Spell ho! An exclamation used as an order or request to be relieved at work by another.
Spencer. A fore-and-aft sail, set with a gaff and no boom, and hoisting from a small mast called a spencer-mast, just abaft the fore and main masts. (See Plates 2 and 4.)
Spill. To shake the wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind may strike its leech and shiver it.
Spilling Line. A rope used for spilling a sail. Rove in bad weather.
Spindle. An iron pin upon which the capstan moves. Also, a piece of timber forming the diameter of a made mast. Also, any long pin or bar upon which anything revolves.
Spirketing. The planks from the water-ways to the port-sills.
Splice. (See Plate 5 and page 44.) To join two ropes together by interweaving their strands.
Spoon-drift. Water swept from the tops of the waves by the violence of the wind in a tempest, and driven along before it, covering the surface of the sea.
Spray. An occasional sprinkling dashed from the top of a wave by the wind, or by its striking an object.
Spring. To crack or split a mast.