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| Hail |
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To attempt to contact another boat or shore, either by voice or radio.
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| Half Hitch |
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A simple knot usually used with another knot or half hitch.
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| Halyard |
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A line used to hoist a sail or spar. The tightness of the halyard can affect sail shape.
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| Hand |
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Someone who helps with the work on a boat.
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| Hand Lead |
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A weight attached to a line used to determine depth by lowering it into the water.
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| Hand Rail |
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A hand hold. Usually along the cabin top or ladder.
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| Handsomely |
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To do something carefully and in the proper manner, such as when stowing a line.
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| Hank |
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(1) Clips used to fasten a sail to a stay. (2) Using such slips to attach a sail to a stay.
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| Harbor |
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An anchorage protected from storms either naturally or by man-made barriers.
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| Hard Over |
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To move all the way in one direction, such as when turning the wheel.
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| Hard-Chined |
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A hull shape with flat panels that join at sharp angles.
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| Hatch |
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A sliding or hinged opening in the deck, providing people with access to the cabin or space below.
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| Hawse Hole |
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A hole in the hull for mooring lines to run through.
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| Hawsepipes |
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Pipes to guide lines through the hawse hole. On large vessels anchors are stored with their shanks in the hawsepipes.
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| Hawser |
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A rope that is very large in diameter, usually used when docking large vessels.
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| Hazard |
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An object that might not allow safe operation. A group of rocks just under the water or a submerged wreck could be a navigational hazard.
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| Head |
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(1) The front of a vessel. (2) The upper corner or edge of a sail. (3) The top or front of a part. (4) The toilet and toilet room in a vessel.
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| Head Seas |
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Waves coming from the front of the vessel.
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| Head to Wind |
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A position with the boat's bow in the direction that the wind is coming from. This will probably stop the boat and place it in irons.
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| Head Up |
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To turn the bow more directly into the eye of the wind. The opposite of falling off.
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| Heading |
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The actual course of the vessel at any given time.
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| Headsail |
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Any sail forward of the mast, such as a jib.
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| Headstay |
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The most forward forestay. The line from the bow or bowsprit to the top of the mast. This keeps the mast from falling toward the rear of the boat. The headstay is the furthest forward of all the stays on the boat.
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| Headway |
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The forward motion of a vessel through the water.
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| Heave |
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To throw or pull strongly on a line.
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| Heaving Line |
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A light line used to be thrown ashore from which a larger rope can then be pulled.
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| Heaving to |
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Arranging the sails in such a manner as to slow or stop the forward motion of the boat, such as when in heavy seas.
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| Heavy Seas |
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When the water has large or breaking waves in stormy conditions.
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| Heavy Weather |
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Stormy conditions, including rough, high seas and strong winds. Probably uncomfortable or dangerous.
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| Heel, Heeling |
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When a boat tilts away from the wind, caused by wind blowing on the sails and pulling the top of the mast over. Some heel is normal when under sail.
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| Heeling Error |
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The error in a compass reading caused by the heel of a boat.
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| Helm |
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The wheel or tiller of a boat.
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| Helm's Alee |
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A warning from the helmsman that the boat is about to tack.
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| Helmsman |
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The person who is steering the boat.
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| Hemisphere |
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Half of a sphere. On the globe hemispheres are used to describe the halves of the earth north or south of the equator.
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| High |
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A location of higher barometric pressure than the surrounding area of a weather system.
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| High Tide |
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The point of a tide when the water is the highest. The opposite of low tide.
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| Hiking |
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Moving the crew's weight to or past the windward rail to counteract the heeling of a boat. Typically seen when boats are racing.
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| Hiking Stick |
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An extension to the tiller allowing the helmsman to steer while hiking. This may be desired for improved visibility or stability.
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| Hitch |
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A knot used to attach a line to a cleat or other object.
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| Hoist |
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(1) To raise a sail. (2) To raise anything up.
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| Holding Ground |
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The type of bottom that the anchor is set in. "Good holding ground."
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| Holding Tank |
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A storage tank where sewage is stored until it can be removed to a treatment facility.
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| Homing |
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Using a radio direction finder to steer toward a source of radio signals.
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| Horizon |
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Where the water and sky or ground and sky appear to intersect.
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| Horizontal Angle |
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The angle measured between two fixed objects (usually on shore) to aid in finding a boats position by determining the arc of a circle on which the boat must lie.
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| Horseshoe Buoy |
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A floatation device shaped like a U and thrown to people in the water in emergencies.
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| Hull |
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The main structural body of the boat, not including the deck, keel, mast, or cabin. The part that keeps the water out of the boat.
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| Hull Speed |
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Also displacement speed. The theoretical speed that a boat can travel without planing, based on the shape of its hull. This speed is about 1.34 times the square root of the length of a boat at its waterline. Since most monohull sailboats cannot exceed their hull speed, longer boats are faster.
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| Hurricane |
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A strong tropical revolving storm of force 12 or higher in the northern hemisphere. Hurricanes revolve in a clockwise direction. In the southern hemisphere these storms revolve counterclockwise and are known as typhoons.
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| Hydrodynamic |
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A shape designed to move efficiently through the water.
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| Hydrofoil |
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A boat that has foils under its hull onto which it rises to plane across the water surface at high speed. See displacement and planing hulls.
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