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Here's what I've got this week from The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells:
Spankers: Usually gaff-headed sails set from the aftermost lower mast of a sailing ship.
Context (p. 18): The patched and dirty spankers were tense before the wind, and up aloft the little ship seemed carrying every sail she had.
Taffrail: the aftermost railing around the stern of a ship, often, but not always, ornately carved.
Context (p. 18): We went past the steersman to the taffrail and stared side by side for a space at the water foaming and the bubbles dancing and vanishing in her wake.
2 comments:
Those are new to me! My first thought when I saw spankers was undergarments. I guess I was thinking of Spanx.
Boating terms are always tricky. Spanker brought to mind spinnaker, but it seems these aren't the same things, although a spanker was used with a spinnaker apparently.
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