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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 – XIII
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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| K – Kilo - International Meaning: I wish to communicate with you. |
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- Keckling - Winding small rope around a cable or hawser to prevent damage by chafing. The rope with which a cable is keckled.
- Kedge - (1) A small auxiliary anchor. (2) To kedge is to move a vessel (e.g., a grounded boat) by setting out an anchor and pulling the boat toward it by taking up on the anchor rode
- Keel - [image] (1) The backbone of a vessel, running fore and aft along the center line of the bottom of the hull; the timber at the very bottom of the hull to which frames are attached. (2) A flat surface built into the bottom of the boat to prevent or reduce the leeway caused by the wind pushing against the side of the boat. A keel also usually has some ballast to help keep the boat upright and prevent it from heeling too much. There are several types of keels, such as fin keels and full keels.
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- Keelhauling - A severe naval punishment for serious offenses in which the victim was hauled from one yardarm to the other under the keel of the ship. The victim rarely survived; he would either be cut to ribbons by the shellfish on the ship's bottom or drown.
- Keep Her Full - To keep the sails full and drawing
- Kelter - Good order and readiness.
- Ketch - A sailboat with two masts. Generally, the shorter mizzen mast is aft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post, while a similar vessel, the yawl, has the mizzen mast aft of the rudder post. The mizzen mast of a ketch is larger than that of a yawl.
- Killick - Nautical name for an anchor. Originally, was a stone used as an anchor.
- King Post - A vertical post usually employed as a support - Also called a Sampson post
- King Spoke - The top spoke (usually marked) on the steering wheel when the rudder is centered.
- Knockdown - A boat that has rolled so that she is lying on her side or even rolled completely over (can be caused by a sudden gust or squall). A boat with appropriate ballast should right herself after being knocked down.
- Knot - (1) A speed of one nautical mile (6,076 feet or or 1,852 meters) per hour. It is incorrect to say knots per hour. (2) A method of attaching a rope or line to itself, another line or a fitting.
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| L – Lima - International Meaning: You should stop your vessel immediately. - Meaning in a Sailing Regatta: Come Within Hail or Follow Me |
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- Labor, to - Description of a vessel when she rolls or pitches excessively while underway in heavy seas.
- Ladder - Stairway of inclined or vertical steps on board ship.
- Lading - That which is loaded into a ship. The act of loading.
- Lagan - Jettisoned goods that cast overboard and are buoyed for subsequent recovery.
- Lagoon - An area of water totally or partially enclosed by coral islands, atolls, and reefs.
- Laid Up - A boat in a dry dock.
- Land Breeze - A wind moving from the land to the water due to temperature changes in the evening, where the temperature of the land falls below the sea temperature.
- Landfall - Arrival at land
- Landlocked - Surrounded by land.
- Landlubber - A person inexperienced with or uncomfortable around boats.
- Landmark - A distinctive fixed reference point that can be used for navigation.
- Lanyard - A Short line used to attach one thing to another - a short rope or cord that secures or attaches an item onboard a boat, usually for keeping it attached to the boat
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- Lapstrake - The overlapping of wooden planks, used to form the outer surface of a boat's hull.
- Larboard - The original name for the left side of the vessel when facing forward. The name was changed to Port to avoid any confusion with starboard, the right side of the vessel when facing forward.
- Large - Said of vessel sailing with wind abaft the beam but not right aft.
- Lash - To tie something with a line; to secure
- Lashing - A rope used for securing any movable object in place
- Lateen - Narrow triangular sail set on a long yard or spar, the forward end of which is hauled down so that it sets obliquely on the mast with a high peak.
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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