is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

[skeat]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

Why not call port "left", how is that? Or the starboard side, lets try "right?"

Is that looking at the front of the boat or back? When giving orders there was no time for questions, port is always port no matter what your perspective is.

 

[HappierWet]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

I thought FREEBOARD was the measurement of distance from the water to the gunwale.

You'd be correct.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freeboard

How can any part of somethig that costs upwards of 1000 dollars per linear foot be "free"

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

You'd be correct.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freeboard

So when reviewers of boats state that the high freeboard of a particular model will help keep kiddies in a boat, they are inaccurate? Because with that definition, an aircraft carrier has a freeboard of several stories, but that sure won't help keep you from falling over the edge.
So the term they should be using is what? Cockpit depth? But there is a disagreement on what the "cockpit" is in a boat.

BTW, there is no such thing as "Is that looking at the front of the boat or back? ". Cars and boats are the same, the left and right sides are determined from the view of the driver's seat. There is only one front of a car, there is only one back of a car, there is only one right and one left. Same for a boat. Only one bow, one stern, one port, one starboard.
In 10 years of adjusting automobile damage, you have no idea how many times people would tell me that the damage was on the opposite side of the car, from where it really was!

 

[stephanofd]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

People here in Charlotte, NC call a town named Lancaster, NC "lankister" (hard 'a') and a town named Concord, NC "concorde" (like the defunct airline) and I cringe every time I hear them (after I realized what they were talking about).

Those are proper nouns, and subject to different pronunciations. There isn't anything wrong with "lankister", it's my last name and I won't answer if you yell "Hey Lankister", but other Lancasters might. It's like Louisville, it depends on which one you live in as to how it is pronounced. Concord with the long "o" in the second syllable seems far more correct to me, but I know that up in New England they don't pronounce it that way. If you want to pronounce it the other way, you should spell it Conquered. But nobody wants to name there town that.

 

[lowkee]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

Topic meander ahead..

Those are proper nouns, and subject to different pronunciations. There isn't anything wrong with "lankister"

The day you point out the 'i' in Lancaster, or an example of a long 'o' without an extranious 'e' or 'u', I'll agree with all of that. If I name myself 'Manfred' it doesn't make pronouncing it 'Minfrayed' correct just because I say so, it makes it mispronounced or misspelled for the intended pronunciation. Just as if you pronounced Conquered 'Conequeried'. Phonics of letter combinations do not get thrown out the window just because the first letter is capitalized.

It's like Louisville, it depends on which one you live in as to how it is pronounced.

That is a dialect (in this case, a lazy tongue example); Pronunciation is not subjective, it is rule-based. 'Louville' is not in those rules. It was not named after "Lou The Sixteenth", it was named after the French king Louis XVI, which means it follows the French pronunciation rules.

Another lazy tongue example would be Wednesday (as Bilgamesh pointed out above). A vast majority of people pronouncing it wrong doesn't make it correct, it makes it a widespread mispronunciation, known as a dialect. I am sadly one of those who mispronounces this word with unfortunate regularity. Wouldn't Wodan be pissed at me..

 

[MushCreek]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

I guess I shouldn't bring up the word 'forecastle', then....

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

... Only one bow, ...

Actually boats have 2 bows, port and starboard. They're the curved surfaces of the hull that meet at the stem.

 

[marine4003]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

Uh, why don't they just call it the side of the boat? As a matter of fact why do we need a nautical term for everything on a boat when we have perfectly good english words that describe most that stuff anyway? Why not call port "left", how is that? Or the starboard side, lets try "right?" Bow's, gunwales and scuppers all just make us landlubbers crazy.

Because it pleases the boat Gods......That and Rum

 

[skargo]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

So when reviewers of boats state that the high freeboard of a particular model will help keep kiddies in a boat, they are inaccurate? Because with that definition, an aircraft carrier has a freeboard of several stories, but that sure won't help keep you from falling over the edge.
So the term they should be using is what? Cockpit depth? But there is a disagreement on what the "cockpit" is in a boat.

BTW, there is no such thing as "Is that looking at the front of the boat or back? ". Cars and boats are the same, the left and right sides are determined from the view of the driver's seat. There is only one front of a car, there is only one back of a car, there is only one right and one left. Same for a boat. Only one bow, one stern, one port, one starboard.
In 10 years of adjusting automobile damage, you have no idea how many times people would tell me that the damage was on the opposite side of the car, from where it really was!

I ran a body shop for years and I agree, many people told me the wrong side their damage was on too hehehe

 

[lowkee]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

Actually boats have 2 bows, port and starboard. They're the curved surfaces of the hull that meet at the stem.

My head is going to explode.. boats make no sense.

So the term they should be using is what? Cockpit depth?

I think 'Gunwale height' would work for that, but I won't rule out some weird exception to that based on Greek mythology or Buddha.

 

[JoLin]

Re: is it GUNNELL- GUNWALL ?

Uh, why don't they just call it the side of the boat? As a matter of fact why do we need a nautical term for everything on a boat when we have perfectly good english words that describe most that stuff anyway? Why not call port "left", how is that? Or the starboard side, lets try "right?" Bow's, gunwales and scuppers all just make us landlubbers crazy.

I've had this debate with my wife, too

The answer is... because port is always port and starboard is always starboard regardless of where you're standing and what direction you're facing. Learn those, and you never need to say... "no, dear, I meant your OTHER right..."

Instantaneuous understanding, no wasted words, fast response in an iffy situation.