RIGHT. To right the helm, is to put it amidships.
RIM. The edge of a top.
RING. The iron ring at the upper end of an anchor, to which the cable is bent.
RING-BOLT. An eye-bolt with a ring through the eye. (See EYE-BOLT.)
RING-TAIL. A small sail, shaped like a jib, set abaft the spanker in light winds.
ROACH. A curve in the foot of a square sail, by which the clews are brought below the middle of the foot. The roach of a fore-and-aft sail is in its forward leech.
ROAD, or ROADSTEAD. An anchorage at some distance from the shore.
ROBANDS. (See ROPE-BANDS.)
ROLLING TACKLE. Tackles used to steady the yards in a heavy sea.
ROMBOWLINE. Condemned canvass, rope, &c.
ROPE-BANDS, or ROBANDS. Small pieces of two or three yarn spunyarn or marline, used to confine the head of the sail to the yard or gaff.
ROPE-YARN. A thread of hemp, or other stuff, of which a rope is made.
ROUGH-TREE. An unfinished spar.
ROUND IN. To haul in on a rope, especially a weather-brace.
ROUND UP. To haul up on a tackle.
ROUNDING. A service of rope, hove round a spar or larger rope.
ROWLOCKS, or ROLLOCKS. Places cut in the gunwale of a boat for the oar to rest in while pulling.
ROYAL. A light sail next above a topgallant sail. (See PLATE II.)
ROYAL YARD. The yard from which the royal is set. The fourth from the deck. (See PLATE I.)
RUBBER. A small instrument used to rub or flatten down the seams of a sail in sail-making.
RUDDER. The machine by which a vessel or boat is steered.
RUN. The after part of a vessel’s bottom, which rises and narrows in approaching the stern-post. By the run. To let go by the run, is to let go altogether, instead of slacking off.
RUNG-HEADS. The upper ends of the floor-timbers.
RUNNER. A rope used to increase the power of a tackle. It is rove through a single block which you wish to bring down, and a tackle is hooked to each end, or to one end, the other being made fast.
RUNNING RIGGING. The ropes that reeve through blocks, and are pulled and hauled, such as braces, halyards, &c.; in opposition to the standing rigging, the ends of which are securely seized, such as stays, shrouds, &c.
SADDLES. Pieces of wood hollowed out to fit on the yards to which they are nailed, having a hollow in the upper part for the boom to rest in.
SAG. To sag to leeward, is to drift off bodily to leeward.
SAILS are of two kinds: square sails, which hang from yards, their foot lying across the line of the keel, as the courses, topsails, &c.; and fore-and-aft sails, which set upon gaffs, or on stays, their foot running with the line of the keel, as jib, spanker, &c.
SAIL HO! The cry used when a sail is first discovered at sea.
SAVE-ALL. A small sail sometimes set under the foot of a lower studdingsail. (See WATER SAIL.)
SCANTLING. A term applied to any piece of timber, with regard to its breadth and thickness, when reduced to the standard size.
SCARF. To join two pieces of timber at their ends by shaving them down and placing them over-lapping.
SCHOONER. (See PLATE IV.) A small vessel with two masts and no tops. A fore-and-aft schooner has only fore-and-aft sails. A topsail schooner carries a square fore topsail, and frequently, also, topgallant sail and royal. There are some schooners with three masts. They also have no tops. A main-topsail schooner is one that carries square topsails, fore and aft.
SCORE. A groove in a block or dead-eye.
SCOTCHMAN. A large batten placed over the turnings-in of rigging. (See BATTEN.)
SCRAPER. A small, triangular iron instrument, with a handle fitted to its centre, and used for scraping decks and masts.
SCROWL. A piece of timber bolted to the knees of the head, in place of a figure-head.
SCUD. To drive before a gale, with no sail, or only enough to keep the vessel ahead of the sea. Also, low, thin clouds that fly swiftly before the wind.
SCULL. A short oar. To scull, is to impel a boat by one oar at the stern.
SCUPPERS. Holes cut in the water-ways for the water to run from the decks.
SCUTTLE. A hole cut in a vessel’s deck, as, a hatchway. Also, a hole cut in any part of a vessel. To scuttle, is to cut or bore holes in a vessel to make her sink.
SCUTTLE-BUTT. (See BUTT.)
SEAMS. The intervals between planks in a vessel’s deck or side.
SEIZE. To fasten ropes together by turns of small stuff.
SEIZINGS. The fastenings of ropes that are seized together.
SELVAGEE. A skein of rope-yarns or spunyarn, marled together. Used as a neat strap.
SEND. When a ship’s head or stern pitches suddenly and violently into the trough of the sea.
SENNIT, or SINNIT. A braid, formed by plaiting rope-yarns or spunyarn together. Straw, plaited in the same way for hats, is called sennit.
SERVE. To wind small stuff, as rope-yarns, spunyarn, &c., round a rope, to keep it from chafing. It is wound and hove round taut by a serving-board or mallet.
SERVICE, is the stuff so wound round.
SET. To set up rigging, is to tauten it by tackles. The seizings are then put on afresh.
SHACKLES. Links in a chain cable which are fitted with a movable bolt so that the chain can be separated.
SHAKES. The staves of hogsheads taken apart.
SHANK. The main piece in an anchor, at one end of which the stock is made fast, and at the other the arms.
SHANK-PAINTER. A strong rope by which the lower part of the shank of an anchor is secured to the ship’s side.
SHARP UP. Said of yards when braced as near fore-and-aft as possible.
SHEATHING. A casing or covering on a vessel’s bottom.
SHEARS. Two or more spars, raised at angles and lashed together near their upper ends, used for taking in masts.
SHEAR HULK. An old vessel fitted with shears, &c., and used for taking out and putting in the masts of other vessels.
SHEAVE. The wheel in a block upon which the rope works. Sheave-hole, the place cut in a block for the ropes to reeve through.
SHEEP-SHANK. A kind of hitch or bend, used to shorten a rope temporarily.
SHEER, or SHEER-STRAKE. The line of plank on a vessel’s side, running fore-and-aft under the gunwale. Also, a vessel’s position when riding by a single anchor.
SHEET. A rope used in setting a sail, to keep the clew down to its place. With square sails, the sheets run through each yardarm. With boom sails, they haul the boom over one way and another. They keep down the inner clew of a studdingsail and the after clew of a jib. (See HOME.)
SHEET-ANCHOR. A vessel’s largest anchor; not carried at the bow.
SHELL. The case of a block.
SHINGLE. (See BALLAST.)
SHIP. A vessel with three masts, with tops and yards to each. (See PLATE IV.) To enter on board a vessel. To fix anything in its place.
SHIVER. To shake the wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind strikes upon the leech.
SHOE. A piece of wood used for the bill of an anchor to rest upon, to save the vessel’s side. Also, for the heels of shears, &c.
SHOE-BLOCK. A block with two sheaves, one above the other, the one horizontal and the other perpendicular.
SHORE. A prop or stanchion, placed under a beam. To shore, to prop up.
SHROUDS. A set of ropes reaching from the mast-heads to the vessel’s sides, to support the masts.
SILLS. Pieces of timber put in horizontally between the frames to form and secure any opening; as, for ports.
SISTER BLOCK. A long piece of wood with two sheaves in it, one above the other, with a score between them for a seizing, and a groove around the block, lengthwise.
SKIDS. Pieces of timber placed up and down a vessel’s side, to bear any articles off clear that are hoisted in.
SKIFF.* Small boat used for running errands on shore.
SKIN. The part of a sail whic
h is outside and covers the rest when it is furled. Also, familiarly, the sides of the hold; as, an article is said to be stowed next the skin.
SKYSAIL. A light sail next above the royal. (See PLATE II.)
SKY-SCRAPER. A name given to a skysail when it is triangular.
SLABLINE. A small line used to haul up the foot of a course.
SLACK. The part of a rope or sail that hangs down loose. Slack in stays, said of a vessel when she works slowly in tacking.
SLAT.* Blow or flap in a strong wind.
SLEEPERS. The knees that connect the transoms to the after timbers on the ship’s quarter.
SLING. To set a cask, spar, gun, or other article, in ropes, so as to put on a tackle and hoist or lower it.
SLINGS. The ropes used for securing the centre of a yard to the mast. Yard-slings are now made of iron. Also a large rope fitted so as to go round any article which is to be hoisted or lowered.
SLIP. To let a cable go and stand out to sea.
SLIP-ROPE. A rope bent to the cable just outside the hawse-hole, and brought in on the weather quarter, for slipping.
SLOOP. A small vessel with one mast. (See PLATE IV.)
SLOOP OF WAR. A vessel of any rig, mounting between 18 and 32 guns.
SLUE. To turn anything round or over.
SMALL STUFF. The term for spunyarn, marline, and the smallest kinds of rope, such as ratline-stuff, &c.
SNAKE. To pass small stuff across a seizing, with marling hitches at the outer turns.
SNATCH-BLOCK. A single block, with an opening in its side below the sheave, or at the bottom, to receive the bight of a rope.
SNOTTER. A rope going over a yard-arm, with an eye, used to bend a tripping-line to in sending down topgallant and royal yards in vessels of war.
SNOW. A kind of brig, formerly used.
SNUB. To check a rope suddenly.
SNYING. A term for a circular plank edgewise, to work in the bows of a vessel.
So! An order to ’vast hauling upon anything when it has come to its right position.
SOLE. A piece of timber fastened to the foot of the rudder, to make it level with the false keel.
SOUND. To get the depth of water by a lead and line. The pumps are sounded by an iron sounding rod, marked with a scale of feet and inches.
SPAN. A rope with both ends made fast, for a purchase to be hooked to its bight.
SPANKER. The after sail of a ship or bark. It is a fore-and-aft sail, setting with a boom and gaff. (See PLATE II.)
SPAR. The general term for all masts, yards, booms, gaffs, &c.
SPELL. The common term for a portion of time given to any work. To spell, is to relieve another at his work. Spell ho! An exclamation used as an order or request to be relieved at work by another.
SPENCER. A fore-and-aft sail, set with a gaff and no boom, and hoisting from a small mast called a spencer-mast, just abaft the fore and main masts. (See PLATES II and IV.)
SPILL. To shake the wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind may strike its leech and shiver it.
SPILLING LINE. A rope used for spilling a sail. Rove in bad weather.
SPINDLE. An iron pin upon which the capstan moves. Also, a piece of timber forming the diameter of a made mast. Also, any long pin or bar upon which anything revolves.
SPIRKETING. The planks from the waterways to the port-sills.
SPLICE. To join two ropes together by interweaving their strands.
SPOON-DRIFT. Water swept from the tops of the waves by the violence of the wind in a tempest, and driven along before it, covering the surface of the sea.
SPRAY. An occasional sprinkling dashed from the top of a wave by the wind, or by its striking an object.
SPRING. To crack or split a mast. To spring a leak, is to begin to leak. To spring a luff, is to force a vessel close to the wind, in sailing.
SPRING-STAY. A preventer-stay, to assist the regular one. (See STAY.)
SPRING TIDES. The highest and lowest course of tides, occurring every new and full moon.
SPRIT. A small boom or gaff, used with some sails in small boats. The lower end rests in a becket or snotter by the foot of the mast, and the other end spreads and raises the outer upper corner of the sail, crossing it diagonally. A sail so rigged in a boat is called a sprit-sail.
SPRIT-SAIL-YARD. (See PLATE I.) A yard lashed across the bowsprit or knightheads, and used to spread the guys of the jib and flying jib-boom. There was formerly a sail bent to it called a sprit-sail.
SPUNYARN. A cord formed by twisting together two or three rope-yarns.
SPURLING LINE. A line communicating between the tiller and tell-tale.
SPURS. Pieces of timber fixed on the bilge-ways, their upper ends being bolted to the vessel’s sides above the water. Also, curved pieces of timber, serving as half beams, to support the decks where whole beams cannot be placed.
SPUR-SHOES. Large pieces of timber that come abaft the pump-well.
SQUARE. Yards are squared when they are horizontal and at right angles with the keel. Squaring by the lifts makes them horizontal ; and by the braces, makes them at right angles with the vessel’s line. Also, the proper term for the length of yards. A vessel has square yards when her yards are unusually long. A sail is said to be very square on the head when it is long on the head. To square a yard, in working ship, means to bring it in square by the braces.
SQUARE-SAIL. A temporary sail, set at the fore-mast of a schooner or sloop when going before the wind. (See SAIL.)
STABBER. A PRICKER.
STAFF. A pole or mast, used to hoist flags upon.
STANCHIONS. (See PLATE III.) Upright posts of wood or iron, placed so as to support the beams of a vessel. Also, upright pieces of timber, placed at intervals along the sides of a vessel, to support the bulwarks and rail, and reaching down to the bends, by the side of the timbers, to which they are bolted. Also, any fixed, upright support; as to an awning, or for the man-ropes.
STAND BY! An order to be prepared.
STANDARD. An inverted knee, placed above the deck instead of beneath it; as, bill-standard, &c.
STANDING. The standing part of a rope is that part which is fast, in opposition to the part that is hauled upon; or the main part, in opposition to the end. The standing part of a tackle is that part which is made fast to the blocks and between that and the next sheave, in opposition to the hauling and leading parts.
STANDING RIGGING. That part of a vessel’s rigging which is made fast and not hauled upon. (See RUNNING.)
STARBOARD. The right side of a vessel, looking forward.
STARBOWLINES. The familiar term for the men in the starboard watch.
START. To start a cask, is to open it.
STAY. To tack a vessel, or put her about, so that the wind, from being on one side, is brought upon the other, round the vessel’s head. (See TACK, WEAR.) To stay a mast, is to incline it forward or aft, or to one side or the other, by the stays and backstays. Thus, a mast is said to be stayed too much forward or aft, or too much to port, &c.
STAYS. Large ropes, used to support masts, and leading from the head of some mast down to some other mast, or to some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called fore-and-aft stays; and those which lead down to the vessel’s sides, backstays. (See BACKSTAYS.) In stays, or hove in stays, the situation of a vessel when she is staying, or going about from one tack to the other.
STAYSAIL. A sail which hoists upon a stay.
STEADY! An order to keep the helm as it is.
STEERAGE. That part of the between-decks which is just forward of the cabin.
STEEVE. A bowsprit steeves more or less, according as it is raised more or less from the horizontal. The steeve is the angle it makes with the horizon. Also, a long, heavy spar, with a place to fit a block at one end, and used in stowing certain kinds of cargo, which need be driven in close.
STEM. (See PLATE III.) A piece of timber reaching from the forward end of the keel, to which it is scarfed, up to the bowsprit, and to whi
ch the two sides of the vessel are united.
STEMSON. A piece of compass-timber, fixed on the after part of the apron inside. The lower end is scarfed into the keelson, and receives the scarf of the stem, through which it is bolted.
STEP. A block of wood secured to the keel, into which the heel of the mast is placed. To step a mast, is to put it in its step.
STERN. (See PLATE III.) The after end of a vessel. (See BY THE STERN.)
STERN-BOARD. The motion of a vessel when going stern foremost.
STERN-FRAME. The frame composed of the stern-post transom and the fashion-pieces.
STERN-POST. (See PLATE III.) The aftermost timber in a ship, reaching from the after end of the keel to the deck. The stem and stern-post are the two extremes of a vessel’s frame. Inner stem-post. A post on the inside, corresponding to the stem-post.
STERN-SHEETS. The after part of a boat, abaft the rowers, where the passengers sit.
STIFF. The quality of a vessel which enables it to carry a great deal of sail without lying over-much on her side. The opposite to crank.
STIRRUPS. Ropes with thimbles at their ends, through which the foot-ropes are rove, and by which they are kept up toward the yards.
STOCK. A beam of wood, or a bar of iron, secured to the upper end of the shank of an anchor, at right angles with the arms. An iron stock usually goes with a key, and unships.
STOCKS. The frame upon which a vessel is built.
STOOLS. Small channels for the dead-eyes of the backstays.
STOPPER. A stout rope with a knot at one end, and sometimes a hook at the other, used for various purposes about decks; as, making fast a cable, so as to overhaul. (See CAT STOPPER, DECK STOPPER.)
STOPPER BOLTS. Ring-bolts to which the deck stoppers are secured.
STOP. A fastening of small stuff. Also, small projections on the outside of the cheeks of a lower mast, at the upper parts of the hounds.
STRAND. A number of rope-yarns twisted together. Three, four or nine strands twisted together form a rope. A rope is stranded when one of its strands is parted or broken by chafing or by a strain. A vessel is stranded when she is driven on shore.
STRAP. A piece of rope spliced round a block to keep its parts well together. Some blocks have iron straps, in which case they are called iron bound.
Two Years Before the Mast (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Page 57