COASTING, in navigation, aller terre à terre, the act of making a progress along the sea-coast of any country. The principal articles relating to this part of navigation are, the observing the time and direction of the tide; knowledge of the reigning winds; of the roads and havens; of the different depths of the water, and qualities of the ground.
COASTING-PILOT, cotier, a pilot, who by long experience has become sufficiently acquainted with the nature of any particular coast, and of the requisites mentioned in the preceding article, to conduct a ship or fleet from one part of it to another.
COAT, braye, a piece of tarred canvas nailed round that part of the masts and bowsprit which joins to the deck, or lies over the stem of a ship. It is used to prevent the water from running down into the hold, or between the decks.
Besides those above mentioned, there is a coat for the rudder nailed round the hole where the rudder traverses in the ship’s counter. This hole is represented at the upper part of the stern-post, exhibited in plate [X].
Coat, suage, also implies the materials or stuff with which the ship’s sides or masts are varnished, to preserve them from the sun and weather, as turpentine, tar, &c. In this sense we say, “Give her a good coat of tar.”
COBBING, a punishment sometimes inflicted at sea. It is performed by striking the offender a certain number of times on the breech with a flat piece of wood called the cobbing-board. It is chiefly used as a punishment to those who quit their station during the period of the night-watch.
COBOOSE, fogone (kambuis, Dutch), a sort of box or house to cover the chimney of some merchant-ships. It is somewhat resembling a centry-box, and generally stands against the barricade on the fore part of the quarter-deck.
COCK-PIT of a ship of war, the apartments of the surgeon and his mates, being the place where the wounded men are dressed in the time of battle, or otherwise. It is situated under the lower-deck.
COCKSWAIN, or COXEN, the officer who manages and steers a boat, and has the command of the boat’s crew. It is evidently compounded of the words cock and swain, the former of which was anciently used for a yawl or small boat, as appears by several authors[[5]]; but it has now become obsolete, and is never used by our mariners.
COIL, (cueillir, Fr.) the manner in which all ropes are disposed aboard ships for the conveniency of stowage, because