"The Facts on File Dictionary of Nautical Term (used book)

The Facts on File Dictionary of Nautical Terms

by Thompson Lenfestey with Capt. Thompson Lenfestey Jr.

About the book

Used book. Hardcover. Dust jacket included. Like new.

The sailor’s lexicon takes on new words faster than it can bail out the old. While containers have replaced break bulk cargoes in the world’s largest ports, and a solo circumnavigator can be tracked around the globe via sophisticated communications systems, modern contrivances merely supplement older one – they rarely replace them altogether. Thus, the language of the sea today reflects generations of the sailor’s enterprise.

With more than 9,000 main entries, [this book] covers the whole scope of contemporary [as of 1994] seafaring, from supertankers to dinghies, form naval warfare to pleasure yachting, and from sail to oar. Rich in lore but written with a practical eye trained by years at sea, this dictionary gives parts of speech, unusual pronunciations, and, when needed, examples of appropriate use, as well as illustrations showing subjects as wide ranging as knots, navigation lights, profiles of sail and power vessels, and useful piloting concepts.

No other single reference source offers the degree of coverage of so many topics, which include:

• Piloting and navigation
• Winds, weather, tides, and ice
• The business of shipping, including chartering and insurance terms
• Deck equipment and rigging
• Knots and marlinespike seamanship
• Small-boat handling
• US Navy and Coast Guard ranks
• Flags and signaling

Written in clear, accessible language, The Facts on File Dictionary of Nautical Terms is equally useful for the merchant shipper, the cruising or racing yachter, the merchant mariner or Navy sailor, not to mention historians, writers and anyone who loves the sea.