[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;119927]The helm commands “steady” and “steady as she goes” are used differently in different parts of the world.
In the U.S. “steady” and steady as she goes" have the same meaning:
Outside the U.S. the command “steady” means check the swing of the ship and, once the swing is stopped, steer the course you are on.
When my helmsman get this command they stop the swing of the ship and then try to haul the ship back to the course when the command was given. In a narrow channel with sharp turns often the command is given before the ship is close to the new course as the pilot is anticipating the helmsman needs time to stop the swing. This means once the ship lined up with the channel the helmsman starts a new turn in the opposite direction from the last one in spite of the fact that the swing is stopped and the ship is pointed down the middle of the channel.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=“Pot licker;119985”]People say spike pole when it is really called a pike pole[/QUOTE]
Is that the same as a “hook pole?” First time I heard that it was from the mouth of a crusty old s.o.b. and it took me quite a while to figure out what a “hoopal” was.
[QUOTE=“Kennebec Captain;119971”]Sailing deep-sea a captain had a chuckle at my expense when I said the sea was “lumpy” . He asked me what it meant and I couldn’t answer on the spot.
In Alaska, fisherman and others say the sea is “choppy” at some point when the wind is causing the seas to build. When the wind dies down and the sea start to “lay down” it is said to be lumpy. So the seas might be described as “starting to get choppy” when it is building and as “still a bit lumpy” or “there’s still a bit of a lump running” when the wind is decreasing.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Left Coast;120008]A doubled up line where I work is sometimes called a slip line, because you can release the line and pull it around or through a cleat or chalk.[/QUOTE]
I think that’s what I would call “putting out a bight”
“On my boat, when our dock lines become so worn as to be unservicable, we order rope – usually it comes in a spool of a cable (10 fathoms(e), or 600 feet) or half-cable.”
[QUOTE=DredgeBoyThrottleJocky;120200]Wow, you gulf guys have some big ass Fathoms…
“On my boat, when our dock lines become so worn as to be unservicable, we order rope – usually it comes in a spool of a cable (10 fathoms(e), or 600 feet) or half-cable.”