General boating

General boating

Industry: Boat

Contributors in General boating

General boating

A wooden block with holes (but no pulleys) which is spliced to a shroud. It is used to adjust the tension in the standing rigging of large sailing vessels, by lacing through the holes with a lanyard ...

Windlass

Boat; General boating

A winch mechanism, usually with a horizontal axis. Used where mechanical advantage greater than that obtainable by block and tackle was needed (such as raising the anchor on small ships).

Pipe (Bos'n's)

Boat; General boating

A whistle used by Boatswains (bosuns or bos'ns) to issue commands. Consisting of a metal tube which directs the breath over an aperture on the top of a hollow ball to produce high pitched notes. The ...

Dog watch

Boat; General boating

A short watch period, generally half the usual time (e.g. a two hour watch rather than a four hour one). Such watches might be included in order to rotate the system over different days for fairness, ...

Pipe down

Boat; General boating

A signal on the bosun's pipe to signal the end of the day, requiring lights (and smoking pipes) to be extinguished and silence from the crew.

Cat o' nine tails

Boat; General boating

A short nine-tailed whip kept by the bosun's mate to flog sailors (and soldiers in the Army). When not in use, the cat was kept in a baize bag, hence the term "cat out of the bag". "Not enough room ...