WHARF, or Quay. An erection of wood or stone raised on the shore of a road or harbour for the convenience of loading or discharging vessels by cranes or other means. A wharf is of course built stronger or slighter in proportion to the effort of the tide or sea which it is intended to resist, and the size of vessels using it.—Wharf, in hydrography, is a scar, a rocky or gravelly concretion, or frequently a sand-bank, as Mad Wharf in Lancashire, where the tides throw up dangerous ripples and overfalls.
WHARFAGE DUES. The dues for landing or shipping goods at a wharf; customs charges in particular. Thus for goods not liable to duty, and forcibly taken for examination, wharfage charges are demanded even from a ship of war!
WHARFINGER. He who owns or keeps a wharf and takes account of all the articles landed thereon or removed from it, for which he receives a certain fee.
WHARF-STEAD. A ford in a river.
WHAT CHEER, HO? Equivalent among seamen to, How fare ye?
WHAT SHIP IS THAT? A question often put when a jaw-breaking word has been intrusively uttered by savants.
WHAT WATER HAVE YOU? The question to the man sounding, as to the depth of water which the lead-line gives.
WHAUP. The larger curlew, Numenius arquatus.
WHEAT. An excellent article for sea-diet; boiled with a proportion of molasses, it makes a most nutritious breakfast. As it stows well, and would even yield nearly the same weight in bread, it should be made an article of allowance.
WHEEL. A general name for the helm, by which the tiller and rudder are worked in steering the ship; it has a barrel, round which the tiller-ropes or chains wind, and a wheel with spokes to assist in moving it.