Ocean Without End (13 page)

Packet:
A fast ship carrying mail and passengers on regular routes.

Portcullis:
Heavy grating that slides up and down, as a gate on a castle or fort.

Press:
Navies forced (or pressed) sailors into service, by tricking, bribing and even kidnapping men from other ships or from villages along the coast. The crew that rounded up the men was called a ‘press gang'.

Prow:
The pointed front of a ship, often decorated with a figurehead.

Quadrant:
An instrument used by navigators for measuring the angle of the sun (or stars) above the horizon, to help determine a ship's position.

Quarterdeck:
A raised platform or top deck at the stern of a larger ship. This is where the captain stands.

Ramparts:
A fort or castle wall that is thick enough to have a walkway along the top.

Rapier:
A fine-bladed thrusting sword, often highly decorated, used by nobility or officers.

Ratlines:
Rope ladders made by tying short ropes across the shrouds, so you can climb up a mast.

Reef sails:
To tie up a sail, so that it isn't showing as much canvas. You reef sails or reduce canvas in a big wind, to make sure you can still control the ship.

Reis:
A captain in the Barbary and Ottoman fleets. ‘Hussein Reis' means ‘Captain Hussein'. Sometimes spelled
rais
, or in Turkish:
raïs
.

Rig:
The design of the sail system (such as a square-rig or brigantine rig).

Rigging:
The ropes and cables that make up the rig. The standing rigging (such as shrouds or stays) holds up the masts and is painted with tar to protect it. Running rigging (including halyards and sheets) is used to lower and raise the sails and yards, and it is not tarred.

Rowlocks:
Semicircles of brass that hold the oars in place in a rowboat. Pronounced ‘rollicks'.

Rudder:
A long plank or fin, turned in the water by the tiller or wheel, which steers the ship.

Schooner:
A fast, narrow ship with two masts. Usually gaff-rigged, with a large sail on the mainmast and a headsail and jib attached to the bowsprit.

Scimitar:
A North African sword with a long curved blade. Hussein Reis and his men bear scimitars.

Scow:
A flat-bottomed ship or boat used for carrying cargo, especially in coastal areas and on rivers.

Scuppers:
Holes carved into the sides of boats or ships, above the deckline, to let water escape.

Scurvy:
The disease that killed thousands of sailors on long voyages, because they didn't eat fresh fruit or vegetables. Scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C.

Sheets:
Ropes attached to the bottom corners of sails, which you pull to adjust the sails' tightness and direction.

Ship of the line:
A warship powerful enough to take its place in the line of battle. The Royal Navy classified its ships by rating them according to how many cannon they carried. There were six levels of rating, and any ship rated three or over (meaning it had more than 64 guns) was a ship
of the line. The biggest and best were the first-rates. A ship of the line carried hundreds of crew and had two or three gun decks. Ships of the line often sailed in fleets with smaller, faster frigates, and in battle sailed in towards the enemy in a line, firing sideways.

Shrouds:
Tarred ropes that support the mast.

Skiff:
A light, narrow row boat.

Sku
ani
:
Excuse me (Maltese).

Sloop:
A small, speedy ship with one mast, sometimes gaff-rigged, with a huge mainsail and an equally vast triangular foresail fixed to a long bowsprit. The
Mermaid
is a sloop, and so are many modern yachts.

Slow match:
Slow-burning fuses used to set off gunpowder and fire cannon.

Spar:
A long timber pole (such as a yard).

Spritsails:
Sails at the very front of a ship — above the bowsprit.

Square-rig:
A ship rigged with square or rectangular sails arranged across the width of the deck. Admiral Nelson's flagship, HMS
Victory
, was a first-rate square-rigged ship with 102 cannon on three gun-decks. See
Ship of the line
.

Starboard:
The right-hand side of a ship or boat, as you look forward.

Stays:
Part of the standing rigging, stays are ropes that run forward from a mast, to help support it.

Staysails:
Triangular fore-and-aft sails attached to the stays.

Stern:
The rear or back of a ship.

Swab:
A mop or cloth used to wash the decks. ‘Swabber' is slang word for sailor.

Tack:
To change the ship's direction, by turning the bow through the wind.

Tar:
A thick, black liquid painted onto standing rigging to protect it. It is also used to make pitch, painted on canvas for waterproofing. Sailors who had served in the navy were called ‘tars' because they spent so much time tarring the ropes.

Taridha
:
Fast, narrow Arab ship, with one mast and a lateen sail. Up to sixteen oars on each side meant the ship didn't have to wait for the wind. Known to English sailors as a ‘tartan'.

Thwart:
A seat, made from planks set across the boat.

Tiller:
The wooden lever or bar used to direct the steering gear. Larger ships are controlled by a wheel.

Tops:
The platform at the masthead, used for a lookout. In warships, large platforms hold several sharpshooters each — these are called ‘fighting tops'.

Topsail:
A sail above the gaff, or on a topmast.

Trim the sails:
Make sure the sails are placed to get the most speed out of any wind.

Watch:
The crew were rostered on duty in groups, or watches — one watch worked while the other slept and ate. To be on watch is also to be on the lookout for danger or other ships.

Weigh anchor:
Lift the anchor clear of the water.

Winds:
A wind is named according to the point of the compass from which it blows. For example, a wind blowing from the north is a north wind. Some seasonal winds in the Mediterranean Sea have traditional names based on the compass points, like the springtime southeasterly which blows across from North Africa, called the
xlokk
in Malta, but more famous in Italian as the
sirocco
.

Windward:
The direction the wind is coming from (‘leeward' is the direction the wind is going). Also means the side of the ship facing the wind.

Yard:
A timber pole or spar set across a mast to carry a sail.

Yardarm:
The ends of a yard.