Posted by Mike Field. on September 30, 2002 at 05:39:27 from 203.26.98.6 user mikefield.
In Reply to: Jilling posted by Robert Dilley on September 23, 2002 at 14:16:49:
I'm not sure what happened to the original post here, Robert, but "jilling," vis-a-vis sailing boats, has a more specific definition than the OED's that you give. It means to carry your way over the ground (possibly by sailing, but more likely by simply driftng with the tide,) with the anchor hanging overboard at the end of a reasonable length of mooring line.
You do this so that if the water shoals, the anchor finds the bottom before the ship does. The resulting pause allows you to throw the boat's head off the other way, when you hope you'll be able to find deeper water.
This is generally a tactic reserved for use in a tidal river when there's no wind, or where it's from a direction where you can't make use of it. Simply drifitng with the tide ("driving,") even if the tidal stream is flowing in the right direction, is no good as you don't have steerage way -- just the problem John faced in Goblin on the way out, before they made sail.
In faIrness though, I think the OED's looser definition of just idling about is probably what AR had in mind for what Jim was doing in Goblin while he waited.