Fateful Voyage
Glossary & Nautical Dictionary
O
- oakum
- TFD: loose fibre obtained by unravelling old rope, used esp. for
caulking seams in wooden ships
- F: the substance into which old ropes are reduced, when they are untwisted, loosened, and drawn
asunder. It is principally used to drive into the seams, or intervals, between the planks of a ship, to
prevent the water from entering.
- observation
- TFD: 1. a sight taken with an instrument to determine the position of an observer relative to
that of a given heavenly body 2. the data so taken
- F: the art of measuring the altitude of the sun or a star, in order to determine the latitude,
or the sun's
azimuth, &c.
- ochre
- TFD: Any of several earthy mineral oxides of iron occurring in yellow, brown, or red and used as pigments.
- off
- TFD: Farthest from the shore; seaward; to seaward of.
- D: away from the land, a ship, the wind, etc.; at some distance to seaward of
- F: an expression applied to the movement of a ship, when she sails out from the shore towards
the distant sea.
- off and on
- d: On different
tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land.
- B: When a ship is beating to windward, so that by one board she approaches towards the shore,
and by the other stands out to sea, she is said to stand off and on shore.
- offing
- W: The area of the sea in which a ship can be seen in the distance from land, excluding the
parts nearest the shore, and beyond the
anchoring ground.
- F: implies out at sea; or at a competent distance from the shore, and generally out of anchor-ground.
- on board
- W: On or in a means of transportation.
- B: Within the ship, as, he is come on board.
- on the beam
- TFD: in a line with the
beams, or at right angles with the
keel.
- F: implies any distance from the ship on a line with the beams, or at right angles with
the keel; thus, if the ship steers or points northward, any object lying east or west, is said to be
on her
starboard or
larboard beam.
- on the bow
- TFD: on that part of the horizon within 45° on either side of the line ahead.
- B: An arch of the horizon, comprehending about four
points of the
compass on each side of that
point to which the ship's
head is directed. Thus, they say, the ship in sight bears three points on the
starboard
bow; that is, three points towards the right hand, from that part of the horizon which is right
ahead.
- on the quarter
- TFD: in a direction between
abeam and
astern; opposite, or nearly opposite, a vessel's
quarter.
- B: An arch of the horizon, comprehending about four points of the compass on each side of that point
to which the ship's
stern is directed.
- open
- F: the situation of a place which is exposed to the wind and sea, with little or no shelter for
shipping to anchor therein. Open is also expressed of any distant object, to which the light or passage is not
intercepted by something lying, or coming between. Thus, to be open with any place, is to be opposite to it;
as the entry of a port,
road, or haven.
- open hawse
- TFD: a
hawse in which the
cables are parallel or slightly divergent.
- B: When the cables of a ship at her
moorings lead straight to their respective
anchors, without crossing, she is said to
ride with an open hawse.
- ordinary seaman
- TFD: a seaman of the lowest rank, being insufficiently experienced to be an
able-bodied seaman
- orlop
- WP: The orlop is the lowest deck in a ship (except for very old ships). It is the
deck or part of a deck where the
cables are
stowed, usually below the water line.
- B: The deck on which the cables are stowed.
- F: a platform of planks laid over the
beams, in the
hold of a ship of war, whereon the cables are
usually coiled, and the several officers storerooms contained.
- Otaheite
- W: Tahiti. Recorded by Samuel Wallis on encountering the island in 1767. But Johann Forster and Georg
Forster on Captain Cook's second voyage to the island in 1773 were accomplished comparative linguists and
realized the O was an article in the Tahitian language and not properly part of the name.
[Note: I wish they had passed the word around. Bligh and others continued tacking on the O for years afterwards.
If you happen to be looking for any of these words, first remove the O, then simplify the spelling:
Oparre - Pare, Otoo - Tu, Otootooillah - Tutuila.]
- out
- F: an expression frequently used at sea, implying the situation of the sails when they are set, or
extended, to assist the ship's course; as opposed to
in; which is also applied, in the contrary sense, to signify that such sails are
furled.
- out of trim
- F: the state of a ship when she is not properly balanced for the purposes of
navigation; which is
either occasioned by the size, or position of her
masts and
sails; or by the comparative quantity, or arrangement of her cargo and
ballast in the
hold.
- overhaul
- TFD: To slacken (a line) or to release and separate the
blocks of (a
tackle).
- B: To clear away and disentangle any rope; also to come up with the chase; as we overhaul her, that
is, we gain ground of her.
- F: the act of opening and extending the several parts of a tackle, or other assemblage of ropes,
communicating with blocks or
dead-eyes. It is used to remove those blocks to a sufficient distance from each
other, that they may be again placed in a state of action, so as to produce the effect required.
- overset
- B: A ship is overset when her
keel turns upward.
- F: the act of turning any thing upside down also the movement of a ship when she overturns
so that the keel becomes above the water, and the
masts under the surface.
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