Abeam - At right angles to the length of a ship, or beside the boat
Aboard - On or in the ship
Aft - situated at or toward the stern or tail
Aground - A boat or ship with the bottom or hull against the ground
Aloft - At or on or to the masthead or upper rigging of a ship (overhead or above)
Amidships - At or near or toward the center of a ship
Anchor - A mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving. An object designed to grip the ground, under a body of water, to hold the boat in a selected area.
Anchor Buoy - A buoy attached to, or marking the position of, an anchor.
Apparent wind - The direction of the wind as is relative to the direction and speed of the boat
Astern - At or near or toward the stern of a ship. behind the boat

Backstay - A rope or stay extending from the masthead (Top of the mast) to the side of a ship (Stern), slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast.
Bail - Remove (water) from a vessel with a container.
Ballast - Any heavy material (Placed in the lower section) used to stabilize or add stability to a ship.
Batten -A strip of wood or plastic used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing.
Beam -The width of a vessel at it's widest; as, one vessel is said to have more beam than another.
Beam Reach - A point of sail where the ship/boat is sailing at a right angle to the wind.
Bearing - The situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was West North West.
Bearings (To Take) - to ascertain by the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the relation of one object or
place to another; to ascertain one's position by reference to landmarks or to the compass; hence (Fig.), to ascertain
the condition of things when one is in trouble or perplexity.
Belay - To make fast, as a rope, by taking several turns with it round a pin, cleat, or kevel. (to make secure)
Bell Buoy - a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be rung by the motion of the waves.
Bight - The double part of a rope when folded, in distinction from the ends; that is, a round, bend, or coil not including the ends; a loop. (a loop in a rope)
Bilge - That part of a ship's hull or bottom which is broadest and most nearly flat, and on which she would rest if aground.
Bilge Free - Stowed in such a way that the bilge is clear of everything.
Bilge Pump - A pump to draw the bilge water from the gold of a ship.
Bilge Water - Water which collects in the bilge or bottom of a ship or other vessel. It is often allowed to remain till it becomes very offensive.
Bilge Ways - The timbers which support the cradle of a ship  upon the ways, and which slide upon the launching ways in launching the vessel.
Block - A Pulley
Boat Hook - Pole-handled hook used to pull or push boats or to catch a line when coming alongside a pier.
Bolt Rope - A rope sewn into the luff of a sail used in attaching to the standing rigging.
Boom - A long pole or spar, run out for the purpose of extending the bottom of a particular sail; as, the jib boom, the studding-sail boom, etc. (the horizontal spar which the foot of a sail is attached to)

Boom vang also called a kicking strap - a line that adjusts downward tension on the boom
Bow - the front of the boat
Bowsprit - A large boom or spar, which projects over the stem of a ship or other vessel, to carry sail forward.
Breast line - a docking line going at approximately a right angle from the boat to the dock preventing movement away from the
Broach - To incline suddenly to windward, so as to lay the sails aback, and expose the vessel to the danger of oversetting.
Broad Reach - A point of sail where the boat is sailing away from the wind, but not directly downwind
Buoy - an anchored float marking a position or for use as a mooring
Buoys - bright-colored; a float attached by rope to the seabed to mark channels in a harbor or underwater hazards
Burdened Vessel - Any boat that must give way to another having the right of way.
By the Lee - That part of the hemisphere, as one stands on shipboard, toward which the wind blows.
Sailing with the wind coming from behind, and slightly to the side, that the sails are on.

Cable Buoy - An empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in rocky anchorage.
Can Buoy - A buoy with a round bottom and conical top (Pear-Shaped) usually made of sheet or boiler iron. Buoy is also hollow.
Capsize - To upset or overturn, as a vessel
Cast off - Releasing the lines holding the boat to shore or mooring, to release sheets.
Catboat - A sailboat with a single mast set far forward
Centerboard - A movable or sliding keel formed of a broad board or slab of wood or metal which may be raised into a water-tight case amidships, when in shallow water, or may be lowered to increase the area of lateral resistance and prevent leeway when the vessel is beating to windward. It is used in vessels of all sizes along the coast of the United States
Chafe - To be worn by rubbing; as, a cable chafes. (damage to a line caused by rubbing against another object)
Chainplates - Metal plates bolted to the boat which standing rigging is attached to
Charts - A map on which is projected a portion of water and the land which it surrounds, or by which it is surrounded, intended especially for the use of seamen
Chock - A heavy casting of metal, usually fixed near the gunwale or attached to the deck. It has two short horn-shaped arms curving inward, between which ropes or hawsers may pass for towing, mooring, anchors or dock lines.
Cleat - A device made of wood or metal, having two arms, around which turns may be taken with a line or rope so as to hold securely and yet be readily released. It is bolted by the middle to a deck or mast, etc., or it may be lashed to a rope.
Clew - To move of draw (a sail or yard) by means of the clew garnets, clew lines, etc.; esp. to draw up the clews of a square sail to the yard lowering the lower aft corner of a sail.
Clew Down - to force (a yard) down by hauling on the clew lines.
Clew Up - to draw (a sail) up to the yard, as for furling.
Close Hauled - Having the sails trimmed for sailing as close to the wind as possible.
Close reach - This is any upwind angle between Close Hauled and a Beam Reach
Cockpit - A: In yachts and other small vessels, a space lower than the rest of the deck, which affords easy access to the cabin. B: That part of a war vessel appropriated to the wounded during an engagement.
Course - A line or route along which something travels or moves, the planned direction of the boat.
Displacement - The weight of the water displaced by the boat.
Dock - The area a boat rests in when attached to a pier, also the act of taking the boat to the pier to secure it.
Down Below - To go below the main deck
Downhaul - A rope or line attached to the tack to haul down, or to assist in hauling down or to adjust tension in a sail.
Draft - The depth of the boat at its lowest point. May also mean the depth or fullness of the sail.
Drift - The leeway or movement of the boat when not under power. Can also mean when being pushed sideways while under power

Ease - To loosen or let out a line.

Fall off - To change the boats direction so as to point farther away from where the wind is coming from.
Fairlead - A pulley-block used to guide (Change direction) of a rope forming part of a ship's rigging to avoid chafing
Fathom - A measure of length, containing six feet; the space to which a man can extend his arms. Used chiefly in measuring cables, cordage, and the depth of navigable water by soundings. (one fathom is 6 feet)
Foot - The lower edge of a sail
Forward - Toward the bow or front of the boat
Foremast - The mast nearest the bow (Front) in vessels with two or more masts.
Foresail - The lowest sail on the foremast of a square-rigged vessel bent to the foreyard.
Foreyard - The lowermost yard on the foremast
Fouled - To cover (a ship's bottom) with anything that impaired its sailing such as a bottom fouled with barnacles.
   entangled , so as to impede motion or clogged
Freeboard - The vertical distance on the hull between the water line and the deck edge .
Furl - To fold or roll a sail and secure it to the yard, stay or mast. (its main support)

Galley - The area for food preparation on a ship. ( The Ships Kitchen )
Gennaker - A hybrid between a genoa and an asymmetrical spinnaker. Gennakers are even larger than genoas with 200% overlaps not being uncommon.
Genoa - Is a type of large foresail or jib-sail that overlaps the mainsail.
Gimball - A device that suspends a compass ( Mounting Bracket) so that it remains level.
Gooseneck - A device connecting the boom to the mast.
Ground Tackle - A mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving (the anchor, chain & rode)
Gunwale - The upper edge of a vessel's or boat's side; the uppermost wale of a ship (not including the bulwarks); or that piece of timber which reaches on either side from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, being the uppermost bend, which finishes the upper works of the hull. (topmost planking of a wooden vessel)
Halyard - A rope or tackle for hoisting or lowering yards, sails, flags, etc.
Hard Alee - The command given to inform the crew that the helm is being turned quickly to leeward, turning the boat windward.
Head - Top part of the sail
Head to wind - The bow turned into the wind, sails luffing. This will probably stop the boat and place it .
Headsail - Any sail set forward of the foremast of a vessel (a foresail)
Headstay - The most forward forestay. The line from the bow or bowsprit to the top of the mast. This keeps the mast from falling toward the rear of the boat. The headstay is the farthest forward of all the stays on the boat. (Support Line)
Headway - Forward motion or the progress made by a ship in motion.
Heave to - To turn the bow of the boat into the wind and keep it there, so that the boat is almost still. To stop a boat and maintain position by balancing rudder and sail to prevent forward movement.
Helm - The tiller or wheel, and surrounding area.
Helmsman - The member of the crew responsible for steering the ship.
Heel - The leeward lean of the boat caused by the winds action on the sails.
Hike - Leaning out over the side of the boat to balance it out.
Hoist - To raise aloft a sail or flag.
Hull - The base or sides & bottom of the boat

In Irons - Having turned onto the wind or lost the wind, stuck and unable to make headway.
Inhaul -  A rope used to draw in the jib boom, or flying jib boom.

Jib - A foresail. A triangle (fore-and-aft) shaped sail forward of the mast.
Jibe - To change a ship's course so as to cause a shifting of the boom. Also means shift from one side of the ship to the other; "The sail jibbed wildly"

Keel - One of the main longitudinal beams (or plates) of the hull of a vessel; can extend vertically into the water to provide lateral stability (A fin on the centre of the bottom of the hull)
Ketch - A two-masted ship with a small mast (Mizzen) mounted forward of the rudder post. An almost obsolete form of vessel.
Kicker (also called a Vang) -  A device used to keep the boom from rising.
Knot - a unit of speed, one knot = 6076 feet per hour or 1.15 miles per hour

Lanyard - A short piece of rope or line for fastening or extending something in ships.
Lazarette - Spaces below the deck that are designed for storage. Could be in the aft or stern area.
Leech - The border or back edge at the side of a sail.
Leeward - Downwind - Pertaining to, or in the direction of, the part or side toward which the wind blows; -- opposed to windward
Life Buoy - A float intended to support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them.
Lifeline - A cable fence that surrounds the deck to assist in the prevention of crew falling overboard. Also a line thrown from a vessel that people can cling to in order to save themselves from drowning
Line - A rope or cordage.
List - An inclination (leaning) to one side. Causes could include excess weight or stress on that side
Luff - To turn the head of a vessel toward the wind; to sail nearer the wind; to turn the tiller so as to make the vessel sail nearer the wind. A: The side of a ship toward the wind. B: The act of sailing a ship close to the wind. C: The roundest part of a ship's bow. D: The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.
Luff Around or Luff Alee - to make the extreme of this movement, for the purpose of throwing the ship's head into the wind.

Making Way - A vessel being propelled by sail, machinery or oar.
Mainsheet - a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind.
Mast - A vertical pole that raises from the deck to support the rigging and sails.
Mizzen - Third mast from the bow in a vessel having three or more masts. (shorter mast behind the main mast). Found on a ketch, yawl or dandy.
Mooring - The act of confining a ship to a particular place, by means of anchors, fastenings, cables or bridles.
Mooring Block - A heavy block of cast iron sometimes used as an anchor for mooring vessels.

No Go Zone - The boat is pointed too close to the wind for the sails to generate any power  The sails will be luffing ("flapping") in the breeze and making noise, like a flag.
Nun or Nun buoy - A buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end.

On Deck - Main Deck
Outhaul - the line that adjusts the tension along the foot of the sail across the boom. A rope used for hauling out a sail upon a spar, opposite of inhaul.

Painter - A line (Boat Rope) tied to the bow of a small boat for the purpose of securing or fastening it to a dock or to the shore.
Pennant - (Triangular flag) - A small flag; a pennon. The narrow or long pennant (called also whip or coach whip) is a long, narrow piece of bunting, carried at the masthead of a government vessel in commission. The board pennant is an oblong, nearly square flag, carried at the masthead of a commodore's vessel. ``With flags and pennants trimmed.''
Pinch - To sail as close as possible in the direction of the wind.
Point - To turn closer towards the wind (point up ^)
Port - The left side of the boat facing the bow (Front).
Portholes - Small Round Openings in the side of the boat to let both air and light in.
Port tack - Sailing with the wind coming from the port side, with the boom on the starboard side.
Privileged Vessel (Stand On Vessel)- The ship with the right of way. This vessel shall keep her course and speed while the other gives way.  However, this does not mean this vessel should not take action to avoid a collision.

Reach - Sailing with a beam wind.
Ready About - Prepare to come about.
Reef - To reduce the working area (size) of a sail by lowering it part way.
Rhumb line - A line on a sphere that cuts all meridians at the same angle; the path taken by a ship or plane that maintains a constant compass direction (straight line compass course between two points)
Rigging - The ropes, chains, etc., that support the masts and spars of a vessel, and serve as purchases for adjusting the sails.
Rode - The line & chain that connect the anchor to the boat.
Rudder - A fin under the stern (Back) of the boat used in steering.
Running - a point of sail, going directly downwind
Running Rigging - All those ropes used in bracing the yards, making and shortening sail, etc., such as braces, sheets, halyards, clew lines, and the like.

Sail Free (To) - To sail with the yards not braced in as sharp as when sailing close-hauled, or close to the wind.
Sailing Vessel - A vessel propelled solely by the wind.  If propelling machinery is present it is not being used.
Scull - A: Moving the rudder back and forth in an attempt to move the boat forward. B: A boat; a cockboat. C: One of a pair of short oars worked by one person. D: A single oar used at the stern in propelling a boat.
Sculling - Rowing by a single oarsman in a racing shell.
Shake out - to release a reefed sail and hoist the sail aloft
Sheave - The wheel of a block pulley.
Sheet - A rope or chain which regulates the angle of adjustment of a sail in relation in relation to the wind. Usually attached to the lower corner of a sail, or to a yard or a boom.
Sheet - A large piece of fabric (as canvas) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel
Sheet Bend - A bend or hitch used for temporarily fastening a rope to the bight of another rope or to a eye.
Sheet in the Wind (A) or A Sheet in the Wind - Sailors slang for half drunk.
Sheet in the Wind (Both) or Both Sheets in the Wind - Sailors slang for very drunk.
Sheets (Stern) or Stern Sheets - The space in the back part of a boat where there are no rowers.
Sheets (Fore) or Fore Sheets - The space in the forward part of a boat where there are no rowers.
Shrouds - A range of large ropes extending from the mastheads to the sides of the ship to provide lateral support to the masts thereby enabling them to carry the sails. (support wires for the mast)
Spinnaker - A large (triangular), light sail used in downwind sailing or running before the wind.
Spreaders - Struts used to hold the shrouds away from the mast spring line.
Spring line - Docking lines that keep the boat from drifting Fore (forward) and (Aft) back while docked.
Square-Rigged - Having the sails extended upon yards suspended horizontally by the middle, as distinguished from fore-and-aft sails; thus, a ship and a brig are square-rigged vessels. Rigged with square sails as the principal ones.
Standing Part - A: That part of a tackle which is made fast to a block, point, or other object. B: That part of a rope around which turns are taken with the running part in making a knot of the like.
Standing Rigging - The shrouds and stays.
Stand-On Vessel - This vessel shall keep her course and speed while the other gives way.  However, this does not mean this vessel should not take action to avoid a collision.
Starboard - The right side of the boat
Starboard Tack - a course with the wind coming from starboard and the boom on the port side.
Step - The frame that the bottom of the mast ends into.
Stern - The back of the boat.
Stow - To put away.
Stream The Buoy (To) - to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor.

Tack - the front, lower corner of the sail, also course with the wind coming from the side of the boat, also to change course by turning into the wind so that the wind comes from the other side of the boat.
Tarpaulin - A piece of canvas covered with tar or a waterproof composition, used for covering the hatches of a ship,
hammocks, boats, etc.
Tender - Heeling over too easily or inclined to when under sail.
a small boat used to transport crew and equipment from shore to a larger boat.
Tiller -A lever of wood or metal fitted to the rudder head and used for turning side to side in steering. In small boats hand power is used; in large vessels, the tiller is moved by means of mechanical appliances.
Tiller Rope - A rope for turning a tiller. In a large vessel it forms the connection between the fore end of the tiller and the steering wheel.
Topping lift - A large, strong tackle employed to raise or top the end of a gaff, or of a boom. Holds up the boom when it is not being used. Also the line that controls the height of a spinnaker pole.
Transom (Transsummer) - One of the principal transverse timbers of the stern, bolted to the sternpost and giving shape to the stern structure.
Traveler - An iron encircling a rope, bar, spar, or the like, and sliding thereon. May be attached to the mainsheet which allows its position to be adjusted.
Trim - To adjust the sails. Also means the position of the sails.
Trim of Sails - That adjustment, with reference to the wind, witch is best adapted to impel the ship forward.
Trim of the Masts - Their position in regard to the ship and to each other, as near or distant, far forward or much aft, erect or raking.
Tuning - Adjustment of the standing rigging, the sails and the hull to balance the boat for optimum performance.

Vang - A control line usually a multi-purchased tackle secured to the boom to prevent it from lifting.
Vang Bail - Stainless steel strap made to form a loop that is mounted to the boom and to which the upper broom    Vang Block is attached using a stainless S-hook.

Wake - the swell caused by a boat passing through water
Whistling Buoy - a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the action of the waves.
Whisker pole - A light spar which holds the jib out when sailing downwind.
Winch - Lifting device consisting of a horizontal cylinder turned by a crank on which a cable or rope winds. Ussually a metal drum shaped like device used to assist in trimming sails. Handles can be attached to add additional power.
Windward - Upwind.