Share some Sailing Terms....

[carstenb]

"I don't like the cut of his jib"

Not sure where this came from - but I suspect its origin lies with warships. British, french, dutch, danish, american et al. warships all had different designs, not only of the hull but also the rig. Sailors could frequently identify the shoips nationality simply by looking at the rig.

Not liking the "cut of one's jib" was a way of saying the other ship probably was an enemy

[Curious Sailor]

Originally Posted by carstenb

"I don't like the cut of his jib"

Not sure where this came from - but I suspect its origin lies with warships. British, french, dutch, danish, american et al. warships all had different designs, not only of the hull but also the rig. Sailors could frequently identify the shoips nationality simply by looking at the rig.

Not liking the "cut of one's jib" was a way of saying the other ship probably was an enemy

That's pretty interesting... Never even heard that one!

[StuM]

Originally Posted by jongleur

With the nautical brainpower on this
thread:

Occasionally, someone posts that they
would like to be able to strike a sail
more easily (There's an interesting term,
"strike"). Anyway, the suggestions
always seem to be to rig a "downhaul."
But the proper term for a line to
completely bring down a sail is a
"disgracing line." That's
completely different from a "downhaul."

Just my two pennies. Discussion?

Jib downhaul just came up in another thread and I was reminded of this post. So I went looking for the origin of the phrase.

The only references that Google found for "disgracing line" were this post one and another one also by you from July 2014 saying the same thing.
(thoughts about lowering and securing a jib [Sitemap] - Cruisers & Sailing Forums)

Do you have any other reference to this usage?

[ryon]

Originally Posted by jongleur

... Anyway, the suggestions
always seem to be to rig a "downhaul."
But the proper term for a line to
completely bring down a sail is a
"disgracing line." That's
completely different from a "downhaul."

Just my two pennies. Discussion?

There are inhauls and outhauls too!

Never heard of a disgracing line. Maybe British?

[deblen]

Truck - the top of the mast

This is where you install the Tri-light (Not at the masthead).

masthead-the front of the mast (the ahead). This is where you install a masthead (steaming under power) light.

So why are tri-ights not called truck-lights?

Cheers/Len

[jongleur]

references that Google found for "disgracing line" were this post one and another one also by you from July 2014 saying the same thing.
Do you have any other reference to this usage?[/QUOTE]

Guess I must be the authority, then.

"Downhaul" tightens the luff downward.
Not to be confused with a cunningham.

[barnakiel]

I see there may be two usages.

I use downhaul when the line is not for making tight but rather for hauling down, e.g like when a line is used to pull down a sail (e.g. a hanked genoa down its stay). Etc.

potato potato crosstrees spreaders ;-)

b.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by jongleur

Guess I must be the authority, then.

"Downhaul" tightens the luff downward.

I'll stick with this authority.

[jongleur]

Yes, and English has well over a
million words and the next closest
language has about 800,000 or less.
Therefore, we can be more precise
in our speechificity (See what I did
there?)

[StuM]

Originally Posted by jongleur

Yes, and English has well over a
million words and the next closest
language has about 800,000 or less.
Therefore, we can be more precise
in our speechificity (See what I did
there?)

Alternatively:

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by StuM

AKA "Shot".

Note, some around here have been known to use these terms incorrectly for describing rope anchor warps (as in "I have a shot of chain and 2 shots of nylon"). A shot or shackle is specifically a measure of chain.


Shackles may be useful if you use the old formula for calculating scope:
"Twice the square root of the depth of water in fathoms = the number of shackles of cable."

Shot of chain is 90 feet.

[ryon]

Originally Posted by jongleur

references that Google found for "disgracing line" were this post one and another one also by you from July 2014 saying the same thing.
Do you have any other reference to this usage?

Guess I must be the authority, then.

"Downhaul" tightens the luff downward.
Not to be confused with a cunningham.

--- Confusing quote bracketing above. Start of new post:

Sorry, but I think that would be the tack. There may be exceptions, but the downhauls I am familiar with oppose the halyard at the head of the sail.

[ryon]

Originally Posted by deblen

Truck - the top of the mast

This is where you install the Tri-light (Not at the masthead).

masthead-the front of the mast (the ahead). This is where you install a masthead (steaming under power) light.

So why are tri-ights not called truck-lights?

Cheers/Len

Right. The truck is the very top of the mast, from where you fly your pennant, usually on a pig-stick. The masthead light is usually mounted much lower.

"Kissing the truck" is a very macho thing for sailors and sailorettes to do, while under sail.

[Curious Sailor]

I love this topic! Lol

[Delancey]

A limber hole is a drain hole through a frame in a boat designed to prevent water from accumulating against one side of the frame. Limber holes are common in the bilges of wooden boats. The term may be extended to cover drain holes in floors. Limber holes are created in between bulkheads so that one compartment does not fill with water.