Interesting! That definition kind of fits with the sail that the Spanker replaced, which was called the Driver.
boatswain
joined 2 years ago
Interesting! I can't actually say on that one; to me, "spanking" sounds like an old fashioned intensifier I've heard "brand spanking new" a few times, which feels like the same kind of use. As to whether that has anything to do with the sail, I'm not sure. It looks like the sail itself was introduced in the late 18th century; in Seamanship in the Age of Sail, John Harland reports that one William Nicholson complains about the new sail design in a book of his in 1792. That's the closest I can get to origin of the term.
Other people's boats are always the best to sail on ;)
I've never heard of a "gallant," just a "top gallant" (usually "t'gallant," sometimes "gans'l"). I've sailed on ships with split t'gallants, though. I did sail on one ship with a skys'l, never a moonraker; I suspect those are both terms for "a sail above the royal".
Unfortunately not! The poop deck is an elevated deck, aka a sterncastle; back aft on this one is the quarterdeck.
"Rum, sodomy, and the lash..."
Definitely one of my favorite albums of all time: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nqo2SNJP3rvX6HhtfIJ-YYTaRRJAni5C4&playnext=1&index=1#bottom-sheet
A ton of work and attention went into that film to keep it historically accurate, even down to assigning all the extras to watches and figuring out what the watch rotation would be and who would be on duty at any given time.
FYI the red ones are studding sails, often called stu'nsails because sailors love leaving off letters (like how "boatswain" is often called "bosun"). Also, jibs are staysails; staysails are any sail that slides up and down a stay, which are the pieces of standing rigging that support the masts from the front and the back.
I do kind of wish the dogs were so sitting around playing poker instead of eating, though.
I see a stealth bomber and a subdivision.
Can't have autistic chickens! /s
If the note is with your shoes, does that make it a footnote?