The Sailor's Word-Book Part 232

STAY-BARS, OR STAY-RODS. Strong malleable iron bars for supporting the framings of the marine steam-engine.

STAYED FORWARD. This term is applied to masts when they incline forward out of the vertical line; the opposite of _rake_ (which see.)

STAYSAIL. A triangular sail hoisted upon a stay.

STAYSAIL-NETTING. _See_ BOWSPRIT-NETTING.

STAYSAIL-STAY. The stay on which a staysail is set.

STAY-TACKLES, FORE AND MAIN. Special movable purchases for hoisting in and out boats, anchors, &c. They plumb the fore and main hatchways, working in conjunction with fore and main yard tackles.

STEADY! The order given to the steersman, in a fair wind, to steer the s.h.i.+p on her course without deviating; to which he answers, _Steady it is, sir_.

STEADY-FAST. A hawser carried out to some fixed object to keep a vessel steady in a tide-way, or in preparation for making sail from a fast.

STEADY GALE. A fresh breeze pretty uniform in force and direction.

STEALING. The gaining of a rat-line or two in height while waiting on the lower part of the rigging for the order to go aloft. Also, a vessel is said _to steal ahead_ when she moves with the lightest breath of air.

STEAM-CHEST. The reservoir for steam above the water of the boiler; sometimes termed _steam-chamber_.

STEAM-CRANE. A crane worked by means of a steam-engine.

STEAM-CYLINDER. _See_ CYLINDER.

STEAM-FRIGATE. A large armed steamer commanded by a captain in the navy.

STEAM-HOIST. A machine in dockyards for driving piles, working pumps, &c.

STEAM NAVIGATION. The management of vessels propelled by steam-power.

STEAM-PACKET. A steamer employed in trading regularly between two places with goods and pa.s.sengers.

STEAM-PIPE. _See_ WASTE STEAM-PIPE.

STEAM-PORTS. Oblong pa.s.sages leading from the nozzle-faces to the inside of the cylinder; by them the steam enters and returns, above and below the piston.

STEAM-RAM. A new order of war-vessel, fitted for running prow on against an enemy's s.h.i.+p, to stave her in by crus.h.i.+ng.

STEAM SLOOP-OF-WAR. One commanded by a commander.

STEAM-TUG. A vessel fitted with a marine steam-engine, and expressly employed for towing s.h.i.+ps.

STEAM-WINCH. A machine for hoisting out cargo or working a s.h.i.+p's pumps.

STEATae. Broad low vessels used by the ancient pirates.

STEELER, OR STEALER. The foremost and aftermost plank in a strake, which drops short of the stem or stern-post.

STEEP-TO. [Anglo-Saxon _steap_.] Said of a bold sh.o.r.e, admitting of the largest vessels coming very close to the cliffs without touching the bottom. (_See_ BOLD-Sh.o.r.e.)

STEEP-TUB. A large tub in which salt provisions are soaked previous to being cooked.

STEERAGE. The act of steering. (_See_ NICE STEERAGE.) Also, that part of the s.h.i.+p next below the quarter-deck, immediately before the bulk-head of the great cabin in most s.h.i.+ps of war. The portion of the 'tween-decks just before the gun-room bulk-head. In some s.h.i.+ps the second-cla.s.s pa.s.sengers are called _steerage pa.s.sengers_. The admiral's cabin on the middle deck of three-deckers has been called the _steerage_.

STEERAGE-WAY. When a vessel has sufficient motion in the water to admit of the helm being effective.

STEER HER COURSE, TO. Going with the wind fair enough to lay her course.

STEERING [Anglo-Saxon _steoran_]. The perfection of steering consists in a vigilant attention to the motion of the s.h.i.+p's head, so as to check every deviation from the line of her course in the first instant of its commencement, and in applying as little of the power of the helm as possible, for the action of the rudder checks a s.h.i.+p's speed.

STEERING-SAIL. An incorrect name for a studding-sail.

STEER LARGE, TO. To go free, off the wind. Also, to steer loosely.

STEER SMALL, TO. To steer well and within small compa.s.s, not dragging the tiller over from side to side.

STEERSMAN. The helmsman or timoneer; the latter from the French _timon_, helm.

STEEVING. Implies the bowsprit's angle from the horizon: formerly it stood at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees, and was indeed almost a bow mast or sprit. Also, the stowing of cotton, wool, or other cargo, in a merchantman's hold with a jack-screw.

STEM. The foremost piece uniting the bows of a s.h.i.+p; its lower end scarphs into the keel, and the bowsprit rests upon its upper end. The outside of the stem is usually marked with a scale of feet and inches, answering to a perpendicular from the keel, in order to ascertain the s.h.i.+p's draught of water forward.--_False stem._ When a s.h.i.+p's stem is too flat, so that she cannot keep a wind well, a false stem, or gripe, is fayed on before the right one, which enables her to hold a better wind.--_From stem to stern_, from one end of the s.h.i.+p to the other.--_To stem_, to make way against any obstacle. "She does not stem the tide,"

that is, she cannot make head against it for want of wind.

STEM-KNEE. In s.h.i.+p-building, the compa.s.s-timber which connects the keel with the stem. (_See_ DEAD-WOOD KNEES.)

STEMSON. An arching piece of compa.s.s-timber, worked within the ap.r.o.n to reinforce the scarph thereof, in the same manner as the ap.r.o.n supports that of the stem. The upper end is carried as high as the upper deck, the lower being scarphed on to the kelson.

STEP. A large clamp of timber fixed on the kelson, and fitted to receive the tenoned heel of a mast. The steps of the main and fore masts of every s.h.i.+p rest upon the kelson; that of the mizen-mast sometimes rests upon the lower-deck beams.--_To step a boat's mast._ To erect and secure it in its step in readiness for setting sail.

STEP OF THE CAPSTAN. A solid block of wood fixed between two of the s.h.i.+p's beams to receive the iron spindle and heel of the capstan.

STEP OUT, TO. To move along simultaneously and cheerfully with a tackle-fall, &c.

STEPPES. The specific application is to the vast level plains of South-east and Asiatic Russia, resembling the Landes of France. (_See_ LANDES.)

STEPPING. The sinking a rabbet in the dead-wood, wherein the heels of the timbers rest. (_See_ BEARDING-LINE.)

STEPS OF THE SIDE. Pieces of quartering nailed to the sides amids.h.i.+ps, from the wale upwards; for the people ascending or descending the s.h.i.+p.

STERE'S-MAN. A pilot or steerer, from the Anglo-Saxon _steora_.

STERE-TRE. An archaic word for rudder.

STERN. The after-part of a s.h.i.+p, ending in the taffarel above and the counters below.--_By the stern._ The condition of a vessel which draws more water abaft than forward.

STERNAGE. The after-part of a s.h.i.+p, and therefore Shakspeare's term is simple enough for any but commentators. Henry V.'s fleet is sailing away:--