Ever hear a waterman, sailor, fisherman or local say some nautical terms and you think to yourself “what does that term mean?” We do too! So here are some fun and interesting meanings for the some if the nautical terms you may hear while visiting the Chesapeake Bay.

1) Roadsteads

Roadsteads are sheltered stretches of water near the shore where it is possible to safely drop anchor. This meaning is what originally gave Hampton Roads, the body of water where the James, Namesond and Elizabeth rivers pour into the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, it’s name.

2) Skipjacks

The name, skipjack, is taken from fish (such as skipjack herring, skipjack mackeral, skipjack tuna) that leap in and out of water, and play on the water's surface. With a reputation for speed, skipjacks sometimes can resemble the fish as they come about quickly making continuous passes or "licks" over oyster beds.

On Maryland's Eastern Shore, the skipjack originated in the 1890s. It was better known as a small "two-sail bateau" with a V-hull. The craft evolved into a larger, hearty skipjack, powerful in light winds. Ranging in length from 25 to 50 feet, these boats have a shallow draft with centerboard and carry a single mast, two-sail sloop rig.

3) PUNGY

Small versions of schooners, pungies got their name from the town of Pungo-teague in Virginia, where they were built. Only one is left in the world—Lady Maryland, which takes kids out on the bay for the Living Classrooms Foundation.

4) Scuttlebutt

The cask of drinking water on ships was called a scuttlebutt and since Sailors exchanged gossip when they gathered at the scuttlebutt for a drink of water, scuttlebutt became U.S. Navy slang for gossip or rumors. A butt was a wooden cask which held water or other liquids; to scuttle is to drill a hole, as for tapping a cask.

5) KNOW THE ROPES

To "know the ropes'' means to be familiar with and understand the details of a particular subject or task. Of course, ropes were used for various purposes such as hoisting and controlling sails, steering the ship, and anchoring. Knowing how to handle these ropes effectively was crucial for sailors, hence the phrase "knowing the ropes" came to mean being well-versed in a particular subject or task.

6) Devil to pay

Originally, this expression described one of the unpleasant tasks aboard a wooden ship. The devil was the ship’s longest seam in the hull. Caulking was done with pay or pitch (a kind of tar). The task of ‘paying the devil’ (caulking the longest seam) by squatting in the bilges was one of the worst and most difficult jobs onboard. The term has come to mean a difficult, seemingly impossible task. ‘The devil to pay and no pitch hot’. Landlubbers, having no seafaring knowledge, assumed it referred to satan and gave the term a moral interpretation

7) First Rate

Implies excellence. From the 16th century on until steam powered ships took over, British naval ships were rated as to the number of heavy cannon they carried. A ship of 100 or more guns was a First Rate line-of-battle ship. Second rates carried 90 to 98 guns; Third Rates, 64 to 89 guns; Fourth Rates, 50 to 60 guns. Frigates carrying 20 to 48 guns were fifth and sixth rated.

8) Hard-up

Hard is another often used nautical term. To put the helm hard over is to put it as far as it will go in that direction. Hard and fast describes a vessel firmly aground and unable to make progress and has come ashore to mean rigid. ‘Hard up in a clinch and no knife to cut the seizing’, the term from which hard up derives, was a sailor’s way of saying he had been overtaken by misfortune and saw no way of getting clear of it. Shore-side, the term means in need.

Meaning of Eight Nautical Terms Heard On Chesapeake Bay