Sentence:  She had then only to be steered very close to the buoy, when the <WSD>salvagee</WSD> was laid hold of with a boat-hook, and the bite of the hawser thrown over the cross-head. But the <WSD>salvagee</WSD>, by this method, was always left at the buoy, and was, of course, more liable to chafe and wear than a hawser passed through the ring, which could be wattled with canvas, and shifted at pleasure. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A free rope on a sailing ship (one that does not have a single dedicated purpose).