Home / Seamanship / The language on board
There is no rope on board
From outside, the language on board looks like ritual. It is the opposite: it is shorthand. In a manoeuvre, in wind and engine noise, one word has to be enough, and it has to mean the same thing to everyone.
Port and starboard
Left and right depend on which way somebody happens to be facing. Port and starboard belong to the boat and do not change when the helmsman turns around. Red is port, green is starboard, on deck as in the navigation lights.
Windward and leeward
Windward is the side the wind comes from, leeward the other. Almost every safety rule on deck lives in those two words: you work and step off to leeward, you clip on to windward.
Forward, aft, bow, stern
Not front and back but forward and aft, because both also work as directions: "astern" is a bearing, "behind" is not.
Line, sheet, halyard, tail
There is no rope on board. It is a line as long as it makes fast or tows. It is a sheet when it trims a sail and a halyard when it hoists one. The tail is the end of a piece of cordage, not the cordage itself.
Why the difference counts
"The line parted" and "the halyard parted" describe two completely different events: in one the boat is at the pontoon, in the other a sail comes down at sea. Making the distinction saves the follow up question.
What this has to do with insurance
A claim report is read by someone who was not there. The more precise the words, the fewer the queries, and the faster the settlement. Write down which piece of cordage parted, at which point, in what wind and during which manoeuvre. That is not a formality: those four details are what shows whether it was damage or wear.
