Boat-Building and Boating

by Daniel Carter Beard

The helm is that particular part of the steering apparatus that you put your hands on when steering.

The deck is the roof of the hull.

The centreboard is an adjustable keel that can be raised or lowered at pleasure. It is an American invention. The centreboard, as a rule, is only used on comparatively small vessels. The inventor of the centreboard is Mr. Salem Wines, who kept a shop on Water Street, near Market Slip, and, when alive, was a well-known New York boat-builder. His body now lies in Greenwood Cemetery, and upon the headstone of his grave is the inscription, "The Inventor of the Centreboard."

For sailing, the boat, or hull, is rigged with masts and spars for spreading the sails to catch the wind.

The masts are the upright poles, or sticks, that hold the sails.

Fig. 124.—Helm—The wheel.

The yards are the poles, or sticks, at right angles with the masts that spread the sails.

The boom is the movable spar at the bottom of the sail.