halyard:

rope or wire used for hoisting sails.

hanks:

metal hooks used to secure a sail to a stay; to hank on a sail is to hook it on a stay using the hanks

one of the fittings that attaches the luff of a headsail and a staysail to a stay.

hard alee:

the command given to inform the crew that the helm is being turned quickly to leeward, turning the boat windward.

hand bearing compass:

a hand-held compass incorporating a sighting apparatus and used primarily for taking bearings.

harden up:

to steer closer to the wind, usually by pulling in on the sheets.

hatch:

a covered opening in the deck

an opening in the deck giving access below, also, its cover.

hawse pipe:

metal pipe through which the anchor chain passes. Some are convertible into fishing-rod holders.

head:

the forward part of a boat, including the bow and adjacent area; the uppermost corner of a triangular sail; a seagoing lavatory.

heads:

toilet.

head knocker:

a block with a jam cleat, located on the boom and used to control the main sheet on small boats.

headsails:

sails set within the foretriangle, i.e. forward of the mast and usually on a stay. Headsails include jibs and staysails.

headstay:

a wire support line from the mast to the bow.

head to wind:

the bow turned into the wind, sails luffing.

headway:

forward movement of a boat

the foremost stay supporting the mast. The jib is set on the headstay.

heave to:

to stop a boat and maintain position (with some leeway) by balancing rudder and sail to prevent forward movement, a boat stopped this way is "hove to".

heaves:

upward displacing swells.

heel:

the leeward lean of the boat caused by the winds action on the sails.

helm:

the tiller or wheel, and surrounding area

the device, usually a tiller or wheel attached or connected to the rudder, by which a boat is steered.

helmsman:

the member of the crew responsible for steering.

hike:

leaning out over the side of the boat to balance it.

hike out:

climb to windward.

hiking stick:

an extension of the tiller that enables the helms man to sit at a distance from it.

hiking:

when a sailor leans over the side of a boat to counteract heel.

horizon glass:

on a sextant, the glass or lens through which the horizon is observed. The half of the glass nearer to the sextant frame is a mirror, the other half is clear.

hull speed:

the fastest a keelboat will go, usually dependent on length of the hull at the waterline.

hurricane:

a wind of 64 knots or more; a tropical cyclone with extremely high winds.

in irons:

having turned onto the wind or lost the wind, stuck and unable to make headway.

inspection port:

a watertight covering usually small, that may be removed so the interior of the hull can be inspected or water removed.

intracoastal waterway:

the system of inland waterway channels running along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States from Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey, to the Mexican border in Texas; commonly abbreviated as ICW.

inverter:

electrical power converter; converts square-wave DC current to sinewave AC current.

iron spinnaker:

auxiliary engine.

jack line:

a line run for safety purposes from the cockpit forward to the bow of the boat, inside the rail. Clipping on to the jack line with the lanyard of our safety harnesses we were able to minimize being lost overboard when going forward to crew severe weather.

jib:

a foresail. On a cutter this is the forward most sail, as opposed to staysail located between the jib and the main.

jibe:

also gybe; changing from one tack to the other when sailing downwind.

jiffy reefing:

a fast method of reefing. Lines pull down the luff and the leech of the sail, reducing its area.

keel:

the fixed underwater fin on the hull which helps provide stability and prevents the boat from slipping sideways

a main structural member, the backbone of the ship running longitudinally along the bottom from stem to stern; also the vertical downward extension of a sailboat's bottom, usually ballasted, for stability and lateral resistance.

kick-up:

describes a rudder or centerboard that rotates back and up when an obstacle is encountered - useful when a boat is to be beached.

knot:

a nautical mile (equivalent to 1.15 miles or 1.852km)

a unit of speed, one knot = 6,076 feet per hour.

landfall:

a sighting of or coming to land, also the land so approached or reached; the land first sighted at the end of a sea voyage.

lanyard:

a line attached to any small object for the purpose of securing the object.

latitude:

an angular measurement or distance measured in degrees, north or south from the equator which is 0.

lay:

the direction in which the strands of a line are twisted, usually right-handed or clockwise. In hard-laid line the strains are tightly twisted; in soft-laid line the strands are more nearly parallel.

lazarette:

a stowage compartment a the stern.

lead:

refers to the direction in which a line goes. A boom yang, for example, may "lead to the cockpit"

when pronounced "leed," the direction of a line; when pronounced "led," the weight at the end of a line used for taking soundings.

lead line:

a line marked off in fathoms and weighted at one end with a lead, used for measuring water depths-also called a sounding line.

lee:

the side away from the direction of the wind, also used in context to refer to a sheltered place out of the wind, as in the lee of the island.

lee boards:

pivoting boards on either side of a boat which serve the same function as a centerboard. The board to leeward is dropped, the board to windward is kept up.

lee shore:

a shore that winds blows onto; it is best to stay well off a lee shore in a storm.

leech:

the aft edge of a triangular sail

the back edge of a sail.

leech line:

a line running through the leech of the sail, used to tighten it.

leeward:

downwind or away from the wind.

lifeline:

a cable fence that surrounds the deck to assist in the prevention of crew falling overboard

safety lines and guardrails rigged around a boat's deck to prevent the crew from being washed overboard.

line of position:

a straight line somewhere along which a ship is presumed to be. The line may be determined either by ranges, or by visual or electronic bearings.

list:

the leaning of a boat due to excess weight on one side or the other.

log:

a device for measuring the rate of a ship's motion through the water; also, a ship's journal or written record of the vessel's day-by-day performance, listing speeds, distances traveled, weather conditions, landfalls and other information.

longitude:

distance in degrees east or west of Greenwich, England, meridian which is 0.

loop:

a bright of line that forms at least a half circle. Bringing the end parts near each other forms a closed loop, leaving them apart makes an open one.

loran:

a radio positioning system that allows navigators to make position fixes by the reception of synchronized low-frequency radio transmissions. The word loran is an acronym for long-range navigation.

luff:

the forward edge of a sail, or- to stall or flap the sail at its forward edge, or over the entire sail

lubberline:

compass mark indicating fore-and-aft.