| 24 hour record | The distance that a ship travels from 12:00 pm to 12:00 pm the next day (24 hours) |
| Aft | To the rear |
| Back | If a sail is taken back, it is taking wind from the wrong side. The vessel should turn or decrease speed |
| Backstay | A piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling forwards |
| Bearing away, fall off | Turn away from the wind |
| Belaying pin | Wooden or iron bolt used to fasten lines in the belaying pin rail |
| Berth | The term for a bed, sleeping area or where a vessel lies beside a wharf |
| Bow | The most forward part of a vessel |
| Brail,Clew garnet | A small rope used to draw in a sail |
| Bridge | The ship’s command center, located forward on the uppermost deck |
| Bunker | To take fuel aboard |
| Buntline | One of the ropes toggled to the footrope of a sail, used to haul up the sail to the yard |
| Calming | The wind calms |
| Deck | Floor |
| Fathom | A horizontal measurement of approx. 6 feet (1.8 m) |
| Gangway | The entrance through which you can pass when boarding a vessel |
| Gasket | Rope or cable to heave and fasten a sail to the yard or gaff boom |
| GRT/RT | Gross tonnage: A figure describing the total volume of the ship including engine spaces, crew spaces and passenger spaces |
| Heaving | To bring a sailing vessel to a halt by means of a maneuver |
| Hoist | Raise; to hoist a sail |
| Jib | Any triangular fore-and-aft sail set forward of the foremast |
| Knot | A ship’s speed is measured in knots: 1 knot= 1 nautical miler per hour =1.852 km per hour. From an old method of measuring speed by counting knots in a line running off a reel astern of a vessel over a period of 14 seconds |
| Lee | Refers to the side of the ship away from the wind. A lee is a shelter or protection. The leeward side of a vessel is the lee-side |
| Log | The ship’s diary so to speak and an official legal document |
| Luff | The windward side of the ship |
| Nautical mile | 1 nautical mile = 1.852 km, 60 nautical miles = 1 degree of latitude |
| Perpendicular | A cord from which a metal weight is suspended for the purpose of measuring water depth |
| Pilot | A person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbor |
| Portside | The left side of a ship with the red lamp when facing towards the bow |
| Rigging, Rig | The gear consisting of ropes supporting a ship’s masts and sail, also the formation of masts, spars, sails and tackle on a ship |
| Roads | A partly sheltered anchorage; a place for ships to anchor |
| Sheet | The right side of a ship with the green lamp when facing towards the bow |
| Starboard | The right side of a ship with the green lamp when facing towards the bow |
| Stern | Ship’s motorboats used to transport people ashore and back |
| Tender | Ship’s motorboats used to transport people ashore and back |
| Thwart | The seating bench on an open boat |
| Turning | To turn a ship in a storm so that it runs favorably to wind and water and minimizes damage |