Sea legs is a term used to describe the body’s adjustment to the motion of a ship; especially by ability to walk steadily and by freedom from seasickness. A person who has ‘not got his sea legs yet’ is one who is inexperienced at sea.
A berth or bunk both refer to a space allotted to a member of the crew or a passenger for sleeping. A berth is also used to describe a sufficient distance for moving a ship to maintain safety, a place where a ship lies at anchor or at a wharf/dock, and as a billet on a ship. [...]
For today’s definition we look to Merriam-Webster. Hogwash actually has 2 meanings though in Sailor’s slang it’s the latter. The first meaning is swill or slop while the second refers to nonsense or balderdash (something stupid, invalid or illogical. From what I could find this meaning was first used in the 15th century in farm yards [...]
This Tuesday’s nautical term is Ditty Bag. The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms Under Sail says a “ditty bag is a small canvas bag in which a seaman keeps the gear he needs for working round the decks.” And according to the 1913 version of Webster’s Dictionary \Dit”ty-bag’\, n. A sailors small bag to hold thread, needles, [...]
Helm’s alee or hard alee is a call made when going about under sail. ‘Tacking’ is another term used for this same action. It warns passengers aboard that the vessel is coming up to the wind and that the helm (rudder) has been moved to the leeward side to make a turn. When crew members [...]
Do you know the difference between hard tack and soft tack? Hard tack is the nickname for a simple type of biscuit made from flour and water, and sometimes salt. Soft tack is another name for bread baked at sea. Hard tack is a long-lasting cheap biscuit that was used in the absence of perishable [...]
I love nautical terminology. I love how a simple word, phrase or item can have such a fun twist when you bring it to the ocean; not to mention the fun words that were created on ships and are no longer used. Awhile back I stumbled across a book of nautical terms on the bookshelf [...]
