Multiple definitions for sailboat words

Do you ever find yourself saying something and everyone else interprets it differently?

Then welcome to life on a sailboat. There are a lot of words in the sailing language that you think you know, but once you're out on the water, they mean something completely different. Many expressions and phrases on a sailboat have multiple meanings.

Sail in San Diego and learn all the things about sailing. These are some of the new terms you'll encounter, each with a different meaning. You'll be able to hear them and use them as needed. 

 


Some words with Multiple Definitions On A Sailboat are given below:


Beam

  1. The width of a boat at its broadest point is called a beam.
  2. The halfway point between the bow and the stern of the boat.

It should not be confused with:

The point of sail where the wind is behind the boat (beam reach).


Bowline

Same spelling, but different pronunciation:

  1. A knot at the end of a line that makes a loop.
  2. A bowline is a dock line that connects a boat's bow to a dock.

The amount of space makes a significant difference.


Coil

Are you confused by a line? Is it a rope, or something else?

  1. To make neat loops out of a line
  2. A coiled line is one that has been twisted.


Dock

Are they both at the same location?

  1. A berth for a vessel, but more commonly used to refer to the pier, quay, or pontoon to which it is tied when in that berth.
  2. Bringing a boat to its dock.

 

Draft

There is no connection between this and wind.

  1. The depth of a boat below the water's surface.
  2. The arc of a sail's curvature

 

Flake

Two terms with the same meaning

To put out a line in parallel lengths so that it can easily run.

 

Luff 

Is There Enough Luff?

  1. The leading edge of a sail.
  2. Sail fluttering is caused by the boat being too close to the wind for the sail to be properly trimmed.
  3. To raise one's head such that the sail luffs.


Outboard

  1. Away from a boat's centerline; beyond the gunwale

  2. A portable motor that mounts to the stern of a boat (typically).


Port

That's not right.

  1. A harbor is a port.

  2. When facing forward, the left-hand side of a boat is called the port.


Reef 

Homonym?

  1. A reef is a submerged region of rock or coral that poses a navigational hazard.

  2. To minimize the exposed area of a sail to the wind

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