Sailing on a bowline Sailing on a wind or close-hauled when the bowlines would be hauled taut. Sheet home To strain or haul on a sheet until the foot of a sail is as straight and as taut as possible. Ship biscuit Hard bread, much dried, consisting of flour, water or milk, salt, which does not deteriorate when stored for long periods and therefore is suitable for use on board ship for up to a year after it was baked. Also called hard tack. Shroud One of a set of strong ropes extending on each side of a masthead to the sides of a ship to support a mast laterally.
Shrouds take their name from the spars they support.
Soft tack Seaman's term for leavened bread as distinguished from hard tack or biscuit. Spar A general term for a round piece of timber, very long in proportion to its diameter, used for masts, yards, booms, gaffs, bowsprits, and so on. Spritsail A sail attached to a yard which hangs under the bowsprit, and has a large hole at each of its lower corners to evacuate the water which fills its cavity by the surge of the sea when the ship pitches.