Nautical Glossary

ABCDEF    GHIJKLMNOPQ    RSTUVWXYZ

top

Raft - Two or more boats tied alongside each other.

Range - Two or more objects in line. Also, maximum distance at which an object may be seen. Also, distance between two points, such as a radar range to a navigational aid. Also, difference in elevation (height) between any successive pair of high and low tides.

Rig - To prepare a boat for sailing. Also, arrangement of spars and sails (e.g., as on a sloop).

Rigging - All the lines and gear used to support the spars and control the sails.

Rode - Anchor line.

Rudder - A flat board, blade, or plate hung on the aft end of a boat and used to steer the boat.

Rudder Post - The shaft to which a rudder blade is attached. The tiller or other steering apparatus is affixed to the other end.

Running Rigging - The lines used to raise, set, and trim the sails.

top

Scope - Ratio of the length of the payed out anchor line (rode) to the height of the chock above the bottom of the body of water.

Screw - Another name for the propeller.

Sea Anchor - A drag-producing device, usually cone shaped, used to slow a boat's movement.

Seaworthy - Said of a boat that is in fit condition to put to sea.

Shaft - The cylindrical rod that transmits power from the engine to the propeller.

Sheet - Line used to adjust a sail relative to the wind (e.g., ajibsheet is used to adjust a jib).

Shroud - Standing rigging that supports a mast laterally.

Snub - To stop a line running out by taking a turn around a bin or cleat.

Sole - The floor of a cabin or a cockpit. Also the covering on a deck.

Spar - Any shaft or pole for the attachment of a sail, such as the mast, boom, yard, or sprit.

Speed - Rate of motion.

Spinnaker - A large, symmetrical headsail set forward of the headstay and used when reaching or running.

Spring Line - A line leading from a vessel to a piling or fitting on a pier that prevents the boat from moving ahead or astern.

Stability - The ability of a boat to resist heeling and overturning.

Stand - On Boat-The vessel with the right-of-way in a crossing situation; normally must maintain her course and speed.

Standing Rigging - Shrouds and stays supporting the mast.

Starboard - Side of a boat, or direction, to the right when facing toward the bow.

Stays - Standing rigging that supports a mast fore and aft.

Stem - The upright structural member or post of the bow, attached to the foremost part of a vessel's keel.

Stern - After end of a boat.

Stern Drive - An inboard/outboard drive system with the engine inside the boat.

Stern Line - A mooring line that runs from the stem of a boat to a float, a piling or a pier.

Stow - To put something in its proper place.

Strand - To drive a vessel ashore or aground. Also, one of the lays of a rope (the wound yarns or fibers that are woven with other strands to make a rope).

Superstructure - Cabins, deckhouses, etc. above the deck.

top

Tender - A dinghy. Also, a boat is tender if it is lacking in stability.

Thunderstorm - A storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud. The thunderstorm is accompanied by lightning and thunder, usually with strong gusts, heavy rain, and sometimes hail.

Tidal Range - Difference in height of tide between any successive pair of high and low tides.

Tide - The vertical rise and fall of ocean water (most noticeable in coastal regions) resulting mainly from the gravitational attraction of the moon and sun.

Tiller - A lever attached to the upper end of a rudder stock, used by the helmsman to turn the rudder.

Topside - On or above the weather deck (wholly exposed to the elements).

Topsides - The sides of a vessel between the water line and the deck.

Transom - The athwartships portion of a hull at the stem.

Trim - To adjust the set of the sail. Also, refers to the attitude of a boat at rest in the water.

Trimaran - A boat that has three hulls.

Trip Line - A buoyed line attached to the crown of an anchor for the purpose of freeing it when fouled. Also, a line fastened to the small end of the cone of a sea anchor to collapse it, thus spilling the water from the cone.

Turnbuckle - A tension-adjusting device for tightening wire rigging or cable, composed of threaded rods inside a threaded barrel.

top

Wake - Water surface turbulence left by a moving boat.

Way - Movement of a vessel through the water, such as headway, sternway, or leeway.

Winch - A geared drum turned by a handle and used to pull lines such as sheets and halyards.

WX Channels(s) - Weather broadcast channels, usually considered to be those available on a marine VHF radiotelephone.