What do you call the..

[TBear60]

Oh, one more term... I didn't see Bimini in this discussion! That would be the metal supports for the canvas top. A landlubber might see this as a "metal top"!

[TrentePieds]

Well, Supercat - the jargon used by sailors is abtruse in the extreme. The reason for that is that the ocean is inimical to human activity, and the ships of old were extremely dangerous places to be. Safety of each man aboard required that every other man aboard express himself with the utmost precision. None of the slack-ass use of language that is common among Sunday sailors. Every tiny thing employed in the management of the ship had its own distinct and unmistakable name. Even a lowly OS ("Ordinary Seaman", i.e. a "greenhorn" or, in naval vessels, a "snotty") was expected to have command of that jargon and to use it.

Now we don't (often) get to sail ships anymore, but it is interesting to peruse the books that in windbag days were used to instruct "snotties". I have in my possession Haandbog i praktisk Sømandsskab (Manual of Practical Seamanship) by Jens Kusk Jensen published in 1901 by the Danish Association of Ship Owners. It gives the technical terms for all the bits and pieces found in a full rigged ship in Danish, English, German and French. Well worth a shuftie if you can find it anywhere. On the other hand, Eagle Seamanship published by the USCG is not up to much. Eagle was, as you may know, a war prize taken from the germans after WWII. Her original name was "Horst Wessel"

TP

[PineyWoodsPete]

Originally Posted by Supercat568

I watched this documentary, it's absolutely fascinating. Makes me realize how tough men used to be and how soft most of us are now. These men were men, sailing a square rig 16 million pound (8000 ton) cargo ship around cape horn every 90 days. It's the only film of its kind. I'm not sure if I'm committing an offence by putting it here? The narrator was inn his 80s when he narrated but a young man when he shot the film footage.
https://youtu.be/9tuTKhqWZso

That was Irving Johnson - what a mensch! My son, 16 years old then, met him in '80 in Monaco when he was a student/crew on the 150' schooner Te Vega of the Flint School Aboard for 9 months - sailing from Copenhagen to the Med. Johnson, then 75, was featured speaker at their graduation ceremony. After speaking he proceeded to climb Te Vega's forestay hand-over-hand to the mast truck! His film above is mesmerizing in the force 12 Cape Horn storm, preceeded by a a slightly lesser North Sea storm.

[Redline452]

I can sympathize - while I usually (always) refer to it as the "Radar arch",
ours actually carries"


Dinghy hoist (6 part tackle or electric winch)

Kayak hoist (2 part tackle above and astern of Zodiac)
Solar panels (3x120W)
WiFi Bullet M2HP and antenna
MF/HF AT140 antenna tuner (and the lower end of attached antenna)
GPS antenna
XM antenna
DSC HF receive antenna
Dinghy engine hoist folding crane
Aft PTZ camera
(and numerous spiders).
The WiFi and HF antenna tuner are mounted on a post originally designed for a wind generator, but with the solar panels we never saw the need.
What the arch does NOT carry... is the Radar scanner which is on the mast.


But I still call it the "Radar arch" more often than not, else simply "the arch".


There probably is a name...

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Redline452

I can sympathize - while I usually (always) refer to it as the "Radar arch",
ours actually carries"


Dinghy hoist (6 part tackle or electric winch)

Kayak hoist (2 part tackle above and astern of Zodiac)
Solar panels (3x120W)
WiFi Bullet M2HP and antenna
MF/HF AT140 antenna tuner (and the lower end of attached antenna)
GPS antenna
XM antenna
DSC HF receive antenna
Dinghy engine hoist folding crane
Aft PTZ camera
(and numerous spiders).
The WiFi and HF antenna tuner are mounted on a post originally designed for a wind generator, but with the solar panels we never saw the need.
What the arch does NOT carry... is the Radar scanner which is on the mast.


But I still call it the "Radar arch" more often than not, else simply "the arch".


There probably is a name...

Ours has most of that, and call it the solar arch.
But ours also holds the radar[emoji854]

[Supercat568]

Originally Posted by Seymore

Starboard comes from Viking longboats, more clearly Steering Board. It was the side with the steering oar, standard on the right side of a boat..

Port was originally Larboard, similarly contracted from Ladder Board. It was the left side, the side you put to the dock, so you didn't smash up the Steering oar on the other side, and then you put a ladder there so the crew could get to the dock.

There was too much confusion in speech between Starboard and Larboard, so in the 1800s(?) the Royal Navy decreed that the left side of a boat, the side on the dock, the Larboard, would thenceforth be called the Port side.

That's great! I love finding out the source of words like that. Makes sense to me!
Have your ever googled why roads in England are left hand drive? It's so strange..
Thank you!

[Supercat568]

Originally Posted by PineyWoodsPete

That was Irving Johnson - what a mensch! My son, 16 years old then, met him in '80 in Monaco when he was a student/crew on the 150' schooner Te Vega of the Flint School Aboard for 9 months - sailing from Copenhagen to the Med. Johnson, then 75, was featured speaker at their graduation ceremony. After speaking he proceeded to climb Te Vega's forestay hand-over-hand to the mast truck! His film above is mesmerizing in the force 12 Cape Horn storm, preceeded by a a slightly lesser North Sea storm.

Your son got to meet him? I would love to meet that man, what stories he must've had with all those years at sea. And what a story teller he is! Thank you for the comment!

[PineyWoodsPete]

Originally Posted by Supercat568

Your son got to meet him? I would love to meet that man, what stories he must've had with all those years at sea. And what a story teller he is! Thank you for the comment!

Yes, he and another student took him on a tour around Te Vega - sharing stories of the storm they hit on passage through the Bay of Biscay on their way to the Med: out on the 30' bowsprit trying the secure the outer jib in the net, repeatedly dunked and thoroughly scared! But he got the job done, and the whole experience of being part of a crew through thick and thin gave him a much more realistic view of life and responsibility than most young men his age had...


Irving and his wife Exy did a total of seven circum-navs with cost-sharing amateur crews on their two large sailing vessels named Yankee before and after WWII, and published a number of National Geo. articles I read during my youth. He died in his late 80's.

[Supercat568]

Sounds like your son is pretty awesome...and lucky to have met him and gained valuable experience and lessons.
I have another question, I like older yachts. I'm not a big fan of the straight bow on new boats...seems like those would be a wet ride in wavy conditions. What is that flat bow called officially? And what is the benefit of having it? I read that the older boats where the stern comes out of the water a few feet before the end of the boat was for water line. I'm sure everyone knows this..as the boat heels, the part that's out of the water goes in and increases the waterline. But I like the looks of that design element.
With new boats..what generally...are the main visual differences? I'm sure there's a lot of changes with new adhesives and lighter weight materials. Are newer boats, foot for foot, lighter than older boats?

[RogerLloyd]

Taff rail ?

[KP44]

Windward, leeward, alee, abaft the mast, athwart or athwartships, bow, bow pulpit, transom, stern. pushpit, stern arch, midship or amidships, brightsides, topsides, below deck, starboard, port.

A whaleboat was designed with 5 oars, as written in the "Logbook for Grace":
"The leverage of whaleboat oars is extremely powerful because each rower sits at he end if his thwart farthest from his oarlock. Midship oar, with its oarlock on the starboard gunwale, is the longest - 18 feet. Bow and tub oars, respectively afore and aft of the midship oar, are shorter and of identical length. They both rest on the port gunwale. Harpooner and after (or stroke) oars, nearest bow and stern and both starboard, are the shortest of all and likewise identical. Thus one long and two short to starboard work against two of medium length to port."

[KP44]

Originally Posted by Supercat568

That's great! I love finding out the source of words like that. Makes sense to me!
Have your ever googled why roads in England are left hand drive? It's so strange..
Thank you!

I notice there is no rant when the Royal Navy decrees a change in verbiage.

[Supercat568]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Likely "Davits" if it's holding the dingy.

I think it's officially called the rear pulpit. I was wondering about the name because that part seems to be an increasingly important part of a modern boat due to how it can hold solar panels. On sailing uma YouTube channel the owner built a really nice rear pulpit where the solar panels pivot front and back to face the sun. Not side to side yet, but from what I've seen, he'll probably do that next!
Thank you for your help!

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Supercat568

I think it's officially called the rear pulpit. I was wondering about the name because that part seems to be an increasingly important part of a modern boat due to how it can hold solar panels. On sailing uma YouTube channel the owner built a really nice rear pulpit where the solar panels pivot front and back to face the sun. Not side to side yet, but from what I've seen, he'll probably do that next!

Thank you for your help!

If we’re discussing the thing on uma, it’s more like a solar Bimini.

The stern pulpit refers to the railing behind the cockpit to keep the humans in.

Anything that arches over the cockpit is not a pulpit.

[Sailing Ohm]

To add more confusion when the railing is on the stern I believe it’s called a pushpit not a pulpit...
-pushpit and pulpits are meant to keep the people from falling off and are end supports for your lifelines
- bimini frame is what’s sometimes over the cockpit and keeps the sun off your face (the ‘top’ Can anything, like solar panels or fiberglass, but is usually canvas)
- solar arc is what holds your solar panels up and usually aft of your cockpit and bimini frame.
- dodger (spray hood for those on the other side of the pond) goes over the companionway and helps keep wind, water and sun out of the companionway.

Nautical terms are the culmination of thousands of years of sailing done by thousands of different cultures. There are very specific terms for these things because they are different than items on shore and are often very specialized.
Vague simple terms like rail or rope will get confusing quick and have surely led to many a sailor getting hurt or worse. And yes words like left and right are very vague (except to the person saying it) when you have multiple people all facing different ways thus port and starboard.
That’s partially why boat terms are so specific.