Nautical Terms ~~ More than you ever wanted to know!

Bugeye:  a double-ended, shoal-draft, ketch-rigged vessel with extreme-raked masts

Gripe:  a very abnormal tendency for a boat to turn into the wind

Hooker:  an older vessel, usually a cargo boat

Monkey's fist:  a specialized heavy knot on the end of a heaving line, sometimes decorative

Orlop:  lowest full length deck

Nun buoy:  a conically shaped buoy

Dolphin Striker:  a nickname for the martingale boom

Twiddler:  a line to the helm to aid in steering

Pricker:  a small fid or tool

Norwegian Piano:  a foghorn

Cut and run:  cut the anchor cable to get under way in a hurry

Bay:  a heavy stay rigged from bowsprit tip to the stem

King Spoke:  the often ornamented spoke on a ship's wheel which indicates the rudder is in line with the keel

Dog watch:   2 two hour watches, 1600-1800 and 1800-2000, so the crew can change the times of their watches every day.

Moonraker:  the highest sail on the mast

Spanker: a fore-and-aft sail, usually carried aft, in various locations, depending on the rig

Tumblehome: the sloping or curving of a ship's side, inboard from vertical

Studding sail: a sail on a special spar placed outward for added sail area

Dead horse: the period of time after a ship's sailing the crew works off advanced wages

Bowditch:  A navigator's handbook filled with tabular data.

Bumboat:  A small boat used for ferrying ship's crews.

Cranky:  A ship of poor stability.

Cockbill:  Sloping the yards of a square rigger as a gesture of mourning; also to stow spars by swinging askew.

Barberhauler:  A line to control the angle of lead of a jib sheet. (Reported to be named after the Barger twins of California, who were Lightning sailors in the '60s.)

Fish:  A splint for a broken or damaged spar.

Boomkin:  The attachment point on the stern of a ship, similar to a bowsprit, used to attach the backstay.

Lubber line:  Marks on a ship's compass for dead ahead, astern and abeam.

Baggywrinkle (or Baggy-wrinkle): Gear made from old rope, which is used as padding on rigging to prevent chafing of the sailcloth against the shrouds or spreaders.

Poopdeck: A raised deck in the stern section of a ship, a partial deck above a ship's main afterdeck. The term originated from the Latin word puppis, which means doll or small image. It was a custom of the Romans and their predecessors to have a sacred image or idol mounted on the stern. To be pooped, at sea, is to have a sea break over the stern, or over the poop. Similarly, to be pooped, after a hard day's work, means that you're feeling "washed out."