Two Years Before the Mast (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
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121 Mizzen topmast backstays.
122 Mizzen topgal’nt backstays.
123 Mizzen royal backstays.
124 Fore spencer vangs.
125 Main spencer vangs.
126 Spanker vangs.
127 Ensign halyards.
128 Spanker peak halyards.
129 Foot-rope to fore yard.
130 Foot-rope to main yard.
131 Foot-rope to cross-jack yard.
PLATE I
PLATE II.
A SHIP’S SAILS.
INDEX OF REFERENCES.
1 Fore topmast staysail.
2 Jib.
3 Flying jib.
4 Fore spencer.
5 Main spencer.
6 Spanker.
7 Foresail.
8 Fore topsail.
9 Fore topgallant sail.
10 Fore royal.
11 Fore skysail.
12 Mainsail.
13 Main topsail.
14 Main topgallant sail.
15 Main royal.
16 Main skysail.
17 Mizzen topsail.
18 Mizzen topgallant sail.
19 Mizzen royal.
20 Mizzen skysail.
21 1 Lower studdingsail.
21a Lee ditto.
22 Fore topmast studdingsail.
22a Lee ditto.
23 Fore topgallant studdingsail.
23a Lee ditto.
24 Fore royal studdingsail.
24a Lee ditto.
25 Main topmast studdingsail.
25a Lee ditto.
26 Main topgallant studdingsail.
26a Lee ditto.
27 Main royal studdingsail.
27a Lee ditto.
PLATTE II
PLATE III.
THE FRAME OF A SHIP.
INDEX OF REFERENCES.
A. THE OUTSIDE.
1 Upper stem-piece.
2 Lower stem-piece.
3 Gripe.
4 Forward keel-piece.
5 Middle keel-piece.
6 After keel-piece.
7 False keel.
8 Stern knee.
9 Stern-post.
10 Rudder.
11 Bilge streaks.
12 First streak under the wales.
13 Apron.
14 Lower apron.
15 Fore frame.
16 After frame.
17 Wales.
18 Waist.
19 Plank-shear.
20 Timber-heads.
21 Stanchions.
22 Rail.
23 Knight-heads.
24 Cathead.
25 Fashion timbers.
26 Transoms.
27 Quarter pieces.
B. THE INSIDE OF THE STERN.
1 Keelson.
2 Pointers.
3 Chock.
4 Transoms.
5 Half transoms.
6 Main transom.
7 Quarter timbers.
8 Transom knees.
9 Horn timbers.
10 Counter-timber knee.
11 Stern-post.
12 Rudder-head.
13 Counter timbers.
14 Upper-deck clamp.
C. THE INSIDE OF THE Bows
1 Keelson.
2 Pointers.
3 Step for the mast.
4 Breast-hook.
5 Lower-deck breast-hook.
6 Forward beam.
7 Upper-deck clamp.
8 Knight-heads.
9 Hawse timbers.
10 Bow timbers.
11 Apron of the stem.
D. THE TIMBERS.
1 Keelson.
2 Floor timbers.
3 Naval timbers or ground futtocks.
4 Lower futtocks.
5 Middle futtocks.
6 Upper futtocks.
7 Top timbers.
8 Half timbers, or half top-timbers.
PLATTE III
PLATE IV.
EXPLANATIONS.
SHIP.—A ship is square-rigged throughout; that is, she has tops, and carries square sails on all three of her masts.
BARK.—A bark is square-rigged at her fore and main masts, and differs from a ship in having no top, and carrying only fore-and-aft sails at her mizzenmast.
BRIG.—A full-rigged brig is square-rigged at both her masts.
HERMAPHRODITE BRIG.—An hermaphrodite brig is square-rigged at her foremast; but has no top, and only fore-and-aft sails at her main mast.
TOPSAIL SCHOONER.—A topsail schooner has no tops at her foremast, and is fore-and-aft rigged at her mainmast. She differs from an hermaphrodite brig in that she is not properly square-rigged at her foremast, having no top, and carrying a fore-and-aft foresail instead of a square foresail and a spencer.
FORE-AND-AFT SCHOONER.—A fore-and-aft schooner is fore-and-aft rigged throughout, differing from a topsail schooner in that the latter carries small square sails aloft at the fore.
SLOOP.—A sloop has one mast, fore-and-aft rigged.
HERMAPHRODITE BRIGS sometimes carry small square sails aloft at the main; in which case they are called BRIGANTINES, and differ from a FULL-RIGGED BRIG in that they have no top at the mainmast, and carry a fore-and-aft mainsail instead of a square mainsail and trysail. Some TOPSAIL SCHOONERS carry small square sails aloft at the main as well as the fore; being in other respects fore-and-aft rigged. They are then called MAIN TOPSAIL SCHOONERS.
Plate IV
Dictionary of Sea Terms
ABACK. The situation of the sails when the wind presses their surfaces against the mast, and tends to force the vessel astern.
ABAFT. Toward the stern of a vessel.
ABOARD. Within a vessel.
ABOUT. On the other tack.
ABREAST. Alongside of. Side by side.
ACCOMODATION. (See LADDER.)
A-COCK-BILL. The situation of the yards when they are topped up at an angle with the deck. The situation of an anchor when it hangs to the cathead by the ring only.
ADRIFT. Broken from moorings or fasts. Without Fasts.
AFLOAT. Resting on the surface of the water.
AFORE. Forward. The opposite of abaft.
AFT—AFTER. Near the stern.
AGROUND. Touching the bottom.
AHEAD. In the direction of the vessel’s head. Wind ahead is from the direction toward which the vessel’s head points.
A-HULL. The situation of a vessel when she lies with all her sails furled and her helm lashed a-lee.
A-LEE. The situation of the helm when it is put in the opposite direction from that in which the wind blows.
ALL-ABACK. When all the sails are aback.
ALL HANDS. The whole crew.
ALL IN THE WIND. When all the sails are shaking.
ALOFT. Above the deck.
ALOOF. At a distance.
AMAIN. Suddenly. At once.
AMIDSHIPS. In the centre of the vessel; either with reference to her length or to her breadth.
ANCHOR. The machine by which, when dropped to the bottom, the vessel is held fast.
ANCHOR-WATCH. (See WATCH.)
AN-END. When a mast is perpendicular to the deck.
A-PEEK. When the cable is hove taut so as to bring the vessel nearly over her anchor. The yards are a-peek when they are topped up by contrary lifts.
APRON. A piece of timber fixed behind the lower part of the stern, just above the fore end of the keel. A covering to the vent or lock of a cannon.
ARM. YARD-ARM. The extremity of a yard. Also, the lower part of an anchor, crossing the shank and terminating in the flukes.
ARMING. A piece of tallow put in the cavity and over the bottom of a lead-line.
A-STERN. In the direction of the stern. The opposite of ahead.
A-TAUNT. (See TAUNT.)
ATHWART. Across. Athwart-ships. Across the line of the vessel’s keel. Athwart-hawse. Across the direction of a vessel’s head. Across her cable.
ATHWART-SHIPS. Across the length of a
vessel. In opposition to fore-and-aft.
A-TRIP. The situation of the anchor when it is raised clear of the ground. The same as a-weigh.
AVAST, or ’VAST. An order to stop; as, “Avast heaving!”
A-WEATHER. The situation of the helm when it is put in the direction from which the wind blows.
A-WEIGH. The same as a-trip.
AWNING. A covering of canvass over a vessel’s deck, or over a boat, to keep off sun or rain.
BACK. To back an anchor, is to carry out a smaller one ahead of the one by which the vessel rides, to take off some of the strain. To back a sail, is throw it aback. To back and fill, is alternately to back and fill the sails.
BACKSTAYS. Stays running from a masthead to the vessel’s side, slanting a little aft. (See STAYS.)
BAGPIPE. To bagpipe the mizzen, is to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the weather mizzen rigging.
BALANCE-REEF. A reef in a spanker or fore-and-aft mainsail, which runs from the outer head-earing, diagonally, to the tack. It is the closest reef, and makes the sail triangular, or nearly so.
BALE. To bale a boat, is to throw water out of her.
BALLAST. Heavy material, as iron, lead, or stone, placed in the bottom of the hold, to keep a vessel from upsetting. To freshen ballast, is to shift it. Coarse gravel is called shingle ballast.
BANK. A boat is double banked, when two oars, one opposite the other, are pulled by men seated on the same thwart.
BAR. A bank or shoal at the entrance of a harbor. Capstan-bars are heavy pieces of wood by which the capstan is hove round.
BARE-POLES. The condition of a ship when she has no sail set.
BARGE. A large double-banked boat, used by the commander of a vessel, in the navy.
BARK, or BARQUE. (See PLATE IV.) A three-masted vessel, having her fore and main masts rigged like a ship’s, and her mizzen mast like the main mast of a schooner, with no sail upon it but a spanker, and gaff topsail.
BARNACLE. A shell-fish often found on a vessel’s bottom.
BATTENS. Thin strips of wood put around the hatches, to keep the tarpaulin down. Also put upon rigging to keep it from chafing. A large batten widened at the end, and put upon rigging, is called a scotchman.
BEACON. A post or buoy placed over a shoal or bank to warn vessels off. Also as a signal-mark on land.
BEAMS. Strong pieces of timber stretching across the vessel, to support the decks. On the weather or lee beam, is in a direction to windward or leeward, at right angles with the keel. On beam ends. The situation of a vessel when turned over so that her beams are inclined toward the vertical.
BEAR. An object bears so and so, when it is in such a direction from the person looking. To bear down upon a vessel, is to approach her from the windward. To bear up, is to put the helm up and keep a vessel off from her course, and move her to leeward. To bear away, is the same as to bear up; being applied to the vessel instead of to the tiller. To bear-a-hand. To make haste.
BEARING. The direction of an object from the person looking. The bearings of a vessel, are the widest part of her below the plank-shear. That part of her hull which is on the water-line when she is at anchor and in her proper trim.
BEATING. Going toward the direction of the wind, by alternate tacks.
BECALM. To intercept the wind. A vessel or highland to windward is said to becalm another. So one sail becalms another.
BECKET. A piece of rope placed so as to confine a spar or another rope. A handle made of rope, in the form of a circle, (as the handle of a chest) is called a becket.
BEES. Pieces of plank bolted to the outer end of the bowsprit, to reeve the foretopmast stays through.
BELAY. To make a rope fast by turns round a pin or coil, without hitching or seizing it.
BEND. To make fast. To bend a sail, is to make it fast to the yard. To bend a cable, is to make it fast to the anchor. A bend, is a knot by which one rope is made fast to another.
BENDS. (See PLATE III.) The strongest part of a vessel’s side, to which the beams, knees, and foot-hooks are bolted. The part between the water’s edge and the bulwarks.
BENEAPED. (See NEAPED.)
BENTICK SHROUDS. Formerly used, and extending from the futtock-staves to the opposite channels.
BERTH. The place where a vessel lies. The place in which a man sleeps.
BETWEEN-DECKS. The space between any two decks of a ship.
BIBBS. Pieces of timber bolted to the hounds of a mast, to support the trestle-trees.
BIGHT. The double part of a rope when it is folded; in contradistinction from the ends. Any part of a rope may be called the bight, except the ends. Also, a bend in the shore, making a small bay or inlet.
BILGE. That part of the floor of a ship upon which she would rest if aground; being the part near the keel which is more in a horizontal than a perpendicular line. Bilge-ways. Pieces of timber bolted together and placed under the bilge, in launching. Bilged. When the bilge is broken in. Bilge Water. Water which settles in the bilge. Bilge. The largest circumference of a cask.
BILL. The point at the extremity of the fluke of an anchor.
BILLET-HEAD. (See HEAD.)
BINNACLE. A box near the helm, containing the compass.
BITTS. Perpendicular pieces of timber going through the deck, placed to secure anything to. The cables are fastened to them, if there is no windlass. There are also bitts to secure the windlass, and on each side of the heel of the bowsprit.
BITTER, or BITTER-END. That part of the cable which is abaft the bitts.
BLADE. The flat part of an oar, which goes into the water.
BLOCK. A piece of wood with sheaves, or wheels, in it, through which the running rigging passes, to add to the purchase.
BLUFF. A bluff-bowed or bluff-headed vessel is one which is full and square forward.
BOARD. The stretch a vessel makes upon one tack, when she is beating. Stern-board. When a vessel goes stern foremost. By the board. Said of masts, when they fall over the side.
BOAT-HOOK. An iron hook with a long staff, held in the hand, by which a boat is kept fast to a wharf, or vessel.
BOATSWAIN. (Pronounced bo-s’n.) A warrant officer in the navy, who has charge of the rigging, and calls the crew to duty.
BOBSTAYS. Used to confine the bowsprit down to the stem or cutwater.
BOLSTERS. Pieces of soft wood, covered with canvass, placed on the trestle-trees, for the eyes of the rigging to rest upon.
BOLTS. Long cylindrical bars of iron or copper, used to secure or unite the different parts of a vessel.
BOLT-ROPE. The rope which goes round a sail, and to which the canvass is sewed.
BONNET. An additional piece of canvass attached to the foot of a jib, or a schooner’s foresail, by lacing. Taken off in bad weather.
BOOM. A spar used to extend the foot of a fore-and-aft sail or studding-sail. Boom-irons. Iron rings on the yards, through which the studding-sail booms traverse.
BOOT-TOPPING. Scraping off the grass, or other matter, which may be on a vessel’s bottom, and daubing it over with tallow, or some mixture.
BOUND. Wind-bound. When a vessel is kept in port by a head wind.
Bow. The rounded part of a vessel, forward.
BOWER. A working anchor, the cable of which is bent and reeved through the hawse-hole. Best bower is the larger of the two bowers.
BOW-GRACE. A frame of old rope or junk, placed round the bows and sides of a vessel, to prevent the ice from injuring her.
BOWLINE. (Pronounced bo-lin.) A rope leading forward from the leech of a square sail, to keep the leech well out when sailing close-hauled. A vessel is said to be on a bowline, or on a taut bowline, when she is close-hauled. Bowline-bridle. The span on the leech of the sail to which the bowline is toggled.
BOWSE. To pull upon a tackle.
BOWSPRIT. (Pronounced bo-sprit.) A large and strong spar, standing from the bows of a vessel. (See PLATE I.)
BOX-HAULING. Wearing a vessel by backing the head sails.
Box. To box the compass, is to repeat the thirty-two points of the compass in order.
BRACE. A rope by which a yard is turned about. To brace a yard, is to turn it about horizontally. To brace up, is to lay the yard fore-and-aft. To brace in, is to lay it nearer square. To brace aback. (See ABACK.) To brace to, is to brace the head yards a little aback, in tacking or wearing.
BRAILS. Ropes by which the foot or lower corners of fore-and-aft sails are hauled up.
BRAKE. The handle of a ship’s pump.
BREAK. To break bulk, is to begin to unload. To break ground, is to lift the anchor from the bottom. To break shear, is when a vessel, at anchor, in tending, is forced the wrong way by the wind or current, so that she does not lie so well for keeping herself clear of her anchor.
BREAKER. A small cask containing water.
BREAMING. Cleaning a ship’s bottom by burning.
BREAST-FAST. A rope used to confine a vessel sideways to a wharf, or to some other vessel.
BREAST-HOOKS. Knees placed in the forward part of a vessel, across the stem, to unite the bows on each side. (See PLATE III.)
BREAST-ROPE. A rope passed round a man in the chains, while sounding.
BREECH. The outside angle of a knee-timber. The after end of a gun.
BREECHING. A strong rope used to secure the breech of a gun to the ship’s side.
BRIDLE. Spans of rope attached to the leeches of square sails, to which the bowlines are made fast. Bridle-port. The foremost port, used for stowing the anchors.
BRIG. A square-rigged vessel, with two masts. An hermaphrodite brig has a brig’s foremast and a schooner’s mainmast. (See PLATE IV.)
BROACH-TO. To fall off so much, when going free, as to bring the wind round on the other quarter and take the sails aback.
BROADSIDE. The whole side of a vessel.
BROKEN-BACKED. The state of a vessel when she is so loosened as to droop at each end.
BUCKLERS. Blocks of wood made to fit in the hawse-holes, or holes in the half-ports, when at sea. Those in the hawse-holes are sometimes called hawse-blocks.
BULGE. (See BILGE.)
BULK. The whole cargo when stowed. Stowed in bulk, is when goods are stowed loose, instead of being stowed in casks or bags. (See BREAK BULK.)