SOS didn’t stand for Save Our Ship
Ma r i t i M e tr i v i a
Lowtide
Franklin’s gull was named after
or Save Our Souls -it stands for nothing
By Br y a n He n r y
the celebrated English navigator and
and was chosen as a distress signal at explorer Sir John Franklin.
an international conference in 1906 The term jerry-built, meaning poorly
because its nine keystrokes (three dots, built or constructed of inferior materials, It was only in 1768 during Captain
three dashes, three dots) were simple to was originally a shipbuilding term used James Cook’s first of three expeditions that
transmit. through the 19th century and is thought the diameter of the sun and its distance
to have first been used in the shipyards from the earth was established.
The term skyscraper, used for a tall of Liverpool.
building, was originally a triangular sail Robert Fulton named his famous
used high on the mast of sailing vessels Florida’s Pelican Island was the steamboat, the Clermont, after the
before steamships came into use. nation’s first National Wildlife Refuge, country seat of Robert R. Livingston,
established in 1903 by President Fulton’s wealthy friend and financer.
Dutch terms that came to English Theodore Roosevelt. It’s home to nearly
through nautical contacts include hoist, 100 species of birds and other threatened The huge continent that Columbus
bulwark, caboose, freebooter, hold, or endangered animals. had discovered was ironically named
boom and sloop. after his friend, Amerigo Vespucci, an
The wettest spot on earth is Mount Italian merchant and explorer, the year
Caboose, American railroad jargon, Waialeale, on the island of Kauai in after Columbus died, in 1507.
was originally a Dutch word, or rather Hawaii. It averages nearly 500 inches
two Dutch words, kaban huis, meaning of rain a year. Seals sometimes swim 5,000 miles
cabin house or ship’s galley. The term over an eight-month span without once
was used on British ships in the 16th First analyzed scientifically in the touching land.
century to designate the cook’s quarters. 1700s, seawater is now known to contain
84 of the earth’s 103 elements, with More than 45,000 men were
Chauffeur was originally a term for hydrogen and oxygen accounting for 96 employed at the peak of construction of
a ship’s stoker. percent of its total volume. the Panama Canal in 1913-1914.
Our Mainsail:
What makes it such a good buy?
You’ll find features in a LEE SAIL that are specifically included
to extend its life: reinforced batten pockets; leech line; tack and
clew with leather chafe guards; sail numbers; tell tales; leather
encased, hand-sewn aluminum internal headboard and triple
stitched with 6-points zigzag seams when required; stainless
steel, heavy duty cringles; reinforced stress points.
WA: Call Toll Free 1-800-533-9567
OR: 10997 NW Supreme Ct., Portland OR 97229 • (503) 641-7170
BC: PO Box 19567, Vancouver, BC V5T 4E7 • Phone & Fax (604) 685-1234
www.leesails.com • e-mail:
vancouver@leesails.com
48° No r t h , Ju N e 2009 Pa g e 31
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