Definitely-Not-Filthy Sailing Terminology
March 5, 2015 5:52 AM Subscribe
Confusing and obtuse it may be... ...but if there's one thing sailing terminology is not, it's filthy. -- Lucy Bellwood puts things straight through the medium of comics. Want more salty seadogging? Down to the Seas is the story of her trip onboard the last wooden whaling ship in the world.
This was fun!
My Dad collected pieces of sailing ships. I grew up touring every one he could find, from the Morgan to the Balclutha, and wandering around many old docks and wrecking yards. He's gone but I now live among binnacles and mast hoops, blocks and taffrail logs, fids and oakum and many beautiful fresnel lights.
I visited the Morgan while it was being worked on just a few years back. It was a muggy afternoon promising rain and Mystic had few visitors. The downpour started as I dashed to board the ship. I had the whole vessel to myself.
The ensuing downpour was epic. The hammering on the ship's deck and hull suggested pounding waves. I stayed below decks waiting for the rain to let up for hours, and passed the time exploring the ship and imagining what it would be like to actually sail aboard her. It was a wonderful afternoon.
So thanks for posting this. The artist did a great job of capturing her experience. There's nothing like a tall ship.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:29 AM on March 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
My Dad collected pieces of sailing ships. I grew up touring every one he could find, from the Morgan to the Balclutha, and wandering around many old docks and wrecking yards. He's gone but I now live among binnacles and mast hoops, blocks and taffrail logs, fids and oakum and many beautiful fresnel lights.
I visited the Morgan while it was being worked on just a few years back. It was a muggy afternoon promising rain and Mystic had few visitors. The downpour started as I dashed to board the ship. I had the whole vessel to myself.
The ensuing downpour was epic. The hammering on the ship's deck and hull suggested pounding waves. I stayed below decks waiting for the rain to let up for hours, and passed the time exploring the ship and imagining what it would be like to actually sail aboard her. It was a wonderful afternoon.
So thanks for posting this. The artist did a great job of capturing her experience. There's nothing like a tall ship.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:29 AM on March 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Except that is conflates "futtocks" with "futtock shrouds", so I have to wonder what other liberties it's taken with the language.
posted by straw at 6:48 AM on March 5, 2015
posted by straw at 6:48 AM on March 5, 2015
'Buttocks': lines describing the shape of a hull that are the intersection of a longitudinal vertical plane and the hull shell.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 6:55 AM on March 5, 2015
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 6:55 AM on March 5, 2015
MetaFilter: conflates "futtocks" with "futtock shrouds"
posted by neroli at 7:02 AM on March 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by neroli at 7:02 AM on March 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh, my stars and garters! These were so scandalizing that I had to go listen to A Clean Song (also nautically themed.)
posted by usonian at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2015
posted by usonian at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2015
YES! I absolutely LOVE Lucy Bellwood. She is just plain old fantastic sauce. And her illustrations of these sailing terms are hilarious. Her recent comic about why you DON'T want your story/comic/book to be picked up by Hollywood is pretty spot-on, too.
posted by jillithd at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jillithd at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ahhh I love nautical everything, saucy anything, comics and sassy ladies! Thanks for introducing us <3
posted by Mooseli at 7:24 AM on March 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Mooseli at 7:24 AM on March 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
Recently my husband and I were invited to have drinks with a co-worker of his who is the member of a yacht club (but not those kinds of yachts). The lounge is out there on the waters of Lake Ontario and she was telling me that yes, she married her husband, but as he was a sailor, she was really his second wife. Then of course, she extols the virtues of how they spend their summers on the lake on their little boat, going camping at any of the tiny islands that dot Lake Ontario, and I remembered how much of my childhood I spent on the Gulf of Mexico...long story short, Shepherd pretty much had to talk me down off the financial ledge of "OMG CAN WE PLEASE JOIN BECAUSE I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SAIL A BOAT THAT DOESN'T HAVE A MOTOR"
posted by Kitteh at 7:30 AM on March 5, 2015
posted by Kitteh at 7:30 AM on March 5, 2015
Yay! Lucy Bellwood is delightful, and having just got the news that my tall ship won't be sailing anywhere this year (it has more holes in it than is really acceptable to the insurers, apparently), this warmed up a winter morning for me.
Also, there is no way to say 'futtock' without sounding dirty. NONE. Also also, the gentleman who taught me how to splice lines did not pronounce 'contline' carefully. I shall leave it to the reader's imagination as to why I jumped half out of my skin.
posted by kalimac at 7:46 AM on March 5, 2015
Also, there is no way to say 'futtock' without sounding dirty. NONE. Also also, the gentleman who taught me how to splice lines did not pronounce 'contline' carefully. I shall leave it to the reader's imagination as to why I jumped half out of my skin.
posted by kalimac at 7:46 AM on March 5, 2015
Oh, my. This is wonderful. Lexington KY just got a pile o' snow last night. I popped the garage door open around 4am and looked out on the approx foot of snow. I soaked up the beauty for a minute, then looked over at the shovel leaning against the wall and thought: "Well, I don't miss living in New England that much."
But the sailor part of me does miss New England. This post reminded me of puttering under the bridge in Niantic Bay and out into the Sound. Of racing towards Fisher Island. Of going wing and wing , standing on the bow pretending to be an intrepid explorer. Of sea legs. Of coming back to port so deliciously tired from all the hard work that sailing demands. Of sleeping like a baby.
This comic made my day. And, if you are in the neighborhood, Mystic Seaport is a must-visit for those who have any curiosity about the sea.
posted by CincyBlues at 11:12 AM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
But the sailor part of me does miss New England. This post reminded me of puttering under the bridge in Niantic Bay and out into the Sound. Of racing towards Fisher Island. Of going wing and wing , standing on the bow pretending to be an intrepid explorer. Of sea legs. Of coming back to port so deliciously tired from all the hard work that sailing demands. Of sleeping like a baby.
This comic made my day. And, if you are in the neighborhood, Mystic Seaport is a must-visit for those who have any curiosity about the sea.
posted by CincyBlues at 11:12 AM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Reason #374 why The Nib makes all of Medium worthwhile (for comics fans like myself, a tip: subscribe to their email and get sneak previews of things like the Lucy Bellmont piece).
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:40 PM on March 5, 2015
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:40 PM on March 5, 2015
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A small tackle set of a single block and a double block is a handy. If you're trying to point as close to the wind as possible, you're trying to luff up and touch her, if you go to far, you end up in irons.
Finally, we'll just mention the monkey fist and stop.
* Which, since it is *not* the current name, I won't mention here. But simply add an n, and no, I'm not talking about the former Anglo-Saxon king.
posted by eriko at 6:10 AM on March 5, 2015 [2 favorites]