Hell and High Water: Boat Talk

This is a page listing the boating terminology used in the book Hell and High Water, in alphabetical order.

A

* **Anchor**: a heavy object attached to a chain that you drop from the boat in order to stop the boat from moving.
* **Anchor’s fluke**: the flukes on an anchor are the parts that hook to the bottom of the ocean in order to stop the boat from moving.

B

* **Barometer**: a device used to measure atmospheric pressure.
* **Beam reach**: when the wind is coming into the sails from approximately a right angle to the boat.
* **Belowdecks**: the space below the main deck of a boat.
* **Berth**: a bed that’s fixed to the boat’s walls.
* **Bilge**: the bottom of the inside of a boat.
* **Block and tackle**: a pulley system used to increase lifting or pulling power.
* **Bobstay**: a chain or rope that is attached to a boat's bowsprit (which is a pole that protrudes from the front of the boat), and it’s used to hold it down and keep it steady.
* **Boom**: the pole at the bottom of the sail that gives the sail its shape and holds it in place.
* **Bow**: the front part of a boat.
* **Bowsprit**: a pole that protrudes from the front of the boat and it’s used to tie ropes to.
* **Bowline**: a rope tied to the bow of a boat that is used to attach the boat to a dock, buoy, or other object.
* **Brine**: water that has a lot of salt in it.
* **Bulkhead**: a wall or other divider that separates spaces inside a boat.

C

* **Cargo**: the items you are transporting on the boat.
* **Capsize**: if a boat capsizes, it means that it has turned upside down or onto its side.
* **Careens** (to the side): if a boat careens, it means that it's tilting heavily to one side.
* **Cleat**: a hook or securing point where you can tie ropes on a boat.
* **Close-hauled**: when a boat is pointing almost into the wind.
* **Cockpit**: the place on a boat where the controls are.
* **Companionway**: the stairs that go from one boat deck to another.
* **Crosstrees**: a pair of horizontal bars attached to a sailing boat's mast (the vertical pole) and used to attach ropes to.

D

* **Deckhand**: a member of a ship's crew whose duties include cleaning, mooring, and cargo handling.
* **Deep-sixing**: throwing something overboard.
* **Dinghy**: a very small boat.
* **Dismasted boat**: A boat that has lost its main mast, the main pole to which usually the sails are attached to.
* **Draft**: a boat's draft is how far under the water the lowest part of the boat is.
* **Drogue**: a sea anchor that can be used to slow or steer a vessel by creating drag without touching the bottom.

E

* **Easing a line**: loosening a rope.

F

* **Fender**: a cushion that prevents a boat from being damaged by hitting a dock or getting in contact with another boat.
* **Foredeck**: the deck at the front of the boat.
* **Foresail**: (or fores'l) a type of sail set on the foremost mast.
* **Fluke**: the flukes on an anchor are the parts that hook to the bottom of the ocean in order to stop the boat from moving.

G

* **Gunwales**: the sides/walls of the boat that stop you from falling off the deck.

H

* **Halyards**: ropes used to raise the sails.
* **Hawse**: the hole in the boat through which the chain or the rope for an anchor goes through.
* **Helming a boat**: controlling the boat and steering it left or right.
* **Hold**: the room in the boat where you keep the items you are transporting (the cargo).

J

* **Jib**: the triangular sail on the front of a boat.
* **Jibing a boat**: moving the mainsail to the opposite side of a boat while the wind is coming from behind.

K

* **Knot**: this word can refer to a physical knot in a rope, or it could refer to the measure of speed at which the boat is sailing (nautical miles per hour).

L

* **Lee cloths**: used to keep sleeping sailors from falling out of their berths as a boat tilts.
* **Lifelines**: a safety feature on a boat that consists of ropes that either stop you from falling off the boat or can be used to rescue someone if they have already fallen into the water.
* **Lines**: the ropes on a boat.
* **Listing** (to port/starboard): if a boat lists, it means that it is tilting, leaning on one side.

M

* **Mainsail**: (or mains'l) the principal sail on a boat.
* **Manifest**: a document listing the cargo, passengers, and crew of a boat, for official use.
* **Mast**: a long vertical pole on the boat to which you attach the sails.
* **Masthead**: the top part of the mast pole on the boat.
* **Metal fittings**: metal screws or other small parts that keep the furnishing and various parts of the boat together.
* **Monkey’s fist**: a large rope knot.
* **Mooring a boat**: tying a boat with a rope to a dock or other anchored place.
* **Motor prop**: the propeller of a boat. It’s a metal spiral under the boat that makes the boat move by turning into the water.

N

* **Nautical mile**: a unit used to measure distances at sea (It is equal to 1,852 metres or approx 2,025 yards).
* **Neap tides**: weaker tides that correspond to the first and third quarters of the moon.

P

* **Peak halyard**: a line that raises the end of a pole which is further from the mast.
* **Port side**: the left side of a boat if you're facing forward.
* **Prop** or **Propeller**: the metal spiral that makes the boat move by turning into the water.

R

* **Rig** or **Rigging**: the collective name of all the masts, booms, spars (so all the poles that keep the sails in place), ropes and sails that you have on your boat, and how you have arranged them.
* **Rudder**: the mechanism under the boat that allows you to steer a boat left or right.
* **Rudderpost**: a vertical pole attached to the rudder that is part of the mechanism that allows you to steer a boat.

S

* **Sculling**: having to move a boat by rowing.
* **Sheets**: ropes attached to the lower corners of the sails.
* **Skipper**: the person who has command of a boat and over the whole crew.
* **Slacking a line or a sheet**: loosening a rope.
* **Spar**: a pole made of wood or metal that is used to shape the sails.
* **Stanchions**: vertical poles located around the perimeter of a boat.
* **Starboard side**: the right side of a boat if you're facing forward.
* **Staysail**: (or stays'l) a sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast.
* **Steering**: driving the boat.
* **Stern**: the back of a boat.
* **Stowaway**: someone who secretly boards a ship.
* **Strait**: a narrow passage of water connecting two seas or two other large areas of water.
* **Supercargo**: the person responsible for the cargo (the things you are transporting) on a boat.

T

* **Telltale**: a piece of yarn or fabric attached to the sail that helps you to see in which direction is the wind blowing.
* **Throat halyard**: a l ine that raises the end of a pole which is nearer to the mast
* **Tiller**: a horizontal bar at the back of the boat that you use to steer the boat left or right. Bigger boats have a wheel for driving, but smaller boats usually have a tiller. Some boats with wheels can have an"emergency tiller" in case the wheel stops working.
* **Toe rail**: a narrow strip that runs along the edges of a boat and stops you from slipping off the boat.
* **Topping lift**: a line which applies upward force on a boom on a sailboat.
* **Trimming the sails**: adjusting them to the best position relative to the wind.

V

* **Vessel**: a vehicle that moves on water, so for example a boat or a ship.

W

* **Wake**: the series of waves that are created in the water by the passage of a boat.
* **Williwaw**: a sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea.
* **Wheel**: the round device used to drive the boat. Smaller boats will only have a tiller, and not a wheel. Some boats with wheels can have an "emergency tiller" in case the wheel stops working.
* **Wheelhouse**: the room or space on a boat or ship that contains the steering wheel, from which the vehicle is driven.
* **Whisker pole**: a pole to which the sail is attached, used to manoeuvre the sail.