Decimate. Most don't get that they are underselling a change greater than 10%.
OK, I'm a word snob
- Thread starter Jim Legere
- Start date
Geez you guys, chill out. Can we just accept that some folks aren't that into it.
I read this thread with both amusement and with sympathy for newbies who think this thread is making fun of them.
Those that are sailing lingo/terms proficient and purists, ( hate to hear bathroom instead of head ) do you only accept guests on your boat that are literate in sailing terms? If they ask where is the bathroom do you require them to use the correct term and if not, walk the plank (or hold it)?
Advising a sailing newbie to study a book about sailing terms and only post your newbie question after you learn all of the correct terms is not very welcoming to those new to sailing and the forum.
Neither is laughing at those who misuse the sailing terms.
We all started somewhere and most likely it was not studying the correct sailing terms first.
I guess I'm multilingual. When talking to other sailors I try to use proper sailing terms, with non sailors I don't.
For those who posted in humor, great.
For those who are purist, I agree with @Joe , Chill.
Those that are sailing lingo/terms proficient and purists, ( hate to hear bathroom instead of head ) do you only accept guests on your boat that are literate in sailing terms? If they ask where is the bathroom do you require them to use the correct term and if not, walk the plank (or hold it)?
Advising a sailing newbie to study a book about sailing terms and only post your newbie question after you learn all of the correct terms is not very welcoming to those new to sailing and the forum.
Neither is laughing at those who misuse the sailing terms.
We all started somewhere and most likely it was not studying the correct sailing terms first.
I guess I'm multilingual. When talking to other sailors I try to use proper sailing terms, with non sailors I don't.
For those who posted in humor, great.
For those who are purist, I agree with @Joe , Chill.
Hey,
In all seriousness, knowing the terms is important when racing. If I tell a crew please ease the outhaul one inch they need to know which LINE is the outhaul and to ease (not tighten or bring in) 1".
When we're going to set the spinnaker the crew need to know
Put on the port spinnaker halyard
pull the tack line until the tack is at the bowsprit
Raise the halyard
Trim the sheet
Ease the genoa sheet and furl the sail
and so on.
This isn't as important when cruising and we don't expect noobies to know all terms when racing (and we don't take inexperienced crew on distance races) but it sure is nice when it all comes together.
Barry
In all seriousness, knowing the terms is important when racing. If I tell a crew please ease the outhaul one inch they need to know which LINE is the outhaul and to ease (not tighten or bring in) 1".
When we're going to set the spinnaker the crew need to know
Put on the port spinnaker halyard
pull the tack line until the tack is at the bowsprit
Raise the halyard
Trim the sheet
Ease the genoa sheet and furl the sail
and so on.
This isn't as important when cruising and we don't expect noobies to know all terms when racing (and we don't take inexperienced crew on distance races) but it sure is nice when it all comes together.
Barry
I guess you are referring to an asymmetrical spinnaker. For our symmetrical one, there is no tack or "tack line." The after-guy is used to pull one spinnaker clew to the spinnaker pole as the sail is hoist and control it (the pole) there. One then trims with the sheet attached to the other clew, etc.
KG
Chapter 1 DepartureAnother good one, Joe. Maybe we should obliterate it.
(On weighing anchor for departure.)
"Unintelligible orders were so immediately given and so rapidly executed; there was such a hurrying about and such an intermingling of strange cries and strange actions that I was completely bewildered. There is not so helpless and pitiable an object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor’s life."
Richard Henry Dana, "Two Years Before the Mast"
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I grew up on boats, fishing boats, sailboats, and other work boats. I was a marina rat for most of my formative years. It's been a long time, but I have finally got back on the water, and under a sail. I find, when giving instructions to my son, daughter, wife, or friends, on a boat, nautical terms just come out without my thinking about it, but I, for sure, don't know them all.
What's a shank painter, or a cat stopper, or a clew garnet (all from the song Spanish Ladies). Oh, I know now, 'cause I looked them up, but there are others, such as "breast the bar". It means to push against the cap bar, as in capstand bar by shoving with all your might, pressing your breast against it.
I can't fathom all those terms. How many ropes are on a boat? All of them, except the chain and cable. All your lines are made of rope and collectively, they are rope and ropes, and you can rope-off the tiller with a line. Then there's the bow skirt made from ropework.
It doesn't "actually" make my head explode, but, in words, it can "literally" make my head explode. The misuse and/or the redundancy of words and terms can be grievous, grave, and egregious but the enormousness is not likely to have the enormity that will change the course of history. Any and all of these mistakes could be from ignorance, thoughtlessness, or stupidity, but they are not, in general, mean or even hurtful.
-Will
What's a shank painter, or a cat stopper, or a clew garnet (all from the song Spanish Ladies). Oh, I know now, 'cause I looked them up, but there are others, such as "breast the bar". It means to push against the cap bar, as in capstand bar by shoving with all your might, pressing your breast against it.
I can't fathom all those terms. How many ropes are on a boat? All of them, except the chain and cable. All your lines are made of rope and collectively, they are rope and ropes, and you can rope-off the tiller with a line. Then there's the bow skirt made from ropework.
It doesn't "actually" make my head explode, but, in words, it can "literally" make my head explode. The misuse and/or the redundancy of words and terms can be grievous, grave, and egregious but the enormousness is not likely to have the enormity that will change the course of history. Any and all of these mistakes could be from ignorance, thoughtlessness, or stupidity, but they are not, in general, mean or even hurtful.
-Will
Honestly, my reason for starting this thread was not to mock or make fun of sailing neophytes. It was to encourage them discover the richness and history of the nautical lexicon and, in doing so, enjoy sailing even more.