Glossary

 Terms used throughout the blog:

·        3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-Panel: The number of plywood panels making up the hull. A 3-panel hull (John Wellsford's Mollyhawk) has 2 side panels and 1 bottom panel. Michalak's LFH17 has 7-panels.

·        Aft: towards the back of the boat.

·        Andersen Mini Bailer: Available at Duckworks, [https://www.duckworks.com/product-p/ra554130.htm]

·        Back: As the wind direction changes, the direction can shift counter-clockwise (back) or the new direction can shift clockwise (veer) from the old direction.

·        Broach: As a boat is overtaken by waves, the stern of the boat rises and the boat starts to slide down the front of the wave. If the bow of the boat 'digs' into the back of the wave in front, the boat can suddenly turn (left or right) and end up sideways, a 'broach', and possibly flip over.

·        Bow: (Rhymes with "allow"). The front-end of a boat.

·        Bulkheads: Vertical panels (typically water-proof) within the hull that divide the boat into multiple sections.

·        Carvel planked: Similar to lapstrake, but rather than have the planks 'lap' over the next plank below, the plank edges are glued/epoxied edge to edge as in strip planking.

·        Car-top: Carrying the boat on top of the car's roof rack.

·        Chine: Looking at the hull from one end, the chine is the 'corner' where the bottom of the hull intersects with the sides of the hull.

·        Chine panel: The panel in the hull that replaces the 'corner' of the chine. It is the panel on each side of the bottom panel in a 5-panel hull.

·        Coaming: Typically 3- to 5-inch (76- to 127-mm) high barriers to prevent water from washing off the decks into the cockpit.

·        Cockpit: The space in a boat that is typically used to operate the boat.

·        Crown: the curve of a deck from one gunnel to the other gunnel.

·        Dagger-board: Used in a sailboat to reduce the tendency of a sailboat to go sideways when the wind is coming from the side. The Dagger-board trunk is the apparatus that holds the board vertical yet allows the board to be moved up and down without letting water into the hull.

·        Displacement: The weight of the boat, plus everything in the boat (people, supplies, equipment).

·        Double-ended: A boat that is pointed at both ends, such as a canoe.

·        Drop-in Rowing Unit: A rowing unit consisting of outriggers to provide span for the oar locks, foot braces, and a rowing seat that slides on rails. An example is the Piantedosi unit sold by CLC Boats and other vendors.

·        Flare: In boats, 'flare' refers to the angle of the sides of the hull from the vertical. A boat with no flare has sides that are vertical while a boat that has sides that are angled out 30 degrees (such as a "dory") has a lot of flare.

·        Floor boards: Typically made from wood and rest on the bottom of the hull in order to provide a small space between the bottom and where a person would stand, sit and/or lie down.

·        Floatation: That which keeps a boat from sinking when it is filled with water.

·        Foot braces (also known as foot stretchers): What the rower pushes against (with her/his feet) when rowing.

·        Fore: means front, toward the bow of the boat.

·        Frame: Various uses. In general, it is a set of 'sticks' that support either the deck or the sides and bottom of the hull. The frame can become an integral part of the boat, or can be a support system for building the hull of the boat, but does not become part of the boat after the hull is constructed. The latter are also referred to as Forms.

·        Freeboard: The vertical distance from the water to the gunnel at a given point.

·        Gunnel: The strips of wood that define the 'sheer-line' at the top of the hull sides (also known as gunwales).

·        Hatches: the 'doors' that close off openings that are either in the decks or in the bulkheads. They allow access to enclosed spaces in the boat and are typically water-proof when closed.

·        Hull speed: An approximation of the maximum speed (in knots) that an Oar Cruiser (any 'displacement hull') can travel. The formula; speed in knots equals 1.34 times the square root of the water line length (WLL) in feet. It is the speed at which the length (crest to crest) of the bow wave equals the WLL of the boat. Going faster than hull speed means that the boat is attempting to climb up the back of the bow wave. This article [http://antrimdesign.com/heavy-boats-light-boats-and-hull-speed.html] has an excellent explanation.

·        Inwale: The inner-most component of the 1, 2, or 3 pieces of wood that make up the gunnel. If used with a second inwale, the two inwales can be thinner (lighter) than just one, and they are typically separated by spacer blocks to create a girder-like support for the edge of the hull.

·        Knot: The nautical measure of speed; 1 knot equals 1.85 kilometers per hour and 1.15 miles per hour.

·        Lapstrake: Construction of a boat hull in which each strake (plank) over laps the top of the strake below.

·        Length of a boat (LOA): is the overall dimension from the bow to the stern.

·        Lines: 1. The drawn lines on the plans for the boat; as in "…keeps the underwater lines as designed." 2.  "Lines" also refers to ropes used on a boat; as in "…tie the bow line to the cleat on the dock."

·        Load waterline: The "line" on the hull made by the surface of the water when the boat is 'loaded' (with people, supplies and equipment).

·        Midships: In the middle of the boat.

·        Oar Cruising: Using small, oar-powered boats to cruise in where 

Small means you can either car-top or trailer it by yourself, 

Oar-powered means the primary propulsion is rowing and 

Cruise means you can sleep in it and carry all the food and equipment you'll need for at least a week without re-supplying.

·        Oar locks: The "U"-shaped metal fittings that provide the pivot point for the oars.

·        Outriggers: In the context of row boats, outriggers are supports for the oar locks that extend beyond the sides of the hull.

·        Reverse Reading Compass: Available at Duckworks, [https://www.duckworks.com/product-p/rs-rrc.htm]

·        Rowing seat: The support for the person rowing.

·        Seaworthy: Refers to the ability of the boat (assuming a competent crew) to survive in less than ideal weather conditions.

·        Sheer: The top edge of the hull. Sometimes referred to as the sheer-line. The sheer-line can be straight, curved with lowest point of the line about 2/3 back from the bow of the boat, or it can be a 'reverse sheer' in which the ends of the sheer-line are lower than the middle portion.

·        Skeg: A fin attached to the bottom of the boat's centerline, typically starting at the transom. Provides directional stability as the boat moves forward.

·        Skin friction: As the hull moves, water applies frictional force to the hull surface (skin) which slows the hull, taking energy to overcome.

·        Sneak Box: One-person boats originally designed for hunting ducks (also known as Duck Boats) in which the deck is fastened to the bottom of the hull at the gunnel. The shape of the hull looks like the cross-section of a closed Clam.

·        SOF (Skin-On-Frame): A hull that consists of a light frame over which a layer of polyester or nylon water-proof cloth is attached.

·        Span: The distance between oar locks, typically 50% of the oar length for fixed seat rowing.

·        Splash guard: A "V" shaped barrier attached to the deck to prevent water washing over the deck from entering the cockpit. Typically used in low freeboard hulls and with coamings.

·        Stem: The (near) vertical piece of wood that joins the forward edges of the two (or more) side panels of the hull.

·        Stern: the back-end of a boat.

·        Strip plank: A method of building the hull of a boat by attaching to frames narrow (1- to 2-inches (25- to 51 mm)) strips of wood, glued edge to edge.

·        Tender: For boats, it is how 'tippy' a boat is. A kayak is very tender. A garbage scow is NOT tender, it's very stable.

·        Thwart: A narrow (10- to 12-inches (254- to 305 mm)) seat used for sitting that goes from one side of the hull to the other side. It typically also serves to strengthen the hull by bracing the two sides of the hull.

·        Topsides: The sides of a hull (verses the bottom and deck).

·        Transom: A (near) vertical panel at the end of the hull to which the sides, chine and bottom panels are attached, closing off the end(s) of the hull.

·        Trimmed: (As in, "Cartoppers row well as long as they're trimmed with one person…"). All the weights in the boat (people, equipment and supplies) are distributed so that the boat remains 'level' side to side and end to end; i.e., that it is floating parallel to its designed "load waterline".

·        V-bottom: A hull in which the end view of the hull's bottom forms a "V" (as opposed to a 'flat bottom' or 'round bottom' hull.

·        Veer: As the wind direction changes, the direction can shift counter-clockwise (back) or the new direction can shift clockwise (veer) from the old direction.

·        Wales: The strips of wood on the inside of the hull at the sheer line. Often there are two wales, the inner wale and the outer wale. These two wales are also referred to as the inwales. The two wales are often separated by a set of blocks so that the wales act as a girder to strengthen the edge of the hull. A second (or third) strip of wood on the outside of the hull at the sheer line is called the rub rail. The terminology for these strips of wood vary by designer/region/country.

·        Water Line Length, WLL, is length of boat at the waterline.

·        Water Line Width, WLW, is width of the boat at the waterline at the widest point.

·        Waypoint: A point on a chart or GPS screen that identifies the next location to be reached. Waypoints mark points on the chart/GPS screen which reflect the proposed passage of the boat.

·        Width of the boat: is the dimension at the widest point on the hull that measures from gunnel to gunnel.

·        Windage: Exposure to the wind which results in 'wind resistance'. 

·        WLL is length of boat at the waterline.

·        WLL:WLW is the ratio of these two dimensions. In general, the higher this ratio, the faster the boat can move.

·        WLW is width of the boat at the waterline at the widest point.