The pirate lingo - A to L

Let's talk about a glossary of nautical terms you will see mentioned in this comic.

First of all let me say that I am going to simplify it a lot!

Same thing I did with the ship's structure itself. As a matter of facts I will not draw all the rigging, even though I like drawing rigging a lot.

Here's a list of terminology we'll see in use in the comic - part 1 I don't want to bore you too much with this:

Things we say!

Ahoy – A cry to draw attention. Term used to hail a boat or a ship, as "Boat ahoy!"

Anchor's aweigh – Said of an anchor when just clear of the bottom.

Ashore – On the beach, shore or land.

Avast – Stop! Cease or desist from whatever is being done.

Aye, aye (pronounced /ˌаɪ ˈаɪ/) – Reply to an order or command to indicate that it, firstly, is heard; and, secondly, is understood and will be carried out. ("Aye, aye, sir" to officers). <---- This one has already been used once, when the crew answered to Cat's orders.
Flotsam – Debris or cargo that remains afloat after a shipwreck. See also jetsam.
Fore, foreward (pronounced /ˈfɒrərd/, and often written "for'ard") – Towards the bow (of the vessel).
Furl – To roll or gather a sail against its mast or spar.
Grounding – When a ship (while afloat) touches the bed of the sea, or goes "aground" (qv).
Letter of marque and reprisal – A warrant granted to a privateer condoning specific acts of piracy against a target as a redress for grievances. <--- Mmmh, I am not spoiling this to you!

Things we... are!

Bar Pilot – A bar pilot guides ships over the dangerous sandbars at the mouth of rivers and bays. <---- This would be Foxy.
Barrelman – A sailor that was stationed in the crow's nest.
Before the mast – Literally, the area of a ship before the foremast (the forecastle). Most often used to describe men whose living quarters are located here, officers being quartered in the stern-most areas of the ship (near the quarterdeck). Officer-trainees lived between the two ends of the ship and become known as "midshipmen". Crew members who started out as seamen, then became midshipmen, and later, officers, were said to have gone from "one end of the ship to the other" (also see hawsepiper).
Boatswain or bosun (both pronounced /ˈboʊsən/) – A non-commissioned officer responsible for the sails, ropes and boats on a ship who issues "piped" commands to seamen. <--- This is Cat.
Cabin boy – attendant on passengers and crew.
First Mate – The Second in command of a ship. <--- This is Cat.
Land lubber – A person unfamiliar with being on the sea. <--- Why, our twins, of course!


Parts of the ship

Bow – The front of a ship.
Bowsprit – A spar projecting from the bow used as an anchor for the forestay and other rigging.
Bridge – A structure above the weather deck, extending the full width of the vessel, which houses a command centre, itself called by association, the bridge.
Bulwark (pronounced /ˈbʊlək/ in nautical use) – The extension of the ship's side above the level of the weather deck. <---- This is what Kane opens in order to have the girls jump in the water in chapter 2.
Cabin – an enclosed room on a deck or flat.
Chain locker – A space in the forward part of the ship, typically beneath the bow in front of the foremost collision bulkhead, that contains the anchor chain when the anchor is secured for sea.
Crow's nest – Specifically a masthead constructed with sides and sometimes a roof to shelter the lookouts from the weather, generally by whaling vessels, this term has become a generic term for what is properly called masthead. See masthead. <---- Wilson Kane's favorite spot.
Decks – the structures forming the approximately horizontal surfaces in the ship's general structure. Unlike flats, they are a structural part of the ship.
Figurehead – symbolic image at the head of a traditional sailing ship or early steamer. <--- Alidivento's figurehead is a pair of wings.
Forecastle – A partial deck, above the upper deck and at the head of the vessel; traditionally the sailors' living quarters. Pronounced /ˈfoʊksəl/, "fo'csle". The name is derived from the castle fitted to bear archers in time of war. <--- our kitchen is here and of course it is called:
Galley – the kitchen of the ship.
Gangplank – A movable bridge used in boarding or leaving a ship at a pier; also known as a "brow".
Gangway – An opening in the bulwark of the ship to allow passengers to board or leave the ship.
Jib – A triangular staysail at the front of a ship.
Keel – The central structural basis of the hull.
Ladder – On board a ship, all "stairs" are called ladders, except for literal staircases aboard passenger ships. Most "stairs" on a ship are narrow and nearly vertical, hence the name. Believed to be from the Anglo-Saxon word hiaeder, meaning ladder.
Line – the correct nautical term for the majority of the cordage or "ropes" used on a vessel. A line will always have a more specific name, such as mizzen topsail halyard, which describes its use.

Now, we wil be using bunks instead of berths for beds, and the girls called their own... beds! ^^" They'll learn to call them bunks soon.

To be continued in part 2...