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P (Papa) The Blue Peter. In harbour: All persons should report on board as the vessel is about to proceed to sea. At sea: It may be used by fishing vessels to mean: "My nets have come fast upon an obstruction." Packet. A small passenger - or mail boat. "This word meant originally a vessel appointed by Government to carry the mails between the mother country and foreign countries or her own dependencies." (Brande and Cox.) Pad, or pad-piece. A piece of timber laid (when required) upon the beams of a vessel to form the lateral curve (or camber) in the form of the deck. Paddle. The oar or propeller used by canoeists, and having its origin among savage nations; a double-paddle has a blade at both ends. To paddle, therefore, in canoeing, is to propel the boat with the paddle. Paddle boat-hook. A boat-hook and paddie combined. It forms part of the inventory of an Upper Thames pleasure skiff, and is a very useful implement. (See Boat-hook.) To paddle in rowing with oars or sculls has another meaning, viz.: to row easily, i.e., not at a high speed. Paddles (on a steam boat). The flat boards on the propelling wheels; though the wheels are occasionally spoken of as the paddles; and the coverings over the wheels are called the paddle boxes. Paddle boat. A steam vessel propelled by paddle-wheels. Paddy's hurricane. A dead calm; or, at best, a breeze insufficient to float a pennant. Painter. A rope attached usually to a ring inside the stempost of an open boat, by which it may be made fast alongside a quay, etc. "Cut your painter." A slang expression for "Be off!" Pair-oar. A boat rowed by one pair of oars. It was also the name sometimes given to the old London wherry. Palm. In sail-making, a contrivance for taking the place of a thimble, and used by seamen and sail-makers. It fits the ball of the thumb and palm of the hand. Palm of an anchor. The flattened side of the fluke. (See Anchor.) .  Panamax Tanker. A liquid cargo vessel of 50,000 to 70,000dwt. Panamax Vessel. The largest size vessel that can traverse the Panama Canal. Current maximum dimensions are: Length 294.1 meters (965 feet); width 32.3 meters (106 feet); draft 12.0 meters (39.5 feet) in tropical fresh water; height 57.91 meters (190 feet) above the water. Panting. The in-and-out movement of a ship's plating, particularly in the bows, caused by variation in the water pressure. Counteracted by panting-beams. Parallel sailing (at sea). Sailing on a circle parallel to the Equator. Parallels of latitude. Lines drawn round the earth parallel to the Equator. Parbuckle. A method of lifting a cask or some other heavy object, by doubling a rope into two legs, passing them under the object and hauling on both together. .  Paravane. A device towed from the bows of a ship as a protection against moored mines. The paravane towed like an otter and the towing wire cut through the mines' mooring. Parcel. To parcel rope. (See Serve.) Parclose. The limber-holes in a vessel are occasionally called by this name. Parliament-heel. "A term used to imply the situation of a ship when she is made to stoop a little to one side, so as to clean the upper part of her bottom on the other side, and cover it with a fresh composition." (Falconer.) But the term of ten means only a slight heel, as when a vessel’s lays over under canvas. Parrel. Generally speaking, any apparatus which keeps a yard to its mast. Thus the parrel of a gaff is a rope upon which is strung a row of hard wooden balls and encircling the mast, the ends being attached to each jaw of the gaff. The parrel of a lug sail may be either an iron ring on the mast or a loop made in the halyard. (See Lug.) The rib-andtruck parrel was a device of ten used in old ships, and may still be occasionally seen. It consisted of a number of battens or ribs, between each of which a series of trucks (small wooden balls) were strung). The lines being unreeved, these parts would fall intoa number of disjointed pieces. Hence the term “ribs and trucks” is sometimes used to mean mere fragments . Parrish-rigged. A vessel, or anything else, with inadequate or worn-out gear. Part. To part. To be driven from the anchors; said of a ship when she breaks her cable. Standing part and running part. Parts of a rope in use. Partners. The framework which supports the mast by the deck. (See Mast.) Pass. A term used by Beamen to express the accomplishment of something, as to pass the gaskets, to pass a lashing, i.e., to take turns with a rope round a yard, etc. Pass the word. To relay an order or a summons. Passe volant. "A name applied by the French to a quaker or wooden gun on board ship; but it was adopted by our early voyagers as also expressing a movable piece of ordnance." (Smyth.) Passenger. A person carried in a ship, but who does no work in her. Persons taken in pleasure boats are sometimes called thus, and , in the course of a rowing match, any rower becomes disabled he is said to have become a passenger. Pattens. (See Mud pattens.) Pawl, or drop pawl. A small stop, or catch, which prevents all moving object from going beyond a certain limit, such as the pawl of a rack wheel, which stops the wheel from running backward; the pawl of a capstan, which acts in the same manner; a mast pawl, which confines a lowering mast in its place; a rowlock pawl, which may be a metal catch or merely a piece of rope across a pair of rowlocks preventing an oar from being dislodged, etc. Pawl bits. Timber to which the pawls of a large capstan are attached. Pay. To give a coating of tar, or any other material to anything requiring it. Thus a ship's bottom may be payed with pitch; a ropewith tar; a spar with grease, etc. So also to pay a seam of the decking of a vessel is to pour melted pitch into the seam. Pay away. To slacken off; usually said of a rope, or the sheet of a sail when it requires to be loosened out. Pay off. 1. To pay the men's wages and dismiss them. 2. In sailing, to allow a vessel's head to fall alee - i.e., away from the wind. Sometimes, in tacking, a boat's head refuses to pay off: at such times she may be assisted by holding the headsails to windward. If she does not then come round she becomes "hung up in the wind". (See Tack.) Paying off pennant. An extremely long pennant flown by Royal Navy ships when proceeding home to pay off at the end of a commission. Pay out (of a cable or any other rope). To slacken it out. Almost equivalent to pay away. Sometimes to pay out means to slacken away gradually, bit by bit, instead of letting the rope or cable go off as it will. Pay round. To turn a vessel's head round, away from the wind, as in paying off. Peak. 1. The upper end of a gaff. But it is also the uppermost corner of a sail carried by a gaff. Peak halyards are the halyards which elevate the peak. They usually consist of a tackle. The rope being first secured to the gaff at a point not far distant from the peak, passes through a block at the mast head, thence to a block lower down the gaff, back again to another block on the mast, then down to the deck, where it is belayed in small craft, usually to the port (left-hand) side of the mast ("peak to port"). The pendants of the peak halyards are those parts of the rope which run between the mast and the gaff. When the mainsail, having been lowered, is to be covered with the sail cloth, these pendants must be detached, and either hooked to slings or stropwhich pass under the boom, or looped round the boom as it rests on the crutches. Peak line. A small rope passing through a block at the guy end of the gaff. It is sometimes called the flag halyard, because the ensign or some other flag is often hoisted at the peak as a signal. The peak line is also much employed to haul down the peak when the gaff Jams. Peak purchase. In large vessels, a purchase applied to the peak halyards to swing them up taut. 2. The peak, on the fluke of an anchor, is the apex of the fluke. It is of ten called the bill. (See Anchor.) The anchor apeak. The anchor brought to such a position that it stands perpendicularly on the ground. (See Anchor.) To stay peak, or ride a short peak or long peak (of old ships).When the cable and forestay were in about the same straight line it was a short peak. With the main stay and cable in a line, it was a long peak. To peak. To raise a yard or gaff obliquely to its mast. Fore peak. A place in the fore part of some small vessels in which stores may be kept. Pegging to windward. Making a dead peg to windward. The same as working to windward. (See under Beat.) Peggy. That member of the crew whose duty it is to keep the forecastle clean. Pelican. See Golden Hind. Pelorus. A compass card without needles. It is mounted on a stand and fitted with sight-vanes. Pelorus Jack. A Risso's dolphin that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand, between 1888 and 1912. Pelorus Jack was usually spotted in Admiralty Bay between Cape Francis and Collinet Point, near French Pass, a channel used by ships travelling between Wellington and Nelson. Pelorus Jack was shot at from a passing ship, and was later protected by a 1904 New Zealand law. Pencel. A small streamer, wheft, or pennant. Pendant, or pennant (pronounced "pennant").1. A long pointed flag, usually a signal, as the answering pennant in the International Signal Code, or the commodore's broad pennant in the Royal Navy. 2. (In rigging.) It must be understood that a halyard is often a tackle, the ropes of which are of ten distinguished into two parts: (1) the pendant, or that part which runs between the blocks, and (2) the fall, which is the part hauled upon. Thus the fore pendant is that part of the fore halyard which runs out from the mast-head to the stemhead, when the foresail is down. The jib pendant. The same out-running part ofthe jib-halyard. Peak pendants. Those parts of the peak halyards which run out between the masthead and the gaff. And, since these parts of the halyards are called pendants, so may the bob-stay ropes be counted in the list, which includes several - and, in ships, a large number of others. But there are also other pendants, which are short hanging ropes, unconnected with blocks, used for a variety of purposes, as reef pendants-short lines sometimes rove through cringles on the leech of a sail at the time of reefing, or sometimes hanging permanently, their office being to lash down the clew of the sail, prior to reefing. And, in this sense, the tack, which is a short rope hanging from the tack of a fore-and-aft sail, for hauling the tack down, is also a pendant. People. At sea, a ship's company was always known by this term, more particularly in the Royal Navy; but it did not include the commissioned officers. Pepineros. Illegal sea cucumber harvesters in the Galapagos Archipelo. In the 1980s, fishing for lobster was intense until the lobster population collapsed. The international market then shifted to another marine animal, the sea cucumber, which is a culinary delicacy, especially in the Far East. As a result, sea cucumbers now face the threat of eradication in the Galapagos Islands. In 1992, a Marine Resources Reserve for the Galapagos Islands was approved by the Ecuadorian government, but was not implemented. As a result, from 1992 to 1994, an estimated one million sea cucumbers were harvested each week from the surrounding waters. The high price paid for sea cucumbers to local fishermen, or pepineros, attracted additional fishermen from the mainland of Ecuador, increasing the pressures on the sea cucumber population. Many pepineros also set up illegal camps within the National Park to dry the sea cucumbers, which led to litter of plastic and other waste, introduction of dogs in places, and the burning of mangrove trees for fuel. A prohibition to protect the sea cucumbers was established last year but was altered to provide for a three-month "trial" fishing season, with a sea cucumber catch quota of 555,000. The prohibition was reinstated after only two months when it was discovered that the quota had been exceeded by 6-10 million. Peter boat. A row and sailing boat, short, pointed bow and stern, almost half-decked, and having a bun, a sort of well in which to keep fish. It was used by the fresh-water fishermen of the Thames. Formerly there was a considerable fishery for smelt, lamprey, and various fresh and salt water fish above and below London, and these peter boats were largely employed. (See Hebbing.) The below-bridge peter boats were of larger size than those used higher up, but of the same class. The peter boat is so named af ter St. Peter, the patron of fishermen. They originate from Norway and the Baltic (see Norwegian yawl), where they are said to have been no more than 25 ft in length, with 6ft of beam. "Yet," says Smyth, "in such craft, boys were wont to serve out seven years' apprenticeship, scarcely ever going on shore." Peter man. 1. "One who fishes in the river of Thames with an unlawful engine." (Bailey, 18th century.) 2. "The Dutch fishing vessels that frequented our eastern coast." (Smyth.) Petty Officer. The ranks below commissioned officers. Derived from the French "petit" = little. Pharos. In popular language, a lighthouse; but the word has almost gone out of use. It was derived from the great light tower built between 283-247 B.C. on the island of Pharos at the mouth of the harbour of Alexandria, and which came to be looked upon as one of the wonders of the ancient world. Also, the Pharos, are either of two Roman lighthouses built at Dubris (Dover, England) and The Pharos is the common name of the Upper Lighthouse at Fleetwood, England. Pick. Picking up a wind. Going out of one's course to find a wind. The practice is common with sailing ships when passing from one trade wind to the other. Pickle. Any artificial preservative or preparation for metal or wood. Iron is pickled, that is, steeped, in sulphuric acid and water before being galvanised. Wood may be payed with a coating of creasote or sulphate of copper, which preserves it against wet or dry, barnacles, etc.; and this also may be called a pickling. Pier. Piers may be either of wood, iron or stone, and are erected either to facilitate the landing of passengers and goods from vessels; as breakwaters; or solely as pleasure promenades. Those made of stone are often called moles, more especially when of great width. Of the first sort the pier of Southend, at the mouth of the Thames, may be noted; it is the longest in the kingdom, probably in the world. At Tynemouth is a long stone pier, or narrow mole, which serves as a breakwater at the mouth of the great northern river. Pleasure piers are to be found at Brighton, and other seaside resorts. A small pier, at which goods may be landed from barges and such like craft, is sometimes called a jetty. Piles are sometimes called piers because they support a weight, as do the piers, or pillars, of a church. Pier-head jump. Joining a ship at the last moment. Pig (of iron). Pig iron is very useful as ballast for a sailing boat, and has this advantage, that it is cheap. Piggin. A little pail with a long handle. It may be a baler or what not. Pike. A bar of iron, or a bar of wood shod with iron; originally used in boarding an enemy's vessel. In military affairs it wasused until the introduction of the bayonet. Pil, or pyll. "A creek subject to the tide." .  Pile. A piece of timber or iron, driven, with others, into the ground or into the bed of a river, for the support of a pier, bridge, etc. The following is mainly from Brande and Cox's "Dictionary of Science, Literature, etc.": "They may be round or square, and when of wood must be of a quality which does not rot under water, or which is able to resist the attack of the Teredo navalis, and other boring worms or insects. aak, elm, fir, hacmatac, green•heart, etc., are the woods most generally employed for the purpose. The end of the pile that enters the ground is, in these cases, pointed and shod with iron; and the top of it is bound with a strong iron hoop to prevent the piles being split, or their heads beaten up to a kind of pulp, by the violent strokes of the monkey by which they are driven down. Iron piles are now much used, and they are made large enough to allow the foundation to be carried down to the bottom of their penetration. " 1. Pile-driver. "An engine for driving piles. It consists of a large monkey, or block of cast iron, which slides between two guide posts. Being drawn up to the top of its course, and then let. fall from a considerable height, it comes down upon the head of the pile with a violent blow, proportioned to the weight of the monkey multiplied by the height, diminished, of course, by the friction that the monkey meets with in its descent." It may be worked by hand or by steam; the monkey is lifted with a catch-hook, which, as it reaches the top of the machine, is caught by a spring and disconnected, thus allowing the weight to drop automatically. In some cases, where the nature of the soil will allow of it, screw piles are employed. These are round iron piles to which are fitted large screw flanges.and the pile being turned by machinery screws itself to the desired depth. Southend pier, at the mouth of the Thames, is supported entirely upon screw piles, a distance of a mile and a quarter. 2. Pile-driver (of ships). A name given to a vessel which pitches heavily in a sea way. 3. Pile-up. Run ashore .. Pilot. 1. A maritime pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. However, the pilot is only an advisor, as the master remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel. Pilotage is one of the oldest, least-known professions, yet it is one of the most important in maritime safety. The economic and environmental risk from today's large cargo ships makes the role of the pilot essential. The work functions of the pilot go back to Ancient Greece and Roman times, when locally experienced harbour captains, mainly local fishermen, were employed by incoming ships' captains to bring their trading vessels into port safely. Eventually, in light of the need to regulate the act of pilotage and to ensure pilots had adequate insurance, the harbours themselves licensed pilots. Normally the pilot joins an incoming ship at sea via pilot boat or helicopter and climbs a pilot ladder sometimes up 40 feet 12 metres) to the deck of the largest container and tanker ships. With outgoing vessels, a pilot boat returns the pilot to land after the ship has successfully negotiated coastal waters. The origin of the pilot's office is to be found, according to Wedgwood, in the Dutch word “peilen”, to sound; his duty before the existence of charts being to navigate his vessel by means of the sounding lead. In the 15th and 16th centuries the pilot was a ship's navigator, and the term is applied today to a navigating officer. 2. Volumes of the Admiralty Sailing Directions are referred to as "Pilots", e.g. "The Mediterranean Pilot." .  Pilot flag. A Rag, the upper half white and lower red, denoting "I have a pilot on board". Pillars. In ship-building, pieces of wood or iron supporting the decks in some vessels, and acting as the columns of a church. Pillar of the hold. A main stanchion with notches in it, which may be used as steps in descending to the hold. Pillow. A block of timber whereon the inner end of some spar, such as the bowsprit, is rested. Pin. Of a block, the axle. Belaying pin. A pin, forming a sort of cleat, round which a halyard or any other rope may be belayed. In a yacht or sailing boat several of them will be found around the lower part of the mast, in the spider-hoop, for the belaying of the halyards. In larger vessels they are often fitted into a bar or fife-rail at the side of the boat, or across the shrouds, when they may also be called jack-pins. But they may be placed wherever convenient. Pin down. 1. (In sailing). When the sheet is hauled in too close, and the boat's head is kept too close into the eye of the wind, she is said to be pinned down, and the consequence is that she makes little or no way. Beginners are too apt to pin their vessels down in this manner. 2. A vessel is said to be pinned down by the head when her head is low down in the water, either on account of an excess of weight forward, or, if at anchor, when her cable is too short. Pinch-gut money. An expression used by merchant seamen for money paid to them, in certain vessels, at the end of a voyage, to the value of such stores as they were entitled to but have not drawn. Pingle. An old name for a small north-country coasting vessel. .  Pink. In the Dutch fisheries, a two-masted boat of the ketch type. (See Dogger.) "A name given to a ship with a very narrow stern. Those used in the Mediterranean Sea differ from the Xebecs only in being more lofty and not sharp in the bottom; they are vessels of burden, have three masts, and carry lateen sails." (Falconer, 1790.) Pinnace (in the Royal Navy). An open boat once propelled by oars, in modern times fitted with engines, working either by steam, or oil. The boat ranges from 30 feet or more in length, and is used for general purposes. A pinnace of the 16th century was a small vessel of about 20 tons generally acting as a tender to a larger ship. Pinrack (at sea). A rack or framework on the deck of a vessel, consisting of blocks and cleats for the working of ropes. (See Rack.) Pintles. The pins on a rudder which fit into the gudgeons, or eyes, on the stern-post of the boat. (See Rudder.) Pipe. Summon with a boatswain's whistle. Pipe down. The call on the boatswain's pipe, made in a warship for the hands to turn in. Hence, in speech, "Shut up. Stop making a nuisance of yourself." Piping the side. The ceremonial blowing of a boatswain's pipe on the arrival on board, or departure, of a naval captain or visiting dignitaries. Piracy. Felony on the seas or in harbour. Various acts are now enumerated as piracy, such as violence, boarding against the will of the master, etc. Acts of piracy have occurred in the China Sea, on the coast of West Africa and elsewhere during this century (See Corsair.) Pirate flag. See Jolly Roger. Pitch. The residuum of boiled tar. It is valuable both for preserving the planks of new vessels and for hiding the defects of old ones. 2. The distance a vessel would advance in one revolution of the propeller if there was no slip. 3. The up-and-down motion of a vessel's bows. Pitch a yam. Tell a story. Pitch pole. To be overthrown in a fore-and-aft direction. .  The pitometer log is very commonly used today. Plain sailing. Plane sailing. (See Sailing.) Plank. Planking (in shipbuilding). The covering of the ribs of a huIl with planks disposed in strakes; in other words, the skin of a ship. (See Frame.) Plank on edge. A slang or jocular term for a very narrow boat, supposed to resemble a plank on its edge. Planksheer, or plankshare (the sheer plank). The outermost plank of the deck, or, in other words, the plank in a deck which is nearest the side of the vessel. It usually overlaps the sheerstrake and has apertures cut along its sides to admit of the timber heads (the head of each rib) projecting through it. It is usually of hard wood; sometimes of handsome wood, such as mahogany, and in these cases adds considerably to the appearance of the deck. Plankton. The mass of very small animal organisms which drifts in the oceans. Plate. In shipbuilding, usually a flat piece of iron. Thus channel plates are flat bars fastened to the sides of a vessel, and bent over the channels where those exist, or taking their place where they are dispensed with. (See Channels.) Back-stay plates. Smaller bars than the channel-plates, and fixed to the vessel's sides further aft than those, to take the tackles of the back-stays. They are usually so set as to follow the line of the stays, so that there may be no lateral strain upon them. Futtock plate. A large plate at the heads of the masts in large vessels, to take the shrouds ofthe top-mast. (See under Futtock.) Play. The motion of all the members of the frame of a vessel as she sails. (See Give.) Pledge. A string of oakum used in caulking. Plimsoll Mark or Line. The circular mark with a horizontal line through it on the sides of a merchflnt ship, which indicates the depth to which the ship may be loaded. Introduced in 1876 by Samuel Plimsoll to prevent the overloading of merchant ships. Plug. Ships' boats and boats intended for beaching often have a hole cut through the bottom to let out any water which may accumulate in them. The stopper to this hole is called the plug, or bung: it may be either a cork or a patent screw-plug. Plumb. Perpendicular. To plumb. To test the perpendicularity of anything, just as carpenters do, with the plumb-line and weight; the weight actually being the plumb. Plummet. The name sometimes given to the leaden weight attached to the lead-line. Ply (from "apply"). To ply an oar is to row. To ply for hire, as with watermen, to seek or ask for hire. Point. In geography, a projecting cape, as Portland Point. To point a rope. To untie the ends, take out a portion of them, and weave a sort of mat round the diminished portion so that it may easily go through a hole, etc. To point a sail. To fix the reef points. Point the yards to the wind. With square-rigged vessels, to brace the yards sharp up when the vessellies at anchor, so that they may not receive the impulse of the wind. Points of the compass. The thirty-two parts into which the card of the mariner's compass is divided. (See Compass.) Cardinal points. The four main points of the compass-North, South, East, and West. Reef points. Short ropes hanging from small eyes across a sail, to secure part of the sail in reefing. Polacre (Fr.). "A ship with three masts, usually navigated in the Mediterranean: each of the masts is commonly formed of one piece, so that they have neither tops nor cross-trees; neither have they any horses to their yards, for the men stand upon the top-sail yards to loose or furl the top gallant sails, the yards being lowered sufficiently down for that purpose. These vessels are generally furnished with square sails upon the main mast, and lateen sails upon the fore and mizzen masts. Some of them, however, carry square sails upon all the three masts, particularly those of Provence, in France." (Falconer.) The class is now extinct . Pole. A rod used for pushing a boat along. For large craft, such as barges, it should be a "ricker"; that is, a young tree in itself, not made out of a plank. There are various poles: the barge-pole, the quanting pole, the punting pole, etc. The quanting pole, or quant, as it is generally called, is peculiar to Norfolk. (See under Quant.) The punting pole is much used up river, both on the Thames and elsewhere: it requires some experience to work properly. The pole of a mast. The upper end of the highest mast, which rises above the rigging. Pole mast. A mast complete in itself; that is without the addition of a topmast: such is the mizzen of a yawl, or the mast of a lug-sail-boat. Many of our river barges have only pole masts. Under bare poles. Having no sail set (only spoken, in general, of square-rigged ships). Scudding under bare poles. Running before the wind without any sail set. (See Scud.) Pompey. Sailors' slang for Portsmouth. Ponente. (Italian) West. A westerly wind in the Mediterranean. Pontoon. "Anciently, square-built ferry boats for passing rivers, as described by Cresar and Aulus Gellius." A low, flat vessel, a number of which being placed together may carry a bridge, as some,of those over the Rhine, etc. A portable boat. Poop. Properly an extra deck on the after part of a vessel. When raised over a spar deck it is sometimes called a round house. Poop royal. "A short deck or platform over the aftermost part of the poop in the largest of the French and Spanish men of war, and serving as a cabin for their masters and pilots. This is the top gallant poop of our ship-wrights, and the fore-mentioned round house of our merchant vessels." (Smyth.) Pooping. To be pooped. When a sea comes over the stern of a vessel it is said to "poop" her. The effect of being pooped in an open boat will naturally be either to swamp her, orvery nearly so. The importance, then, of keeping before the sea, when running, need hardly be enlarged upon. It may be accomplished by crowding on sail, but this can only be done with judgment. Pooping sea. A wave which threatens to run over a vessel is thus called. To poop another vessel. To run the bowsprit of one vessel under the poop of another. Poppets. Timbers used in launching a vessel. Also small pieces in the gunwale of a boat filling the rowlocks. Popple. A slang term for the roughness of the sea. When it blows there is said to be "a good popple on", or a poppling sea, meaning that the sea is quick and short. Port. The left hand side of the vessel when facing forward. Aport. Towards the port side, as "put the helm aport" - i.e., put it over to the left-hand side. Wind aport. With the wind blowing from the left. With the wind raport a vessel is, therefore, on the port tack. Port tack. A vessel is on the port tack when the wind is blowing her left-hand side. In meeting or passing a vessel on the starboard tack that one on the port tack must give way-that is, pass astern, or by some other means get out of the way. This is one of the most important rules of the road - the port tack gives way. (See Rule of the road, and Starboard tack.) Port fire. A stick or ribbon of composition for communicating fire from a match to the priming of some weapon, as, in these days, to a rocket. Port flange. A piece of wood placed over a port. Port last, or portoise. The same as gunwale (old term). Portmen. "A name given in old times to the inhabitants of the Cinque Ports. The burgesses of Ipswich are also so called." (Smyth.) Port mote. A mote or court held in port (old term). Portolano. Sailing directions for the Mediterranean in use from the 12th to 15th centuries. Port reeve. Like shire-reeve (sheriff), a magistrate having certain jurisdiction in a port (old term). Port sills. The planks of timber which lie horizontally in the framing of a port-hole, top and bottom; like window sills. Ports, port-holes. Openings in in the sides of a vessel, as the round holes or windows so often seen in ships. In port. In harbour - the port in this instance being the destination of a vessel. Portuguese man-of-war. A name given to, one of the acalephae of the tropical seas - the Physalis pelagica. A stinging jelly fish wlth a "sail" and long tentacles. Posted (old Naval term). Promoted from commander to captain. Hence the term post captain. .  Following the mutiny in 1905, the ship's name was changed to Panteleimon after Saint Pantaleon, but restored to Potemkin in 1917, before a final rename to Boretz za Svobodu (Fighter for Freedom) later in that year. Pouches. In vessels which are laden in bulk, strong bulkheads (called pouches) are placed across the hold to prevent the cargo from shifting. Poulterer (on shipboard). He whose business it is to look after 'such stock as the poultry, in consequence ofwhich he is also known as "Jemmy Ducks". He has other duties besides, however. Powder Monkey. A boy in a warship whose duty during action was to carry charges of gunpowder from the magazine to the guns. Pram. A dinghy built with a small transom at the bow as well as at the stern. Pratique. License granted by the medical authority of a port, without which a vessel may have no dealings with the shore. Prayer book. A small flat piece of holystone which may be got into narrow crevices. A large piece of the stone is called the bible, because used in a kneeling posture. A smaller piece, the prayer book. Press. To be pressed. To be reduced to straits. In old days, to have been taken forcibly for Naval service. Press canvas. The fullest amount of canvas a racing yacht can carry when running directly before the wind. (See under Balloon canvas.) Press gang. In old days, a gang of men sent out from a ship to take men by force into service. .  Preventer. An additional rope supporting another when that one is subject to unusual strain. Such are preventer braces on squarerigged ships, which strengthen or take the place of the usual braces. Preventer bolts, in the preventer plates of large vessels. Preventer plates. Broad plates of iron below the chains in large ships. Preventer stay, or pre venter back stay. In fore-and-aft craft, a topmast back-stay easily slackened when the main-sail swings over, from which cause they are occasionally called runners. Prick. To prick out on the chart (at sea) is to mark the course and situation of a ship on the chart, after making the proper observations. Pricker, in sail-making, a small instrument with which to make holes in sails. Pricking sails. A method once in vogue of strengthening old sails. It consisted in running a middle seam between the two seams which unite each of the cloths of it. The term may mean, however, merely the stitching of two cloths of a sail together. To prick for a soft plank. To look out for an easy berth. Pride of the morning. A misty dew at sunrise. Privateer. The following is Falconer's account and definition: "Privateers are vessels of war armed and equipped by particular merchants, and furnished with commissions from the State to cruise against and annoy the enemy by taking, sinking, or burning their shipping. These vessels are generally governed on the same plan with His Majesty's ships. The commission obtained by the merchants empowers them to appropriate to their own use whatever prize they make, af ter legal condemnation; and Government allows them 5 pounds besides for every man on board a man-of-war or privateer, taken or destroyed, at the beginning of the engagement; and, in case we are at war with more potentates than one, they must have commissions for acting against each of them; otherwise, if a captain carrying only one against the Danes, should in his course meet with and take a Frenchman, this prize is not good, but would be taken from him by any man-of-war he met, and could not be condemned (for him) in the Admiralty, as many have experienced." Prize. In war time, any vessel taken at sea from an enemy. Proa. A narrow sailing canoe of the Ladrone Islands with an outrigger. It travels so swiftly as to have received the name of "flying proa". The boats of the Malays are also called proas. Procession of boats. Boats in procession. The sight is very pretty, and often takes place at night, each boat being illuminated or decorated. In the last years of the 19th century these processions , were revived at Richmond, Kingston, Molesey, and elsewhere on the Thames, and should be seen by all who have the opportunity. Profile draught. In the lines of a ship. "A name applied to two drawings from the sheer draught; one represents the entire construction and disposition of the ship, the other her whole interior work and fittings." (Smyth.) Proof timber. In the lines of a ship. "An imaginary timber expressed by vertical straight lines in the sheer draught to prove the fairness ofthe body." (Smyth.) Promenade deck. (See Deck.) Protest. A sworn statement concerning possible damage caused during a voyage. Providencia. In January 1878 the Spanish ship Providencia, en route from Havana to Spain with a cargo of about 20,000 coconuts, wrecked off the Florida coast. The crew and its cargo washed ashore near today’s historic Mar-a-Lago. A few residents looking forward to salvaging what they could of the cargo (as many Floridians did to make a living) trekked to the beach where they encountered the crew with coconuts, wine and provisions aplenty. Another ship came to the sailors’ rescue but not before they sold the coconuts to the Floridians who knew could they generate a cash crop with them.Palm Beach might not be the place it is today without the Providence shipwreck and without its coconut palms. Providencia Park sits in West Palm Beach today, in commemoration of the ship, its coconuts and their contribution to the Palm Beach area landscape. Species of palm trees come and go with disease and time but they’ve become an iconic symbol of Florida and its tropical lifestyle. The last surviving witness to the Providencia wreck is quoted here in a 1938 Palm Beach Post story about Providencia Park and one of the original coconut palms. Prow. The beak or pointed cut-water of a galley or other vessel. Pucker. In sail-making, a wrinkled seam. Puddening, or Pudding. A wreath or circle of cording or oakum fastened round a mast to support the yards. They were employed in old battleships in case the ropes by which the yards were held were shot away. The lump of material was called the dolphin. A puddening was also laid round the ring of an anchor to prevent a hempen cable from chafing. And at the present day, a row boat's nose is sometimes puddened to act as a permanent fender, or a thick hempen rope may be carried entirely round the gunwale. This is not uncommon on the best Thames skiffs; while the Gravesend watermen's boats always had the nose puddened. Pull. In rowing phraseology the word "pull" is generally used instead ofthe word "row". Pulpit. The guard rail round the bows of a yacht. Punt. A flat-bottomed, square-ended boat usually propelled by a pole. The last years of the 19th century, punting has become a very favourite amusement on the Upper Thames; punt racing has been organized, and a champion has sprung up among us. Racing punts are of extremely light build, and, properly punted, may be made to travel at an extraordinary speed. The art of punting is by no means so easy as it looks. The pole is worked on one side only, the punter standing in one place, somewhat forward. The principal fault to guard against, is that of letting the pole get under the boat, the consequences of allowing this to happen in a heavy punt being very unpleasant: care should, therefore, be taken in casting it to keep it well away. Various forms of punts have, of late, come into fashion, some propelled by sail, some by paddles, and others by sculls. Rough punts are also much used, in the upper reaches, for fishing. Puoys. Spiked poles propelling barges or keels. (Smyth.) Purchase. To purchase is to raise or move any heavy body by means of mechanical powers, as a tackle, windlass, etc. Hence the tackle itself has become known as the purchase; and when a person is able, by its means, to get a steady pull upon anything, he is said to get "a good purchase". Purchase blocks. Those used in a tackle for moving weights. Purchase fall. The rope of a tackle hauled upon. (See Tackle.) Purser (from purse). “Formerly an officer in the British Navy, whose chief duty consisted in keeping the accounts of the ship to which he belonged; but he also acted as purveyor. The title of this officer has been, since 1844, paymaster." (Brande and Cox.) The title is still retained, however, in passenger ships. Purser's dip. The smallest dip-candle (old term). Purser's grins. Sneers. Like a purser's shirt on a handspike. A comparison used in describing clothes fitting very loosely. Purser's stocking. A "slop" article, and therefore capable of fitting any man, or, at least, of stretching itself to any man's fit. Pusher. The sixth mast, from forward, of a vessel. Pushpit. The guardrail round the stern of a yacht. (See Pulpit.) Put. Put about. To turn a vessel's head about so that the wind takes her on the other side; in nautical language, called putting her on the other tack. (See Tack.) Put back. To return to port for some reason af ter having left. Put into port. To run into some intermediate port from stress of weather, or for any other cause. Put off. To quit or push off from a pier or quay: to start on a voyage. Put to sea. To start on a voyage to sea. .
Q (Quebec) "My vessel is 'healthy' and I request free pratique." "Q" ship. A merchant ship with concealed armament and naval ~crew, used to decoy submarine to within gun range. Quadrant. The instrument once used in navigation, but now long since superseded by the sextant. 2. A horizontal plate fitted to the head of the rudder stock to take the steering chains, or made with a toothed rack to which the pinion of the steering engine is engaged. .  Quant. Quanting is a method of punting a vessel peculiar to Norfolk. The quanting pole (called the quant) is long and fitted with head and toe pieces. It is used in ferry-boats and in the large sailing wherries belonging to the district, which have a narrow decking left each side of the vessel's hold expressly to enable a man to work the quant, the head of which he places against his shoulder, applying his weight thereto and walking the whole length of this deck. Quarantine. The restriction placed on a vessel arriving in a foreign port until granted pratique. Quarantine flag. The yellow flag Q of the International code signifies "My vessel is healthy and I request free pratique". Quarter. Literally, says Smyth, one quarter of the ship: but in common parlance applies to 45 degs. abaft the beam. In other words the quarters are those portions of the sides of a vessel about half way between beam and stern; and, in their position aft of the beam, may be said to correspond with the bows, which lie forward of the beam. Quarter boats. The ship's boats carried on quarters. Quarter-cloths. Painted strips of canvas placed along the nettings on the upper deck to protect the hammocks stowed there. Quarter deck. That portion of the deck covering the quarters. (See Deck.) Quarter fast. A rope or hawser holding a vessel by the quarter. It is much the same as a quarter spring). Quartermaster. A petty officer, or senior rating, whose duties at sea are principally steering, or supervising the steering, of the ship. Quarter point. A subdivision of the compass card = 2° 48' 45". (See Half point.) Quarter slings. Supports attached to the quarters of a yard. Quarter spring, or chain. A rope or chain from a vessel's quarter to some other object. It is sometimes used in yacht racing when the boats start from a fixed point: on the firing of the gun the quarter spring is hauled upon, and the yacht's stern being thus canted in the required direction, she is enabled to fill her sails and make way. Quarter wind. Wind blowing on the vessel's quarter. Quarters. The position in which men should place themselves when called to their duties. These stations are listed on the Quarterbill. Quarters of a mast. A term applied to some of the divisions pn a large mast, where the diameters are set off for lining or marking. Quarters of the yards. Spaces into which yards are divided; they are termed first, second, and third quarter, and the outer end or yard arm. Quay. An artificial landing place built along the shore. Queen (Queen's ship, Queen's parade, etc.). For the sake of preserving the old and more permanent name, where these and like terms are defined, they are placed under the heading King. .  While being constructed, in the mid-1930s by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, she was known as Hull 552 but when launched, on 27 September 1938, she was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth, who was then Queen Consort and in 1952 became the Queen Mother. With a design that improved upon her running mate, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth was a slightly larger ship, the largest passenger liner ever built at that time and for fifty-six further years. She first entered service in February 1940 as a troopship in the Second World War, and it was not until October 1946 that she served in her intended role as an ocean liner. With the decline in the popularity of the transatlantic route, both ships were replaced by RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969. She was retired from service in November 1968, and was sold to a succession of buyers, most of whom had adventurous and unsuccessful plans for her. Finally she was sold to a Hong Kong businessmen Tung Chao Yung who intended to convert her into a floating University cruise ship. In 1972 while undergoing refurbishment in Hong Kong harbour, she caught on fire under mysterious circumstances and was capsized by the water used to fight the fire. In 1973, her wreck was deemed an obstruction, and she was partially scrapped where she lay. .  Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and captured the Blue Riband in August of that year; she lost the title to the SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war. Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service that the two ships were initially built for. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s the ship was aging and though still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss. After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. The ship left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where it remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery including two of the four engines, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers were removed, and the ship now serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum, and hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Quicksand. Shifting or loose sand: as it were "living" sand. Quicksands may occur in patches on firm sand, without anything to mark their presence, or they may be whole banks of sand. Their depth is often unfathomable, whole ships disappearing into them. Quick saver (in square-rigged ships). "A span formerly used to prevent the courses from bellying too much when off the wind." (Smyth.) Quick work (in shipbuilding). That part of a vessel's planking which is above the wale. It is, in fact, part of her bulwarks. It is sometimes of deal, which, as it does not require the fastening nor the time to finish that other parts do, is called quick work. But Smyth gives the following: “Quick work. 1. All that part which is under water when she is laden. 2. That part of the inner and upper bulwarks above the covering board. 3. The short planks worked in between the ports. In general parlance quick work is synonymous with spirketting.” Quid (of tobacco). That piece of tobacco which once might often have been discovered within the mouth of a seafaring man. "Quid est hoc?" ("What is this?") asked one, tapping the swelled cheek of his messmate. "Hoc est quid", promptly replied the other. More probably a variant of "cud". .  Quoil. A rope or cable laid up round, one fake over another. Quoin. A wedge, used to elevate a gun, or to prevent a cask, for example, from rolling. |
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