nautical terms
09 November 2010 | Si Bon
Steve
As I was waiting for my coffee to brew this morning I was busy doing dishes, wiping counters and putting things away, I said to myself "there the kitchen is all clean..opps I mean the galley". It suddenly dawned on me, why do I have to call it a galley....it's a kitchen, it has a stove, a refrigerator, a microwave and even a dishwasher (me), it has dishes (now clean) IT'S A FREAKIN KITCHEN! I began to wonder how many people have been scared away from boating life because they asked some cantankerous old skipper "where's the bathroom" and he shot back "WE DON'T HAVE BATHROOMS ON A BOAT, THE HEAD IS BELOW", why is it called a head?? there's nothing in there that I would want my head anywhere close to. Why is right starboard and left port...why can't we just say right or left. My friend Captain Robert Svoboda, SV BabaYaga, was telling me a story yesterday about a Naval Security dude who was directing him to "turn to port" which would have put him directly into the path of the frigate they were protecting, I wonder if the dude could have just said "turn to your right" would that have had less confusion? I could go on and on about not having any walls (bulkheads), no ropes (lines) blah blah blah...but I'm already feeling way to much like Andy Rooney for this early...besides I need to go to the bathroom....opps... I mean head.