Buntlines – small lines used to haul up the bottom of the sail prior to furling. There are usually four to eight buntlines across the foot of the sail. When a sail is to be furled, the buntlines and the clewlines are hauled, gather up the sail. When the sail is supported by the buntlines and clewlines, the sail is said to be hanging in its gear.
Burgoo – a porridge of coarse oatmeal and water.
Bute Dock – a dock built in Cardiff, Wales by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute opened in October 1839.
Capstan – a vertical windlass used for raising yards, anchors and any other heavy object aboard ship.
Cardiff, Wales – the capital and largest city in Wales and the tenth largest city in the United Kingdom. In the early twentieth century, Cardiff was the largest exporter of coal in the world.
Clew – the lower corners of a square sail or the lower aft corner of a fore and aft sail.
Clewlines – lines used to haul up the lower corners of a sail prior to furling. See also, buntlines.
Clipper ship – a very fast sailing ship of the mid 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. The clipper ship era began the 1830s and ended around 1870.
Close-hauled – when a ship is sailing as close to the wind as it can. A square-rigged ship could usually sail no closer than five to seven points to the wind.
Compass Points – the compass is divided into 32 points. Each point is 11.25 degrees.
Course – In navigation, the course is a direction that the ship is sailing, often also called a compass course. In sails, a course is the lowest square sail on a mast. The main course is often called the main sail and the fore course is often referred to as the fore sail.
Coxcombing – a variety of different styles of decorate knot work using hitches and whipping. French Whipping is a common style of coxcombing.
Cringle – an eye through which to pass a rope, a small hole anywhere a sail, rimmed with stranded cordage. Similar to a grommet.
Cro'jack – the mizzen course. See Course
Crosstrees – two horizontal struts at the upper ends of the topmasts used to anchor the shrouds from the topgallant mast.
Davits – frames used to store ships boats which can be quickly swung over the side to allow the boats to be lowered.
Deal planks – A softwood plank, often fir or pine.
Dogwatch – a work shift, between 1600 and 2000 (4pm and 8pm). This period is split into two, with the first dog watch from 1600 to 1800 (4pm to 6pm) and the second dog watch from 1800 to 2000 (6pm to 8pm). Each of these watches is half the length of a standard watch. Effect of the two half watches is to shift the watch schedule daily so that the sailors do not stand the same watch every day. See Watches.
Doldrums – region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light winds, or squalls.
Donkey boiler – A steam boiler on a ship deck used to supply steam to deck machinery.
Donkey's breakfast – a thin sailor's mattress typically filled with straw.
Downhaul – A line used to pull down a sail or yard
Fife rail – a rail at the base of a mast of a sailing vessel, fitted with pins for belaying running rigging. See Pin rail.
Figurehead – a carved wooden decoration, often of person, at the prow of a ship. While figureheads are often carvings of women, they can also be of men as well as animals or mythological creatures.
Flying jib – a sail outside the jib on an extension of the jibboom.
Fo'c'sle house, or fo'c'sle – the accommodation space for sailors. At one time in merchant ships, sailors were berthed in the raised forward part of the ship referred to as the fo'c'sle. Later when the accommodations were moved to a cabin on the main deck the deck house continued to be referred to as the fo'c'sle.
Footropes – a rope of cable secured below a yard to a provide a place for a sailor to stand while tending sail.
Fore-reaching – a form of heaving-to in which the ship continues to slowly sail forward on a close reach rather than losing ground and drifting backward.
Foremast – the forward-most mast.
Foresail – the fore course, the lowest square sail on the foremast.
Forestay – stay supporting the foremast.
Freeboard – the amount of ship's hull above the water, the distance from the waterline to the deck edge.
Freeing port – in a steel bulwark, a heavy hinged flap that allows water on deck to flow overboard.
French leave – slang, departing without permission, explanation or leave.
Furious Fifties – the name given to strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees.
Futtock shrouds – shrouds running from the outer edges of a top downwards and inwards to a point on the mast or lower shrouds, and carry the load of the shrouds that rise from the edge of the top. See Shroud.
Gammoning band – The lashing or iron band by which the bowsprit of a vessel is secured to the stem to opposite the lifting action of the forestays.
Gantline – a line rove through a block for hoisting rigging, spars, provisions or other items.
Gaskets – gaskets are lengths of rope or fabric used to hold a stowed sail in place, on yachts commonly called sail ties.
Gunwale – also gunnel, the upper deck edge of a ship or boat.
Half-deck – the cabin where the apprentices are lodged. The location of the half-deck can vary between ships, from the cabin to the tween deck to a separate cabin on deck. The half-deck refers not to a specific location but to its function as home to the apprentices.
Halyards – a line used to raise a sail or a yard. Originally from "haul yard.”
Harriet Lane – slang for canned meat. Harriet Lane was a murder victim, who was chopped up by her killer around 1875. Merchant sailors came to call any canned meat, Harriet Lane.
Hatch – an opening in the deck of a ship. The main deck hatches are the main access for loading and discharging ship's cargo.
Hatch coaming – A raised frame around a hatch; it forms a support for the hatch cover.
Hatch cover – planks usually held together by metal strapping which form a rectangular panel. These were supported over a hatch by hatch beams. The hatch covers were then made watertight by stretching a tarpaulin across the hatch which was held tight by wedges.
Hatch wedges – wedges used to secure the hatch tarpaulin
Hawser – a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship.
Heave to, hove to – in extreme weather conditions, to heave to allows the ship to keep a controlled angle to the wind and seas by balancing effects the reduced sail and and a lashed helm, to wait out the storm. The ships drifts backwards slowly generally under control without the need for active sail-handling.
Jackstay – an iron rod, wooden bar, or wire rope along a yard to which the sails are fastened.
Jarvis Patent brace winch – a manual winch invented by Captain John Charles Barron Jarvis that drastically reduced the number of sailors required to brace the sails. The winch also improved crew safety as it moved the sailors toward centerline and away from the ship's rail, decreasing the chance of sailors being swept overboard or injured by boarding waves. Notwithstanding that the winches were very successful, they were never adopted on British or American ships.