2011-04-04

Avast Ye Scallywags!

"Let's hoist the main and trim the jib!  We're running abeam on a starboard tack!"

Huh!??

Last year, when my husband & I bought a sailboat and set about teaching ourselves to sail, we quickly learned that the first challenge would be to understand the language.  I mean, we'd watched Pirates of the Caribbean and we had picked up a phrase or two - like "Ahoy, me hearties" and "shiver me timbers".   But terms like leach, stanchions, turnbuckles, and spreadersWell, blow me down!   

Even words we thought we knew weren't straight-forward.  Like rope.  In nautical terms, a rope is not a rope.  It is a sheet or a halyard or a line.  Unless you remove it from the boat – then it's just a rope again.  Go figure.

We weren't a complete pair of dunces - we knew a little bit before we began.  We knew a kitchen is a galley, a washroom is a head, and a bed a berth.  We even knew that the bow was the front of the boat and the stern the rear, but that's about the extent of our knowledge.  

Little did we know that even common words for directions have alternate nautical terms.  For instance: back is aft, left is port, right is starboard, and up is aloft.  Then there's the terms for the rigging, for navigation, for winds and for the umpteen hundred different knots (although we managed to get by knowing only 3).

With our boat's trusty manual in hand (and the frequent use of a thesaurus) we figured it out and spent a beautiful summer on the water.  Someone once said you can learn to sail in an afternoon, but it takes a lifetime to master it.  So, after one season of sailing we're far from being old salts, but I can proudly say we're no longer landlubbers.   You can figure those words out for yourself.


Putting the Interlude into the water, with some much needed help from the friendly yacht club members

 This is me looking ridiculously happy because we managed to get it launched with "all souls accounted for" (that's nautical for "no one died").

Christening the boat  with some wine for Neptune. 

Side note:  We didn't pour the whole bottle - we're not stupid!  But I did learned that day that there is some skill required to drink wine on a boat without spilling and I can proudly say I mastered that skill very quickly.   I'll be an old salt in no time!

23 comments:

  1. They say that the two happiest days in the life of any boat owner is the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it.

    Seriously, your boat is beautiful. I hope you enjoy it for many years.

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  2. What a beautiful boat. You'll be speaking the lingo in no time.

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  3. Well shiver me timbers..yee be a sailor of the high seas with the daring of a land lover...haha...was it red wine or white wine? :-)

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  4. Susan: That's a good saying! I like that one!

    Galen: Thank you! We're mighty proud of her.

    Jeff: Red, of course. After 2 solid weeks of scrubbing and rubbing and waxing, I stained the cockpit on our first day aboard.

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  5. You're boat is lovely! What fun! :)

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  6. Oops. TYPO. Hehe.

    Your boat is lovely. What fun! :)

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  7. Is there a nautical term for 'Bugger, I forgot the nautical term for XXX (insert actual word or phrase)"???

    Enjoy the boat - you're very brave!!

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  8. Too cool!

    My parents bought a catamaran and retired to the Caribbean and they learned a whole new language, too. Some of that, of course, was obscene, but they got a great tan!

    Pearl

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  9. Bloody hell Kara - you've got a yacht ya posh git!! It looks AMAZING! So tell me more - what kind of yacht is it, and where do you moor (sorry, park) it?

    So when are you taking me around the Med for a tootle and a glass of fizz?! x

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  10. About 20 years ago, I spent a week on a Trimaran- a large sailboat. It wasn't until we were in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight, and none scheduled to be in sight for several days, that I learned I was severely claustrophobic. I drank. A lot.

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  11. Samantha: Thanks! Fun is always our intent.

    Red Nomad Oz: There's a nautical term for XXX??! That wasn't mentioned in my manual.

    Pearl: Your parents are my new role models! We would LOVE to retire to the Caribbean on a catamaran.

    Annie: It's a MacGregor 26X and we keep it at at Grand Bend on Lake Huron. And if we ever decide to sail across the pond on our way to the Med, we will definately cruise around to England & pick you up. You can bring the fizz.

    PAMO: I've heard of people feeling claustrophobic when they can't see land - it sounds horrible. As for the drinking, I'm sure you learned that hang-overs and sailing don't mix too well. Poor you.

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  12. Hubs is an old salt, as was his father before him. He has always tried to get me to agree to sell everything, buy a sailboat and sail into the sunset. I am too much of a landlubber though--land does not make me nauseous. Sailboats do. LOL Enjoy yourselves matey!

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  13. hey there, nice boat! and sure the wine was great, but have ye tried some screech mateys?

    "long may your big jib draw!"

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  14. Love it! Looks like soooo much fun! Hey as long as you know the word for bathroom and kitchen, I'd say you've got it covered. Unless you actually want to leave the dock. . .then you're on your own:)

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  15. How fun! I'm jealous! lol I guess you were commenting on my blog when I was posting my new one for today! Thanks for following me. I'm trying to follow you back but my computer is mental. (maybe it's user error. In my case that comes standard with every computer) So I will try again! Good luck sailing!

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  16. Thanks for stopping by Kara.. looks a bit warmer here than with you.. although I don't have a boat so you definitely have one up on me!

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  17. Who cares about lingo, I'm jealous of the darn ole boat! How much fun is that?!

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  18. Gorgeous!! So jealous :-)
    Glad you kept some of that bubbly!

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  19. What a wonderful activity to share with your fam!

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  20. its great fun to sail with these people, just watch out for that main sail chummy cause when you get hit in the head it might hurt...lol

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  21. How fun! I'm jealous! lol I guess you were commenting on my blog when I was posting my new one for today! Thanks for following me. I'm trying to follow you back but my computer is mental. (maybe it's user error. In my case that comes standard with every computer) So I will try again! Good luck sailing!

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  22. Too cool!

    My parents bought a catamaran and retired to the Caribbean and they learned a whole new language, too. Some of that, of course, was obscene, but they got a great tan!

    Pearl

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  23. You're boat is lovely! What fun! :)

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