The Seaman's Friend Containing a treatise on practical seamanship, with plates, a dictionary of sea terms, customs and usages of the merchant service

Construction of vessels, 13. Tonnage and carriage of merchant vessels, 14. Proportions of spars, 14. Placing the masts, 16. Size of anchors and cables, 16. Lead-lines, 17. Log-l...

Care of rigging and ship's furniture, 138. Day's work, 139. Working ship, 139. Getting under way, 139. Coming to anchor, 140. Reefing and furling, 140. Duties in port, account o...

Title, 175. Registry, enrolment and license, 175. Certificate of registry or enrolment, 177. Passport, 177. Sea letter, list of crew, bill of health, clearance, manifest, invoic...

CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS.--As merchant vessels of the larger class are now built in the United States, the extreme length of deck, from the after part of the stern-post to the fo...

Measuring and cutting lower rigging and lower fore-and-aft stays. Fitting the same. Measuring, cutting, and fitting topmast rigging, stays, and backstays. Jib, topgallant, and r...

Fore braces. Main braces. Cross-jack braces. Fore, main, and mizzen topsail braces. Fore, main, and mizzen topgallant and royal braces. Trusses. Topsail tyes and halyards. Topga...

Rigging the shears. Taking in lower masts and bowsprit. To rig a bowsprit. Getting the tops over the mast-heads. To send up a top-mast. To get on a top-mast cap. To rig a jib-bo...

TO SEND DOWN A ROYAL YARD.--If the sail is bent to the yard, furl it, making the gaskets fast to the tye. Cast off the sheets and clewlines, and make them fast to the jack. Be c...

To bend a course. To send up a topsail by the halyards--by the bunt-lines. To bend a topgallant sail--a royal--a jib--a spanker--a spencer. To unbend a course--a topsail--a topg...

Kinds of rope. Spunyarn. Worming. Parcelling. Service. Short splice. Long splice. Eye splice. Flemish eye. Spindle eye. Cut splice. Grommet. Single and double wall. Matthew Walk...

Blocks are of two kinds, _made_ and _morticed_. A _made block_ consists of four parts,--the _shell_, or outside; the _sheave_, or wheel on which the rope turns; the _pin_, or ax...

To loose a sail. To set a course--Topsail--Topgallant sail--Royal--Skysail--Jib--Spanker--Spencer. To take in a course--Topsail--Topgallant sail or royal--Skysail--Jib--Spanker....

Action of the water upon the rudder. Headway. Sternway. Action of the wind upon the sails. Head-sails. After-sails. Centre of gravity or rotation. Turning a ship to or from the...

Tacking without fore-reaching. Tacking against a heavy sea. Hauling off all. To trim the yards. Flattening in. Missing stays. Wearing--under courses--under a mainsail--under bar...

LYING-TO.--The best single sail to lie-to under, is generally thought to be a close-reefed maintopsail. The fore or the main spencer (sails which are used very much now instead...

ON BEAM-ENDS.--A vessel is usually thrown upon her beam-ends by a sudden squall taking her, when under a press of sail, and shifting the ballast. She must be righted, if possibl...

COUNTER-BRACING.--This is done whenever, with a breeze, a vessel wishes to remain stationary, for the purpose of speaking another vessel, sounding, lowering a boat, or the like....

GETTING READY FOR PORT.--Get your anchors off the bows, and let them hang by the cat-stoppers and shank-painters. Bend your cables and overhaul a few ranges forward of the windl...

To unmoor. Getting under way from a single anchor. To cat and fish. To get under way with a wind blowing directly out, and riding head to it;--with a rock or shoal close astern;...

In the third part of this work, it will be seen that the shipmaster is a person to whom, both by the general marine law of all commercial nations and by the special statutes of...

The chief mate, or, as he is familiarly called on board ship, _the mate_, is the active superintending officer. In the previous chapter, upon the duties of the master, it will b...

The duties of the second mate are, to command the starboard watch when the master is not on deck, and to lead the crew in their work. It is not necessary that he should be a nav...

CARPENTER.--Almost every merchant vessel of a large class, or bound upon a long voyage, carries a carpenter. His duty is to work at his trade under the direction of the master,...

Grades of sea-faring persons. Able seamen. Ordinary seamen. Boys. Shipping and rating. Over-rating. Requisites of an able seaman. Hand, reef and steer. Work upon rigging. Sailma...

An ordinary seaman is one who, from not being of sufficient age and strength, or from want of sufficient experience, is not quite competent to perform all the duties of an able...

Boy is the term, as I have said before, for all green hands, whatever may be their size or age; and also for boys, who, though they have been at sea before, are not large and st...

WATCHES.--A watch is a term both for a division of the crew, and for the period of time allotted to such division. The crew are divided into two watches, larboard and starboard;...

Title. Bill of sale. Registry. Enrolment. License. Documents. Certificate. Passport. Sea-letter. List of crew. Bill of health. General clearance. Clearing manifest. Invoice. Bil...

Revenue duties and obligations. List of crew. Certificate. Sea letter. Passport. List of passengers. Manifest. Sea stores. Unloading. Post-office. Report. Citizenship. Coasting...

PASSENGERS.--The contract of passengers with the master is not for mere ship-room and personal existence on board, but for reasonable food, comforts, necessaries, and kindness....

SHIPMENT.--The master of every vessel of the United States, bound on a foreign voyage, and of all coasting vessels of fifty tons burden, must make a contract in writing (shippin...

In Chapter I. of the Third Part, under the title "Provisions," it will be seen that the vessel must have on board, well secured under deck, at least sixty gallons of water, one...

In all the statutes which entitle the 'crew,' or the 'seamen,' of a vessel to certain privileges as against the master or owner, these words, 'crew' and 'seamen,' are construed...

By the law of the United States, in all foreign voyages, and in all coasting voyages to other than an adjoining state, there must be an agreement in writing, or in print, with e...

RENDERING ON BOARD.--If, after having signed the articles, and after a time has been appointed for the seaman to render himself on board, he neglects to appear, and an entry to...

PROVISIONS.--For the benefit of seamen it has been enacted that every vessel bound on a voyage across the Atlantic, shall have on board, well secured under deck, at least sixty...

PUNISHMENT.--As to the right of the master to punish a seaman by corporal chastisement, imprisonment on shore, confinement on board, &c., and the extent of that right, and the m...

Affected by desertion or absence;--by misconduct;--by imprisonment;--by capture;--by loss of vessel and interruption of voyage. Wages on an illegal voyage. Wages affected by dea...

RECOVERY OF WAGES.--A seaman has a threefold remedy for his wages: first, against the master; secondly, against the owners; and, thirdly, against the ship itself and the freight...