Glossary of Boat Terms

  • Beam: The widest point of a ship
  • Berth: The place in the harbor where the leisure boat is kept. AKA, slip. Also, a individual’s bed onboard.
  • Bow: The front end of any boat.
  • Cabin: An enclosed, protected area on a vessel.
  • Cockpit: An area that is recessed or lower than the surrounding decks, typically where the boat is steered from.
  • Companionway: A ship’s stairway from one deck to another.
  • Deck: A platform on a boat that serves as a structural element and forms the floor for its compartments.
  • Dinette: The dining, and often part of the kitchen area, on a boat. Typically with booth or bench seating.
  • Draft: The depth of water a ship needs in order to float.
  • Flybridge: A steering station built on top of a motor boat’s cabin.
  • Foredeck: The forward-most deck on a boat.
  • Galley: Kitchen
  • Hatch: The cover or door that closes over an opening in a boat’s deck or cabin top, AKA the floor.
  • Head: The ship’s bathroom.
  • Helm: The area of a vessel where the steering and engine controls are located.
  • Hull: The frame or body of a ship or boat exclusive of masts, yards, sails, and rigging
  • Jib: A triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel extending usually from the head of the foremast to the bowsprit or the jibboom
  • Lifelines: Cables or lines used to prevent people or gear from falling overboard.
  • Lines: Term for all ropes onboard and in the marina or harbor
  • Mainsail: Generally the largest sail on a sailboat.
  • Mast: A long pole or spar rising from the keel or deck of a ship and supporting the yards, booms and rigging
  • Keel: The lowest portion of a boat’s hull as it sits in the water. On most sailboats, it has a counterbalancing purpose.
  • Propeller: A rotating device that is paired with an engine to propel a boat through the water. Also called ‘props’.
  • Rigging: The system of ropes, cables and chains that control and support a spar or mast and the ship’s sails.
  • Rudder: A vertical hull appendage that controls steering.
  • Salon: A room in the cabin on a boat that’s usually the primary entertaining area.
  • Slip: The place in the marina that the boat pays rent to permanently stay.
  • Stateroom: An enclosed cabin in a boat with sleeping quarters.
  • Stern: The aft-most section of a boat’s hull.
  • Topsides: The portion of a boat’s hull that is above the waterline.
  • Transom: The aft-most section of a yacht that connects the port and starboard sections of the hull.
  • V-Berth: The sleeping berth that is situated in the bow of a boat.
  • Waterline: Where the ship’s hull meets the water.