The first thing to identify when you step aboard a sailboat is "the boom." Cajun cooking and Paul Blart movies aside, the boom is a sort of beam that runs along the bottom of a main-sail. It frequently swings across the seating area of the boat -- and will very likely connect with your daydreaming noggin if you're not careful. Seasoned hands will tell you, "It's called a boom, because that's the sound it will make hitting you." But instead of the sensible advice of "Duck!" sailors pipe up with a variety of indirect comments: "Mind your coconuts," "Tacking!" or "Boom coming across." Or even "Helm's alee."
Seriously? Isn't the arcane and mystifying vocabulary enough as it is, without making up some kind of Cockney rhyming cant to keep newcomers in the dark? Thus: The first vocabulary lesson of sailing leads directly to the first learning: crouch! When in doubt, get low. And also, should you enjoy knowing, the word comes to us via the Old Dutch for "wood." (*Above GIF of Rihanna comes from Giphy.com)
2 Comments
Bob
3/13/2015 02:54:38 pm
Booms keep you young, flexible and agile.
Reply
Amy
3/14/2015 02:42:25 am
Bob,
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
About the Blog
A lot of ground gets covered on this blog -- from sailboat racing to book suggestions to plain old piffle. FollowTrying to keep track? Follow me on Facebook or Twitter or if you use an aggregator, click the RSS option below.
Old school? Sign up for the newsletter and I'll shoot you a short e-mail when there's something new.
Archives
January 2023
Categories
All
|