Vocabulary Flashcards
Vocabulary not covered in ASA 101
The living quarters inside a boat
Accommodations
The angle at which a sail is presented to the wind
Angle of attack
A bed on a boat
Berth
Where a boat ties up or docks
Berth
The lowest interior regions of the hull
Bilge
A pump for removing water from the bilge
Bilge pump
The stand on which the boat’s main compass is mounted
Binnacle
An upright partition in the interior of a boat
Bulkhead
Any of the four principal points of the compass, N, E, S, or W
Cardinal point
A table or desk used when navigating
Chart table
A pin with a formed head used to connect rigging
Clevis pin
When beating, the tack that brings the boat on the closest approach to the destination
Closest tack
The roof of the trunk cabin (or the roof of the cabin on a small boat)
Coachroof
A low wall that deflects running water on the deck
Coaming
In meteorology, the boundary where an advancing mass of cold air meets a mass of warm air
Cold front
An instrument that indicates direction relative to Earth’s magnetic field
Compass
The card inside a compass calibrated in degrees and/or
points of the compass
Compass card
On a nautical chart, a representation of two concentric compass cards, one aligned to True North, the other to Magnetic North
Compass rose
A split pin used, for example, to retain a clevis pin
Cotter pin
A fixed window
Deadlight
Compass error caused by magnetic influences aboard the boat
Deviation
An instrument used for marking or comparing distances
Dividers
Of an anchor, to slide along the seabed, not hold
Drag
An outgoing tide
Ebb tide
The distance over which a wind has blown uninterrupted
Fetch
A raised edge around a horizontal surface or shelf
Fiddle rail
An incoming tide
Flood tide
Heavy-weather tactic of sailing slowly to windward under much-reduced canvas
Fore-reach
A kitchen on a boat
Galley
A device for heating a cylinder in a diesel engine prior to starting
Glow plug
Toilet compartment on a boat
Head
A wind shift in which the wind shifts forward
Header
The direction in which a boat’s bow is pointing
Heading
A region of high barometric pressure
High pressure
Time at which the tide is at its highest
High tide
A tank in which sewage is stored
Holding tank
A line secured to the deck as a place to attach safety tethers
Jackline
A supplementary anchor
Kedge
Use an anchor to haul a grounded boat off the bottom
Kedge off
A wind that blows over water as a result of air cooling over the land
Land breeze
A shore toward which the wind is blowing
Lee shore
A wind shift in which the wind shifts aft
Lift
A written record of activities pertinent to the operation of a boat
Logbook or log
A region of low barometric pressure
Low pressure
Time at which the tide is at its lowest
Low tide
The fixed marker on the compass that indicates on the compass card the boat’s heading
Lubber’s line
The direction toward Earth’s North Magnetic Pole
Magnetic North
A map used for the purpose of navigation
Nautical chart
Tide at the moon’s first and third quarters when there is the least difference between high and low tide
Neap tide
An area where sewage, treated or untreated, may not
be discharged into the water
No-discharge zone
A pair of rulers hinged together, used for drawing parallel lines
Parallel rule
A short length of rope or wire used as a connector, e.g., mooring _____
Pendant (pronounced pennant)
One of 32 divisions on the traditional compass card
Point of the compass
A window that can be opened
Portlight
The effect of a propeller that pushes the boat’s stern sideways
Prop walk
The flow of water off a turning propeller
Prop wash
A device with radial blades that when rotated deflects water or air to create thrust
Propeller
A bed or bunk fitted into the aft quarter of a boat’s
accommodations
Quarter berth
A device that enhances a boat’s visibility to radar
Radar reflector
Distance from
Range
Two objects in alignment that provide guidance, as when negotiating a channel, e.g.
Range
Water drawn from outside the boat
Raw water
A device that secures a line by clamping onto it
Rope clutch
A harness worn around the upper body to which a safety tether can be attached
Safety harness
A length of strong line or webbing with a closable hook at each end
Safety tether
The area in the accommodations used for dining and
lounging
Saloon
A drain
Scupper
A wind that blows from the sea toward the land as a result of hot air rising off the land
Sea breeze
A marine valve often fitted to a through-hull fitting
Seacock
Electricity obtained on board through a connection to
shoreside power
Shorepower
A temporary sheet used to relieve the load on a working sheet
Short sheet
The deck between the trunk cabin and the gunwale
Sidedeck
A system of reefing a sail by lowering it partway to remove a “slab” from exposure to the wind
Slab reefing
The period when the tide is neither ebbing nor flooding
Slack water
A block that opens to fit around the middle of a line
Snatch block
Tide at the new moon or full moon
Spring tide
A fitting on the bow of a boat to which the forestay and jib tack are attached
Stemhead fitting
The area around which a boat will swing at the full extent of its anchor rode
Swinging room
A fitting in the hull used to draw in water or to discharge it
Through-hull fitting
The difference in height between the water level at low tide and high tide
Tidal range
A rail fitted around the outside edge of the deck
Toerail
The direction toward Earth’s North Pole
True North
The raised part of the deck above the accommodations
Trunk cabin
A screw used for tightening wire rigging
Turnbuckle
In a sail, the difference between the angle of attack at the foot and at the head
Twist
The difference between the direction to True North and that to Magnetic North
Variation
A berth in the forward cabin that follows the shape of the hull sides
V-berth
In meteorology, the boundary where a mass of advancing warm air meets a mass of cold air
Warm front
A winch used primarily for raising an anchor
Windlass
