As a single-letter the signal means, ‘I require medical assistance’, and could therefore be one worth committing to memory. The Morse code .- – may be made by any means, which in practice implies either light or sound. In the phonetic alphabet the word is whiskey, which is one of the better kinds of medical assistance.

Wide Area Augmentation System. System for improving GPS accuracy in and around the USA. See SBAS.

The middle part of a boat, and oddly enough the region where (like mine) her beam is greatest. (But old ships often had high forecastles and high poop decks, so the middle looked waisted when viewed from the side.)

The turbulent or smooth water left astern of a moving boat. The wake reveals the actual track of the vessel through the water, and if the line of the wake makes an angle with the centreline of the hull, then that is the angle of Leeway.

A strake, strip or plank, which stands proud of the rest of the hull. The gunwale is properly a finishing strake above all the others in a hull, but the term is used for the upper edge of any hull, whether planked or not. An Inwale is a separate stringer running fore and aft on the inside of the upper edge of the hull. (Incidentally, the word itself is of the same origin as ‘weal’, a raised ridge on the flesh. Also incidentally, notice how often gunwale is misspelled ‘whale’.)

A knot which makes a useful ‘knob’ on a rope. It has the advantage that it can be made at the end of a rope (as a handhold, say) or in the middle of a length of rope. But for that latter, the rope must first be unlaid as far as the knot, and then laid up again after the knot is made. It is in the same family of knots as the Matthew Walker.

A verb which I (and other people of discernment) like to use for the process of sculling over the stern with a single oar or a Yuloh. Most people call it ‘sculling’, but that term is equally used of two oars used abeam.

The complete tally of a boat’s sails are called her wardrobe, in the manner of clothes in ‘my lady’s wardrobe.’ (See Suit.)

A rope normally used for mooring the vessel to a quayside or other fixed point, and stout enough for that purpose. Some people talk of an ‘anchor warp’, but the idiom is more commonly ‘Cable’ when an anchor is concerned, even though the rope could be of the same kind and size (even the very same rope itself) as would be used on another occasion to moor to the shore.

To move a vessel by hauling on ropes.

The turbulent Wake left by a moving hull. Wake causes no appreciable disturbance, but wash upsets teacups.

A removable board which can be fitted across any opening to keep water out. Commonly a companionway or cabin entrance is closed by several washboards, fitted one above the other, and lodging in vertical channels in the portals.

Either a period on duty, or a detachment of crew members acting as a unit for watch-keeping purposes. Thus one watch (detachment) may take the first watch (first tour of duty), while another watch is off duty and enjoying the ‘watch below’. Although ships normally keep watches of four hours (though with two two-hour dog watches in each 24 to break the diurnal repetition of the same watches!) family crews on small craft usually make their own special routines. (See also: Dog watches)

Another name for a Luff tackle.

Used almost always of buoys, it means that it is visible above the water – that’s to say doing the job for which it exists. A waterlogged buoy, only just visible, is said to be ‘only just watching’.

The line traced by the water level around the sides of a floating hull, or a drawing of the same outline. The length on the waterline (LWL) is the straight-line length from stem to stern in the plane of the waterline, also called the Waterplane. The actual waterline of a vessel may be higher or lower than the designed waterline (DWL) to the extent that she is heavier or lighter than the designer intended. For the purpose of design, the hull is deemed to be sliced fore and aft in planes parallel to the real waterplane – but above and below – and the outlines of these sections are also known as ‘waterlines’ to naval architects. They are in effect the waterlines that would occur if the boat were loaded much above or below the normal – assuming she did not sink or capsize. (See also: Lines).

The art and practice of handling small open craft, such as a rowing boat, in relatively sheltered water.

An extra sail set low down – for example beneath the main boom when running in very light wind.

Channels or grooves around a cockpit, say, or under the lid of a cockpit locker, whose purpose is to drain water off in the same manner that the gutters of a house carry rain water away.

Whereas a landsman would say that a big ‘wave’ struck the ship, a seaman would commonly call it a ‘sea’. On the other hand, a seaman speaking or writing technically about the length, height and periodicity of these surface disturbances will use the word ‘wave’. ‘Sea’ and ‘seas’ are the words used for direct personal experiences when the speaker might actually have got wet.

Movement through the water. A boat ‘makes way’ when she moves, either ahead or astern. She is ‘under way’ when actually moving, and then she is said to ‘have way on’. If she has a lot of way on, the implication is one of considerable momentum and potential danger. (Incidentally, an anchor is often Weighed when a vessel is about to get under way, but the vessel herself is never ‘under weigh’.)

Mainly used as an order to cease rowing and let the boat carry on under her own way, the expression is also used with the same meaning as ‘that’s enough’ in ordinary parlance, whether the listener is hauling a halyard, or pouring Scotch into your glass.

A position which a navigator postulates to suit his own convenience. It may be an actual geographical feature, or just an arbitrary point on the surface of the sea, for which a course may be laid. The recourse to waypoints has become more general since the introduction of Decca and GPS, since you have to give the things an objective, such as one mile off your intended harbour, for example.

Rails or tracks of wood or metal down which a vessel is launched. Note that a slipway, or slip, is more like a road sloping down into the water. Such a slip could have ways recessed in its surface, like tramlines in a city street.

(1) To turn a sailing craft from one tack to the other by turning downwind – or to Gybe if the craft is rigged fore and aft. Pronounced ‘ware’, so that you may say, ‘ware heads, I’m going to wear ship’, instead of the shorter ‘gybe-oh!’. (2) Craft wear their flags and burgees. People, on the other hand, ‘fly’ their club burgees and house flags. In other words, when you are flying your burgee your ship is wearing it.

As an adjective, as in ‘weather side’, ‘weather shore’, it is to the side (or shore) from which the wind is blowing. ‘Going to weather’ is going to windward, perhaps of the tide or of a boat herself. (See also: Lee)

A canvas (or similar) screen erected to protect the crew from wind and spray. The ‘dodgers’ fitted at each side of a cockpit are the most common form of weather cloth.

A sailing boat which requires the tiller to be held up towards the weather side of the boat is said to ‘carry weather helm’. The weather helm is required to resist the yacht’s natural tendency to luff, or turn into the wind. This tendency is common to most single-hulled sailing craft and results from the fact that when the boat is heeled, the thrust of the sails acts well to leeward of the drag of the hull, resulting in a rotating couple. Some boats carry Lee helm in light winds, when they are sailing almost upright – that’s to say the helm has to be held Down towards the leeward side to prevent the boat’s turning away from the wind. Although quite acceptable in light winds, lee helm is undesirable if it persists in fresher breezes. Weather helm then has the benefit that the boat’s natural tendency in a gust is to turn head to wind, and so relieve the heeling (and possibly capsizing) pressure of the wind on her sails. (See also: Balance)

To pass on the windward side of any obstacle, object or craft. As far as I know there is no verb for passing to leeward of an object. One covers such events by a negative statement, as ‘She won’t be able to weather it’, or ‘We failed to weather the buoy, and a few minutes later we were on the putty’. Such statements imply an unaccomplished desire to weather the mark. Where the intention was to pass to leeward one might say ‘We left the buoy to weather’, or, ‘We passed to leeward of the buoy’.

The tendency of a boat to turn head-to-wind. Mainly used of a boat at anchor, or moving under power, and not used of the Griping or Luffing tendency of a sailing boat on the wind.

An analogue system of sending weather charts via SSB.

Describes a boat which can sail close to the wind – ie. which makes good progress ‘to Weather’.

To leak slightly or slowly, in a mere trickle or a drop at a time. The result is ‘a weep’. A weep may flow inward, as through a Stern gland, or outward when rain water from the deck finds its way out through a topsides seam. Rust marks may result, and will be termed Weeps.

To break out the anchor from the sea bed and lift it clear of the bottom.

(l) A small cockpit set in an area of deck. Most modern yachts have broad cockpits and relatively small side decks – or even none at all. The other extreme is a large area of deck and a small well – perhaps only big enough to accommodate the legs and feet of the crew who actually sit on the deck itself. (2) A hollow trunk in the after end of a small boat through which an outboard motor may be shipped. The sides of the well rise well above the waterline, and the lower end is open. When the boat is stationary exhaust fumes from the running motor may rise up in the well and suffocate the engine by displacing air it needs. Sea water may also slop up the well in bumpy weather. For both those reasons it is a good idea to fit a baffle plate around the outboard leg so as to blank off most of the opening when the engine is in place. (3) Or ‘well, that’, in naval parlance means ‘enough’. In other words stop hauling, or winching

Distance made good to westward. ‘Easting, northing and southing’ correspond.

‘Sandpaper’ whose abrasive particles are bonded with waterproof glue, so that it can be used for rubbing down surfaces which are kept wet, so as to wash away grit and dust.

Unlike that of a motor car, the exhaust from a boat’s engine is rarely exposed to a flow of air, and is best cooled. The common way of doing that is to inject into the stream of gases some, or all, of the water which has already circulated through the cooling galleries of the cylinder block. The presence, or absence, of water at the exhaust outlet provides a primary check on the working of the whole engine-cooling system.

Clothing which fits the body like a second skin, and which absorbs water. Held immobile, the water provides a degree of thermal insulation for the wearer.

The total underwater area of a boat. Part of the drag of a hull results from the friction of the water (‘skin friction’), and the greater the wetted surface the greater that component of the total drag. Aerodynamicists also use the term of surfaces exposed to air friction, and it may be used in that sense in yacht design too, though windage is the nautical term for the totality of air drag.

World Geodetic System 1984. Defined by the US Department of Defense, WGS84 mathematically approximates the shape of the Earth. Especially important as it is the datum used by GPS. WGS84 is most accurate in the USA.

A clinker-built pulling or sailing boat, with relatively narrow double-ended hull and centreboard. Usually about 27ft (8.2m) long.

The sideways push of a rotating propeller, especially noticeable when it first begins to turn or when its speed increases. If the propeller is ‘right-handed’ (turning clockwise when viewed from astern) it will tend to take the stern to the right (starboard). The same propeller when running in reverse will tend to take the stern to port. The effect is as if the propeller were a wheel, though with a very poor grip, and it is easy to picture the direction in which the wheel would run.

A permanent and fully enclosed steering position with windows above deck level. A wheel shelter is either less permanent – of canvas, for example – or not fully enclosed – like a locomotive cab, say. (See also: House)

Raised ribs on the barrel of a winch or capstan, or raised strips along the after end of a boom. On a winch barrel their function is to grip, but on a boom their function is to increase the diameter locally for better roll-reefing. The greater diameter takes up more cloth in the after part of the sail and so prevents boom-droop.

A tackle using one moving block, and given a two-to-one purchase.

To bind the yarns of a rope’s end so that they will not fray. Hence Whipping.

A type of tiller which stands more or less vertically, turning about a more or less horizontal axis. Whereas the conventional tiller sweeps a large area of the cockpit, a whipstaff springing from the region of the cockpit sole is much less obtrusive. But there are mechanical complications in transmitting the motion to a vertically-pivoted rudder.

A strut or spreader extending from the stem to widen the angle of a bowsprit shroud. Usually in pairs, of course.

A light spar used to hold the clew of a headsail outboard when running.

The technical name for a ship’s hooter or siren, which gives forth a deep resonant note.

A navigational buoy which hoots or honks or booms, or groans, or moans. Actuated either by a gas bottle or by the pumping action as the buoy rises and falls with the seas.

The white flag with a red cross and the Union Flag in the upper corner by the Hoist which is worn by ships of the Royal Navy, and by members of a club called the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The gleaming white crests of just-breaking waves in the open sea

See squall

A long masthead pennant, or streamer, of the kind that is flown by Dutch flat-bottoms.

It is difficult to make absolutely precise distinctions between a Capstan, a Windlass and a winch. But capstans are normally big, and are found on ships’ decks or on quays. Their barrels normally turn about vertical axis. A windlass may turn on either a vertical or a horizontal axes, but on yachts and pleasure craft the axis is usually horizontal, and a windlass has a chain Gipsy because its purpose is to bring home the anchor cable. A winch, though, does not have a Gipsy and its drum is used only for ropes such as halyards, sheets and mooring warps. The axis of a winch may be vertical or horizontal. In practical terms, a yacht could commonly have one anchor windlass, one or more halyard winches, and a couple of sheet winches. If she has a centreboard or leeboards, she may lift them with winches.

Usually a three-bladed propeller turned by the wind to generate charge for topping up batteries

The difference in wind speed close to the sea surface and at some height above it. The gradient is most noticeable on rivers, where the nearness of the land with all its slowing objects such as bushes and trees has maximum effect. Note that this is not the same as a Gradient wind.

Will be the wind shadow of a sail, a building, or a cliff, and is the region to leeward where the wind speed is sensibly diminished because of the interference of that object. (See also: Dirty wind)

A boat is wind-rode when she lies at anchor with head to wind. If the effect of the tidal stream is stronger, she will lie Tide-rode. In the same anchorage and at the same time some craft will be wind-rode and others tide-rode, depending on their relative proportions of Wetted area and Windage.

Either the wind drag itself, or the extent of the drag-creating parts of a craft which are exposed to the wind, as in, ‘She’s got a lot of windage’, meaning that she has a high superstructure (See also: Top hamper)

See Winch.

A canvas chute or funnel which is rigged above decks in hot weather so as to catch any available breeze and deliver it down through a hatch to the accommodation below.

A change in the wind direction. If it changes to allow you to point closer to your destination, it is a lift. The opposite is a header, or knock.

Toward the point from which the wind is coming. The opposite of Leeward.

A horizontal appendage on a keel or rudder designed to improve its efficiency

A rotating mast, which turns to stay in column with the mainsail, thereby reducing drag.

A solid aerofoil, often with adjustable flaps, which has the potential to be much more efficient than a conventional sail.

A double spar in the form of a flattened ellipse with a sail lying between the two parts. As each part has an aerofoil curve, and the canvas lies against each in turn as the boat tacks, the sail can adapt to a better shape than is possible with a straight gaff or boom. The one thing to be noted about a wishbone spar is that its shape is in no way reminiscent of a chicken’s wishbone.

A double spar in the form of a flattened ellipse with a sail lying between the two parts. As each part has an aerofoil curve, and the canvas lies against each in turn as the boat tacks, the sail can adapt to a better shape than is possible with a straight gaff or boom. The one thing to be noted about a wishbone spar is that its shape is in no way reminiscent of a chicken’s wishbone.

To plan a passage so as to get the best advantage of any tidal stream towards the desired destination.

A hull ‘works’ when parts move in relation to each other. Leaks commonly result.

The sails that are carried in winds of about Force 3 to 4. There’s nothing very precise about this term, but it excludes heavy-weather sails on the one hand, and light-weather sails on the other.

For Shipworm plesase see Teredo.

See rovings

Abandoned craft, either adrift or cast up on the shore are technically wrecks. In the United Kingdom any person recovering such craft or parts of them or their gear or cargo, must declare his salvage to the Receiver of Wrecks who may be contacted through the nearest harbourmaster.

If you have wrung out a wet pair of socks by twisting them, you will get the point. Of hulls in particular, mariners saying ‘wring’ where a landsman would say ‘twist’. Thus the heeling moment of a mast when sailing closehauled can impose a high wringing stress on the hull. A hull which has been distorted by twisting is said to be ‘wrung’. (See also Hogged.)

A sail which is freed off until it is effectively at a right angle to the line of the boat is said to wung-out. (It should, grammatically, be ‘winged-out’, but long ago someone found it easier and jollier to say ‘wung’ presumably by association with fling, flung.)

Weather transmissions

A simple roller furling device for jibs which was intro¬duced in about 1907. The jib has a wire luff which is shackled to a ball-bearing swivel on the halyard. The tack is shackled to a drum rotating on ball bearings, and the drum is turned by a length of line which leads to the cockpit. Because the wire luff cannot transmit any useful degree of torque, the system cannot be used for reefing.