NAUT 101: Basic Deck Seamanship - Mooring and Anchoring

Vocabulary flashcards covering basic seamanship topics including mooring lines, deck fittings, winch operation, line handling, and anchoring equipment.

Mooring Pendant

A shock absorber line affixed to the eye of a mooring line and made fast at the berth to a bollard, designed to reduce dynamic loads and shock loading on primary mooring lines.

Chock

A sturdy deck fitting, commonly made of cast steel, used to provide a sturdy place to lead a mooring line off a vessel.

Fairlead

A deck fitting equipped with rollers used to redirect or change the direction a line is led on deck.

Bitts

Heavy deck fittings used to secure or make fast a mooring line on deck.

Capstan

A motorized deck machine used during mooring operations to heave in or take up slack on a line.

Chafing Gear

Protective covering, typically old fire hose, placed over mooring lines at contact points with the hull to reduce friction and protect lines from abrasion.

Stopper

A specific knot or securing device applied to a mooring line to hold tension and prevent it from paying out while it is being transferred from a capstan or drum end to bitts or cleats.

Riding Turns

A defect in winch spooling where turns trap the line inside gaps within lower layers, causing problems when running lines out during subsequent berthing operations.

Snap Back Zone

The hazardous area around deck fittings and tensioned lines where a line will violently recoil if it parts under strain.

Ground Tackle

The complete collection of equipment used to secure a vessel to the bottom of the sea, including the anchor, chain, links, shackles, and windlass.

Hawsepipe

The pipe located in the bow through which the anchor chain leads from the deck out through the hull of the vessel.

Spillpipe

The pipe on deck through which the anchor chain leads down into the chain locker.

Anchor Crown

The bottom part of the anchor attached to the shank with a pivot or ball-and-socket joint that allows movement from $30^{\circ}$ to $45^{\circ}$ each way.

Shot (of Anchor Chain)

A standard unit of length measurement for anchor chain equal to $15\text{ fathoms}$.

Fetching Up

The state when the deployed anchor chain has stretched out and the vessel moves back forward on the catenary of the chain, confirming that the anchor flukes have set in the sea bottom.

Anchor Aweigh

The moment when the anchor is lifted clear off the sea floor and no longer holds the vessel, at which point the ship is officially underway.

Wildcat

A specialized wheeled drum on an anchor windlass with outer pockets designed to fit and grip individual links of the anchor chain.

Devil's Claw

A deck fitting used as a chain stopper to lock and hold the anchor chain in place on the windlass assembly.

Standard Scope of Chain Rule

The standard American rule of thumb for anchoring, which specifies paying out $5$ to $7$ times the depth of the water in anchor chain.

Windlass Lifting Capacity

The design limit of an anchor windlass, generally capable of hoisting no more than the deadweight of the anchor plus $4\text{ shots}$ of suspended chain.