Posted by David Bamford on September 22, 2002 at -1:22:00 from 203.10.110.133 user David.
In Reply to: We Didn't Mean... ODDITIES posted by Ed Kiser on September 21, 2002 at 03:54:50:
I may be able to clear up a few points raised by Ed.
Becket: this is a loop, usually in rope, and fashioned to be a permanent fitting. A block will always have one loop, so that it can beattached to something, but some blocks have one each end. In this case on loop will be called a "becket".
Jilled: when awating a favourable time, e.g. a change of tide, a boat can be sailed as slowly as possible while still maintaining steerage control. Under these conditions it is said too be "jilling about". to remain stationary, one would "heave-to".
Britain without the Gulf Stream would be very similar, I imagine to the Labrador, or perhaps the Baltic countries.
Smoke from cooking stoves: Yes these were coal fired, yes they were smoky, and yes there was a terrible pollution problem. The frequent fogs were commonly fatal to many people, and if washing were to be subjected to rain [not unusual], it would have to be re-washed to remove the soot. Legislation was passed in the Sixties, I think, to ban coal fires.
"Like billy-oh": an indeterminate superlative.
Swigging: when hauling on a rope, especially a vertical one like a halyard, a great deal of force can be gained by belaying the free end and then pulling laterally on the middle of the rope. On a halyard, one would pull outwards and downwards together, leaning all one's weight on the rope. I use this technique all the time on the halyards of my old ketch "Swallow".
Bending: A knot which attaches a rope to something is frequently called a bend, and when a flag is attached to its halyard by such a knot, it is said by sailors to be "bent on".
Rowing the pilot: Yes pilots were often rowed to ships in the pre-war times. In sailing-ship times [up to the beginning of the last century] pilots were rowed out from the Scilly Isles in 30ft. gigs to meet incoming ships. The first to meet a ship got the piloting job, so some went out a long way into the North Atlantic. We're talking here of seriously tough men! These gigs have experienced a renaissance as a basis for transatlantic competitive rowing. I don't mean that they cross the Atlantic, but that teams from both sides of The Pond participate.