lighthouse—A structure erected ashore or in shallow water and equipped with a powerful light, visible for miles at night. This acts as a warning, and shows the position of the danger to navigation which it is erected to mark.
lightship—A floating lighthouse, securely moored where it may mark a danger, such as a reef or a shoal, or at the entrance to a harbour in order to show the safe way in.
line—A small rope. The line—A nautical expression for the equator.
line-of-battle ship—The most powerful naval vessels at the end of the days of sailing navies.
liner—A term which has come to mean a large passenger ship operated by a steamship line. The expression seems to include only salt-water ships. For instance, a river steamer, even though operated on a regular schedule by a steamship line, would not be called a liner.
log—An instrument that measures the distance a ship travels through the water. (2) The journal in which all the events of importance and interest on board ship are carefully written.
lubber—An awkward fellow.
lubber’s line—A line marked on the inside of a mariner’s compass case, showing the exact fore and aft direction of the ship. The moving compass card revolves so that the points or degrees with which it is marked pass close to this line, and thus the man who is steering the ship can always tell exactly the direction in which the ship is headed.
luff (of a sail)—The weather edge; that is, the edge toward the wind. To luff, in sailing, is to bring a vessel’s bow more toward the wind.
lug—A type of sail of which there are three principal kinds: dipping lug, balance lug, and standing lug. A lug sail is four-sided and is hung from a yard which is mounted on a mast in a fore and aft position. See illustration of lugger, page [201].