WAFT [said to be from the Anglo-Saxon _weft_], more correctly written _wheft_. It is any flag or ensign, stopped together at the head and middle portions, slightly rolled up lengthwise, and hoisted at different positions at the after-part of a ship. Thus, at the ensign-staff, it signifies that a man has fallen overboard; if no ensign-staff exists, then half-way up the peak. At the peak, it signifies a wish to speak; at the mast-head, recalls boats; or as the commander-in-chief or particular captain may direct.
WAFTORS. Certain officers formerly appointed to guard our coast fisheries. Also, swords blunted to exercise with.
WAGER POLICY. An engagement upon interest or no interest; the performance of the voyage in a reasonable time and manner, and not the bare existence of the ship or cargo, is the object of insurance.
WAGES OR PAY OF THE ROYAL NAVY is settled by act of parliament. In the merchant service seamen are paid by the month, and receive their wages at the end of the voyage.
WAGES REMITTED FROM ABROAD. When a ship on a foreign station has been commissioned twelve calendar months, every petty officer, seaman, and marine serving on board, may remit the half of the pay due to them to a wife, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister.
WAGGON. A place amidships, on the upper deck of guard-ships, a.s.signed for the supernumeraries" hammocks.
WAGGONER. A name applied to an atlas of charts, from a work of this nature published at Leyden in 1583, by Jans Waghenaer.
WAIF. Goods found and not claimed; derelict. Also used for _waft_.
WAIST. That portion of the main deck of a ship of war, contained between the fore and main hatchways, or between the half-deck and galley.
WAIST-ANCHOR. An additional or spare anchor stowed before the chess-tree. (_See_ SPARE ANCHOR.)
WAIST-BOARDS. The berthing made to fit into a vessel"s gangway on either side.
WAIST-CLOTHS. The painted canvas coverings of the hammocks which are stowed in the waist-nettings.
WAISTERS. Green hands, or worn seamen, in former times stationed in the waist in working the ship, as they had little else of duty but hoisting and swabbing the decks.
WAIST-NETTINGS. The hammock-nettings between the quarter-deck and forecastle.
WAIST-RAIL. The channel-rail or moulding of the ship"s side.
WAIST-TREE. Another name for _rough-tree_ (which see).
WAIVE, TO. To give up the right to demand a court-martial, or to enforce forfeitures, by allowing people who have deserted, &c., to return to their duties.
WAIVING. The action of dispensing with salutes--by signal, by motion of the hand to guards, &c., and to vessels, which may be, in accordance with old custom, pa.s.sing under the lee to be hailed and examined.
WAIVING AMAIN. A salutation of defiance, as by brandishing weapons, &c.
WAKE. The transient, generally smooth, track impressed on the surface-water by a ship"s progress. Its bearing is usually observed by the compa.s.s to discover the angle of lee-way. A ship is said to be in the wake of another, when she follows her upon the same track. Two distant objects observed at sea are termed in the wake of each other, when the view of the farthest off is intercepted by the one that is nearer. (_See_ CROSSING A SHIP"S WAKE.)
WALE-REARED. Synonymous with _wall-sided_.
WALES. The thickest strakes of wrought stuff in a vessel. Strong planks extending all along the outward timbers on a ship"s side, a little above her water-line; they are synonymous with _bends_ (which see). The channel-wale is below the lower-deck ports, and the main-wale between the top of those ports and the sills of the upper-deck ports.
WALK AWAY! The order to step out briskly with a tackle fall, as in hoisting boats.
WALK BACK! A method in cases where a purchase must not be lowered by a round turn, as "Walk back the capstan;" the men controlling it by the bars and walking back as demanded.
WALKER"S KNOT. _See_ MATTHEW WALKER.
WALKING A PLANK. An obsolete method of destroying people in mutiny and piracy, under a plea of avoiding the penalty of murder. The victim is compelled to walk, pinioned and blindfolded, along a plank projecting over the ship"s side, which, canting when overbalanced, heaves him into the sea. Also, for detecting whether a man is drunk, he is made to walk along a quarter-deck plank.
WALKING AWAY WITH THE ANCHOR. Said of a ship which is dragging, or _shouldering_, her anchor; or when, from fouling the stock or upper fluke, she trips the anchor out of the ground.
WALKING SPEAKING-TRUMPET. A midshipman repeating quarter-deck orders.
WALK SPANISH, TO. To quit duty without leave; to desert.
WALK THE QUARTER-DECK, TO. A phrase signifying to take the rank of an officer.
WALK THE WEATHER GANGWAY NETTING. A night punishment in a man-of-war for those of the watch who have missed their muster.
WALL. A bank of earth to restrain the current and overflowing of water.
(_See_ SEA-BANK.)
WALL-KNOT, OR WALE-KNOT. A particular sort of large knot raised upon the end of a rope, by untwisting the strands, and pa.s.sing them among each other.
WALL-PIECE. A very heavy powerful musket, for use in fortified places.
WALL-SIDED. The sides of a ship continuing nearly perpendicular down to the surface of the water, like a wall. It is the mean between _tumbling home_ and _flaring out_.
WALRUS [Dan. _hval-ros_]. The _Trichecus rosmarus_, a large amphibious marine animal, allied to the seals, found in the Arctic regions. Its upper canines are developed into large descending tusks, of considerable value as ivory. It is also called morse, sea-horse, and sea-cow. This animal furnished Cook, as well as our latest Arctic voyagers, with _Arctic beef_. The skin is of the utmost importance to the Esquimaux, as well as to the Russians of Siberia, &c.
WALT. An old word, synonymous with _crank_; or tottering, like a sprung spar.
WANE. In timber, an imperfection implying a want of squareness at one or more of its corners; under this deficiency it is termed _wane-wood_.
WANE-CLOUD. _See_ CIRRO-STRATUS.
w.a.n.gAN. A boat, in Maine, for carrying provisions.
WANY. Said of timber when spoiled by wet.
WAPP, OR WHAP. A name formerly given to any short pendant and thimble, through which running-rigging was led. Also, a rope wherewith rigging was set taut with wall-knots, one end being fast to the shroud, and the other brought to the laniard. But any shroud-stopper is a _wapp_.
WAR. A contest between princes or states, which, not being determinable otherwise, is referred to the decision of the sword. It may exist without a declaration on either side, and is either _civil_, _defensive_, or _offensive_.
WAR-CAPERER. A privateer.
WARDEN. _See_ LORD WARDEN.
WARD-ROOM. The commissioned officers" mess-cabin, on the main-deck in ships of the line.
WARD-ROOM OFFICERS. Those who mess in the ward-room, namely: the commander, lieutenants, master, chaplain, surgeon, paymaster, marine-officers, and a.s.sistant-surgeons.
WARE, TO. _See_ VEER.
WAREHOUSING SYSTEM. The use of bonding places under charge of officers of the customs, in which goods may be deposited, without any duty upon them being exacted, until they be cleared for home use, or for exportation.