Glossary of nautical terms

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Glossary of nautical terms

MARINE GLOSSARY

Abaft Behind eg abaft the beam -behind the beam line

Ahead anything forward of the vessel

Angle of Indraft the angle at which the wind cuts the isobar.

Anti cyclone high pressure system

Aperture the space provided for the propeller

Astern the propulsion of the vessel backward, or anything viewed behind the vessel

Athwartships at right angles to the fore and aft line

Backing the wind is said to be backing when it is changing its direction counter clockwise

Ballast any weight used to increase a ships draft of lower her centre of gravity

Bar an accumulation of sand at the entrance to a port or river mouth

Beam usually used to describe the maximum breadth of a vessel

Bilge two meanings:

1. the curved section between the side and bottom of a ship.

2. That area below the cabin sole on the lowest deck and the keel.

Bollard a mooring device on a wharf

Bow the foremost part of the vessel, nearest the stem

Broached a vessel that has turned beam on to he sea and capsised

Brought up used to indicate the anchor has held and the vessel is being drawn forward on the anchor rode to the position it will adopt when finally anchored

Bulkhead vertical wall or division between compartments

Bulwark an extension of the ship’s sides above the deck

Buoy a floating object, often a navigation mark or a mooring

Camber the (usually) upward curve of a deck

Capsized vessel is upside down, showing its keel

Chain Locker a compartment, usually in the fore part of the vessel in which the anchor chain is stored

Chine the sharp intersection of the ships side and bottom

Cleats devices of metal or wood with two projecting arms, to which ropes are fastened

Col the region between two high pressure systems and two low pressure systems that are diagonally opposed

Cold front usually at the edge of a low pressure system, where cold air displaces warm air

Collision Bulkhead the first athwartships bulkhead aft of the bow, made watertight to prevent the vessel foundering in the event of a collision

Coaming
(or combing) the raised edge around any deck opening to prevent the ingress of water

Companionway a hatch in the deck with a ladder leading below

Constrained by

her draft A vessel which because of her draft in relation to the available depth of water is unable to deviate from the course she is following

Current a dried grape, or the horizontal movement of the water, not due to tides

Cyclone a low pressure system which is intense, usually below 990hpa.

Deck Beam a beam running athwartships supporting the deck planking

Deck Girders beams running longitudinally supporting the deck beams

Depression an area of low pressure, see Low or Cyclone

Deviation an error in he compass caused by magnetic influences on the vessel

Devils Claw a device for securing the anchor and chain on the deck

Displacement is the amount of water displaced by the vessels hull form in the

water, the mass of this water is equal to the mass of the vessel

Drogue a device made of canvas or nylon to reduce the speed of the vessel or liferaft, acts like a parachute

Ebb a reference to the falling tide

Fairlead a space through which ropes pass out of or on to the vessel, it is normally re in forced and has rounded edges to prevent damage to ropes, may have roller ends to reduce friction

Fender a device either portable or fixed, mounted on the outside of the vessel, to protect against damage by rubbing

Flare two meanings:
1. the overhang of the ships upperworks forward
2. a pyrotechnic used for attracting attention

Fore and aft line the line between the stem and the stern, following the keel

Forecastle (foc’sle) the forward upper compartment of a vessel, used for accommodation or stores

Foundering sinking

Frames the ribs of a vessel, creating the hull shape

Free surface effect the effect that liquids, such as bilge water or fuel, have on the stability of a vessel

Freeing ports openings in the bulwark to allow water to flow off the deck

Gipsy the device on a windlass to catch and roll in a chain

Grounding an unintentional contact with the sea bed

Gunwale (gunnel) the protective board fitted to the sheer plank

Hawse Pipe a pipe leading from the deck to the outside through which the anchor cable passes

Helm Steering wheel or tiller of

Helmsperson the person at the wheel or tiller

Hitch the attachment of a line to a pole ring or hook

Hogging where the bow and stern of a vessel have a greater draft than midships, usually caused by a vessel sitting on a wave or by incorrect load distribution

Housed secured or stowed

Hove to a condition where the vessel is laying to the sea but making no headway

Isobar a line joining places of equal pressure on a weather chart

Keel the backbone of a vessel, running from forward to aft at the lowest point of the hull, on the centreline

Knot the bending of a part of a rope around itself or another rope to secure them

Latitude measured in arc 0 to 90° north and south of the equator

Lay the way strands of rope or wires are put in relation to one another to make a rope

Lazarette a locker at the stern of the vessel

Leeway the deflection off course caused by the wind

Lifebuoy a device thrown to a person in the water to assist with flotation

Log two meanings:

a book used to record detail of a voyage and
a speed measuring device

Longitude measured in arc, 0 to 180° east and west of the Greenwich meridian

Longitudinal anything running lengthwise in a vessel, parallel to the line of the keel

Made fast secured

Midships two meanings, anything in the centre of the vessel, or the rudder is straight, in line with the keel.

Mooring Bitts devices on the vessel to secure the inboard end of the mooring lines

Mooring lines lines used to secure the vessel to a wharf or another vessel

Nautical Mile the unit of measure of maritime distance, is related to Latitude.

Neap tides a time when there is less tidal range due to the influence of the sun against the moon

Not Under

Command a condition of a vessel, when it is unable to manoeuvre in accordance with the rules and is unable to keep out of the way of other vessels

Pooped a condition where a wave has broken over the back deck (poop) of a vessel

Port side the left hand side of a vessel looking forward from the stern

Pounding the heavy action of a vessel at sea hitting hard into the waves

Power Driven
Vessel a vessel propelled by machinery

Quarter that part of a vessel between midships and the stern

Racking the twisting of the hull of a vessel in the sea

Rake the angle at which a mast, funnel, stem, stern or the deckhouses, slope from a vertical line

Restricted in her
ability to
manoeuvre means a vessel, which from the nature of her work cannot keep out of the way of certain other vessels.

Restricted visibility any condition, rain, fog, snow, sandstorm etc., where the visibility from a vessel is restricted

Rope the generic term for wire or fibre rope carried on board a vessel. Only one is called a ROPE. the bell rope, all others have other names describing their use, Mooring line, Sheet, Halyard etc.,

Rudder the device, usually aft of the propeller to steer the vessel

Sagging the opposite of Hogging, when the midships draft is greater thanthe bow and stern

Sailing Vessel a vessel being propelled by the wind, provided that propelling

machinery, if fitted is not being used.

Salvage either money paid by a ship in trouble to another vessel to help her or, goods picked up from such a vessel

Samson Post a vertical post, usually connected to the keel, which protrudes from the foredeck to secure the vessel

Scupper see freeing port

Seaplane an aeroplane that can also manoeuvre on he water, it is a vessel whilst so manoeuvring

Sheer the fore and aft curvature of the deck

Splice the joining of two ends of ropes or the end of a rope with the bodyof itself, by weaving the strands of one under the other

Sponson wood fender fitted to the hull of a small vessel to prevent chafing and damage to the hull from contact with wharves

Spring Tides when the sun and moon are working together and we have a large tidal range

Spurling Pipe the pipe that leads the anchor cable from the deck to the Chain Locker

Starboard side the right hand side of a vessel looking forward from the stern

Stem The foremost part of the vessel, the piece of timber to which all the hull planks fit.

Stern the aftermost part of a vessel

Stopper A device to secure a line until it is made fast

Stranding the accidental running of a vessel on to the shore or beach

Synoptic Charts usually refer too an Isobar chart giving a synopsis of the weather

Tidal Stream the horizontal movement of water due to tidal ebb and flow

Tides the vertical movement of water causing a variation in the height of the surface of the water, influenced by the moon & sun

Transit when two terrestrial objects are in line

Transom the aftermost transverse frame

Tropical cyclone see Cyclone

Underway the vessel is not moored or anchored but is floating freely

Veering Two meanings:
1. the wind is veering when it is changing its direction in a clockwise direction.
2. to run out the anchor cable

Vessel includes every description of craft capable of being used for transportation on the water

Vessel engaged
in Fishing means any vessel fishing with nets, trawls, lines, or other fishing apparatus which restricts her ability to manoeuvre, but does not include trolling lines or other equipment which do not

restrict vessel’s ability to manoeuvre

Warp to move a vessel by heaving on a line around a windlass, or an alternate name for the Anchor Cable or Rode

Warping drum that part of a windlass for belaying a rope

Weigh Anchor to raise the anchor

Windage the vertical surfaces of a vessel that act like a sail and cause the

vessel to move with the wind

Windlass a mechanical device for raising an anchor, or lifting a mooring rope.

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