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addict
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addict
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re crabbing: refers to plane moving sideways (under control). I seem to remember boats or at least sailing dinghies crab (or are crabbed) as well. The aerial equivalent of "listing" is presumably "banking" though again that might suppose a controlled manoeuvre rather than the plane being banked by the action of the winds, etc.
Rod
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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" ALOOF! An old expression meaning 'Keep your luff', or sail as close to the wind as possible. Sometimes, in old books of voyages, written as 'ALUFFE'. The expression was most often used when a ship was sailing along a lee shore, the order to 'keep aloof' meaning to keep the ship's head nearer to the wing to prevent her being driven closer to the shore. "
I never saw this before, and can't imagine how it acquired its usual meaning.Incidentally, the "wing" in last sentence of definition must be a typo for "wind".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a rope attached to the bow of a boat for tying it as to a dock
There is a lovely harbor at Rye, NH, with a many-windowed restaurant on the shore.(Sanders, if your near there) and it is a source of amusement to those sea-wise among us to see newcomers tie their small painter up to a stanchion and debark for lunch and a few drinks ... while the tide goes out ... and return to find their boat high and dry, hanging alongside the stanchion and not a prayer of going anywhere until the tide comes in again.... about 8 to 12 hours before it's high enough to float your boat!
The moral is : leave plenty of rope between your boat and the tie-up so you don't end up High and Dry!
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newcomers tie their small painter up to a stanchion and debark for lunch and a few drinks ... while the tide goes out ... and return to find their boat high and dry, hanging alongside the stanchion and not a prayer of going anywhere until the tide comes in again.
If they're tying their clove hitches as tight as this, the reverse must happen as well no? A nice tight knot, so the little craft'll no' be lost when tha' great taid comes in - and when it does, that selfsame knot keeps the dinghy littly thing underwater. There's a particular knot recommended for such a situation, which'll slide up and down but not untie, but I can't recall what it is (I've a knot fixation, but it appears to have come unfixed at the moment). As you point out, however, cutting themselves some slack would do the trick as well.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Good one, Jackie. But it was missing one very important piece of information - how to untie the Gordian knot that all children seem to know, almost instinctively, how to tie!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear CK: Since it seems likely that the kids are going to tie Gordian knots only in their shoestrings, a careful scissors version of Alexander's solution is suggested, since shoestrings are inexpensive.
I have a shoestring knot problem. Remember in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck illustrates the mental limitations of the Okie girl, by telling that she could sit for hours wondering how the tail of "C" could get through the loop of the "L" on the Coca Cola logo. When I do my two mile b.i.d. hike around the block, I am really amazed at how many times an aglet of the lace goes through a loop, causing a hard knot if I am careless when I take my shoes off, causing great difficulty removing my shoe because my arthritis makes bending over difficult. Like the Okie girl, I can spend hours wondering how it can happen so often.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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how to untie the Gordian knotShall we call the inclination of the Posts to go w-i-d-e suddenly the Gargian Unknot? It was regular size yesterday when I posted my anecdote and today my post and some before and after have gone screen-and-a-half. ?????? 
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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Shall we call the inclination of the Posts to go w-i-d-e suddenly the Gargian Unknot?Perhaps the Gargian Unravel? I think that's more appropriate when a thread, rather than a string, comes undone! 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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old hand
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old hand
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I don't know if these has been discussed; at least I didn't see it...
Whether 'port holes' are the small round windows in the hull, or holes along the deck's railing for tying up the ship seems to be the cause of a lot of debate. Does any one have a definitive answer?
Hyla, can you tie a Fisherman's Bend?
BTW, My favourite nautical term is the 'poop deck' (a small deck at the stern) from which the captain might yell 'Furl the sails and batten down the hatches, me matey!'
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