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A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 

 

EASE -To slacken or relieve tension on a line.

 

EASE SHEET -To let the sheet out slowly loosen a line while maintaining control 

 

EBB - A receding current. A tidal flow towards the sea.

 

ECHOSOUNDER  - An electrical depth sounder that uses sound echoes to determine water depth. It does so by timing how long it takes a sound pulse to leave the instrument travel to the seafloor and return to the receiver on the ship.

 

EL NIÑO - a warm inshore current annually flowing south along the coast of Ecuador. About every seven to ten years it extends down the coast of Peru , where it has a devastating effect.

 

EMBARK – To go on board

 

ENGINE - Sailboats are equipped with a variety of engines, but all of them work on the internal destruction principle, in which highly machined parts are rapidly converted into low-grade scrap, producing in the process energy in the form of heat, which is used to boil bilge water; vibration, which improves the muscle tone of the crew; and a small amount of rotational force, which drives the average size sailboat at speeds approaching a furlong per fortnight.

 

ENSIGN – The national flag

 

EPIRB  - Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. An emergency device that uses a radio signal to alert satellites or passing airplanes to a vessel's position.

 

EQUATOR  - A line circling the earth at a point equidistant from both poles which separates the oceans into the North Danger Zone and the South Danger Zone.

 

ETIQUETTE - Marine custom establishes a code of social behavior and nautical courtesy for every conceivable occasion. Thus, for example, a boat belonging to another boatman is always referred to as a "scow", a "tub", or a "pig-boat". When one skipper goes aboard another's boat, he does not hesitate to tell him frankly about any drawbacks or disadvantages he finds in comparison to his own craft. Sailors welcome every opportunity to improve their vessels, and so he knows that his remarks will be greatly appreciated. When one sailboat passes another, it is customary for the captain of the passing boat to make a bladder like sound with his lips and tongue, and for the captain of the passed boat to return the courtesy by offering a smart salute consisting of a quick upward movement of the right hand with the second digit extended.

 

EVEN KEEL - When a boat is floating on its designed waterline, it is said to be floating on an even keel.

 

EYE SPLICE - A splice causing a loop in the end of a line, by braiding the end into itself or similar methods.

 

EYE OF THE WIND - The direction that the wind is blowing from.