Category Archives: Nautical Terminator

When last I wrote about the Doors’ song, Horse Latitudes, I was skeptical about the practice of jettisoning live horses at sea, or even dead ones, for these reasons: They could be used for food if all provisions had run … Continue reading →

In 1967 The Doors released their second album, Strange Days, which included a creepy song called Horse Latitudes. The song alludes to live horses being “jettisoned” from ships and suffering in “mute nostril agony,” presumably to lighten the load or … Continue reading →

Ever feel like you’re “in the doldrums”— where everything seems bleak and colorless, and there’s nothing you can think of that sounds like fun? Yeah, me neither.           The word comes from the old English dol meaning dull. Appended to … Continue reading →

Mastering all those sailing terms can be troublesome. It’s like learning a silly secret language that an exclusive club made up just to befuddle outsiders, or at least that’s what I like about it. But sometimes it seems as though … Continue reading →

Even though the term may not be common up here in the land of the America’s Cup, I’ve heard headsails called “headies” by those sailors from down under who seem to keep winning everything. There sure are a lot of … Continue reading →

Last time we spoke of the difference between a hitch and a bend according to the Ashley Book of Knots. According to Ashley, a hitch makes a rope fast to another object while a bend unites two ropes at the … Continue reading →

I think I know what a splice is, and I’m sort of willing for the time being, subject to further review, to use the word “knot” to describe any jumble of rope made intentionally or otherwise. But of the two … Continue reading →

The forecast calls for a “small craft advisory.” Latitude 38 once made the comment that these don’t really mean anything. This is false, but I can understand how one might come to that conclusion. First, there’s no legal definition of … Continue reading →

            Last time we talked about a boat being “Bristol,” but what about the sailor? What do we call the man or woman whose uniform is pressed, shoes polished, and knife lanyard festooned with proper sinnets and Matthew Walker knots? … Continue reading →

By the early seventeenth century, mariners were calling the steady easterly winds near the equator the “trade” winds. But it was not understood why these winds blew with such constancy, and a full explanation had to wait until the early … Continue reading →