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A AAW An acronym for anti-aircraft warfare. aback (of a sail) Filled by the wind on the opposite side to the one normally used to move the vessel forward.On a square-rigged ship, any of the square sails can be braced round to be aback, the purpose of which may be to reduce speed (such as when a ship-of-the-line is keeping station with others), to heave to, or to assist moving the ship's head ...
Glossary of nautical terms (M–Z) This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin ...
Chief mate. Chine (boating) Circle of death (boating) Cold ironing. Companionway. Compartment (ship) Conn (nautical) Consort (nautical) Constant bearing, decreasing range.
A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or banks. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water ( bathymetry) and heights of land ( topography ), natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and ...
Marine navigation is the art and science of steering a ship from a starting point (sailing) to a destination, efficiently and responsibly. It is an art because of the skill that the navigator must have to avoid the dangers of navigation, and it is a science because it is based on physical, mathematical, oceanographic, cartographic, astronomical ...
Tack (sailing) A tack is a nautical term both for the lower, windward corner of a sail and, separately, for the windward side of a sailing craft (side from which the wind is coming while under way—the starboard or port tack. Generally, a boat is on a starboard tack if the wind is coming over the starboard (right) side of boat with sails on ...
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Explanation. "Squaring a yard" adjusts the position of the square sails so that they are perpendicular to the keel of the ship. This is done in order to "run before the wind', i.e., sail with the wind directly behind the vessel rather than tacking . When a square-rigger is running downwind, and the yards are positioned perpendicular to the line ...