Sailors should feel at home in the nave


of a church, the main part between the two side aisles, because the word comes from the Latin navis, ship, which its shape sometimes resembles.


From the Latin navis we get navy,


naval, nautical, navigate, and nausea, literally “ship sickness,” what we call seasickness today.


Mariner is from the Latin marinus,


sailor, which in turn comes from the Latin mare, sea.


Portugal was originally called Portus


Cale, the region behind the port city of Cale, and Port wine is so called after the Portuguese city of Oporto or Porto, which was the shipping center of it.


To steer, the stern of a ship, starboard,


and steerage were all derived from Old English steor, rudder. Thus steer literally means to use the rudder. The stern, rear, of a ship is so called because that's where the steering oar or rudder of Viking ships was.


The Latin portus originally meant


passageway, doorway, and later gateway and harbor. From its meaning of harbor or gateway we get port and the port in seaport and airport. From its meaning of doorway, passageway, we get portal and the port in porthole and portside (the left side of a ship as one faces forward, because the deckhouse entrance and loading doors and gates were on this side in ancient vessels).


Torpedo is from the Latin torpere,


sluggish or numb. Originally a torpedo was an electric ray, a fish that paralyzes with its sting. Robert Fulton, of steamboat fame, named his invention a torpedo in 1807. His torpedoes were actually submarine mines which were towed or moored or sometimes allowed to drift toward an oncoming enemy ship.


“Tallship Montage”


MARITIME TRIVIA BY BRYAN HENRY


Lowtide Mediterranean literally means “in


the middle of the land,” because the Mediterranean Sea is almost surrounded by dry land and was in the middle of the ancient world.


At one time tarpaulin was a slang term for a sailor's wide-brimmed storm hat.


The full-rigged ship Bethia, built in


1783, was purchased in 1787 by Great Britain’s Navy Board to be fitted out as the HMS Bounty.


The pirate Bartholomew Roberts’


much-feared Jolly Roger showed, on a red ground, Roberts and a skeleton toasting each other with a flagon of rum.


Treasure Island, by author Robert


Louis Stevenson, was originally titled The Sea-Cook.


Herman Melville's Moby-Dick was originally titled The Whale.


Peter Benchley's Jaws was originally titled The Summer of the Shark.


Change a life. Donate your boat.


Original Painting and Giclées available


Contact Marshall Johnson www.marshalljohnson.com • (253) 927-5932


Support local and regional programs for children and young adults through the charitable donation of your boat. The Pacific Marine foundation is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization funding regional programs such as Northwest Youth Services, Sea Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs, and local public school education foundations. A substantial tax savings and the possibility of a partial cash sale makes a charitable donation a very attractive alternative for any owner who is considering selling their power or sailing yacht.


(888) 443-8262 • www.pacificmarine.org 1900 W Nickerson #2000, Seattle, WA 98119


48° NORTH, FEBRUARY 2011 PAGE 33


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