The Seaman's Friend Part 20

LAND-FALL. The making land after being at sea.

_A good land-fall_, is when a vessel makes the land as intended.

LAND HO! The cry used when land is first seen.

LANYARDS. Ropes rove through dead-eyes for setting up rigging. Also, a rope made fast to anything to secure it, or as a handle, is called a _lanyard_.

LARBOARD. The left side of a vessel, looking forward.

LARBOWLINES. The familiar term for the men in the larboard watch.

LARGE. A vessel is said to be going _large_, when she has the wind free.

LATCHINGS. Loops on the head rope of a bonnet, by which it is laced to the foot of the sail.

LAUNCH. A large boat. The LONG-BOAT.

LAUNCH HO! High enough!

LAY. To come or to go; as, _Lay aloft!_ _Lay forward!_ _Lay aft!_ Also, the direction in which the strands of a rope are twisted; as, from left to right, or from right to left.

LEACH. (See LEECH.)

LEACHLINE. A rope used for hauling up the leach of a sail.

LEAD. A piece of lead, in the shape of a cone or pyramid, with a small hole at the base, and a line attached to the upper end, used for sounding. (See HAND-LEAD, DEEP-SEA-LEAD.)

LEADING-WIND. A fair wind. More particularly applied to a wind abeam or quartering.

LEAK. A hole or breach in a vessel, at which the water comes in.

LEDGES. Small pieces of timber placed athwart-s.h.i.+ps under the decks of a vessel, between the beams.

LEE. The side opposite to that from which the wind blows; as, if a vessel has the wind on her starboard side, that will be the _weather_, and the larboard will be the _lee_ side.

_A lee sh.o.r.e_ is the sh.o.r.e upon which the wind is blowing.

_Under the lee_ of anything, is when you have that between you and the wind.

_By the lee._ The situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side.

LEE-BOARD. A board fitted to the lee side of flat-bottomed boats, to prevent their drifting to leeward.

LEE-GAGE. (See GAGE.)

LEEWAY. What a vessel loses by drifting to leeward. When sailing close-hauled with all sail set, a vessel should make no leeway. If the topgallant sails are furled, it is customary to allow one point; under close-reefed topsails, two points; when under one close-reefed sail, four or five points.

LEECH, or LEACH. The border or edge of a sail, at the sides.

LEEFANGE. An iron bar, upon which the sheets of fore-and-aft sails traverse. Also, a rope rove through the cringle of a sail which has a bonnet to it, for hauling in, so as to lace on the bonnet. Not much used.

LEEWARD. (p.r.o.nounced _lu-ard_.) The lee side. In a direction opposite to that from which the wind blows, which is called _windward_. The opposite of _lee_ is _weather_, and of _leeward_ is _windward_; the two first being adjectives.

LIE-TO, is to stop the progress of a vessel at sea, either by counter-bracing the yards, or by reducing sail so that she will make little or no headway, but will merely come to and fall off by the counteraction of the sails and helm.

LIFE-LINES. Ropes carried along yards, booms, &c., or at any part of the vessel, for men to hold on by.

LIFT. A rope or tackle, going from the yard-arms to the mast-head, to support and move the yard. Also, a term applied to the sails when the wind strikes them on the leeches and raises them slightly.

LIGHT. To move or lift anything along; as, to "_Light_ out to windward!" that is, haul the sail over to windward. The _light sails_ are all above the topsails, also the studdingsails and flying jib.

LIGHTER. A large boat, used in loading and unloading vessels.

LIMBERS, or LIMBER-HOLES. Holes cut in the lower part of the floor-timbers, next the keelson, forming a pa.s.sage for the water fore-and-aft.

_Limber-boards_ are placed over the limbers, and are movable.

_Limber-rope._ A rope rove fore-and-aft through the limbers, to clear them if necessary.

_Limber-streak._ The streak of foot-waling nearest the keelson.

LIST. The inclination of a vessel to one side; as, a _list_ to port, or a _list_ to starboard.

LIZARD. A piece of rope, sometimes with two legs, and one or more iron thimbles spliced into it. It is used for various purposes. One with two legs, and a thimble to each, is often made fast to the topsail tye, for the buntlines to reeve through. A single one is sometimes used on the swinging-boom topping-lift.

LOCKER. A chest or box, to stow anything away in.

_Chain-locker._ Where the chain cables are kept.

_Boatswain's locker._ Where tools and small stuff for working upon rigging are kept.

LOG, or LOG-BOOK. A journal kept by the chief officer, in which the situation of the vessel, winds, weather, courses, distances, and everything of importance that occurs, is noted down.

_Log._ A line with a piece of board, called the _log-chip_, attached to it, wound upon a reel, and used for ascertaining the s.h.i.+p's rate of sailing. (See page 17.)

LONG-BOAT. The largest boat in a merchant vessel. When at sea, it is carried between the fore and main masts.

LONGERS. The longest casks, stowed next the keelson.

LONG-TIMBERS. Timbers in the cant-bodies, reaching from the dead-wood to the head of the second futtock.

LOOF. That part of a vessel where the planks begin to bend as they approach the stern.

LOOM. That part of an oar which is within the row-lock. Also, to appear above the surface of the water; to appear larger than nature, as in a fog.

LUBBER'S HOLE. A hole in the top, next the mast.

LUFF. To put the helm so as to bring the s.h.i.+p up nearer to the wind.