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Below, we’ve explained the next set of nautical terms beginning with D through to F. Take a look to learn more about the different terms used by sailors and boat lovers around the world!

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D

Davy Jones’ Locker – A metaphor or idiom that refers to the bottom of the sea.

Dead run – Running with the wind when it is blowing exactly aft and in line with the centre-line of the ship.

Death roll- When a boat rocks from side to side until it either capsizes or is righted.

Debunk – To remove fuel from the ship.

Deck – The top floor or the top of the boat.

Deckhead – The underside of the deck.

Deviation – The difference between the boat’s direction, as indicated on the compass, and the actual magnetic meridian. It is caused by metal objects onboard the ship.

Displacement – Part of the equation explaining how a boat floats. The weight of the water that is displaced by the boat is equal to the weight of the boat and anything aboard.

Downhaul – A rope that is fitted and used to pull down a sail or spar.

Draft – Floating with the wind or the current, or the distance that a ship is carried by the current within a given time.

Drogue – A device that is used to slow a boat in a storm. It stops the boat from speeding quickly down the slope of a wave.

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E

Ease – Letting the sails out.

Echo sounding – Using a sonar device to measure the depth of the water.

Embayed – When a ship that sails poorly windward is stuck between two headlands due to a wind blowing directly onshore.

Engine room – Usually the site of the ship’s prime mover. Larger vessels may have more than one engine room.

ETA – Estimated time of arrival.

ETD – Estimated time of departure.

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F

Fairlead – A device that keeps a chain or line running in the correct direction.

Fairwater – A structure that is used to improve the streamlining of a ship.

Fall – The section of the tackle that is hauled upon.

Fall off – Changing the direction of the sail so that it points in a more downwind direction.

Fantail – The aft end of the ship which may also be known as the Poop deck.

Fashion boards – Loose boards that are used to close off a cabin entrance or companionway by sliding into grooves.

Fast – Something that is fastened or held firmly.

Fetch – The distance across the water which a wave or wind has travelled.

Fire room – Also known as boiler room. It is the room where the ship’s furnaces or boilers are fired and stoked.

First mate – On a commercial ship, the second in command.

Fish – Using a fillet of wood to repair a spar or mast.

Fixed propeller – A propeller that is mounted on a shaft on the hull of a ship. They are usually powered by inboard motors and are steered using a rudder.

Flank – The absolute maximum speed, even faster than ‘full speed.’

Flight deck – A deck that is used to launch and recover aircrafts on the boat.

Floor – The structural timbers that the longitudinal bottom planking is attached to.

Floorhead – The upper parts of the floor of a ship.

Flotsam – Any debris that is left over after a ship is wrecked.

Flush deck – The upper deck on a ship that reaches, unbroken, from the stem to the stern.

Fly by night – A sail that is only used for sailing downwind and requires very little attention.

Foot – The bottom edge of a sail.

Fore – To the front of the boat (the bow).

Founder – When a boat founders it fills with water and sinks.

Full and by – When you sail into the wind, but not as ‘close-hauled’ as it could be. It keeps the sails full.

Full-rigged ship – A ship or boat that has three or more square-rigged masts. It is said to have a ship rig.

Furl – Gathering or rolling a sail against its mast.

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