boat words defined

Bimini: a canvas top over the cockpit
Close hauled: sailing with the sail pulled in parallel with the side of the boat.
Dodger: like a windshield in front of the cockpit, protecting against high sea waves and spray coming into the cockpit.
Down wind: sailing with the wind i.e. with the wind coming over the blunt end (stern) of the boat.
Lee: sheltered from the wind (lee bunk would be the side the wind is blowing to) or when sailing protected by an island so the wind is less forceful.
Beam: boats fattest part in the middle, just like me!
Quarter: position off the side towards the stern (back) of the boat; either side.
Helm:  at the wheel of the boat, piloting it through the waters
Port: left side. 4 letters in left and port.
Starboard: right side. Easy to remember as there are more letters in starboard & more letters in right!
Bow:  front of the boat
Stern: back of the boat
Davits:  stainless steel braces that hang off the stern of the boat and hold the dinghy out of the water with a pulley system.  They also can support a wind generator, radar gear, lights, and antennae.
Forestay: usually a wire rope that is attached to the bow (pointed front end) & halfway up the mast to help hold the mast up. The wires on the sides are called shrouds; well they would be wouldn’t they!
Jack lines:  ropes or straps (ours are light blue straps) that are put on deck from the anchor line at the bow to the cleat at the stern when we are traveling off shore or anywhere during heavy winds or seas.  They are used if you go outside of the cockpit when offshore.  You snap the PFD (personal flotation device) line to it in order to prevent falling overboard and getting lost at sea.   
Jib: small sail attached to forestay , the ropes that are attached at the foot (bottom edge)so you can pull the jib to direct it are called sheets, of course, & the rope that pulls the sail up is called a halyard. This comes from when the big old sail ships had square sails & you hauled the sail up to a long horizontal pole called a yard arm which was attached to the mast.
Genoa: huge jib, front sail.
Holding Tank: The tank under the floor, you can't see that holds all the sewage from the toilet after "flushing."  You don't actually flush on a boat, rather you pump the sewage into the holding tank.  It's now required to have marina pump out of the holding tank when it's full rather than dumping it in the ocean off shore.
Spinnaker: an even bigger, and uncontrollable, balloon type sail for using when sailing down wind. Some racing crews use it when the wind is coming from the side BUT it can be tricky.
Main sail: big triangle sail attached all the way up the main mast.
Boom: wooden length of wood which the foot (bottom) edge of the mainsail is attached to. The thing that seems to hit you on the head, rather hard usually!
Mizzen: Not all boats have one.  Shawnee does not. It is a small sail that is on a second small mast near the stern of the boat, really helpful in stabilizing & offer smaller rig in a blow.
Stay sail: small sail between the main and the jib, adds stability
Companion Way: Steps from cabin to cockpit.
Sails slatted: Sails are flapping back and forth, i.e. no wind filling them. This would be a good time to watch out for that boom!
Boom:  large horizontal bar that holds the bottom of the mainsail, swings with the direction of the wind.
Cockpit: place to sit outside the companionway around the helm usually at the stern.
Cheek blocks: pullies used to thread sheets or other lines through back and forth, to make it easier to pull in the main or jib.
Wing and wing: Jib out to one side & main out to other when sailing down wind to catch the most wind.
Scuppers:  the drain holes at the stern of the boat in the cockpit.  Used to wash down the cockpit or drain out crashing waves when they wash into the cockpit.
Slip:  place to dock boat with dock on one side and another boat on the other side.  Sometimes hard to get in if wind is a factor.
Mooring:  ball floating on the water that is anchored to the seafloor.  Instead of anchoring boats can tie up to a mooring and then they are always headed into the wind and experience very little wave action.
Zincs: Pieces of zinc metal are screwed onto underwater metal parts to prevent corrosion.  Dissimilar metals create a battery and cause a metal to dissolve. If you have bronze and stainless steel touching on a boat or aluminum and stainless steel touching on a motor boat you need a zinc to be the sacrificial metal or annode that dissolves rather than the metal you need on your boat like an engine shaft or the propeller.  It's like sticking zinc and copper into a potato to create a little digital electric clock.  Chemistry.  In saltwater the galvanic action is much faster with dissimilar metals.  If there is only one metal (like an aluminum boat) there is no problem nor need for zincs.