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Last Updated on August 22, 2024 by Paul Clayton

75 Must Know Nautical Terms

Get ready for an exciting voyage as we dive deep into the realm of nautical terms! Every wave in this ocean of knowledge carries fresh, invigorating insights, whether you’re a seasoned sailor or a burgeoning boat enthusiast. Don’t worry – we’re not leaving anyone behind; our approachable yet passionate tone is custom-tailored to make these marine terminologies as enjoyable and accessible as possible.

We assure you that mastering these boating terms will enhance your seafaring experience, steer you to a deeper understanding, and perhaps even unleash the old salt lurking within you. Let’s embark on this thrilling journey together while appreciating the beauty and complexity of ocean terms. Anchors aweigh!

There are many, many nautical terms that a skilled sailor needs to know. However, learning hundreds of nautical terms will most likely be difficult if you are completely new to the field.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 75 must-know nautical terms. This list is not comprehensive, but it should be enough for people who know little or nothing about the topic.

75 Must-Know Nautical Terms

1. Abandon ship

This is the order to leave the ship immediately. The order must be issued verbally by a delegated person in command. Abandoning a ship is usually the last resort after all other preventative actions have been exhausted or become impossible and when the loss of the ship is imminent. The man in the lifeboat order usually follows this command.

2. Amidship

The amidship is the middle section of a boat.

3. Adrift

Adrift means unattached in any way to the shore or seabed. In a broader definition, an adrift ship is not anchored or under control. Aside from that, this term refers to any gear that is not properly fastened down or stored.

4. Anchor

An anchor is a method of temporarily “parking” a boat for maintenance or maybe for launch. It is a line or chain with a heavy hook on the end that grips the sea floor to keep the boat in place. Anchors are usually used in the sea when no port structures are available for parking.

5. Apparent wind

Apparent wind is the direction of the true wind combined with the headwind created by a boat’s motion forward. In other words, it is the wind experienced by a moving boat.

6. Ashore

Ashore is usually used in 3 meanings:

• On the shore or land.
• In the direction of the shore.
• Coming in contact with shore.

7. Baggywrinkle

The baggywrinkle is a soft cover for cables designed to reduce sail chafing.

8. Bar

The bar is a large mass of earth or sand that has been formed by the surge of the sea. Bars are most often found at the entrances of havens and large rivers. Their importance lies in their difficulty in navigating around.

9. Bareboat

To bareboat means to sail a boat on your own. Essentially, bareboating is to sailing as free falling is to skydiving. Bareboating usually implies hiring a vessel, with the vessel’s owner providing no crew or provisions.

10. Beam

The word “beam” refers to the width of a boat at its widest point. Alternatively, it refers to a point at the midpoint of a boat’s length alongside it.

11. Berth

The word berth is used in three meanings:

• A location in a harbor used to moor ships.
• A bed or sleeping spot on a ship.
• The safety margin must be kept between two ships or a ship and an obstruction.

12. Boom

The boom is the metal pole that horizontally sticks out of the mast and is attached to the bottom of the jib (a sail type). By adjusting the direction the boom is facing, the power of the wind can be used to propel a boat forward or backward.

13. Bow

The bow is the front of a boat. Anything near the front of a ship is forward. In addition, the terms starboard bow and port bow refer to the bow’s right and left sides, respectively.

14. Bridle

The bridle system evenly shares the strain on an anchor across two points. This system allows for shock absorption, noise reduction in the anchor chain, and reduction of wear in the boat.

15. Buoy

A buoy is a floating object of a specific shape and color that is anchored at some position in the water to aid navigation.

16. Cabins

The cabins are the bedrooms on a boat.

17. Catamaran

A catamaran is a type of boat with two hulls.

18. Chart

A chart is a map with which sailors check their position and plan their voyages.

19. Crow’s nest

The crow’s nest is a lookout placed high up on the mainmast. Crow’s nests are placed as high as possible to give the observer a good view of the surroundings.

20. Dinghy

A dinghy is a small boat for quick trips between a ship and the shore.

Aside from that, dinghy is used to refer to small racing yachts or recreational sailing boats. These are often used for beginner training since they are easier to control than large ships.

21. Draft

The draft of a ship is the vertical distance between its keel and the waterline. It determines the minimum depth of water a boat can navigate safely. In addition, the draft can be used to calculate the weight of the cargo on the board.

22. Dunsel

A dunsel is part of a ship that is useless.

23. Ease

In a nautical context, to ease means to let the sails out.

24. Fender

A fender is a rubber bumper hung off the side of a boat to protect its hull from impacts and damage. Often, old car tires are used as fenders.

25. Flank speed

The flank speed refers to the true maximum speed of a ship. This term contrasts with the term full speed, which isn’t the maximum speed of a vessel, even though it implies that it is.

The full speed may vary across ship types in terms of the percentage of the flank speed. In some ships, the full speed may be just a tad slower than the flank speed. Conversely, in US nuclear submarine propulsion, full speed usually implies just 50% reactor power.

26. Forepeak

The forepeak is the forward section of a boat’s hull that may be used as a sleeping or storage space, depending on the boat’s design.

27. Flotilla

Flotilla is a military term that refers to a formation of small warships. A flotilla may be part of a larger warship formation. Flotillas are usually composed of 3-20 same-class warships.

28. Galley

A galley is a boat’s kitchen. The term also refers to an ancient oar-propelled ship type used between 700 BC and 1800 AD.

29. Genoa

A genoa is a larger kind of jib sail used to increase a boat’s speed in light to moderate winds. Genoas are commonly used in boat racing events. However, genoas are usually more difficult to handle because they can become tangled with the mast of a boat.

Generally, the term genoa refers to any sail that is larger than a ship’s foretriangle. The foretriangle is the triangular area between the mast, the deck, and the line holding the sail. Sometimes, genoa and jib are used interchangeably.

30. Gybe

A gybe (in the US referred to as jibe) is a downwind (in the same direction as the wind) maneuver in which the ship turns its stern through the wind to change the direction from which the wind is blowing. This maneuver is performed alternately by turning the ship from side to side in a zigzag manner.

31. Halyard

Halyards are the lines or ropes used to raise sails, ladders, flags, or whatnot. Originally, this term was used to refer to the ropes that hoisted a sail attached to a spar.

32. Heads

Sailors often use their heads to refer to the toilet.

33. Hold

In its classical meaning, the hold is inside a boat’s hull, especially when considered storage space. In more modern merchant ships, this term was used to refer to the area between the decks and the underside of the weather deck.

34. Heeling

Heeling is frequently used to refer to the lean of a sailboat caused by wind. This term is also used broadly to refer to leaning regardless of what causes it (waves or whatnot).

35. Helm

The helm is the steering wheel of a ship. This term is sometimes used to refer to the helmsman behind the wheel. The helm can be a tiller on smaller ships, essentially a long wooden stick attached to the boat’s steering mechanism.

36. Hull

The hull is the part of the boat that floats in the water, including the boat’s bottom and sides.

37. In irons

The phrase in irons is used when the boat’s bow is pointing directly into the wind and when the boat is difficult to maneuver. The term in stays is an often used alternative to in irons.

38. Iron Mike

Iron Mike is a slang term used to refer to nautical auto-pilot systems.

39. Itinerary

An itinerary is the plan of destinations intended to be visited by a boat. Travel itineraries usually include a schedule of intended destinations and activities for travelers.

40. Jacklines

Jacklines, referred to as Jack Stays, are lines that run from the bow to the stern on either side of a ship. The ship’s crew connects their safety harnesses to the jack lines for safety.

41. Jib

After the mainsail, the jib is the most common sail seen on boats. It is always found in the front end of the ship. Unlike the mainsail, it doesn’t have a boom. While the contribution of a jib to a boat’s speed is insignificant compared to that of the mainsail, it plays a crucial role in reducing turbulence on the mainsail, thus increasing the boat’s overall stability.

42. Keel

The keel is the structural basis of a boat, running along its hull’s center. It is a long & heavy fin which, sticking down into the water, ensures stability. The keel is the reason why modern sailboats are virtually impossible to capsize.

43. Knot

In a nautical context, knot refers not only to the loop made to secure lines or ropes. The knot is a speed unit equal to one nautical mile per hour.

44. Lazyjack

The lazy jack is a system of lines connecting a boat’s mast to its boom. It is intended to smooth the sails’ retraction.

45. Leeward

The leeward is the side of the boat furthest from where the wind blows. When the boat is heeling, the leeward is always the low side of the boat.

46. Line

The term lines is used as an alternative to the term ropes. The line is considered the correct term for most ropes or cords on a vessel. Lines always have a more specific name that indicates their use.

47. LOA

Overall, LOA is the maximum length of a boat’s hull, including the parts that extend beyond the bow and stern. In sailing vessels, the LOA may exclude fittings added to the hull.

48. LWL

Standing for load waterline length, LWL is the length of a boat’s part in contact with the water. The LWL is mostly shorter than the LOA since the upper sections of the boats’ stern and bow are often protruded.

As a ship’s cargo gets heavier, it will sit lower in the water, and the LWL may decrease. The LWL is usually indicated in a default load condition when registering ships.

49. Mainsail

The mainsail, as the name suggests, is the main sail of a boat. Being the largest sail on a ship, it catches most of the wind and generates most of the boat’s speed.

50. Mast

The mast is the tall metal pole from the bottom of a boat into the sky. The mast is designed to support a ship’s sails. The term refers to its lowest portion if a mast is a wooden multi-part one.

51. Med mooring

Med mooring refers to reversing a boat into a small gap and parking it with its stern facing the quay.

52. Monohull

As the name implies, a monohull is a boat with only one hull.

53. Mooring

Mooring is “parking” a ship by attaching it to a permanent structure in a port. This contrasts with anchoring, performed when no permanent structures are nearby for parking.

54. Nautical mile

A nautical mile is a nautical measure of distance equal to 1,852 meters (around 1.1508 miles).

55. Point of sail

The point of sail is the boat’s direction relative to the wind. There are 8 points of sail used in sailing:

• The no-go zone, which is in the direction where the wind is blowing from (1).
• Close-hauled when the wind is on the port or starboard bow (2 & 3).
• Beam reach, when the wind is on either the port or starboard beam (4 & 5).
• Broad reach is when the wind is on the port or starboard quarter (6 & 7).
• Dead run, when the wind blows from behind the ship (8).

56. Port

Port refers to the left-hand side of the bow when facing it. Onboard, you may use this term as an alternative to left and vice versa. Alternative terms for left and right are used in sailing since their more common counterparts can be confusing aboard a ship.

Aside from that, a port is a facility where ships dock to discharge or load cargo and passengers.

57. Prow

The prow is the part of the bow (a ship’s front) above the waterline. Sometimes, the terms prow and bow are used interchangeably. Prow may also be used as a poetical alternative to bowing.

58. Quay

A quay (also referred to as a wharf or staith) is a metal or stone platform in a harbor or directly on the bank of a water body used by ships for mooring. While quay is generally synonymous with wharf, the former is more often used in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, while the latter is more common in the United States.

59. Reefing

Reefing refers to reducing the sail area (i.e., lowering the sails) to catch less wind and slow down a boat. This is done to make the ship easier to control. Reefing is often used in choppy conditions or higher winds.

60. Rip rap

A rip rap is a man-made pile of rubble and rocks used to form a breakwater. Rip raps often surround off-shore lighthouses, vulnerable harbors, and other seaside structures that need to be kept away from the raging sea.

61. Rudder

A rudder is a flat piece of fiberglass, metal, or wood attached to the boat’s bottom. It is used to steer the ship. The rudder is controlled via its steering wheel in larger sailboats, while in smaller sailboats, it is controlled with a smaller steering mechanism called a tiller.

62. Sails

Sails are large fabric pieces hung from the mast and used to propel a ship forward. Sails rely on wind, which, on the one hand, is an eco-friendly method of propulsion, but on the other hand, makes sailboats very sensitive to weather conditions.

63. Saloon

The saloon is the living area in a boat, usually down below the deck.

64. Skipper

The term skipper is used to refer to the captain of a boat.

65. Starboard

The starboard is on the right-hand side of a boat when facing the bow. This makes the term starboard the opposite of port.

66. Stern

The stern is the rear of a boat. Furthermore, anything near the rear of a boat is referred to as being astern or aft.

67. Underway

When a boat is moving – either by wind or motor power – it is said that it is underway.

68. Tacking

Tacking is a maneuver in which a ship, whose course lies in the wind, turns its bow toward the wind to change the wind’s direction. Like it was with the gybe, this maneuver is done in a zig-zagging manner, alternating the directions from which the wind blows. Tacking is an efficient method of sailing upwind and is the opposite of jibing.

The word tack may be used as either a verb or a noun. As a verb, it refers to performing the tacking maneuver. As a noun, the tack is a boat’s course relative to the wind. For example, if the wind blows from the ship’s right side, it is on a starboard tack. Likewise, the ship is on a port tack if the wind blows from the left.

69. Topside

Moving from a boat’s lower deck to an upper deck, you are going topside.

70. Trim

The term trim refers to the adjustments made to the sail to maximize its efficiency. Aside from that, this term refers to the position of the hull to the waterline.

71. True wind direction

The true wind direction is the direction from which the wind is blowing.

72. Waterline

The waterline is the line on a ship’s hull where the hull meets the sea.

73. Winch

A winch is a mechanical device with a rotating handle to wind lines or ropes up and out. Winches are usually used to control anchors but may also be used in other nautical applications.

74. Windward

The opposite of leeward, the windward is the side of the boat closest to where the wind is blowing from. When the boat is heeling, its windward is always the high side.

75. Yacht

Generally, a yacht is any vessel used for pleasure, racing, or cruising. Yachts differ significantly by design, with some being sailed and others propelled by motors.

This video has been included to clarify the topic. Credit goes to ReelReports

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Wrapping Up

Whether you’re an experienced mariner navigating the open seas or a curious newcomer to the world of boats, our exploration has been designed to cater to all, fostering a sense of inclusivity and shared enthusiasm.

By mastering these nautical terms, you’re not merely learning a lexicon; you’re equipping yourself with the tools to enrich your seafaring experiences. The command to “abandon ship” and the intricacies of “apparent wind” now carry a deeper significance, painting vivid images of maritime scenarios. “Amidships” and “beams” cease to be mere words, instead becoming windows into the anatomy of vessels. With “anchor” and “berth” in your grasp, you can grasp the very essence of maritime stability and safety.

In a world where navigating the vast ocean of information can be overwhelming, our curated selection of 75 must-know nautical terms serves as a beacon, guiding those new to the waters or seeking a refreshing breeze of knowledge. While not exhaustive, this collection provides a sturdy foundation to build a more profound understanding of all things maritime.

So, whether you find yourself standing “ashore” gazing at the horizon or ready to set sail with a newfound knowledge of “bareboating,” the waters of understanding are yours to explore. With the confidence to discern a “crow’s nest” from a “fender” and the wisdom to distinguish “flank speed” from “full speed,” you’re now armed to engage in maritime conversations with authenticity and insight.

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