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O (Oscar) "Man overboard."** (often attached to the man overboard pole on boats). With a sinister hoist, the semaphore flag. Oakum. The substance to which old ropes are reduced when unpicked. It is used in caulking the seams of boats, and in stopping leaks, etc. Oar. By this is understood, today, the single oar, handled by one man alone, in contradistinction to sculls, which go in pairs, both being handled by the same person. The oar is longer, and, therefore, a more powerful lever than the scull; but it is found in practice that a given number of men propelling a boat by sculls make considerably greater speed than the same crew using oars. The propulsion of a boat by means of oars is called rowing: when sculls are used it is no langer rowing, but sculling. This distinction is of importance to those who would wish to be correct in their rowing phraseology. Sweeps are long oars used by sailing-boats, barges, lighters, etc. (See Sweep.) The oars used by fishermen are very long and heavy, with very long inboard. They are difficult to use, but immense power is to be gained with them. At sea oars are usually without the feather; but in smooth waters it is almost invariable. Back oars. To press backwards on the oars so as to stop the progress of a boat. It is usually called backwater. "Get your oars to pass." An old expression signifying that the oars should be got ready for rowing. Lay on the oars. To pause in rowing and lay the oars flat just above the water. It is the same as to: Rest on the oars, or, in other words, to take a rest in rowing. Out oars. To get oars out ready for use. Ship and unship oars. To ship oars is to place them in the rowlocks ready for use: to unship, to take them out of their rowlocks and replace them in the boat or elsewhere. (See Ship.) Shove your oar in. To intermeddle; as, Don't shove in your oar, i.e., Don't meddle. Toss oars. To lift the blades vertically up into the air, all together, as is of ten done in the Royal Navy, either as a salute or preparatory to shipping or unshipping. Ocean. A major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (~3.6×108 km2) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (‰) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ‰. Scientists estimate that 230,000 marine species are currently known, but the total could be up to 10 times that number. The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria. These divisions are (in descending order of size):
 According to an account in the French daily Le Figaro, corroborated by Amir-Aslani, the Ocean Breeze, made for a 35-member crew, has about 10 rooms, several salons with large-screen TVs, pools, and saunas. The Middle Eastern despot-chic decor features plenty of gold, silver, and marble, Arabesque arches, fancy fountains, gold-tap bathrooms, table and silverware for 200, a medi-clinic with surgical suite (who wants to play doctor?), helipad, 14 cabins for 28 passengers, and – because god made this all possible—prayer rooms. Less glamorous but more telling of Saddam’s real-world concerns are the bulletproof windows, a missile-launching system - disarmed - and a secret passage leading to a mini-submarine for escape if the vessel comes under attack. It was unclear whether the mini-submarine was still part of the yacht, but the Le Figaro account implied that it was. .  .  Ochre. A reddish chalk used by shipbuilders in marking timbers when forming them. Occulting. A navigation light in which the period of darkness is less than the period of light. Off. 1. In general nautical conversation this word means "away from the shore", thus: an offshore wind signifies that the wind is blowing from the shore to seaward. "The vessel is standing off" describes her as withdrawing from the land. 2. It may also mean near to or abreast of, as "we lay off Dover". Off and on. Nearing and withdrawing, as with a ship tacking, which stands "off and on the shore" alternately. Off the reel. At once, quickly. Just as the log line would run off the reel. (See Log.) Off the wind. Sailing with the wind abaft the beam (Compare this with On the wind.) Offing. Those aboard vessels lying in a bay or harbour speak of the offing, meaning thereby the outside sea, where the water is deep and the force of a gale is felt. It may, under other circumstances, denote any part of the sea at a distance. To keep a good offing is to keep well off some shore. Nothing off. To keep a boat right on, that is, as near to the wind as she will bear. Oil. "Oil on troubled waters." It is a well-known fact that drops of oil dropping from a bladder placed over a ship's stern, will smooth the surface of the sea, where the waves are breaking, and prevent them from overrunning her, the reason being that the friction of the wind upon the waves is reduced. Oil motors or engines. More correctly Internal Combustion Engines, either petrol engines using petrol or gasoline as fuel or diesel engines using a heavier and cheaper oil as fuel, have almost entirely replaced steam engines in small craft and large ships are of ten propelled by diesel engines. Advantages of oil over steam engines are that, because of an absence of boiler, they occupy less space; they require no time to raise steam; and they are labour-saving. Oil-skins, or oileys. "Oileys" is the fisherman's term for oilskin clothes, used in rainy or rough weather. These men sometimes made their own "oileys", and formerly always did so. The manner in which these suits were made was simple: having been cut out of coarse calico, and made up, they were steeped in linseed oil and then hung out on a line, being constantly reversed until quite dry. This was generally done in the spring, to allow the oil ample time to dry before the following winter, it of ten taking several months. Everyone boating or yachting during the winter should be possessed of a suit of oilskins. .  Oil tankers are often classified by their size as well as their occupation. The size classes range from inland or coastal tankers of a few thousand metric tons of deadweight (DWT) to the mammoth ultra large crude carriers (ULCCs) of 550,000 DWT. Tankers move approximately 2,000,000,000 metric tons (2.2×109 short tons) of oil every year. Second only to pipelines in terms of efficiency, the average cost of oil transport by tanker amounts to only two or three United States cents per 1 US gallon (3.8 L). Some specialized types of oil tankers have evolved. One of these is the naval replenishment oiler, a tanker which can fuel a moving vessel. Combination ore-bulk-oil carriers and permanently moored floating storage units are two other variations on the standard oil tanker design. Oil tankers have been involved in a number of damaging and high-profile oil spills. As a result, they are subject to stringent design and operational regulations. Old boats. Beware of them. Old horse. Old salt beef. (See Horse.) Old Man. A colloquial name for the master of a merchant ship. Oleron. Laws of Oleron. "Certain laws of the Navy or Marine which were framed and drawn up by Richard I at the island of Oleron, near the coast of Poictou, the inhabitants of which have been deemed able mariners for these seven hundred years past. These sea laws, which have been reckoned the most excellent of the kind, are recorded in the Black Book of the Admiralty." On. The opposite to "off". So the wind may be "on the shore"i.e., blowing towards it. In sailing we may have the wind on the beam, on the bow, or on the quarter, terms which will explain themselves. To be on. To be in the act of doing something. Thus we may say, "There is a high sea on." To be sailing on the wind is to be sailing with the wind before the beam, and therefore close-hauled. (Compare this with Off the wind.) In square-riggedships this is called sailing on a taut bowline. End on. Meeting a vessel on end. (See End-on.) "One, two, three and belay!" The song with which the seamen bowse out the bowlines; the last hauling being completed by "Belay oh!" "One for coming up!" A final pull on a rope to gain rather more than is required to allow for the slight loss when turning up. Ooze. The thin mud which settIes along the banks of certain river so it is so light as almost to float, and is sometimes of unfathomable depth. Open boat. A boat absolutely without decking. Open hawse. A clear cable (when a vessel is riding by two anchors.) Open roadstead. A hazardous refuge, offering but poor protection to vessels. Open sea. The same as the high sea - i.e., beyond the three mile limit over which a country claims jurisdiction. Opposite tacks. Two vessels, one on the port tack, the other on the starboard, are said to be on "opposite tacks". Hence, in general conversation, when two persons are at cross purposes, the same is of ten said of them. Ordinary seaman. "The rating of one who can make himself useful on board, even to going aloft, and taking his part on a topsail or top-gallant yard, but is not a complete sailor, the latter being termed an able seaman." (Smyth.) Orient. The East; or the eastern point ofthe horizon. Orlop (from "over-lop"). Orlop beams. Beams in a ship, extending across the lower part of the hold, and therefore of ten called hold beams. They sometimes support that which is called the orlop deck, which may be the lowest deck in a ship, or a temporary platform forming a sort of deck. In the old warships certain of the store rooms were on this deck, and, in frigates, the midshipmen's berth. .  The ship reportedly had 34 rooms, i.e. was built with 34 pairs of oars, for a crew of 68 rowers (and additional crew members). Extrapolating from archeological evidence (e.g. the Gokstad ship), this would make Ormen Lange nearly 45 meters long. The ship's sides were unusually high, "as high as that of a Knarr". The ship was the last to be taken in the Battle of Svolder where Olav was killed (although his body was never found; and some stories tell of the king jumping into the water either sinking due to the weight of his armour or escaping in the confusion) by a coalition of his enemies in the year 1000. .  Otter. Also Otterboard. A board fitted with a bridIe and line which tows at an angle under water and is used, for example, to keep open the mouth of a trawl, and in sweeping for mines. .  Out. In the offing: at a distance. Away from the shore. Thus "there is a good breeze out" means that there is a good breeze out in the offing, though it may not be feIt on shore. "The vessel is standing out", she is sailing away from the shore. Outside has something of the same meaning, and implies "out at sea": generally spoken by those in a harbour or river, as "it blows hard outside", which would mean that it was blowing hard at sea, though not, possibly, feIt in the haven; or "we are going outside", we are going outside the river into the sea, etc. Out board. Board means the side of a vessel, therefore "outboard" means outside her, or beyond the gunwale .. Thus a bowsprit runs outboard, etc. Outboard engine. A portable motor attached to the stern of a boat, with a vertical shaft driving an immersed propeller. The boat may be steered by twisting the whole motor, instead of or in addition to using a rudder. Out-class. One vessel is said to "out-class" another when, as a result of more modern improvements, she is greatly superior to another in her own class. "Out or down!" A threat sometimes used at sea by one summoning another to his watch - "Out you get, or down goes your hammock!" Out-haul. A rope which hauls out something, as the jib outhaul does the tack of the jib. (See Jib.) Outer jib. One of the head sails of a ship. (See Jib.) Large vessels usually set two standing jibs, the outer and the inner. Outlicker, or outlier. Corruptions of outrigger. Out port. A port on the coast of the United Kingdom away from London, or from a ship's headquarters. Out-regan. A canal or ditch navigable by boats. Outside planking. The outer strakes of a vessel, which are variously named, as the garboard strakes, wales, etc. Out of trim. The state of a ship not properly balanced in the water. (See Trim.) Outer turns and inner turns. Expressions used with regalid to square sails. "The outer turns of the earing serve to extend the sail outwards along its yard. The inner turns are employed to bind the sail close to the yard." (Smyth.) Out-rig. To extend anything out from the side of a vessel; hence, Outrigger. 1. A projecting piece from any part of a vessel, which serves to give greater leverage or base to oars, ropes, sails, etc. An extension to each side of the crosstrees of a sailing vessel to spread the backstays. (See also Channels.) A small boomkin (or bumpkin), such as is often used for the working of a mizzen, is sometimes called an outrigger. The term, however, has a more familiar application in the case of rowing boats, and more especially those used for racing. In these, outriggers are light projecting brackets supporting the rowlocks, and giving a vastly greater length of leverage for the oars or sculls. On rivers they are now always employed, and of late years have often been adopted in pleasure skiffs, when, however, they project in alesser degree and are known as half-outriggers: but these skiffs are less convenient in crowded or narrow waterways than those which are in-rigged, that is, which have the rowlocks (or tholes) on the gunwale or saxboard. A boat fitted with outriggers is usually called "an outrigger". 2. The log, or float, rigged out from the side of a canoe to provide additional stability. Outward bound. A ship on its voyage away from home. Ouvre l'oeil. "A mark on French charts over supposed dangers." Over-bear. One vessel overbears another if she carries more sail in a fresh breeze. Overboard. Over the side of the ship. The "board", in nautical phraseology, means the side. Overblow (of the wind). To blow so hard that a vessel can carry no topsails. Overcast. 1. (Of the weather). Cloudy: the sun not seen. 2. In ship-building, to overcast is to measure up-hence, Overcasting staff. A measuring staff used by ship-wrights. Overfall. The eastern-county name for certain banks or shoals near the surface of the sea, such as Blakeney Overfall; Sherringham Overfall; Stuky Overfall, near the Norfolk coast. Also another name for a tide-rip or race. Overhand (in knots). A simple knot made by passing the end of a rope over its standing part, and then through the bight. It may also be called a thumb-knot. (See Knots.) Hand over hand (In hauling on a rope). Hauling in quickly and with one hand passed alternately over the other. Overhaul. 1. To examine or inspect. 2. To catch up or overtake. To overhaul a rope. To slacken it off. To overhaul a tackle. To open out or extend its parts-that is, its blocks and ropes-so that they may be made use of again, when they have been brought close up, or fleeted. Over-masted. A boat is thus described when her masts are too long, which in yachts is not of rare occurrence. In such cases masts are cut down, and often with great benefit to the boat. Over-pressed. A vessel carrying too much sail. Over-rake (of the waves of the sea). When the waves break over a vessel at anchor they are sometimes said to over-rake her. Over-rate. A racing yacht or sailing boat is said to be over-rated when she is too much handicapped. Hence, a person of whom too high an opinion is held, is spoken of in the same manner. Over-rigged. Spoken of a vessel having more or heavier gear than necessary. Over-risen. Too high out ofthe water. Over-run. When the waves overtake a vessel and come in upon her, they are said to over-run her. Over-sea. From a foreign port. Over-shoot. To give a vessel too much way, so that, in coming up to a mooring or pier, she misses the mark and shoots beyond it. Overtaking. In the Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, an overtaking vessel is one that is coming up with another from any direction more than two points abaft her beam. Any vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken. Over the barrel. Adult sailors were flogged on the back or shoulders while tied to a grating, but boys were beaten instead on the posterior (often bared), with a cane or cat, while bending, often tied down, over the barrel of a gun, known as (kissing) the gunner's daughter. Owner. A Royal Naval nickname for the Captain, a survival from the days when privately-owned ships were often hired for naval service. Ox bows. Bends, or reaches, in a river. Ox-eye. "A name given by mariners to a small cloud or meteor, seen at the Cape of Good Hope, etc., which presages a dreadful storm. It appears at first in the form or size of an ox's-eye, but descends with such celerity that it seems suddenly to overspread the whole hemisphere, and at the same time forces the air with such violence, that ships are sometimes scattered several ways, some directly contrary, and many sunk downright." (Falconer.) Oyster-laying. A place, either in the sea or in some river, where oysters are bred or fattened. Oyster dredge. The implement with which the "dredger man" drags the bottom of a "laying" for oysters. In old days he of ten accompanied his labours by a monotonous chant, which also served to charm the oysters into his dredge. Hence the old lines: |
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