Posted by The Murrelets on November 11, 1998 at 18:05:10:
In Reply to: Re: Ropes, Lines and Nautical Terminology posted by Terence McManus on November 11, 1998 at 02:45:59:
I think we have found an interesting thread here. I can't check PP, because it is one of the few we don't actually own, but that helm order was originally "Port your helm" I believe and, as you note, has long been abandoned as potentially confusing. Current convention is to steer by either course orders-and rather sadly we use degrees, not compass points-- (eg "steer 140", or "bring her to 140"), or by wind angle orders (eg "bring her up to full and by", "bear off", etc.) For executing course changes requiring the major sail adjustments, the helm order (well, "announcement", really) is "helm's a-lee" given after the warning order "ready about". (for gybing, there is no real helm order per se, since the helm itself doesn't change at the time the sails are gybed). I got started on this line of musing because AR almost never causes me, as an experienced sailor attentive to the details of accurate nautical terminology because they are of iterally life and death importance to seamen, to grind me teeth in annoyance as I frequently do at other writers about the sea and sailing. The "ropes" thing DID give me pause, however, and so I wondered why he did it. Anyone else have tuppence worth on the matter? We are now reading the books with a new slant, trying to find all the accuracies!