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Vincent Pica
Chief of Staff, First District, Southern Region (D1SR)
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
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“Sabby the Lingo?” Maritime Language – X
As noted prior, each discipline has a language and that language conveys competency to the listener. This column is part of a series of maritime vocabulary words. So you can sound like the salty ol’ mariner you are… We’ll run enough of these to get the major concepts and phraseology from Alpha to Zulu in front of you!
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| G – Golf - International Meaning: I require a pilot. |
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- Gaff - (1) A spar that holds the upper side of a four sided gaff sail. (2) A pole with a sharp hook at the end used to get a fish on board.
- Gaff Rig - Any sailboat with a four-sided mainsail, defined by two booms, one located on the bottom, perpendicular to the mast, and another, located on top, at an angle from the mast.
- Gaff Sail - A four sided sail used instead of a triangular main sail. Used on gaff rigged boats.
- Gaff Topsail - A light triangular or quadrilateral sail set over a gaff.
- Gale - An unusually strong wind. In storm-warning terminology, a wind of 34 to 47 knots (39 to 54 miles per hour or 62-87 kilometers per hour).
- Galley - (1) The kitchen area of a boat. (2) Very old fighting ship propelled by oars.
- Give-Way Vessel - A term, from the Navigational Rules, used to describe the vessel which must yield to the "Stand-on Vessel" in meeting, crossing, or overtaking situations. also known as the Burdened Vessel
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- Go About - To turn the boat head-to-wind so as to go about on the opposite tack
- Go Adrift - To break loose from a mooring, anchor or docking.
- Going to Weather - To sail against the prevailing wind and seas.
- Gone Aloft - Sailor's phrase for a seaman who has died.
- Great Circle - The largest circle which can be inscribed on a sphere by a plane that cuts through the center of the sphere. On the earth, the equator is a great circle, as are all the meridians of longitude which pass through both poles. The shortest distance between two points on the earth's surface lies along the great circle which connects the two points.
- Green Buoy/Can - A can buoy. A cylindrical buoy painted green and having an odd number used in the United States as a navigational aid. At night they may have a green light. Green buoys should be kept on the left side when returning from a larger body of water to a smaller one.
- Green Daymark - A navigational aid used in the United States and Canada to mark a channel. Green triangular daymarks should be kept on the left when returning from a larger to smaller body of water.
- Greenwich Mean Time - GMT for short. Greenwich Meridian Time, also known as Universal Time or Zulu time. A time standard that is not affected by time zones or seasons. It is the time used by navigators in celestial navigation.
- Gross Tonnage - A common measurement of the internal volume of a ship with certain spaces excluded. One ton equals 100 cubic feet; the total of all the enclosed spaces within a ship expressed in tons each of which is equivalent to 100 cubic feet.
- Ground - To touch bottom.
- Ground Swells - Long wave formations during calm or light air formed by waves running into shoaling water
- Ground Tackle - A collective term for the anchor, anchor rode (line or chain), and all the shackles and other gear used for attachment.
- Gunkholing - Cruising in shallow water and spending the nights in coves.
- Gunwale - The upper edge of a boat's side; the part of a vessel where hull and deck meet. (Pronounced "gunnel")
- Gybe - (Jibe) Turning the boat so that the stern crosses the wind, changing direction. To change direction before the wind onto another tack with the boom coming over by the force of the wind. Caution is needed in this maneuver, especially in heavy wind.
- Gypsy - A windlass or capstan drum.
More in the weeks ahead…!
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BTW, if you are interested in being part of USCG Forces, email me at JoinUSCGAux@aol.com or go direct to the D1SR Human Resources department, who are in charge of new members matters, at DSO-HR and we will help you “get in this thing…”
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