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H (Hotel) "I have a pilot on board." Hague Rules, The -. A multilateral maritime treaty adopted in 1921 (at The Hague, Netherlands). Standardises liability of an international carrier under the Ocean B/L. Establishes a legal “floor” for B/L. Hail. To salute, accost, call out to, or make a sign to any person. Hake's teeth, or bag's teeth. "A phrase applied to some part of the deep soundings in the British Channel. But it is a distinct shellfish, being the dentalium, the presence of which is a valuable guide to the Channel pilot in foggy weather." (Smyth.) .  The first ships sailed between Rotterdam and New York during 1872, with New York remaining the American terminal. Other services were started to South America and Baltimore. Cargo service to New York was added during 1899. During the first 25 years the company carried 400,000 people from the old world to the new world. Other North American ports were added during the early 20th century. Though transportation and shipping were the primary sources of revenue, during 1895 HAL offered its first vacation cruise. Its second vacation cruise, from New York to the Holy Land was first offered during 1910. During 1971, HAL suspended transatlantic passenger trade and during 1973 sold its cargo shipping division. During 1989, HAL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corp., the largest cruise company. The company operates 15 ships to 7 continents and carries almost 700,000 cruise passengers a year. Hale. To hale, in old nautical phaseology, is to pull: hence the word became confounded with and eventually corrupted into haul. Half. Half beams. In a ship, short beams extending from the sides only to the hatchways. Half-breadth plan. In shipbuilding, the plan of one half of a vessel divided by a centre line drawn through stem and stern posts. It shows water, bow, buttock, and diagonallines. (See Lines.) Half-breadth, staff, or rod. In shipbuilding, a rod having marked upon it the half-lengths of the beams of a vessel. It is very precisely measured from the half-breadth plan. Half crown. A small circular bight in a rope. Half davit. The fish davit is sometimes thus called because it is only a short davit. Half deck. In ships, a space in the fore part of a vessel. In some of the old Northumbrian colliers the steerage or forecastle deck was called the half deck. The apprentices' or cadets' accommodation in a merchant ship, irrespective of where this may be In sailing boats a half deck is one extending over only a portion of a boat, the rest being open. For racing purposes it has been found necessary to define a half decked boat; it must be open aft of the mast, and forward of the transom, this open space not exceedirig one half of the intemal area of the boat; and the waterways on each side must not exceed (measured from the outside of the boat to the inside of the coaming) one tenth of the beam of the boat. A boat that fails to comply with these conditions must he classed as a decked boat. Half ebb, half flood. (See Half tide.) Half floor. In shipbuilding, one of the timbers in the frame of a ship. Its heel is set over the keel, and upon its head rests the second futtock Half hitch. One bend in a rope; part of the process of making a knot. (See Knots.) Half laughs and purser' s grins. "Hypocritical and satirical sneer." (Smyth.) Half man. A name sometimes given, in coasting vessels, to a landsman or boy. Half mast (of a flag). A flag half mast high is a sign of mourning; on an owner's vessel it is generally kept thus until af ter the burial. Half-minute glass. At sea, a sand glass used in running out the old form of log. Half points (of the compass.) The mariner's compass is divided into 32 points. (See Compass.) Half one of these divisions is half a point. A half point is therefore 5° 37' 30" of the circle. Half port (in the Navy). In old ships, a porthole shutter perforated with a hole, through which the muzzle of a gun could be thrust. Half sea. An old term for midchannel. (Smyth.) Half seas over. Half drunk. The term was used by Swift. Half speed (with steam vessels). Reduced speed, ahead or astern. Half tide. The condition of the tide when half way between its highest and lowest; with a rising tide it is called half-flood, with a falling tide half ebb. Half tide rocks are those which show themselves at half-tide. Half-timber. In ship-building, a short futtock. Halieutics. Also Halieutica. The arts of fishing, angling to be more precise. The Greek writer Oppian wrote about it. .  From there they sailed south to the Chesapeake and then went north along the coast navigating first the Delaware Bay and, subsequently, the bay of the river which Hudson named the Mauritius River, for Holland's Lord-Lieutenant Maurits. The Halve Maen sailed up Hudson's river as far as the presentday location of Albany, New York, where the crew determined the water was too narrow and too shallow for farther progress. Concluding then that the river was also not a passage to the east, Hudson exited the river, naming the natives that dwelled on either side of the Mauritus estuary the Manahata. Leaving the estuary, he sailed north-eastward, never realizing that what are now the islands of Manhattan and Long Island were islands, and crossed the Atlantic to England where he sailed into Dartmouth harbour with the Dutch East India Company yacht and crew. In 1618 the ship was destroyed during an English attack on Jakarta (Dutch East Indies). Halyard, or Halliard. A rope, sometimes a chain, by which a sail, flag, or yard is hoisted-hence the name "haul yard." A halyard often consists of two parts: viz., the pendant, and a tackle or purchase hauled upon, which is often called the fall. Halyards take their names from the spars or sails upon which they act, as throat-halyards (those which elevate the throat of a gaff), etc. For reference to any particular halyard, see under the name of its sail. Hambro, or Hambrough, or hamber line. Small line used for seizings, lashings, and a variety of other purposes on shipboard. Hammock. A swinging canvas bed much used at sea. "In the language of some tribes in the West Indian islands, the word hamac denoted nets of cotton extended from two posts, and used as beds. From them the word was borrowed by the companions of Columbus, who transferred it to us through the Spanish word hamaca." (Brande and Cox.) Hammock nettings. In old sailing war ships, a net-work rack in which hammocks were stowed. They were of ten under the bulwarks. Hamper. (See also Top hamper.) Height aloft, as the yards, topmasts, etc., of a ship. Smyth describes it thus: "Things which, though necessary, are in the way in times of gale or service." Hand. A term of ten used for the word "man", as "all hands on deck", "another hand wanted", etc. Hand bomber. A ship using coal-fired boilers shoveled in by hand. Handlass. An old name for a windlass, because worked by hand. Hand lead. A sounding lead, weighing between 10 and 14 Ibs., is for finding the depth of water beneath avesse!. (See Lead.) Hand mast. A pole mast. Otherwise a mast made out of a hand spar. (See below, Hand spar.) Hand over hand. Hauling rapidly, and passing one hand alternately over the other. Hand rail. A rail running along any portion of a vessel's deck. Hand spar. A round mast of one piece. "Those from Riga are commonly over 70 ft. long by 20 in. in diameter." (Smyth.) Hand spike. A bar employed as a lever for lifting heavy objects, or for working a windlass . To hand a sail is to furl it. To hand the log is to haul inboard the log line and rotator. Handle. To handle a boat weil is to sail, and generally to work, her in seamanlike fashion . Handsomely. A term which sounds somewhat contradictory. It means the opposite to hasty, and is used occasionally with reference to ropes or halyards, as "Lower away handsomely", which would mean "lower away gradually, and carefully". Sometimes, too, it is understood to mean "bit by bit", as "Let out the cable handsomely!" -i.e., a little at the time. Handy. To be handy is to be capable of turning a hand to anything one may be called upon to do; and especially to be able to do it quickly, and without bungling. A boat is said to be handy when she answers her helm weil and is generally well-behaved under all circumstances. Handy billy. A small purchase or tackle, sometimes called a jigger purchase. Handymax Vessel. A dry bulk vessel of 35,000 to 49,000dwt. (Note that a “Handy” drybulk carrier is from 10,000 to 34,000dwt.) A “Handymax Tanker” is a liquid bulk carrier of 10,000 to 60,000dwt. Hang. Spoken of anything leaning out of the upl'ight, as a mast which may hang back if too taut in the backstays, or forward if too loose. To hang on to any rope is to hold it tightly without belaying it. "Hang on", as an expression, of ten means simply "Hold on". To hang the rudder is to fix it in its braces ready for use. Hanging Judas. A rope of any kind hanging loose aloft or not properly secured. (See Irish pendant) Hanging knees. In shipbuilding, knees or supports fastened under deck bearns. Hanging standard knees are others used in somewhat the same manner. Hang, or sny. Among shipwrights a slight upward curve in a timher is called a sny: if its tendency is downwards, it is said to hang. Hanks. Rings, of wood or iron, or catch-hooks, by which sails may be made to run on stays, or purchase ropes be hooked on to tackles. Thus a foresail runs on to the forestay by hanks. The mast rings are also sometimes called the hanks. Hank for hank. An expression signifying that two vessels work to windward together, tack for tack. .  The League was created to protect commercial interests and privileges granted by foreign rulers in cities and countries the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own legal system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid. Despite this, the organization was not a city-state, nor can it be called a confederation of city-states; only a very small number of the cities within the league enjoyed autonomy and liberties comparable to those of a free imperial city. The league succeeded in establishing additional Kontors in Bruges (Flanders), Bergen (Norway), and London (Kingdom of England). These trading posts became significant enclaves. The London Kontor, established in 1320, stood west of London Bridge near Upper Thames Street, the site now occupied by Cannon Street station. It grew significantly over time into a walled community with its own warehouses, weighhouse, church, offices and houses, reflecting the importance and scale of the activity carried on. Starting with trade in coarse woolen fabrics, the Hanseatic League had the effect of bringing both commerce and industry to northern Germany. As trade increased newer and even finer woolen and linen fabrics, and even silks, were manufactured in Northern Germany. In addition to the major Kontors, individual Hanseatic ports had a representative merchant and warehouse. In England this happened in Boston, Bristol, Bishop's Lynn (now King's Lynn, which features the sole remaining Hanseatic warehouse in England), Hull, Ipswich, Norwich, Yarmouth (now Great Yarmouth), and York. Town Hall of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia).The League primarily traded timber, furs, resin (or tar), flax, honey, wheat, and rye from the east to Flanders and England with cloth (and, increasingly, manufactured goods) going in the other direction. Metal ore (principally copper and iron) and herring came southwards from Sweden. German colonists in the 12th and 13th centuries settled in numerous cities on and near the east Baltic coast, such as Elbing (Elbl?g), Thorn (Toru?), Reval (Tallinn), Riga, and Dorpat (Tartu), which became members of the Hanseatic League, and some of which still retain many Hansa buildings and bear the style of their Hanseatic days. Most were granted Lübeck law (Lübisches Recht), which provided that they had to appeal in all legal matters to Lübeck's city council. The Livonian Confederation incorporated parts of modern-day Estonia and Latvia and had its own Hanseatic parliament (diet); all of its major towns became members of the Hanseatic League. The dominant language of trade was Middle Low German, a dialect with significant impact for countries involved in the trade, particularly the larger Scandinavian languages, Estonian, and Latvian. Harbour. 1. A piece of navigable water communicating with a sea or river, having a roadstead, and protected from storms. There are permanent harbours, tidal harbours, and harbours of refuge, often called havens. 2. Any place to which ships may resort for shelter, or to load or unload passengers or goods, or to obtain fuel, water, or supplies. Harbour dues. The amount of money the owner of a ship has to pay to a harbour authority for the use of the harbour and its facilities. Harbour gaskets. With sailing ships, the gaskets with which sails are furled in harbour, or when it is desired to appear smart. They used to be well blacked in the Royal Navy, so as to contrast well with the whiteness of the sails. Harbour Master. An official responsible for construction, maintenance, operation, regulation, enforcement, administration and management pertaining to marinas, ports and harbours. Hard. 1. "Hard", in nautical language, is often joined to words of command to the helmsman, signifying that the order should he carried out with the utmost energy, e.g.: Hard up (of the helm), or hard aweather-to put the tiller of a vessel quickly over to the windward to its fullest extent. Hard down, hard alee-to put the tiller quickly over to the lee side to its fullest extent. Hard over. To put the helm over is to shift it: that is to bear the tiller over to the corresponding position on the opposite side of the vessel: hard over is to do this as far as it will go. These terms are more fully explained under the heading Helm. 2. Hard. A solid path or way artificially (occasionally naturally) formed on a soft mud flat or foreshore, its use being that a boat may land its occupants there at any state of the tide. 3. Hard and fast. Fixed or immovable. 4. "Hard up in a clinch and no knife to cut the seizings." An expression sometimes used in a dilemma out of which it is difficuIt to see the way. Hardchine. When the sides of a vessel meet her bottom at an angle, instead of being rounded, she is said to be hard-chined. Hard Iron. Iron which is slow to receive magnetism, but retains it when received. Hardtack. Ship's biscuits. Harl, or harr. On the east coasts of Scotland and England, a wet sea fog and easterly wind. Harness. A belt and straps fitted with a clip-hook, by which the wearer can secure himself to guard-rail or rigging. Harness cask (at sea). A cask holding food for immediate use. Harness hitch. A knot employed in harnessing men to a tow-line. (See Knots.) Harpings. In shipbuilding certain of the wales (planks) at the forward part of a hull are thicker than elsewhere: these stronger wales are called harpings. Cat harpings. Ropes for frapping (girting in) a ship's standing rigging so that the lower yards may be braced up sharp. Harpoon. A barbed javelin used in spearing whales. HAPAG. Hamburg-Amerika Paket Aktien-Gesellschaft. Hasp. Generally speaking a fastening, such as a clamp; a bar dropping into a staple. Hatch, hatchway. A hatchway is an opening in the deck of a vessel through which persons or cargo may descend: it is covered by a movable frame or roof, called a hatch; or in large craft by several hatches which are kept down by small beams or rods called battens. (See Batten down.) A small hatchway is sometimes called a "scuttle", as the forescuttle, which is the hatchway to a forecastle. (See Scuttle.) Hatch money. An allowance at one time given to captains for care of cargo. Haul (see Hale). To pull upon a rope. But Falconer defines the term as pulling upon "a single rope without assistance of blocks or other mechanical powers upon it". Thus to pull upon a warp hawser or spring by hand is to haul; but if a turn be taken with the rope round a capstan or windlass it ceases to be hauling. A haul, in rope-making, is a large bundie of parallel yarns ready for tarring. In trawling it is the quantity of fish brought in in one lifting of the net. Hence the origin of the term in general conversation. To haul the wind, in sailing, is to get close and keep close to the wind. (See Close-hauled.) To haul off. To get closer to the wind so as to avoid some object. Haul forward. The wind is said to haul forward when it lies before the bearn. To haul sharp. To keep men on half food allowance (old term). Haul under the chains. When a ship's masts so strain on the shrouds that the pressure on the chains (or channels) causes her seams to open, she was said to haul under the chains. Haunch. A sudden decrease in the size of a piece of timber. Haven. A harbour of refuge. Smyth described it as a good anchorage rather than a place of perfect safety. Many of the smaller rivers of our coasts are called havens. Hawse. The hawse, with regard to a ship's position at anchor, is, technically, that portion of the water in front of her which extends from the ship herself to the point on the surface of the water directly above her anchor: i.e., the horizontal distance of her cable; and a vessel is said to cross the hawse of another when she passes athwart the latter's hawse, i.e. that space in the water ahead of her called the hawse. From this we have various names, as for instance, the hawse of the ship -that part of her bows in which are the hawseholes; through these the hawser, or cable, runs, and they are cut out in large timbers called hawse-pieces. Hawse-pipes are the short iron tubes lining these hawse-holes. Hawsepiper. An informal term for a merchant ship’s officer who began their career as an unlicensed merchant seaman, and so did not attend a traditional maritime academy to earn their officer's licence (also see before the mast). Hawse-blocks, hawse plugs or bucklers are plugs for stopping the hawse-holes when the cable is unbent and the ship at sea; or in heavy weather: when in the form of stuffing they are called hawse-bags. Hawse-clamp is an old-fashioned engine in the form of a heavy iron gripper or clamp, through which the hawser is passed, and which prevents it from veering out. A hawser, in the modern meaning, is a small cable, or in other words a thick rope used for holding a vessel to a quay or mooring, or for warping her along: it is, in fact, practically the same as a warp. The origin of the term has possibly some reference to the word "haul", for in old works we find it written haulter. Hawser-laid (in ropemaking) is the designation of a rope laid (or wound up) in the same manner as in a hawser, i.e., in three or four strands. (See Rope.) Hawse fallen or hawse fall. A ship is described thus when the seas break into her hawse. Burning in the hawse. An old sea term, used when the cable endures an extraordinary stress. When a ship using hawsers to her anchors has two anchors out, and the cables are clear, it is said to be a clear hawse; when they become entangled in any way, it is a foul-hawse. The twists which may occur in cables by the swinging of a ship at anchor have been described as follow: If the cables are once crossed, it is a cross hawse. When another cross occurs, it forms an elbow. If a third should come about it is called a Round-turn. The act of disengaging this foul (which, should it come on to blow, may prevent cables from being veered by their friction against each other) is called clearing hawse, while the veering out, or slackening ofthe cable, whether to expose new surface to the friction in the hawse-hole, or to allow the vessel to ride more free, is described as freshening hawse. Vessels which need to put out two anchors ahead for any length of time may employ the system applied to the Lightships, the chains from all anchors of which meet at one point, where they are attached to a swivel, and joined by only one from the ship. By the working of this swivel the vessel may then swing with every tide, and freshen or shorten, without fear of "fouling-hawse". Haze. A thin mist such as that which often overspreads the face of the ocean in summer and clears off as the sun mounts. Meteorologists restrict the term to the obscurity caused by dust or smoke particles in the air. To haze. Bullying a man by giving him extra work, and petty oppression generally. Head. Generally speaking, the upper or larger end of any object; but under the term are included a great number of meanings. Ahead means forward or in front, in contradistinction to astern which is behind or backward . The head of a ship. The fore end of her. By the head, or down by the head, implies that the head is depressed, just as down by the stern or heel signifies that her stern is down. "How's her head?" is a question of ten asked with regard to her course. To box off her head is to force her head off from the wind. (See Boxing of.) To head a stream is to lie with the ship's head pointing against the stream as when she is tide-rode. A headland is a cape or promontory. A head-tide is sometimes spoken of when the tide is against the ship. Headway. Progress forward or ahead. A vessel when she cannot make progress is said to be unable to make headway. Head wind, or the wind ahead, is a wind contrary to the desired course of the ship. She is head to wind when her head is up in the wind. In shipbuilding: Heads are the timbers (ribs) of a vessel, or the upper parts of them. They are either head timbers, that is, the uppermost futtocks, when the ribs are composed of several pieces, or Bent heads or bent timbers, in an open boat, in which each rib is fashioned out of only one piece of timber, this being bent to its required form by steaming. Head of navigation. A term used to describe the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Head of the keel. The forefoot; the other extremity being the heel. Head knee or cheek knee. The principal knee, or strengthening piece, fayed to the stem. Head ledges. The thwartship (running across the ship) ledges, or planks on edge, which form the coaming of a hatchway. Head sheets (in an open boat). The flooring boards in the bows, those covering the after floor being the stern sheets. 2. The sheets of the head sails. Stem-head. The upper portion of the stempost of a vessel. In the rigging and fittings of a vessel: Head of the bowsprit is its forward end. Head of a dead-eye is the outer side of the flat surface, through which the holes are bored. Head or drum of a capstan is the flat upper portion which revolves. Headfast. A rope fastened to the stem of a boat or ship. In an open boat it is called a painter. Head line is sometimes a rope from the head of a sail. 2. Head line, or rope. A mooring rope leading ahead ofthe ship. Head of the mast, or mast head, is, roughly speaking, the top of a mast, but technically it means that part of a mast from the hounds upwards. Head rope is the head portion of the bolt rope of a sail. More often, a hawser leading forward from the bows to a point ahead. Head of a sail is its upper edge; the lower being the foot. (See Sail.) Head sails are the forward sails, as the jib and foresail. Head-stick. A short stick fitted in the head of some jib-shaped sails to prevent the sail from twisting and the bolt-rope from kinking. It is very useful in boats. Heads. Latrines in a ship. These were once situated right forward in the head of the ship, in sailing men-of-war platforms on each side of the stem. Heart. A peculiar type of dead-eye. Heart or heart-yarn. The inner yarn in a strand of rope. Heave. To pull on a rope or cable with mechanical aid, and therefore to be distinguished from "hauling". (See Haul). To draw anything up. To throw anything. To come within view or sound. Heave ahead, or astern. To draw a ship ahead or astern by an anchor, a warp, or otherwise. "Heave and away!" "Heave and rally!"Encouraging terms to men at a capstan or windlass. Heave and pawl. To turn the capstan until the pawl may be dropped. Heave and set. To ride heavily while at anchor. "Heave Oh!" An exclamation used by men all pulling together on a rope or anything else. Also a cry in certain fishing towns, signifying that a shoal of fish has appeared. Heave short. To bring a vessel directly above her anchor preparatory to weighing. Heave in sight. To come within sight of another Heave in stays. To bring a vessel head to wind in tacking. The meaning of the term is explained under the heading T ack. Heave taut. To pull or haul anything tight up. Heave the lead. To throw the lead-line, when sounding. (See Lead.) Heave the log. To throw the log chip over the stern in order to measure the speed of the vessel. Heave to. To bring a vessel up head to wind, and so to dispose the sails that she makes no progress, when she is said to be "hove to", or "lying to". (See Try.) Heave up. To draw or pull up, as to heave up the anchor or a fishing net. Heaving line. A light line thrown to connect with a heavier one. .  Heel. Generally, the opposite to the head, as the af ter end of a ship's keel; the lower end of any spar or timber. Thus the lower end of a topmast is its heel; and the rope by which the mast is hauled up is the heel rope. A vessel is down by the heel when her heel or stern is depressed in the water (compare with "Down by the head", under Head). To heel is to careen or lay her over. "They made the vessel heel, And lay upon her side"; the heel, in such a case is her inclination laterally. She also heels over, or "bends", under press of canvas. Heel-post, in some steamships, is a post which supports the end of the propeller shaft. Height (of a flag). The perpendicular height, the length being called the fly. Height-staff or rad (in shipbuilding), a measuring staff for heights, as the half-breadth staff is for widths. .  Steering orders given on shipboard used to refer (withvery few exceptions) to the direction in which the tiller was to be thrust. Therefore the order "Port" meant, "put the tiller over to port," the result of which was to send the vessel's head to starboard. In the mid 1930s this was changed, and steering orders are now always given in the direct sense; so that the order "Port" means that the wheel and the ship's head are to turn to port, but the tiller moves to starboard. The following terms have reference to the working of helm when sailing: Helm up, helm down. If a beginner receives the order "Helm up!" the first question which will naturally present itself to his mind is, "Up to what?" a very reasonable question to ask; for if it is to go up it certainly must go up to something. And such reasoning will undoubtedly solve the difficulty, for nothing at sea is done without a reason. Now, there is in a boat propelled by the wind but one thing up to which the tiller could be put, viz.: the wind, the very raison d'être of such a boat's existence. Helm up, then, must of necessity mean up to the wind; and so, in fact, it does, for no matter what position a boat may be in, no matter what turns or twists from that position she may make, no matter whether it be light or dark, foggy or clear; whether the wind be ever so steady or shift from north to south and all round the compass again; whatever the time or whatever the circumstances, a beginner need never be at a loss for the meaning of "helm up": he has but to determine the direction of the wind (and if there be a doubt in his mind over that, the sail, which naturally stands away from it, will quickly dispel it) and up against it goes the tiller without a further thought. Yet, simple as it seems, it is astonishing how many mistakes are made by beginners over this important point; and it must be confessed that to determine at a moment's notice the direction of the wind, when quite fresh to the practice of sailing, is not altogether an easy thing. Moreover, there are times when it appears difficult to determine at all which way "helm up" would mean; as, for instance, when the tiller lies directly in the line of the wind, as it might if the boat be running sheer before it, or when lying head to wind. Here again then a little reasoning is useful. If a boat be sailing with a side wind and the sail stand over on the starboard side, from which side is the wind blowing? Naturally, from the port side, and the boat is therefore on the port tack. For the same reason, then, if the boat be running before the wind with her sail still standing over on the starboard side, the wind must he or must have been blowing, however little, from the port side, and to thrust the tiller over to port is to put it up. Since the helmsman usually sits or stands on the windward side of the tiller he will, literally pull it up towards him, if the vessel is heeling, or pull up the near side of the steering wheel; and he will push them down at the order "Down helm." The meaning of "helm up" having been mastered, that of "helm down", being precisely the opposite in all cases, is already understood, and we come to another phrase made occasional use of with reference to the tiller, viz., over or hard over. This command is most frequently heard in cases of emergency: it requires, therefore, to be promptly answered: and, fortunately, is not difficult to understand. To put the helm over is to shift it, that is, to bear the tiller over the corresponding position on the opposite side of the vessel. Hard over is to do this with the utmost energy to its full extent. (See under Hard.) The following are the various expressions having direct reference to the side to which the tiller must be put: Up. Keep her away, pay her off, no higher, no nearer, give her weather helm, are terms equivalent to bear away; and all have the same meaning with regard to the tiller, viz.: helm up. Down. Helm alee. Put the helm to the lee side of the vessel, that is, away from the wind, and, therefore, down. Luff. Put the vessel's head up towards the wind; to do which the tilier must be put away from the wind, and therefore down. Nothing off. To keep a boat "nothing off" is to keep her head "right on", or up to, the wind. If she falls away the tiller must be put down, which will bring her head once more up. Midships, Helm amidships, or right the helm. Put the tilier or let it fall back in the same line as the keel. Weather helm and lee helm. A vessel is said to carry weather helm when her tendency in sailing is to run up into the wind, and therefore her helm must be kept constantly over to the weather side, or up. She carries lee helm when she tends to fall away from the wind, and so her helm must be kept to leeward, or down. Though some vessels have one tendency and some another, there mayalso be causes to aggravate these. For instance, if a vessel have too much weight forward, or if the af ter sails are too much for the head sails, she will have to be sailed with weather helm, for her tendency will be to run up into the wind; while if she has too much weight in her stern), or if the head sails more than counterbalance the af ter ones, they will carry her head away from the wind, and she will constantly require a lee-helm to keep her up. This is very well understood with respect to large vessels, and taken into due account in the stowing of cargo. For a sailing ship will be very narrowly watched throughout her first voyage, and if it be found that she carries too much weather helm, the greater weight of cargo will, for her next trip, be stowed aft; whereas if she requires a lee helm it will find its way forward. Sea-faring men approve of weather helm; they like to feel that their vessel is ardent, to ensure that she will come up into the wind when required to. Lee helm is not only objectionable, but in certain cases it becomes positively dangerous; for if, in a sudden squall, a boat cannot quickly be brought up head to wind, the consequences may be serious. Helmport. A port is a hole; and the helm port is the hole through which the head and stock of a rudder (or helm) passes when the vessel has a counter. Helmsman. The man at the helm, that is, who steers the vessel. Helmstock. Another word for the tiller. .  .  Hermaphrodite brig. The old name for the vessel we now call a brigantine. Being brig-rigged on the foremast and schooner-rigged on the main mast, it was also sometimes called a brig schooner. (See under Brig.) Heron, (hern, hernshaw). A well-known water bird. The commonest ofthe family Ardeidoe. On the East Coast the name hernshaw is always used. But it is pronounced "hand-sor". Hence, without room for doubt, the explication of the much quoted Shakesperean line ("Hamlet") relating to the differences between "a hawk and a handsaw". High (high and dry). The situation of a vessel when, being aground, she is left there by the receding tide. High-charged. A vessel built with high bow and stern castles. The high seas. The open sea; that is beyond the limit within which nations claim the rights of jurisdiction. Highfield lever. A particular type of tensioning lever, usually for running backstays. Their use allows the leeward backstay to be completely slackened so that the boom can be let fully out. High water. The top of the tide; the point of its highest rise; the point of its lowest fall being called low water. High water mark. The mark left by the tide along the coast when it recedes. It usually means the height to which the highest spring tides rise, and in England it is of ten marked in certain places by the Trinity House Corporation, this being called the Trinity high water mark. (See also Spring tides.) Hike. A slang expression to move quickly; as, "hike off," be off quickly. It may also mean to hand or swing something over; as, "hike it over," i.e., "swing or hand it over." Hitch. The name given to certain twists made with rope to form knots which may be very easily loosened. The principal hitches are the half-hitch, two-half hitches, clove-hitch, timber-hitch, and blackwallhitch (for the method of making all of which see under the heading Knots). To take a hitch is simply to take one turn in a rope, or, when applied to the belaying of a rope, to make a bight (bend) in the last turn, keeping the running end under so that it will not unwind. This is the neatest manner of finishing a belaying. Hitcher. Another word for a barge-pole, puntingpole, quanting pole, or boat-hook, called variously according to locality. (See under Pole.) HMS. His/Her Majesty's Ship. Hobbler. A coastman of Kent; an unlicensed pilot; one towing a vessel; a watchman. Hog. A stout broom, or brush, for scraping a boat's bottom. Hogging (at sea). A dangerous thing with a ship, sometimes the result of her taking, or remaining too long on, the ground. It is a falling of her head and stern, the consequence of some accidental weakness in her keel. A vessel which has hogged is either strengthened by a hog frame, a sort of huge truss, running fore and aft, or by a hog-chain, a chain acting as a tension rod, passing from stem to stern. It may be generally concluded, however, that a hogged vessel is a wreck. .  American International Shipbuilding, subsidized by the United States Shipping Board, built an emergency shipyard on Hog Island just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the site of present day Philadelphia International Airport. No ships were produced in time to participate in World War I, but many ships were active in World War II, with roughly half of those produced at Hog Island being sunk in that conflict. Hog piece. The fore-and-aft timber joined to the top of a wooden keel, to resist hogging stresses. Hoist. 1. To elevate, to haul aloft, with or without the assistance of tackles. 2. The perpendicular measurement of a sail or flag. Thus the height of a flag is its "hoist", the length being its fly; and in like manner the length of a sail, measured up along the foremost leech, is its hoist. So a flag may have a two-foot hoist, a fore-and-aft mainsail a hoist of 10 or 15 feet; a fore-sail or a jib a six or eight foot hoist. Hold. The inner space of a vessel in which the cargo is stowed. Hold beams. In shipbuilding, beams traversing the hold of a vessel and supporting a lower deck, or hold-floor. (See Frame.) "Hold hard!" Stop; desist: something equivalent to avast. Hold a luff. In sailing, to keep close to the wind; to luff meaning to go close up to the wind. Hold a topmast. A gafftopsail, unless kept close to its topmast by a lacing or jack stay, will be liable, except in a very light breeze, to blow from the mast, or in the language of fishermen it will not "hold the topmast" . This is the case with big yard-topsails, which are unsuited, therefore, for working to windward in a breeze. Hold a wind, hold a good wind. A vessel is said to hold a good wind when she has no tendency to fall off from the wind; and one boat is said to "hold a better wind" than another when she sails closer to the wind than the other. "Hold water!" In rowing, to check the boat's headway by placing the blades of the oars vertically in the water and keeping them there. Holding ground. The quality of the sea-bed, good or bad, to retain the grip of an anchor. Holding on the slack. Lazy. Doing little or nothing. Holiday. In painting, or holy stoning, a place where the work has been scamped, or overlooked. Holy-stone. A soft porous stone used in most ships for the purpose of rubbing or scouring the decks with sand every morning soon af ter daylight. A large flat piece is called a "bible", possibly because .it is used by men kneeling; and a small piece for getting into corners is a prayer-book . Home. The term is applied to anything close up, or in its place. It also implies the situation of a ship. When blocks are drawn together they are said to be "brought home". A square sail, when its clews are brought close down to the yard-arms of its lower yard, is said to be "hauled home". A bolt may be "driven home". A bale or cask in the cargo of a vessel, when stowed close up against another so that neither will shift, is described as "stowed home". Come home (of an anchor). The anchor is said to "come home" when it drags-the ship being "home". Fall home or tumble home. In shipbuilding, the inward inclination of the sides of a bulging ship after they leave the water line. Sheeted home. A sail hauled in as close as necessary is said to be "sheeted home". Homeward bound stitches. Widely-spaced stitches made in canvas to hurry completion. Home Trade. Seaborne trade between ports in the British Isles and ports between the Elbe and Brest, both inclusive. Hood. A covering to a scuttle, companion, or the steering gear of a vessel. In shipbuilding, the final plank of a complete strake is called a hood, and the end of this plank a hooding end. Hence in shipbuilding those ends of the planks which abut on the stem and stern posts are the hoods, or hooding ends. Hook. The epithet hooked is frequently applied in shipbuilding to anything bent or incurvated, as the breast-hooks, fore-hooks, afterhooks, etc. A hook is, in fact, a strengthening knee supporting various members in a ship. Hook-block. A block having a hook upon it. (See Block). Hook-rope. A rope used for such purposes as dragging a cable ashore when hauling a vessel up to a quay, etc. It is usually whipped at one end and furnished with a hook at the other (whence its name). Hook and butt. The scarfing or laying of the two ends of timbers over each other. .  Hoop. Usually a band round something. The rings on a mast to which the weather leech of a fore-and-aft sail are bent - sometimes called hanks. (See Mast hoops.) Hope. "A small bay; it was an early term for a valley and is still used in Kent for a brook, and gives name to the adjacent anchorages." Hence we have the "Upper and Lower Hope", the last reaches before the estuary of the River Thames. Hopper barge. A barge having doors in her bottom and buoyancy spa ces at her ends. Her cargo, usually dredged material, is dumped when the doors in the bottom are opened. Horn. The arm of a cleat or kevel. The jaws of a gaff or boom. Horns of the rudder. In certain ships, irons to which the rudder chains are attached. Horns of the tiller. Also in ships, the bolts by which the chains are fixed to the rudder. Horn fisted. Horny handed, i.e., having rough hands. Horn timbers. Bracket or knee-shaped timbers affixed to the sternpost of a boat for the support of the counter. Hornpipe. The dance once popular among the sailors of the British navy, and still, to a small extent, performed at festive times. Barrington (Archaeologia," Vol. III.) considered the name of this dance to be derived from a musical instrument of wood, with horn at each end, and formerly used in Wales, called pib-corn (Angl., horn pipe). Horse. 1. In square rigged vessels, a rope for the support of a man. The rope running beneath a yard upon which the men stand while furling is a horse, also called a footrope, and is attached to the yard by short ropes called stirrups. The outer portion of the horse is called the flemish-horse. A rope stretched from the cap of a bowsprit or jib-boom to the knight-heads for the safety of men working on the bowsprit. A breast-rope over which a man may lean, while heaving the lead. 2. In fore-and-aft rig, an iron bar or rail, running athwart a deck, or the stern of a boat, upon which a sheet-tackle travels. Many yachts, and even open boats, are fitted with a horse for the main sheet block; and in fishing craft we often find one forward of the mast upon which the foresail travels, obviating the necessity for fore-sheets. In this latter case the leech of the foresail carries a pendant (hanging rope) by means of which the sail, when it has travelled over the horse, is held fast to the shrouds. A foresail thus manipulated is called a "working foresail". Horse-shoe clamp. In ship-building, an iron strop or clamp gripping the forefoot of the keel. Horse-shoe rack. In ships, a curved rack carrying small blocks used in connection with the running gear. Horsing iron. In ship-building, a caulker's chisel used for caulking a ship's seams with oakum. To horse up. To "harden in" the oakum caulking in a vessel's seams. Irish horse. Salt beef; and presupposed to be of a certain good age. There is an old verse in connection with the term, as follows: "Salt horse, salt horse, what brought you here? You've carried turffor many a year . From Dublin quay to Ballyack You've carried turfupon your back." This has been called "the sailor's address to his salt beef'. Horse Latitudes. The area of little wind between, approximately, 30° and 35°N in the North Atlantic, between the "Westerlies" and the North East Trade wind. Host men. "An ancient guild or fraternity at Newcastle, to whom we are indebted for the valuable sea-coal trade." (Smyth.) Hot coppers. A parched mouth the morning after drinking heavily, especially of bad spirit. Hounds. 1. Those projections at the lower part of a mast-head which carry the trestle-trees, shrouds, stays, etc. They are of ten confounded with the cheeks. The difference is arbitrary. On large masts such as those of sailing ships, they are usually called the hounds; in small vessels the cheeks. Hence either term may be equally properly used. The hounds are also sometimes called the bibbs. In old works they are described as the holes in the cheeks of the mast. The jaws of a gaff or boom are occasionally called its hounds. Hounds band. An iron band near a masthead to which rigging is attached. Hounding. That portion of a mast below the hounds; or, in other words, between the deck and the hounds. House flag. A square flag displaying the device and colours adopted by any mercantile shipping company. Housing. 1. The housing of a mast is that portion below the deck; it is usually square so as to fit inside the mast-case. 2. The housing of a bowsprit is that part of it which lies inboard (within the knight-heads). A housing (house-line) is also a small rope used for seizings (i.e., binding-up). To put a vessel under cover, for laying up, is sometimes called housing her. To house a mast or spar is to take it down, or strike it. Thus a topmast lowered and secured to the lower mast, as so often seen in small craft during winter - is said to be housed. The housing of spars in a gale is a very important piece of seamanship, for every sailor knows how much wind they may hold. Indeed so much is this the case that the act of scudding under bare poles, i.e., running before the wind without a single sail set, is by no means an uncommon practice, and may even be done when a gale is no more than moderate. In such vessels as yachts the housing of spars is sometimes, though, of course, on a lesser scale, equally necessary; and even in open boats it may occasionally be well to take down the mast and any other spars which may project outboard, in order that the boat may be buried as little as possible in a heavy rolling sea. Hove. "Heave" in the past tense. Thus we may say "we hove to during the squall". But the word is as frequently used in the present tense, as "she is hove to"; "she is hove in stays," etc. Hovellers. 1. At the Cinque Ports, a name for pilots. 2. As an old term it means those who range the seas around the coast in the chance of falling in with ships in distress. .  Howker, or hooker. "A Dutch vessel commonly navigated with two masts-viz., a main and a mizzen mast, and being from sixty to two hundred tons burden. It is also the name of a fishing boat used on the southern coast of Ireland and carrying only one mast." (Falconer.) On our coasts the howkers go by the more familiar name of "Dutchmen". See hooker. .  HSS-ferry. High-speed Sea Service ferry. Hug. To keep close to in sailing, as to hug the shore, to hug the wind, etc. Hulk. A vessel not fit to be sent to sea, or a sailing vessel without masts. The better ones were, and still are, made use of in various ways: floating storehouses, temporary accommodation, quarantine, and c. 1800, prisons. At Leigh, on the Thames, the hull of an old vessel has been turned into a yacht club house; while in a village on the Suffolk co ast half the cottages are formed of the inverted hulks of old fishing craft, precisely like that one in which David Copperfield made his first acquaintance with the domestic arrangements of the Peggotty family. Certain hulls are fitted with sheers for dockyard or other engineering work, and are called sheer hulks. But this latter term is often understood to mean nothing more than the mere remnant of a ship, as in Dibdin's song: "Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling, The darling of our crew." In the 13th to 15th centuries the hulk was a large merchant ship, especially so-called in the Mediterranean. Hull. The hull is the body of a vessel, exclusive of her masts, etc. To hull, or to lie a-hull, is to take in all sail in a storm and to lash the helm. Hull down. A distant vessel is hull down when her hull is below the horizon, but her masts and upper works are still visible. Hull speed. The maximum efficient speed of a displacement-hulled vessel. Humber keel. A clincher built trading vessel, with a single mast and square sail, usually bluff bow and stern, sailing out of the River Humber. Hung up. Sometimes to be "hung up" means to be left ashore or without occupation. Hung up in the wind. When a vessel has been brought head to wind, in sailing, but refuses to go about, she is said to become "hung up in the wind", or to be "in irons". (See In irons and Tack.) Hurricane. A violent storm, distinguished by the vehemence and sudden changes ofthe wind. Force 12, wind speed 64-71 knots. Hurricane deck. In large steam boats, a light upper deck extending across the vessel amidships, usually for the officer in commando (See Deck.) Hurry. Another word for staith. Hurtle. To send bodily along on a heavy sea or swell. Husband. Ship's husband. Of the man called ship's husband in old days Falconer gives the following: "Ship's husband (among merchants), the person who takes the direction and management of a ship's concerns upon himself, the owners paying him a commission for his trouble." In 13th and 14th centuries he might have been the sailing master. In the 19th century a marine superintendent. Hydrofoil. A fast vessel which, when at speed, lifts her hull clear of the water, supporting herself upon foils, or wings, which project beneath her bottom. Hydrographer. One who surveys the seas and coasts, and produces charts and sailing directions. Hydrometer. An instrument for finding the density of liquids, and used to find to what draught a vessel should be loaded in fresh water to have a given draught at sea. Hydroplane. A hydroplane (or hydro, or thunderboat) is a fast motorboat, where the hull shape is such that at speed, the weight of the boat is supported by planing forces, rather than simple buoyancy. A key aspect of hydroplanes is that they use the water they're on for lift rather than buoyancy, as well as for propulsion and steering: when travelling at high speed water is forced downwards by the bottom of the boat's hull. The water therefore exerts an equal and opposite force upwards, lifting the vast majority of the hull out of the water. This process, happening at the surface of the water, is known as ‘planing’. .  However, Hyperion is famous primarily for its owner, silicon valley entrepreneur Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape, who built the yacht with the aim of replacing all conventional ship board electronics with an array of integrated, touch screen computers. At the time of launch, all systems aboard the yacht including engines and sailing systems, environmental systems, lighting, HVAC and entertainment were controlled by a network of 30 customized Silicon Graphics computers and 22 LCD touch screens at various locations throughout the yacht. Much has been written about this project including a best selling book, The New New Thing by Michael Lewis, a book I helped editing and translating into Dutch (Het Nieuwste van het Nieuwste). |
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z . . Email: jackvanderwyk@yahoo.co.uk
