Nautical Terms

Where to start? 

There are just so many things to study when it comes to boating! Upon much thought and debate, I've resolved that there will be articles that generally run along 6 topics:

1. Boats - New ones, used ones, red ones, blue ones...
2. Maintenance - Enough said...
3. Tips, Tricks and Techniques - How the (expletive deleted) do I do this??
4. Industry Happenings - This won't be often, since other blogs do it better.
5. Industry Publications - What the trade publications are saying...
6. Events - like my beloved Newport Boat Show (*sigh*).

I've been known to draw outside the lines - actually, I can't draw at all - but for the most part you can expect these blogs to follow those general patterns.

Today, I touch briefly on terminology.  On a boat, there ain't no 'front, back, left, right.'  Here's a useful graphic:

This image shows the basic sections of a boat, which I won't detail as most people are vaguely familiar with them (I think?).  Instead, let's examine some more complex terms:

Athwartships: in a direction at right angles to the fore-and-aft (bow to stern) line of the vessel 

Amidships: In the middle of the boat

Cockpit: Space somewhere behind the helm where people can gather

Helm: The station from which a captain operates the boat

Abaft: Any part of the vessel aft of amidships

There are others I'll add as time goes on - for now, this will help you get through some fancy lingo you might find in trade magazines and videos!

Now get out there and go boating!