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Boat Speak / Land Speak

Boat-speak:  Keel
Land-speak:  A boat's backbone

Boat-speak:  Clean port
Land-speak:  A harbor with water filthy enough to kill marine organisms on a hull. New York is no longer a clean port.

Boat-speak:  Dock
Land-speak:  Area where a boat lies when made fast


Boat-speak:  Leeward
Land-speak:  Away from the wind (pronounced "lou-ward")

Boat-speak:  Bilge
Land-speak:  Basement

Boat-speak:  Sea chest
Land-speak:  Below-water opening for drawing in water. John J. Harvey has four large ones (for pumps) and seven small ones (for engines).

Boat-speak:  Grounding
Land-speak:  To be avoided

Boat-speak:  Overhead
Land-speak:  Ceiling

Boat-speak:  Scupper
Land-speak:  Drains along the deck

Boat-speak:  Dry-dock
Land-speak:  Expensive

Boat-speak:  Colors
Land-speak:  Flags

Boat-speak:  Buoys
Land-speak:  Floating markers that keep us from grounding

Boat-speak:  Deck
Land-speak:  Floor

Boat-speak:  Forecastle
Land-speak:  Forward-most compartment (pronounced "Folk-sil")

Boat-speak:  Captain
Land-speak:  God

Boat-speak:  Freeboard
Land-speak:  Height of the lowest portion of the main deck above the water

Boat-speak:  Hull
Land-speak:  Keeps the water out (which is the point of it all)

Boat-speak:  Galley
Land-speak:  Kitchen

Boat-speak:  Port, Starboard, Bow and Stern
Land-speak:  Left, right front and back of the boat -- but not directions. The boat still turns to the left and right and moves forward and aft.

Boat-speak:  LWL
Land-speak:  Length at the waterline

Boat-speak:  LOA
Land-speak:  Length Overall

Boat-speak:  Saloon
Land-speak:  Living room (Pronounced "sal-on")

Boat-speak:  John J. Harvey
Land-speak:  Never "The John J. Harvey". Boats, like people, do not take articles.

Boat-speak:  Small craft
Land-speak:  Not John J. Harvey

Boat-speak:  Ship
Land-speak:  Not John J. Harvey

Boat-speak:  Sail
Land-speak:  Not on John J. Harvey

Boat-speak:  Bulkhead
Land-speak:  Wall

Boat-speak:  Displacement
Land-speak:  Weight of a boat (equal to the weight of water displaced by the boat).
Boat-speak:  Signals
Land-speak:  One long blast: Getting underway. One short blast: "I intend to leave you to my port". Two short blasts: "I intend to leave you to my starboard". Three short blasts: "I'm in reverse". Five short blasts: "You should not be at the helm of a boat".

Boat-speak:  Knot
Land-speak:  One nautical mile per hour. Originally a knotted line was thrown off the stern and the number of knots carried overboard in a set time was counted.

Boat-speak:  Wheel
Land-speak:  Propeller (as opposed to the ship's wheel, which is a steering wheel).

Boat-speak:  Screw
Land-speak:  Propeller


Boat-speak:  Bearing
Land-speak:  Relative direction of something

Boat-speak:  Cabin
Land-speak:  Room

Boat-speak:  Line
Land-speak:  Rope (there are no ropes on a boat unless they are in storage)

Boat-speak:  Rode
Land-speak:  Rope and/or chain attached to an anchor

Boat-speak:  Weather
Land-speak:  Sailor's term for Windward

Boat-speak:  Boat
Land-speak:  Smaller than a ship, except for submarines which are always boats.

Boat-speak:  Companionway
Land-speak:  Staircase

Boat-speak:  Wharf or Pier
Land-speak:  Structure for making fast a boat

Boat-speak:  She; Her
Land-speak:  The proper article when referring to a boat. (Boats and ships are always feminine in English, but masculine in French. La France is a country; Le France was a ship.)

Boat-speak:  Deck pipe
Land-speak:  The really fun part of a fireboat. Also sometimes called a Monitor.

Boat-speak:  Bitt
Land-speak:  Thing to tie a line to.

Boat-speak:  Made fast
Land-speak:  Tied to a dock, pier or wharf

Boat-speak:  Pay out
Land-speak:  To loosen a line

Boat-speak:  Snub
Land-speak:  To make a line fast

Boat-speak:  Forward
Land-speak:  Towards the bow

Boat-speak:  Aft
Land-speak:  Towards the stern

Boat-speak:  Windward
Land-speak:  Towards the wind

Boat-speak:  Flotsam
Land-speak:  Trash on the water

Boat-speak:  Pile
Land-speak:  Vertical member that supports a pier

Boat-speak:  Head
Land-speak:  W.C. (sometimes pronounced "loo")



Photo Courtesy Al Trojanowicz
Site designed by
Eric Weisler

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