

  yard ... a wooden spar that holds the top of a sail. On a square-rigged ship the yards go across the ship, and on a fore-and-aft ship they are in line with the ship, but in both cases they move to present the sails at the best angle to the wind

  If you have enjoyed this book, follow the further adventures of Pert, Rosella, Fenestra, their friends and families in The Bernadette. And their enemies, of course - Pert and Rosella may have survived the cliff but they aren't out of the woods yet. Fenestra has found a new way of being really annoying and seems to be developing an unusual relationship with her dog, and the town is menaced by ... well, sheep, actually.

  The third volume, Rio Sagrado, finds Fenestra in very deep water indeed. It's not just deep, either. There are things in it. With teeth.

  All the books in the Greatest Cape series are
available in paperback from your favourite book retailer

  www.greatestcape.co.uk