To go to sea one must not only be able to steer a boat, but one must also know the language of seamanship, a real language. There are essential words that make up this nautical dictionary. Don’t be caught unprepared at the dock: here are 20 words to know with the letter “a.”
- Abbisciare (Eng. to coil, to range/ fr. lover) 1. Arrange a chain or cable coiled into coils so that it can be unwound quickly. 2. Pass a thinner cable or draft around a cable to stretch and retrieve it.
Abbisciatura sf. 1. Cable or draft passed around a larger cable or chain. 2. Portion of chain prepared to give bottom. - Abbozzaménto sm. Type of mooring that involves a bow anchor and one or two stern anchors, so that the ship will always be in the same position, regardless of the action of the wind, sea and currents. Sketch (Eng. to stopper/ fr. bosser) 1. Apply a draft to a cable so that it remains in strength while giving turn to the bollard. 2. Apply the drafts on which the anchor chain works after giving bottom. To grip (Eng. to grip/ fr. agripper) To become entangled with rocks or other obstacles on the seabed (the anchor).
- Embrace. (from Provençal abrivar “to take momentum,” from briu “impetus, valor”). To set a vessel in motion or accelerate its motion. Abbriva: a command given to accelerate rowing in a rowing boat, or to quicken the motion of a sailing vessel by resting before tacking forward, or to incite the crew to perform a maneuver more quickly.
- Acceppare. Secure the anchor to the edge of the boat by means of a tether that passes over the stump after hauling.
- Addugliare or Adugliare (deriv. from duglia, v.). Gather the coiled ropes.
- Afforecate. Moor a boat with two bow anchors arranged in a fork shape so that they form an angle between 90° and 120° with the bisector directed into the wind bed. It is also called cat’s beard mooring. Afforco sm. Mooring with two anchors arranged in a fork shape, which limits the boat’s swing.
- Aggotating. (Eng. to bail out/ fr. ecoper) Flush out any water that has accumulated on the bottom of the boat. In ancient times this was done with a large ladle, called a gout, with which a wooden or metal vessel, the gotto, was filled.
- Alléggio o Aléggio sm. (Eng. boat-plug/ fr. nable) 1. Landing all or part of a ship’s cargo to lighten it. 2. Pontoon or boat used in ports for disembarking a ship’s cargo. 3. Hole drilled in the bottom of a boat to drain its water, also called a pupil.
- Rise. sf. 1. Large rope for towing boats and barges against the current from the banks of rivers, canals or ships 2. Street along rivers and canals from which boats are towed, also called towpath. 3. Tonnage or mooring cable. Alzanèlla sf. Small tuna line.
- Amarra. sf. (from fr. amarre “mooring “). Mooring rope.
- Cuffing. Joining two pieces of chain or rope by passing a bent looped iron, called a handle, through the loops or loops, which is then closed by joining the two ends with a pin. Particularly: to join a cable or chain to the cicada of an anchor or the ring of a mooring buoy.
- Amascare. (deriv. from masca “each of the side parts of the bow of a boat”). Being turned sideways or going off course due to wave force, wind, or maneuvering error.
- Hip. sf. Rounding of the side of the ship that forms the stern, also called a small garden.
- Andana. sf. (Engl. stern to/ fr. arrière à quai). 1. Row of ships moored side by side with their hulls perpendicular to the quay; swath mooring: such a way of mooring. 2. Port dock.
- Angipòrto. sm. 1. The innermost, sheltered part of a harbor. 2. Very long and narrow sea sine.
- Assume. 1. v. tr. Bring to the surface. 2. v. int. Go up on deck, from a lower deck.
- Assume. v. tr. (Eng. to tighten/ fr. serrer) 1. Stretch a cable that has come in banishment, tighten a knot strongly. 2. Pull two objects together and join them with bindings (e.g., a shore boat to its own cranes).Landing sm. (Eng. to landing/ fr. atterrissage) Complex of the operations of a ship to approach land and dock; the point on the coast where a vessel docks.
- Landing. v. int. Maneuver to bring the ship closer to land and dock.
- Avampòrto. sm. (ingl. outer port/ fr. avant-port) Mirror of water, usually protected by a breakwater, in front of the port proper, for maneuvering or stopping operations or to accommodate larger ships.
- Occurrence. v. int. pronoun. Infiltration of water through planking gaps in wooden hulls.
