How to Sound Salty

Sheer - The upward curve of a vessel's longitudinal lines as viewed from the side.

Sheet - A line used to trim sails.

Ship's bell - Striking the ship's bell is the traditional method of marking time and regulating the crew's watches. Also used as a warning of a vessel’s presence in fog.

Shoal - Shallow water that is a hazard to navigation.

Shoal draft - a vessel with shallow draft, capable of sailing in unusually shallow water.

Shoaling - A phenomenon occurring as the waves enter a shallow water - their movement forward is slowed down because of the bottom friction, and thus their height increases.

Shroud - The wires holding the mast at the sides.

Skeg - A downward or sternward projection from the keel in front of the rudder. Protects the rudder from damage, and in bilge keelers may provide one "leg" of a tripod on which the boat stands when the tide is out.

Skipper - The Captain of a ship.

Sounding - Measuring the depth of the water.

Spar - A general name for all masts, booms, gaffs, and bowsprits.

Spinnaker - A large sail flown in front of the vessel while heading downwind.

Spinnaker pole - A spar used to help control a spinnaker or other headsail.

Splice - To join lines (ropes, cables etc.) by unravelling their ends and intertwining them to form a continuous line. To form an eye or a knot by splicing.
Splice the Mainbrace- Have a drink (see History of this phrase here)

Spreaders - The wooden or metal struts that are attached horizontally to the upper section of the mast, on both sides.  They widen the angle of the shrouds, and thus provide a better support for the mast.

Stanchion - vertical post near a deck's edge that supports life-lines. A timber fitted in between the frame heads on a wooden hull or a bracket on a steel vessel, approx one meter high, to support the bulwark plank or plating and the rail.

Standing rigging - Rigging which is used to support masts and spars, and is not normally manipulated during normal operations. Cf. running rigging.

Stand-on vessel  - A boat that has the right-of-way over the give-way vessel.  It must maintain its course and speed unless a collision is imminent.

Starboard - Towards the right-hand side of a vessel facing forward. Denoted with a green light at night.

Starboard Side - The boat's right side.

Starboard tack - When sailing with the wind coming from the starboard side of the vessel. Has right of way over boats on port tack.  A vessel on a starboard tack has its sails on the port side.

Stays - Wires supporting the mast - fore and aft .

Staysail - A sail whose luff is attached to a forestay.

Stem - The extension of keel at the forward end of a ship.

Stern - The back of the boat.

Stopper knot - A knot tied in the end of a rope, usually to stop it passing through a hole; most commonly a figure-of-eight knot.

Surf - A continuous line of breakers at the shore.

Swinging the compass - Measuring the accuracy in a ship's magnetic compass so its readings can be adjusted - often by turning the ship and taking bearings on reference points.

Tabernacle - A large bracket attached firmly to the deck, to which the foot of the mast is fixed. It has two sides or cheeks and a bolt forming the pivot around which the mast is raised and lowered.

Tack - (verb) to come about  (see coming about.) (noun) the fore corner of a triangular sail.

Tack hook - A snap used to hold the tack of the jib  at the bow, while the sail is raised.

Tack pin - A pin used to secure the tack of a triangular sail at the mast.

Tacking - see coming about

Taffrail - A rail at the stern of the boat that covers the head of the counter timbers.

Telltales - Short pieces of yarn attached to the shrouds, or the sails.  At the shrouds they indicate the direction of the apparent wind , and on the sails they help to check the air flow over the sail, so that proper trimming is easier.

The Ensign - A flag indicating nationality of the vessel.

Tiller  - A spar attached to the rudder by the rudder head , used to control the direction of the boat.  Another possibility for steering mechanism is a steering wheel.

Toe-rail - A low strip running around the edge of the deck like a low bulwark. It may be shortened or have gaps (scuppers) in it to allow water to flow off the deck.

Topsides - the part of the hull between the waterline and the deck.

Traffic Separation Scheme - Shipping corridors marked by buoys which separate incoming from outgoing vessels.

Trampoline - The space on a catamaran, usually made of some kind of mesh, located between the two hulls .  It's a place for the crew (like a cockpit on dinghies and cruisers).

Transom - a more or less flat surface across the stern of a vessel. Dinghies tend to have almost vertical transoms, whereas yachts’ transoms may be raked forward or aft.

Traveler - A track (usually metal) with a fixture sliding on it.  The fixture holds the main sheet (usually), and the sliding allows for changing angles of the sail.

True bearing - An absolute bearing using true north.

True north - The direction of the geographical North Pole.

True wind - The strength and direction of the actual wind blowing.  While sailing, the true wind is never felt - it is always a combination of the true wind, and the boat's speed (called the apparent wind ), and it is always a little forward of the true wind.

Trysail - A very small sail, used in a very heavy weather instead of a mainsail.

Tumblehome - A description of hull shape when viewed from directly in front or from directly behind, where the widest part of the hull is someway below deck level.

Turn - A knot passing behind or around an object.

Under way - A vessel that is moving under control.

Vang - see boom vang

Watch  - A period of time during which a part of the crew is on duty. Changes of watch are marked by strokes on the ship's bell.

Waypoint  - A location defined by navigational coordinates, especially as part of a planned route.

Weigh anchor - To heave up (an anchor) preparatory to sailing.

White horses or whitecaps - Foam or spray on wave tops caused by stronger winds (usually above Force 4).

Winch - A mechanical device used to assist in pulling on lines.  It is a reel-like part of the hardware.

Windage - Wind resistance of the boat.

Windlass - A winch mechanism, most commonly used in raising the anchor.

Windward - The direction from which the wind is blowing.

Yaw - A vessel's rotational motion about the vertical axis, causing the fore and aft ends to swing from side to side repetitively.

Yawl  - A two-masted sailboat, the aft mast (the mizzenmast) is shorter than the forward (the main mast.)  The mizzenmast is located behind the rudder post - otherwise it is a ketch.

Zephyr - A gentle, warm breeze. 

In Irons - When the bow of a sailboat is headed into the wind and the boat has stalled and is unable to maneuver.

Jacklines  or jack stays - Lines, often steel wire with a plastic jacket, from the bow to the stern on both port and starboard. The Jack Lines are used to clip on the safety harness to secure the crew to the vessel while giving them the freedom to walk on the deck.

Jetsam  - Debris ejected from a ship that sinks or washes ashore. See also flotsam.

Jib - A triangular staysail at the front of a ship.

Jibboom - A spar used to extend the bowsprit.

Jibe - See gybe.

Jibsheet - The line used to pull the jib in or let it out.

Keel  - A weighted extension of a boat running below it that prevents the boat from sliding sideways. Also, the central structural basis of the hull.

Kite - Sometimes used to indicate spinnaker.

Knot - A nautical term for speed: one nautical mile per hour.  Also a term indicating a method of tying a line.

Land lubber - A person unfamiliar with being on the sea.

Lanyard - A rope that ties something off.

Lash - To tie something using a light rope.

Lateral system - A system of aids to navigation in which characteristics of buoys and beacons indicate the sides of the channel or route relative to a conventional direction of buoyage (usually upstream).

Lazarette - Small stowage locker at the aft end of a boat.

Lee shore - A shore downwind of a ship. A ship which cannot sail well to windward risks being blown onto a lee shore and grounded.

Lee side - The side of a ship sheltered from the wind.

Leech - The aft edge of the triangular sail - the one that's not attached to anything.

Leeward - (pronounced loo'ard) In the direction that the wind is blowing towards.

Leeway - The amount that a ship is blown leeward by the wind.

Lifebelt, lifejacket, life preserver or Mae West - a device such as a buoyant ring or inflatable jacket which keeps a person afloat in the water.

Liferaft - An inflatable, covered raft, used in the event of a vessel being abandoned.

Line - the correct nautical term for the majority of the cordage or "ropes" used on a vessel. A line will always have a more specific name, such as jib halyard, which describes its use.

List - The vessel's angle of lean or tilt to one side, in the direction called roll.  Also,  a record of all of the projects that the owner someday intends to get done on his boat.  He is kidding himself.

Loose footed - A mainsail that is not connected to a boom along its foot.

Lubber's line - A vertical line inside a compass case indicating the direction of the ship's head.

Luff - The forward edge of a sail.

Luff up - To luff up means to bring the boat's bow so close to the wind, that the leech of the sail begins to flap.

Lying ahull - Waiting out a storm by dousing all sails and simply letting the boat drift.