A


A	ABAFT	Toward the rear (stern) of the boat. Behind.
P	ABEAM	At right angles to the keel of the boat, but not on the boat.
P	ABOARD	On or within the boat.
P	ABOVE DECK	On the deck (not over it - see aloft)
P	ABREAST	Side by side; by the side of.
P	ABOUT	The situation of a ship as soon as she has tacked.
P	ABOUT SHIP!	The order to prepare for tacking.
P	ADRIFT	Loose, not on moorings or towline.
P	AFT	Toward the stern of the boat.
P	AGROUND	Touching or fast to the bottom.
P	AHEAD	In a forward direction.
P	AIDS TO NAVIGATION	Artificial objects to supplement natural landmarks indicating safe and unsafe waters.
P	ALEE	Away from the direction of the wind. Opposite of windward.
P	ALL IN THE WIND	The state of a ship's sails when they are parallel to the direction of the wind, so as to shake, or quiver.
P	ALOFT	Above the deck of the boat.
P	ALONG SHORE	Along the coast; a coast which is in the sight of the shore, and nearly parallel to it.
P	AMIDSHIPS	In or toward the center of the boat.
P	ANCHORAGE	A place suitable for anchoring in relation to the wind, seas and bottom.
P	ASTERN	In back of the boat, opposite of ahead.
P	ATHWARTSHIPS	At right angles to the centerline of the boat; rowboat seats are generally athwart ships.
P	AVAST	The command to stop, or cease, in any operation.
P	AWEIGH	The position of anchor as it is raised clear of the bottom.
P	AWNING	A shelter or screen of canvass, spread over the decks of a ship to keep off the heat of the sun. Spread the awning, extend it so as to cover the deck.

B	BALE	Baling the boat means lading or throwing the water out of her
P	BATTEN DOWN	Secure hatches and loose objects both within the hull and on deck
P	UNDER BARE POLES	When a ship has no sail set.
P	BEAM	The greatest width of the boat.
P	BEARING	The direction of an object expressed either as a true bearing as shown on the chart, or as a bearing relative to the heading of the boat.
P	BELAY	To fasten a rope, by winding it several times backwards and forwards on a cleat or pin.
P	BELOW	Beneath the deck.
P	BIGHT	The part of the rope or line, between the end and the standing part, on which a knot is formed.
P	BILGE	The interior of the hull below the floor boards.
P	BILGE-WATER	Is that which, by reason of the flatness of a ship's bottom, lies on her floor, and cannot go to the pump.
P	BINNACLE	A kind of box to contain the compasses in upon the deck.
P	BITTS	Very large pieces of timber in the fore-part of a ship, round which the cables are fastened when the ship is at anchor.
P	BITTER END	The last part of a rope or chain. The inboard end of the anchor rode.
P	BOAT	A fairly indefinite term. A waterborne vehicle smaller than a ship. One definition is a small craft carried aboard a ship.
P	BOAT HOOK	A short shaft with a fitting at one end shaped to facilitate use in putting a line over a piling, recovering an object dropped overboard, or in pushing or fending off.
P	BOATSWAIN or BOSUN	The Warrant Officer in charge of sails, rigging, anchors and associated gear.
P	BONNET	Is an additional piece of canvas put to the sail in moderate weather to hold more wind.
P	BOOT TOP	A painted line that indicates the designed waterline.
P	BOOTY	Term for profits taken from plunder.
P	BOW	The forward part of a boat.
P	BOW LINE	A docking line leading from the bow.
P	BOWLINE	A knot used to form a temporary loop in the end of a line.
P	BOWSPRIT	A large piece of timber which stands out from the bows of a ship.
P	BOXHAULING	A particular method of veering a ship, when the swell of the sea renders tacking impracticable.
P	BRIDGE	The location from which a vessel is steered and its speed controlled. "Control Station" is really a more appropriate term for small craft.
P	BRIDLE	A line or wire secured at both ends in order to distribute a strain between two points.
P	BRIGHTWORK	Varnished woodwork and/or polished metal.
P	BROADSIDE	A discharge of all the guns on one side of a ship both above and bellow.
P	BULKHEAD	A vertical partition separating compartments.
P	BUOY	An anchored float used for marking a position on the water or a hazard or a shoal and for mooring.
P	BURDENED VESSEL	That vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rules, must give way to the privileged vessel.

C	CABIN	A compartment for passengers or crew
P	CAPSIZE	To turn over.
P	CAREEN	To heel over a ship to clean the seaweed and barnacles from her bottom.
P	CAST OFF	To let go.
P	CAT-O'-NINE-TAILS	A whip made from knotted ropes, used to punish crewmen. What was meant by being "flogged".
P	CHAFING GEAR	Tubing or cloth wrapping used to protect a line from chafing on a rough surface.
P	CHAIN SHOT	Two cannonballs chained together and aimed high to destroy masts and rigging.
P	CHART	A map for use by navigators.
P	CHASE	A vessel pursued by some other.
P	CHASER	The vessel pursuing.
P	CHINE	The intersection of the bottom and sides of a flat or v-bottomed boat.
P	CHOCK	A fitting through which anchor or mooring lines are led. Usually U-shaped to reduce chafe.
P	CLEAT	A fitting to which lines are made fast. The classic cleat to which lines are belayed is approximately anvil-shaped.
P	CLOVE HITCH	A knot for temporarily fastening a line to a spar or piling.
P	COAMING	A vertical piece around the edge of a cockpit, hatch, etc. to prevent water on deck from running below.
P	COG	A ship developed to withstand pirate attacks. It had very high sides and a raised bow and stern.
P	COIL	To lay a line down in circular turns.
P	COMMISSIONS	Governments would issue these licenses to privateers. They authorized raids on foreign shipping.
P	COURSE	The direction in which a boat is steered.
P	CRINGLE	A strand of small rope introduced several times through the bolt rope of a sail, and twisted, to which ropes are fastened
P	CROW-FOOT	Is a number of small lines spread from the fore-parts of the tops, and being hauled taut upon the stays, to prevent the foot of the top-sails catching under the top rim; are also used to suspend the awnings.
P	CUDDY	A small shelter cabin in a boat.
P	CURRENT	The horizontal movement of water.
P	CUTLASS	A short, curved, thick sword. The preferred weapon of many a buccaneer.

D	DEAD AHEAD	Directly ahead.
P	DEAD ASTERN	Directly aft.
P	DEAD WATER	The eddy water, which appears like whirlpools, closing in with the ship's stern, as she sails on.
P	DECK	A permanent covering over a compartment, hull or any part thereof.
P	DINGHY	A small open boat. A dinghy is often used as a tender for a larger craft.
P	DIRK	A long thin knife. It was used for fighting in close quarters, as well as cutting rope.
P	DISMASTED	The state of a ship that has lost her masts.
P	DISPLACEMENT	The weight of water displaced by a floating vessel, thus, a boat's weight.
P	DISPLACEMENT HULL	A type of hull that plows through the water, displacing a weight of water equal to its own weight, even when more power is added.
P	DOCK	A protected water area in which vessels are moored. The term is often used to denote a pier or a wharf.
P	DOGWATCH	The watches from four to six, and from six to eight, in the evening.
P	DOLPHIN	A group of piles driven close together and bound with wire cables into a single structure
P	DOUBLING	The act of sailing round or passing beyond a cape or point or land.
P	DOUBLOON	A gold coin minted by Spain or Spanish colonies. Worth about seven weeks pay for an average sailor.
P	DOWN THE HATCH	Drinking expression that seems to have its origins in sea freight, where cargoes are lowered into the hatch.
P	DOWNHAUL	The rope by which any sail is hauled down.
P	DOWSE	To lower suddenly, or slacken.
P	DRAFT	The depth of water a boat draws.
P	DRIFT	The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves when laying to. It also implies the distance which the ship drives on that line.
P	DUFFLE	A name given to a Sailor's personal effects. Also spelled duffel, it referred to his principal clothing as well as to the seabag in which he carried and stowed it.

E	ENSIGN	The flag worn at the stern of a ship.
P	EVEN KEEL	When the keel is parallel with the horizon.

F	FAG END	The end of a rope fagged out.
P	FAIR-WAY	The channel of a narrow bay, river, or haven, in which ships usually advance in their passage up and down.
P	FATHOM	A measure of six feet, used to describe the depth of water.
P	FENDER	A cushion, placed between boats, or between a boat and a pier, to prevent damage.
P	FIGURE EIGHT KNOT	A knot in the form of a figure eight, placed in the end of a line to prevent the line from passing through a grommet or a block.
P	FLARE	The outward curve of a vessel's sides near the bow. A distress signal.
P	FLOOD	A incoming current.
P	FLOORBOARDS	The surface of the cockpit on which the crew stand.
P	FOUNDER	To sink at sea by filling with water.
P	FLUKE	The palm of an anchor.
P	FOLLOWING SEA	An overtaking sea that comes from astern.
P	FORE-AND-AFT	In a line parallel to the keel.
P	FORECASTLE	The upper deck in the fore part of the ship.
P	FOREPEAK	A compartment in the bow of a small boat.
P	FORWARD	Toward the bow of the boat.
P	FOULED	Any piece of equipment that is jammed or entangled, or dirtied.
P	FREEBOARD	The minimum vertical distance from the surface of the water to the gunwale.
P	FUTTOCK SHROUDS	The shrouds which connect the lower and top mast rigging together.

G	GAGE OF THE SHIP	Her depth of water, or what water she draws.
P	GALLEY	The kitchen area of a boat.
P	GANGWAY	The area of a ship's side where people board and disembark.
P	GRAB RAILS	Hand-hold fittings mounted on cabin tops and sides for personal safety when moving around the boat.
P	GROUND TACKLE	A collective term for the anchor and its associated gear.
P	GUNWALE	The upper edge of a boat's sides.

H	HARD CHINE	An abrupt intersection between the hull side and the hull bottom of a boat so constructed.
P	HATCH	An opening in a boat's deck fitted with a watertight cover.
P	HAUL	To pull a rope.
P	HEAD	A marine toilet. Also the upper corner of a triangular sail.
P	HEADING	The direction in which a vessel's bow points at any given time.
P	HEADWAY	The forward motion of a boat. Opposite of sternway.
P	HEAVE AHEAD	To advance the ship by heaving in the cable or other rope fastened to an anchor at some distance before her.
P	HEAVE ASTERN	To move a ship backwards by an operation similar to that of heaving ahead.
P	HELM	The wheel or tiller controlling the rudder.
P	HELMSPERSON	The person who steers the boat.
P	HIGH AND DRY	The situation of a ship when so far run a-ground as to be seen dry upon the strand.
P	HITCH	A knot used to secure a rope to another object or to another rope, or to form a loop or a noose in a rope.
P	HOIST	To draw up any body by the assistance of one or more tackles. Pulling by means of a single block is never termed HOISTING, except only the drawing of the sails upwards along the masts or stays.
P	HOLD	A compartment below deck in a large vessel, used solely for carrying cargo.
P	HULL	The main body of a vessel.

I	INBOARD	More toward the center of a vessel; inside; a motor fitted inside a boat

J	JACOBS LADDER	A rope ladder, lowered from the deck, as when pilots or passengers come aboard. JETTY - A structure, usually masonry, projecting out from the shore; a jetty may protect a harbor entrance.
P	JIB	The foremost sail of a ship, set upon a boom which runs out from the bowsprit.
P	JOLLY ROGER	The pirate's flag. It had a black background and a symbol (usually white) symbolizing death. The jolly roger came into use about 1700.

K	KEEL	The centerline of a boat running fore and aft; the backbone of a vessel.
P	KEELHAUL	To drag a person backwards and forwards under a ship's keel, for certain offences.
P	KNOT	A measure of speed equal to one nautical mile (6076 feet) per hour.
P		A fastening made by interweaving rope to form a stopper, to enclose or bind an object, to form a loop or a noose, to tie a small rope to an object, or to tie the ends of two small ropes together.

L	LAND HO!	Traditional calling when a sailor sights land.
P	LANDFALL	The first land discovered after a sea voyage. Thus a good landfall implies the land expected or desired, a bad landfall the reverse.
P	LANDLUBBER	Lubber is an old slang word for someone who is stupid and lazy. Sailors added land to it to describe someone stupid about the ways of life aboard a ship.
P	LATITUDE	The distance north or south of the equator measured and expressed in degrees.
P	LAZARETTE	A storage space in a boat's stern area.
P	LEAK	A chink or breach in the sides or bottom of a ship, through which the water enters into the hull.
P	LEE	The side sheltered from the wind.
P	LEEWARD	The direction away from the wind. Opposite of windward.
P	LEEWAY	The sideways movement of the boat caused by either wind or current.
P	LINE	Rope and cordage used aboard a vessel.
P	LOG	A record of courses or operation. Also, a device to measure speed.
P	LONGITUDE	The distance in degrees east or west of the meridian at Greenwich, England.
P	LOOKOUT	A watchful attention to some important object or event that is expected to arise. Thus persons on board of a ship are occasionally stationed to look out for signals, other ships, for land, etc.
P	LUBBER'S LINE	A mark or permanent line on a compass indicating the direction forward parallel to the keel when properly installed.
P	LUFF	The order to the steersman to put the helm towards the lee side of the ship, in order to sail nearer to the wind.

M	MAGAZINE	A place where gunpowder is kept.
P	MAKE LAND	To discover land from afar.
P	MARLINSPIKE	A tool for opening the strands of a rope while splicing.
P	MAROON	Pirates used marooning as an act of punishment. A transgressor of their codes would be stripped and left upon an isolated island with only a few supplies, if any at all. Most transgressors preferred a quick death to marooning, for it could mean starvation or worse, isolation for years, until rescue or death.
P	MATE	The word mate comes from the word meat, and originally meant people who shared food. Later it came to be known as a companion. Mate was also the title of an officer aboard naval and merchant ships. The mate oversaw the sailors, ensuring that the captain's orders were carried out. He also was responsible for stowing cargo and organizing the crew's work.
P	MIDSHIP	Approximately in the location equally distant from the bow and stern.
P	MONKEY	A small cannon.
P	MOORING	An arrangement for securing a boat to a mooring buoy or a pier.

N	NARROWS	A small passage between two lands.
P	NAUTICAL MILE	One minute of latitude; approximately 6076 feet - about 1/8 longer than the statute mile of 5280 feet.
P	NAVIGATION	The art and science of conducting a boat safely from one point to another.
P	NAVIGATION RULES	The regulations governing the movement of vessels in relation to each other, generally called steering and sailing rules.

0	OFFWARD	From the shore; as when a ship lies a-ground, and leans towards the sea, she is said to heel offward
P	ORLOP	The deck on which the cables are stowed.
P	OVERBOARD	Over the side or out of the boat.
P	OVERSET	A ship is overset when her keel turns upwards.

P	PEG LEG	This was a nickname, given by pirates to those who had replaced a leg with a wooden prosthetic.
P	PIECE OF EIGHT	Also known as peso. Main coin in the Spanish-American colonies. It had a value of eight reales. Often the coin would be cut into 8 sections, each one representing 1 reale. Hence the name "piece of eight".
P	PIER	A loading platform extending at an angle from the shore.
P	PILE	A wood, metal or concrete pole driven into the bottom. Craft may be made fast to a pile; it may be used to support a pier or a float.
P	PILING	Support, protection for wharves, piers etc.; constructed of piles (see pile)
P	PILOTING	Navigation by use of visible references, the depth of the water, etc.
P	PLANING	A boat is said to be planing when it is essentially moving over the top of the water rather than through the water.
P	POINT BLANK	The direction of a gun when leveled horizontally.
P	PORT	The left side of a boat looking forward. A harbor.
P	PORTS	The holes in the ship's sides from which the guns are fired.
P	PREVENTER	An extra rope, to assist another.
P	PRIVELEGED VESSEL	A vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rule, has right-of-way (this term has been superseded by the term "stand-on").
P	PRIZE	An enemy vessel captured at sea by a warship or Privateer. Technically, these ships belonged to the crown, but after review by the Admiralty Court and condemnation, they were sold and the and the prize money shared.
P	PURCHASE	To purchase the anchor, is to loosen it out of the ground.

Q	QUARTER	The sides of a boat aft of amidships.
Q	QUARTERMASTER	Under pirates, the quartermaster had an almost equal amount of authority as the captain. He maintained order, settled arguments, and distributed supplies. The quartermaster was in charge of all booty gained and distributed it among the crew.
Q	QUARTERS	The several stations of a ship's crew in time of action.
Q	QUARTERING SEA	Sea coming on a boat's quarter.

R	RAKE	To cannonade a ship at the stern or head, so that the balls scour the whole length of the decks.
R	RANGE OF CABLE	A sufficient length of cable, drawn upon the deck before the anchor is cast loose, to admit of its sinking to the bottom without any check.
R	READY ABOUT!	A command of the boatswain to the crew, and implies that all the hands are to be attentive, and at their stations for tacking.
R	REEF	Part of a sail from one row of eyelet-holes to another. It is applied likewise to a chain of rocks lying near the surface of the water.
R	REEVE	To reeve a rope, is to put it through a block, and to unreeve it, is to take it out of the block.
R	RIDE AT ANCHOR	Is when a ship is held by her anchors, and is not driven by wind or tide. To ride athwart, is to ride with the ship's side to the tide. To ride hawsefallen, is when the water breaks into the hawse in a rough sea.
R	RIG	To put the ropes in their proper places.
R	RODE	The anchor line and/or chain.
R	ROLLING	The motion by which a ship rocks from side to side like a cradle.
R	ROPE	In general, cordage as it is purchased at the store. When it comes aboard a vessel and is put to use it becomes line.
R	ROPE YARN	Is what the cordage and cables are made with.
R	RUDDER	A vertical plate or board for steering a boat.
R	RULLOCK	The nitch in a boat's side, in which the oars are used.
R	RUN	To allow a line to feed freely.
R	RUN A SHOT ACROSS THE BOW	Command to fire a warning shot.

S	SCOPE	Technically, the ratio of length of anchor rode in use to the vertical distance from the bow of the vessel to the bottom of the water. Usually six to seven to one for calm weather and more scope in storm conditions.
S	SCUDD	To go right before the wind; and going in this direction without any sail set is called spooning.
S	SCUPPERS	Drain holes on deck, in the toe rail, or in bulwarks or (with drain pipes) in the deck itself.
S	SCUTTLE	To sink.
S	SEA COCK	A through hull valve, a shut off on a plumbing or drain pipe between the vessel's interior and the sea.
S	SEAMANSHIP	All the arts and skills of boat handling, ranging from maintenance and repairs to piloting, sail handling, marlinespike work, and rigging.
S	SEA ROOM	A safe distance from the shore or other hazards.
S	SEAWORTHY	A boat or a boat's gear able to meet the usual sea conditions.
S	SECURE	To make fast.
S	SET	Direction toward which the current is flowing.
S	SET SAIL	To unfurl and expand the sails to the wind, in order to give motion to the ship.
S	SHIFT THE HELM	To alter its position from right to left, or from left to right.
S	SHIP	A larger vessel usually thought of as being used for ocean travel. A vessel able to carry a "boat" on board.
S	SHIPSHAPE	Doing anything in a sailor-like manner.
S	SHOAL	Shallow, not deep.
S	SHORTEN SAIL	Opposite of set sail.
S	SKIDDS	Pieces of wood to put over the sides to hinder any thing from rubbing the sides.
S	SLACK	Not fastened; loose. Also, to loosen.
S	SLACKWATER	The interval between the flux and reflux of the tide, when no motion is perceptible in the water.
S	SMOKING LAMP	The smoking lamp was a safety measure. It was devised mainly to keep the fire hazard (smoking seamen) away from highly combustible woodwork and gunpowder. Usually, the lamp was located in the forecastle or the area directly surrounding the galley indicting that smoking was permitted in this area.
S	SOLE	Cabin or saloon floor. Timber extensions on the bottom of the rudder. Also the molded fiberglass deck of a cockpit.
S	SOUNDING	A measurement of the depth of water.
S	SPRAY	The sprinkling of a sea, driven occasionally from the top of a wave.
S	SPRING LINE	A pivot line used in docking, undocking, or to prevent the boat from moving forward or astern while made fast to a dock.
S	SQUALL	A sudden, violent wind often accompanied by rain.
S	SQUARE KNOT	A knot used to join two lines of similar size. Also called a reef knot.
S	STANDING PART	That part of a line which is made fast. The main part of a line as distinguished from the bight and the end.
S	STAND-ON VESSEL	That vessel which has right-of-way during a meeting, crossing, or overtaking situation.
S	STARBOARD	The right side of a boat when looking forward.
S	STEM	The forward most part of the bow.
S	STERN	The after part of the boat.
S	STERN LINE	A docking line leading from the stern.
S	STOW	To arrange and dispose a ship's cargo.
S	STRANDED	When a vessel is got aground on some rocks, and filled with water.
S	STRIKE	To lower or let down any thing. Used emphatically to denote the lowering of colors in token of surrender to a victorious enemy.
S	SWAB	A kind of large mop, made of junk, to clean a ship's deck with. It is also an insult intended to show contempt for a crude, ignorant person.
S	SWAMP	To fill with water, but not settle to the bottom.
S	SWINGING	The act of a ship's turning round her anchor at the change of wind or tide.

T	TACK	To turn a ship about from one tack to another, by bringing her head to the wind.
T	THWARTSHIPS	At right angles to the centerline of the boat.
T	TIDE	The periodic rise and fall of water level in the oceans.
T	TILLER	A large piece of wood, or beam, put into the head of the rudder, and by means of which the rudder is moved.
T	TIMBERS	What the frame is composed of.
T	TOPSIDES	The sides of a vessel between the waterline and the deck; sometimes referring to onto or above the deck.
T	TRANSOM	The stern cross-section of a square sterned boat.
T	TRIM	Fore and aft balance of a boat.

U	UNDERWAY	Vessel in motion, i.e., when not moored, at anchor, or aground.
U	UNFURL	Cast loose the gasket of the sails.

Y	V BOTTOM	A hull with the bottom section in the shape of a "V".
Y	VAN	The foremost division of a fleet in one line. It is likewise applied to the foremost ship of a division.
Y	VANE	A small kind of flag worn at each mast head.
Y	VEER	To change a ship's course from one tack to the other, by turning her stern to windward.

W	WAKE	Moving waves, track or path that a boat leaves behind it, when moving across the waters.
W	WALK THE PLANK	Walking the Plank referred to blindfolding a prisoner, tying his hands to his sides, and forcing him to walk a plank that was suspended out over the sea.
W	WATERLINE	A line painted on a hull which shows the point to which a boat sinks when it is properly trimmed.
W	WATERLOGGED	The state of a ship become heavy and inactive on the sea, from the great quantity of water leaked into her.
W	WAY	Movement of a vessel through the water such as headway, sternway or leeway.
W	WIND'S EYE	The point from which the wind blows.
W	WINDWARD	Toward the direction from which the wind is coming.

Y	YAW	To swing or steer off course, as when running with a quartering sea.

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