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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 – VI
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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| B - Bravo International Meaning:I am taking in, discharging, or carrying dangerous cargo. Flown to signify fueling or other hazardous operation. Keep clear. |
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- Breakers - Waves breaking over rocks or shoals. A wave that approaches shallow water, causing the wave height to exceed the depth of the water it is in, in effect tripping it. The wave changes from a smooth surge in the water to a cresting wave with water tumbling down the front of it. They serve as a warning that there is danger there.
- Breakwater - A manmade structure, in or around a harbor, designed to break the force of the sea, thus providing shelter.
- Bream - An old method of cleaning a vessels bottom by burning off weed, barnacles or other growth while the vessel was in dry dock or careened. Breaming was also known as graving.
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- Breast Line - A docking line going at approximately a right angle from the boat to the dock, preventing movement away from the dock. Also known as a Waist Line.
- Brightwork - Varnished woodwork and/or polished metal
- Bring About - To reverse or change directions, to turn around
- Bristol Fashion - Kept in a neat seaman-like manner.
- Broach - To spin out of control and capsize or nearly capsize; The turning of a boat broadside to the wind or waves, subjecting it to possible capsizing; a turning or swinging of the boat that puts the beam of the boat against the waves, creating a danger of swamping or capsizing; loss of steering. A knockdown.
- Bumper - There is no such thing on a boat! See “Fender” in the weeks ahead!
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- Cabin - A room or living compartment for passengers or crew.
- Cabin Sole - The floor or bottom surface of the enclosed space under the deck of a boat
- Cable - (1) A strong rope or chain for pulling or securing anything, usually a ship's anchor. (2) A nautical measurement of distance, a tenth of a nautical mile, 100 fathoms, or approximately 200 yards
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| C - Charlie International Meaning: "Yes" or "affirmative". Meaning in a Sailing Regatta: Change of Course |
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- Camber - The curvature of an object such as a sail, keel or deck. Usually used when referring to an objects aerodynamic or hydrodynamic properties. The weather decks of ships are rounded up or arched in an athwartship direction for the purpose of draining any water that may fall on them to the sides of the ship where it can be led overboard through scuppers; the camber is the crown or arch of a weather deck.
- Camel - Hollow vessel of iron, steel or wood, that is filled with water and sunk under a vessel. When water is pumped out, the buoyancy of the camel lifts the ship. Very valuable aid to salvage operations.
- Can or Can Buoy - A cylindrical navigation 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.
- Cant - (1) A term signifying an inclination of an object from a perpendicular; to turn anything so that it does not stand perpendicularly or square to an object. (2) Those timbers in a ship near the bow or stern which are sharply angled from the keel. (3) The operation of turning a ship's head one way or another.
- Careen - To list a vessel so that a large part of her bottom is above water. This is done to remove weed and marine growth, to examine the bottom, to repair it and to put on preservative or anti-fouling.
- Cast Adrift - To abandon a ship at sea; to place people in a ship's boat or raft and leave them.
- Cast Off - To let go of a line; to leave a dock or a mooring; to untie or loose a rope or line.
- Castaway - A shipwrecked sailor as compared with one who has been marooned or deliberately put ashore.
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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