The Perfect Storm Vocabulary

                The Perfect Storm Vocabulary

Ballast- A heavy material placed in a ships hold to improve its stability. “Thank god for the ballast or we’d be tossing and turning all through the tide.”

Bollard– A large steel post filled with concrete for tying off a ship. “Make sure the ship is fastened to the bollard before we leave.”

Sonar- A device used for scoping things under water by using sound waves. “According to the sonar, there’s a lot of fish under us.”

Wharf- A marina where boats are loaded and unloaded. “His boat just docked in the wharf.”

Ill-kept- A form of slang used for poorly taken care of. “Look at all this ill-kept equipment.”

Deckhands- The men aboard a ship working on the deck. “All deckhands are busy captain!”

Semantic- Similar to hieroglyphics, though instead of Egyptian the language is Greek. “This chest is all marked up with semantics”

Metabolic- Relating to or deriving from the metabolism of a living organism. “Captain, this man has a metabolic disorder and can’t eat this.”

Barometer- An instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure. “According to the barometer, a big storms brewing.”

Theodolite-  An instrument used for the measure of altitude along an X and Y axis. “How deep is it here? I’m not sure, check the theodolite.

Skipper- Another word for a boat captain. “Hey skipper, waters a little choppy today.”

Submerge- The act of flooding something with a liquid. “The SS. Boat was totally submerged.”

Knots- A measure of speed. “Right now we are traveling at 20 knots.”

Nautical- A measure of distance. “They are 3 nautical miles north from here.”

Ebb- The outward movement of the tide heading offshore. “How’s the ebb today captain?”