Bouse. To heave, or haul, downwards on a rope. Originally, and strictly, heave meant an
upward pull, haul meant a horizontal pull, bouse meant a downward pull: but these distinctions have not survived.
Bow. That part of a ship's side that extends aft and downwards from stem. 2. Direction
between right ahead and 45° from it. 3. Bow of shackle is the rounded part opposite the jaw.
Bow Chaser. Gun mounted forward for firing at a pursued ship.
Bower Anchor. Principal anchor; carried forward and attached to a bower cable. Stowed
in hawse pipe or on anchor bed.
Bower Cable. Cable attached to a bower anchor.
Bow Fast. Rope laid out from bow of vessel to a bollard or other fixure, on quay or wharf,
for mooring.
Bowge.* Rope fastened to middle line of sail to make sail lie closer to wind. Bowgrace.* Bowgrass.* 'Bongrace.'
Bowl. Hemispherical container of compass card.
Bowl.* Cylindrical fitting at mast head for lookout man to stand in.
Bowline. Rope leading from deck to leeches of topsails and courses when on a wind;
weather bowlines being hauled taut to stop leeches from shivering. 2. Secure and quickly made loop that was put in end of bowline for attachment to bridle, and in bridles for
attachment to bowline cringles. This very useful loop is used for numerous purposes in everyday work, and is particularly valuable for giving security to a man working with insecure foothold, or over the side.
Bowline Bridle. Rope stretched between two bowline cringles in leech of a square sail.
Bowline rides on this bridle.
Bowline Cringles. Cringles fitted into leeches of square sail to take ends of bowline bridle.
They had no thimble.
Bowline on a Bight. Bowline made with rope doubled and so made that two loops are
formed. Gives increased safety to man working aloft or over side, one loop being under his arms, man sitting in other loop.
Bow Locker. Compartment just abaft stem. Usually contains boatswain's gear that is in
frequent use.
Bowman. In a pulling boat, is man who pulls a bow oar. In all boats he is responsible for
working forward boat hook and for such other duties necessary at the bows.
Bow Oar. Foremost oar in a pulling boat. The bowman. Bow Painter. Boat's painter.
Bow Rudder. Additional rudder fitted at stem of certain vessels, ferries, etc., that work in
restricted waters in which there is not always room to turn round.
'Bows.' Order given in a pulling boat when approaching ship's gangway or landing place.
Bowman boats his oar and stands by with boat hook.
Bowse. To pull downward on a rope or fall. . Bowse Down. To bouse.
Bow Sheets 53 Brace Aback
Bow Sheets. Flooring in fore part of boat. Head sheets.
Bowsprit. Spar projecting over stem, on which it rests. Outer end is stayed down to stem
by bobstay; inner end is secured by gammoning. In sailing ships is often prolonged with a jib boom and flying jib boom.
Bowsprit Cap. Vertical fitting at forward end of bowsprit to take heel of jib boom, jib
boom footropes, heel chain and heel ropes of jib boom.
Bowsprit Collars. Strops or bands round bowsprit to take bobstay, bobstay shrouds and
stays.
Bowsprit Shrouds. Ropes or chains extending from outer end of bowsprit to ship's bows
on either side. Give lateral support to bowsprit.
Bow Stopper. Short length of strong cable-laid rope with stopper knot in foremost end.
Formerly used for holding hemp cables - to which it was lashed -while bitting or unbitting. Name is now given, by Merchant Navy, to a cable controller.
Bow Thruster. A controllable pitch propeller placed in an athwart- ship tunnel in the fore
part of a ship open to the sea, which gives a transverse thrust to assist a ship when berthing or maneuvering at slow speed.
Box Hauling. Wearing a sailing ship on her heel. Only done when there is no room to
wear and ship misses stays while trying to tack. Headsails are thrown aback, and helm put down as ship gathers sternway.
Boxing the Compass. Reciting the points, or quarter points, of the compass in correct
order, and starting at any named point.
Box Off. To pay off ship's head from wind by flattening in head sails and bracing head
yards close up. Done when ship has been brought too close to wind by bad steering, or if wind has shifted ahead.
Box Ventilator. Temporary wooden ventilator inserted in cargo, particularly grain, to
ensure through ventilation. Usually square in section. Longitudinal sides may be solid planking or skeleton battens, depending on nature of cargo.
Boxwood Scale. Specially graduated scale for converting measurement of unchanged
coating of a Kelvin sounding tube into fathoms of depth.
Boyer. Flemish sloop having superstructure, or 'castle' at each end. Used for buoy laying. Boyle's Law. The volume of a perfect gas, at constant temperature, varies inversely as the
pressure on it. This law is fundamental in engineering and other branches, and is the fundamental principle of the Kelvin, and similar, sounders.
Brace. Rope or tackle by which a yard is adjusted in the horizontal plane.
Brace.* Arm of the sea. Mandeville calls St. George's Channel 'Brace of Seynt George.' Brace Aback. To adjust a yard so that wind comes on fore side of sail.
Brace In 54 'Breakage'
Brace In. To adjust a yard by bracing so that it becomes more athwartships. Brace of Shakes. Very short interval of time. (Etymology very dubious.) Brace Pendant. Pendant, from yard arm, through which a brace is rove. Braces. Gudgeons of a rudder.
Brace To. Adjust a yard so that sail becomes a little aback. Done when tacking or
wearing.
Brace Up. To adjust a yard so that it becomes less athwartships. Bracket.* Carriage of a ship's gun.
Bracket Frame. Floor or frame in which frame and reverse frame are stiffened by plates
(brackets) that may be watertight, or may have lightening holes.
Bracket Knee. More or less triangular plate secured to beam and frame to unite them, and
to preserve the angle.
Bracketless System. Introduced by Sir Joseph Isherwood to dispense with brackets at end
of longitudinal and bulkhead stiffeners. Loss is made good by increasing scantlings of girders.
Bracket Plate. Iron or steel plate secured with its plane perpendicular to another plate
which it supports and stiffens.
Brackets. Ornamental work. See 'Hair Bracket', 'Console Bracket'. Bragozzi. Small fishing vessels of the Adriatic.
Brahmin Knot. Triangle knot.
Brailed Up. Said of spanker, gaffsail or trysail when it is gathered into mast by hauling on
brails.
Brails. Ropes used for gathering a spanker, trysail or gaffsail into mast. Led through
block on one side of mast, round sail and through block on other side of mast; being seized, at bight, on leech of sail.
Brake.* Name given to handle of ship's bilge pump.
Brash. Ice broken into pieces, about 6 ft. in diameter and projecting very little above sea
level.
Bratsera. Ubiquitous trader in the Aegean Sea carrying 50 to 150 tons of cargo. Originally
a two-masted lugger.
Brave West Winds. Prevalent west winds in temperate latitudes.
Brazil Current. Southern branch of Equatorial Current. Sets S'ly from off Cape San
Roque to approximately latitude of River Plate; there merging into 'Southern Ocean Drift'.
Breach. Said of waves that break over a vessel.
Breadth. Of a flag, is measure of its vertical side. Also used to denote number of widths
of bunting used; width of bunting being 18 inches, a five breadth flag would measure 7 ft. 6 in. vertically.
Breadth Line. Longitudinal line of a ship, following the upper ends of timbers of frames. Break. Of forecastle or poop, is the midship end of the raised deck. A wave is said to break
when it curls over and foams.
'Breakage.' Ship's immunity from this damage exists only when it is not due to any fault of
Break Bulk 55 Breast Rope
Break Bulk. To commence to discharge cargo.
Breaker. Small cask used for bringing off water in boats. Also used for carrying provisions
in a boat. Anglicised form of Spanish 'Bareca'. 2. Wave with broken or breaking crest.
Break Ground. To heave anchor out of ground. Term had a special meaning when sailing
on Sunday was considered unlucky. If possible, ship broke ground on Saturday, moved a few yards and then re-anchored: voyage could then be considered as starting on Saturday. This subterfuge was known as 'Breaking ground'.
Breaking (a Flag). Hoisting a flag that has been rolled up and secured by a bow knot in its
halliard, and then freeing the flag by jerking on its downhaul. It is conventionally wrong to break a ship's national ensign.
Break Sheer. Said of a vessel at anchor when, due to action of wind or tide, she brings wind
or tide on the opposite bow.
Breakwater. Construction, usually of masonry, erected on seabed and extending above sea
level. Intended to protect a harbour, anchorage or other area from effect of sea waves. Word is used, also, to denote any structure that defends against a free flow of water.
Breaming. Removing fouling from a ship's bottom by burning.
Breast. Mooring line leading approximately perpendicular to ship's fore and aft line. To
breast a sea is to point a ship's bows in the direction from which the sea comes.
Breast Anchor. Anchor laid out from forward or aft, in direction at right angles to ship's
fore and aft line.
Breast Backstay. Royal or topgallant mast backstay that was set up, on either side, with
tackles that could be slacked off when yard was braced sharp. Often called 'shifting backstay'.
Breast Band. Name sometimes given to breast rope of leadsman's chains. Breast Casket.* Old form of 'Breast Gasket'.
Breast Fast. Mooring rope that leads at right angles, approximately, to ship's fore and aft
line.
Breast Gasket. One of the gaskets used for securing bunt of sail.
Breast Hooks. Horizontal plates in fore end of vessel. Are secured to ends of stringers, and
thus hold two sides together and preserve the bow form. In wooden vessels, are horizontal knees fulfilling the same functions.
Breast Knees. 'Breast Hooks.'
Breast Off. To move a vessel away from a wharf or jetty by forcing her sideways from it,
either by warps or bearing off spars.
Breast Plate. Horizontal plate that connects the upward extensions of the side plating at the
stem.
Breast Rail. Upper rail at fore end of poop.
Breast Rope. Mooring rope, leading from bow or quarter, at about right angles to ship's fore
and aft line. 2. Sennit band at top of apron of leadsman's chains, against which leadsman leans when heaving lead. 3. Formerly, ropes attaching parrels to yards, and so confining yards to mast.