A glossary of terms, augmented with images. We'll add a few each week as the mood strikes us. If you have a favorite please post it in the comments.
Drascombe Lugger, Webb Chiles favorite ride for open boat ocean crossings :)
Aft - to the rear
Belaying pin - wood or metal rod used to secure a line.
Boom - spar used to control lower edge of sail. Also the sound John Watkinson did not want to hear, of a spar striking the Missus' head, hence the design of the boomless main on the Drascombe Lugger.
Bumkpin - a spar that sticks out from the transom to control a mizzen.
Cunningham - line that controls the tension on luff from the tack corner.
Clew - lower aft corner of a sail.
Foot - lower edge of a sail.
Gaff - spar used to control upper sail that does not cross the mast.
Gaff rig - 4 corner, fore-and-aft rigged sail, hoisted the gaff.
Grommet - small metal rings that teat out of the seams of sails.
Halyard - line that raises a sail.
Head - top corner of a sail or the bathroom.
Hell for Stout - How Hazelwood and Jack liked boats built.
Jib - small sail forward of the mainsail.
Lateen - fore and aft triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast. See also Sunfish.
Leech - aft edge of a sail.
Line - a rope cut for a specific use
Luff - leading edge of a sail or to let a sail flutter into the wind.
Lug rig - a fore-and-aft, 4 corner sail that is suspended from a spar, called a yard.
Mainsail - the main sail.
Mast - upright spar that carries a sail, usually the mainsail.
Mizzen - small sail aft of the main.
Nautical Almanac - Useful after toilet paper is lost mid ocean.
Outhaul - lines that set tension on luff and foot from the head and clew. See also cunningham.
Peak - top corner of a 4 corner gaff sail.
Pinrail - a rail with multiple belaying pins.
Pirate - someone who will "watch" your boat for you. See also Skipper.
Rope - a length of cord made with natural or synthetic fibers. Rope cut for a specific purpose becomes line.
Sail - fabric that catches wind.
Sheet - line that controls the angle of the sail.
Skipper - a nice lady who will "watch" your boat for you. See also Pirate.
Sliding Gunter - 2 part spars for mainsail, lower mast fixed and upper gaff raised with halyard. Primary rig for the Drascombe Lugger.
1980 Drascombe Lugger banditting the 1994 Navy Regatta in Corpus Christi, TX. Skipper with Jack as crew. Mizzen furled.
Spar - poles used to support sails.
Sprit - small diagonal spar that supports upper aft corner of 4 corner sail. Can also be used for a boom.
Sprit rig - 4 corner fore and aft sail supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit.
Square rig - 4 corner sail carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the masts.
Sunfish - 13' 9" pontoon hull sailing dinghy with 75 square foot lateen sail.
Developed by ALCORT in 1952, first models were wooden.
Fiberglass model introduced in 1960, still produced today by Laser Performance. Over 400,000 built.
Favorite boat for the Pirate Skipper.
USS Portsmouth 1850
Tack - lower forward corner of a sail or changing course with wind from ahead. Shown below is the tack of the sail, with a downhaul line that goes up from the mast thwart, through the tack ring and back down to a belaying pin.
Throat - Top edge of a 4 corner gaff sail.
Yard - a spar that crosses a mast, most often horizontal or at an angle. Examples are square rig and lug rig.
References:
Chiles, Webb. 1984. The ocean waits. New York: Norton. https://archive.org/details/oceanwaits00chil.
Chiles, Webb. 1982. The open boat: across the Pacific. New York: Norton.
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