The bosun is a man who acts as foreman, giving orders to deckhands. “Break out” means “take from its regular storage place.” The handy billy is a combination of small wheels called blocks with a line running around them. It is handy for moving heavy weights. The forepeak is a storeroom under the main deck at the bow where the bosun keeps tools and equipment. Chips is the ship’s carpenter. Aft means toward the stern of the ship, and abaft means “behind, in the direction of the stern.” The mizzenmast is the third mast, counting from bow to stern.
Jim also had to learn that anything toward the bow of the ship is forward. Anything toward the middle is amidships, and anything crosswise is athwart or thwartships. Anything on the windy side of a ship is to windward. (A good sailor never spits to windward.) Anything on the side away from the wind is to leeward—pronounced “loo-urd.” When Jim goes up on deck he goes topside; when he climbs a mast, he goes aloft.
Jim had to learn the commands that the mate gives him when he is at the wheel steering the ship. Helm is another word for the wheel, and helmsman is the man who steers. (On some ships, Jim would not steer at all. Steering is often the special job of AB’s called quartermasters who don’t do much of anything else.)
Suppose the mate says to Jim, “Mind your rudder.” That means Jim must steer carefully or get ready for a new order. “Steady as you go” means keep on going just as you are.
The wheelhouse is sometimes called the pilot house. The pilot is a man who specializes in guiding ships in and out of harbors. A small boat brings him out from shore. Usually he climbs aboard on an accommodation ladder, a whole flight of stairs which is lowered from a deck. But sometimes he has to climb a Jacob’s ladder, which is simply wooden steps fastened to ropes that hang down the ship’s side.
