By William C. Winslow
Shiver me timbers, mate.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Salty boating language? You bet, right out of Hollywood. Nowadays, swashbuckling pirate speak has faded; the language spoken by recreational boaters has to do with safety.
New boat owners and inexperienced passengers must acquaint themselves with nautical vocabulary in order to communicate effectively and prevent unfortunate misunderstandings. If the captain orders everyone to “quickly move to stern” and no one budges, that might accelerate a developing situation.
All aboard should be familiar with a vessel’s main parts. Bow and stern define exact locations on any size craft, and mean front (bow) and back (stern). If the captain calls for help with the anchor at the bow, no time is lost as a volunteer heads to the front. If would-be swimmers are cautioned to enter the water only from the stern, no one will risk jumping off the bow.
Moving forward (or fore) is toward the bow while moving aft is toward the stern. When it comes to other directions, abandon talk of left and right — those words are meaningless as where they are depends on the way you’re facing. Avoiding misadventures and hastening response time requires consistency. If the skipper has to yell for you to move to your right and for him to move to his left, the jig may be up!
Therefore, orient your sense of direction as if facing toward the bow wherever you are on deck. The right side in that position is termed starboard, and the left is port. Wherever you face, these designations never change. Tip: on boats with lights, red is on the port side and green is on the starboard.
Amidships is the middle of a boat, generally the widest part. Below is under a deck, not necessarily in a cabin. The gunwale (pronounced “gun-nel”) is the rail over the edge of the deck. The galley is the boat’s kitchen and its toilet is the head.
Sailing has a more extensive vocabulary. Experienced sailors speak their own language, but casual sailors must know that windward is that side of the boat to which the wind is blowing, and leeward is the side from which the wind is retreating. A mainsail is the large triangular sail just aft of the sailboat’s mast (the tall upright pole carrying the sails).The thick rod running along the mainsail’s bottom edge is the boom. Pay immediate attention should anyone warn you to “Duck!” or “Look out for the boom!” If you’re pooped, you’re soaked by a wave smashing over the side (may it never happen to you).
Ropes are lines when attached to something, such as anchors, moorings, docks, sails, booms, and dinghies. Listen carefully when directed to assist with a line. The skipper should say, for instance, “Grab the dock line.” If all you hear is “line” ask for a repeat of the command. Grab the wrong line and you could leave the dock before all are aboard or put yourself or others in peril!
On a sailboat, lines control rigging and have specific names to denote their purpose. Halyards raise and lower sails. The main sheet pulls the sail in or lets it out. Reef lines shorten sails.
A novice should not be embarrassed to ask an experienced crewmember or the captain if asked to perform an unfamiliar maneuver or directed to a forgotten vessel location. Also, ask questions as the day unfolds — it’s a lot more fun to learn this way than by just reading an article on nautical lingo.
The author is the Division 5 – Staff Officer Public Affairs, First District Southern Region, for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the all-volunteer, non-military arm of the Coast Guard, teaching boating safety education and conducting search and rescue operations. Visit http://cgaux.org/ to join the Auxiliary or for class information.
