It is fair to wonder if there is any lingo more alien to a newcomer than the jargon of sailors? “Boat speak” appears to be English (most of the time), but so many terms consolidate reams of meaning and process.  How’s a newcomer to even get started?

A handsome new hardcover book Mariner’s Guide to Nautical Informationby Priscilla Travis, has arrived on the scene to help you out.

It appears at first glance to be simply a glossary of nautical terms and expressions. It takes a second look to realize that many entries go well beyond simple definitions to include expanded explanations, common applications, and relevant advice accompanied by lots of photographs, diagrams and illustrations.

How this book helps you, the newcomer, is that its alphabetical arrangement makes it (as they claim on the fly leaf) “faster than the Internet” when you’re trying to identify what is meant by some word or phrase that has been tossed at you as if you should know.  This, of course, is particularly true, when you are out at sea and have no Internet!

And it is nice for Women & Cruising that this sensible volume has been put together by a woman captain, cruiser and sailing educator.

I’ve always liked reading dictionaries (a habit acquired from my father), so just because this book is organized like a dictionary doesn’t mean you leave it on the shelf until you need to look some one thing up.

Sit back and scan the topic index in the back. Start with a word or phrase you’re curious about, find it in the alphabetized Guide, then scan up and down the page for connected expressions and explanatory material.  Then follow threads to other topics or terms.  It can turn into a fascinating cruise through the pages.

Or, for some fun, use the book over sundowners with other new cruisers for a sailor’s version of the parlor game “Dictionary,”  and see who knows what!  How many know the meaning of “Charley Noble”, “Coriolis effect,” “baggywrinkle, “hockle,” “jumper struts” or “sheet load?”

Absolutely do NOT let any of it make you feel stupid or let the fact of there being 400+ pages of material daunt you.  With just a little effort and this nice reference you will absorb the vocabulary and all the meaning faster than you can imagine, plus, in the back of the book, the author’s personal annotated bibliography can help you take your curiosity further.

In my column Admirals’ Angle, I wrote a piece awhile back about “Nautical Lingo.”  The point of that column was that the very particular vocabulary of seafaring –  which may sometimes seem to newcomers to be “an antiquated language perpetrated by old salts merely to be difficult, to set us late-starters apart from old hands, or to close the door on an exclusive (male?) club,”— actually enables precise communication, often in high-pressure moments, and, once learned, makes all you do aboard go more efficiently.

Plus, knowing your nautical vocabulary allows you to make better sense of what you read, what you hear in seminars, what catalogues are offering, and what is being said around you in conversations on the dock or on the radio.

Indeed, like learning any language, accomplishments here boost your confidence in participating fully the cruising lifestyle and your new floating community. Pricilla Travis’ Mariner’s Guide to Nautical Information  would definitely be a useful tool in this pursuit.

Mariner’s Guide to Nautical Information by Pricilla Travis can be purchased from Amazon.com through this website, womenandcruising.com. Remember, every item you purchase through our Amazon portal benefits this website ….which gives newbie cruisers like you better resources for a better cruising experience!

Read also on this website

• Nautical Lingo (Admiral’s Angle column #19): Not an arcane language designed to exclude neophytes, nautical lingo allows precise communication for safer and smoother teamwork aboard

Do you have a nautical resource that you would like to suggest to Women and Cruising readers?

Let us know.

Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

Cruising provides a perfect pace for getting to know cultures.

You shop in the markets and eat in your own kitchen – or on the streets. This is so much more satisfying than living in hostels and hotels and eating in restaurants – where everything you do is a commercial tourist transaction.

As cruisers, we can hang in a culture a while and get involved. To get to know a place and a culture, it always helps to have a mission, and though I usually have several “missions” (things that I am seeking out or interested in), so often my mission has been to get to know the language.

Really, if you can’t talk with local people then you miss out on so much

It’s like watching a movie with the sound turned off. Or you are relegated to dealing only with the designated cruiser “handlers” – those locals whose job it is to help cruisers get their needs met ashore.

The richness of the culture is captured in its language – when you learn a bit of the local language, you get to be another person for a little while, you get another life. You get a new set of emotions and personal characteristics, because they don’t match English one-to-one. To be “sympa” in French is so much better than just being “nice”. And in Spanish, there are all these nice verbs for doing things in a relaxed, friendly way: paseando (strolling), platicando (chatting) ….

So, because I love becoming part of new cultures, I pay attention to the words that people use in the countries where we cruise. I mimic local speech whenever I can, and write down words and phrases that I hear. But even more effective:

I find myself a local “teacher”.

I ask locals to help me learn the local dialect – and they accept happily, flattered by my interest in their language. Plus I am always willing to return the favor and teach them some English – but only if they want!

My teachers are seldom actual “teachers”. In the French islands of the Caribbean, some of my favorite teachers were women who were from continental France but had paired up with local men, had children and become part of a huge island extended family. They were super because they had a somewhat outsider’s view but were immersed in local culture and traditions. I would ask “Do people here … (whatever)?” and they would answer – “Well, personally I would never because I wasn’t raised that way, but everyone from here does that all the time.” There is nothing more enlightening than hearing people complain about their in-laws.

I always ask my “teachers” about much more than just language – I ask them about the cultural norms: when you greet people and how, all the little courtesies, how you can relate to children, etc, etc. My teachers become my friends. Oh, and my best French pronunciation coach was one teacher’s five-year-old son.

Along the way, I started teaching.

Some cruisers asked me to teach them Spanish in preparation for cruising Venezuela and the Western Caribbean.

I love to teach: before cruising I taught business computing as part of my business. I gave my classes in my students’ cockpits, at picnic tables on the beach, and at local cruiser bar/restaurants. It was the perfect environment for teaching language: I gave homework that required them to get out in the streets and chat up the locals — and then report back on the often humorous interchanges.

My friends were amazed because I could make education-hostile cruisers eagerly stay up late doing the homework I gave them, and I loved the challenge of teaching adults something that could give them such immediate rewards.

So then my students asked me to write a book.

And I began – teaching classes along the way. I developed my course book as I taught, and it provided the basis for what later became my book Spanish for Cruisers.

I loved my “research”. Every place I go, I HAD to seek out locals to fill in the blanks for the local language. I HAD to get to know diesel mechanics from Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, because I had to find out what words they were using.

I HAD to get to know the people working in the boatyards because I had to figure out what they were calling all the terms that made up boatyard work. If there was an upholsterer in town fixing cruisers’ sails, I had to meet him, because I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get direct information. I had to find out what terms the dock attendants understood in the marinas – they might not be using “nautical” words at all.

So my research has always given me a reason to get to know people. It made me reach out because I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity that might not happen again. The result (Spanish for Cruisers) was a book that only a cruiser could write!

Years later, when I began writing French For Cruisers, the research got really interesting, because in addition to all the nautical and mechanical topics, it was critical that I cover the phrases that would let cruisers enjoy the food and wine of France and the French islands.

My research was now taking me to markets, to bakeries, to French and French-Creole restaurants. I ate, I drank: Research was tough! And I HAD to cruise the French canals!

So for me, research and fun are closely linked. They keep me curious – and they allow me to have an impact on the cruiser-local interactions. So many cruisers are out there communicating with the locals because my books have given them the tools to do so. Where will this passion take me next? — ¿Quién sabe?

6 Tips to get you talking

1. Speak! The more you speak, the easier it gets. You learn by making mistakes. Don’t wait until you’ve got it right, start talking!

   “Your mission is to amuse the locals with your attempts to speak their language.”

2. Learn the basic greetings and courtesy phrases such as “please, thank you, excuse me, and you’re welcome” and use them every chance you get.  Greet people you pass on the street, and always those you approach in a store or office. Using these greetings and courtesy phrases will help your hosts see you as a courteous person, and will also loosen your tongue, making it easier to get out even the more difficult words.

   Also learn to say: “I am sorry, I don’t speak much Spanish/French.” This wins you points because you are letting people know that you don’t expect them to know English, and you wish you knew their language.

3. Learn the pronunciation rules. Practice pronouncing key words and phrases in your phrase book. The more practice you can get speaking aloud, the easier it gets, and the better you sound! Practice with words that you will actually use.

   Find a local to sit down with you and listen to you pronounce the words in your phrase book. It’s a great way to make a new friend.

4. Cheat! If you don’t know the correct word, try the English word with Spanish/French pronunciation. (This is an excellent reason to learn pronunciation.)

   When you are shopping and don’t know the word for what you want: pronounce a common brand name with a Spanish/French accent.

5. Develop your own little speech describing yourself, your family, your voyages, and whatever you’d like to share with people, using the sentences in this chapter as a base. Then start practicing it on the people you meet in markets, restaurants, the marina office, etc. Embellish it with additional details as you become more comfortable.

   This technique helped me learn to converse when I first arrived in Nicaragua in the Peace Corps. People love the opportunity to get to know you!

6. Take a class. If you can find a class in port, sign up for it. And/or find a local tutor to work with you during your stay.

   Combine inland travel with a week long language course. You often have the option of housing with a local family for even more practice. Certain towns are known for their language schools (eg Antigua, Guatemala; Merida, Venezuela).

About Kathy Parsons

Kathy Parsons is author of the books, Spanish for Cruisers and French For Cruisers, popular language guides for boaters.

Together with friends Pam Wall, Gwen Hamlin and Beth Leonard, Kathy conducts “Women and Cruising” seminars at boat shows, answering questions that women have about the cruising life. She is the founder of this website, Women and Cruising, which provides advice, inspiration and resources for women cruisers.

Kathy Parsons has spent much of the last twenty years living aboard and sailing the US, Bahamas, Caribbean and Central America. Along the way, she has pursued a number of passions: diving, hiking, and inland travel, and learning and teaching foreign languages.

Before cruising (BC) Kathy Parsons worked as a social worker, Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, researcher, computer consultant and corporate trainer, more or less in that order.

At age 35, she closed the business, rented the Maine house, and sailed south for the Bahamas with her husband. Finally she found something she could stick to: cruising on a sailboat.

More info

Kathy Parsons’ Language Guides for Boaters:

• Spanish for Cruisers (2nd edition)
• French For Cruisers

Related articles:

• Language for cruisers (Admiral’s Angle column #36)
• Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)
• What Kathy Parsons likes most about cruising
• Kathy Parsons’ advice on setting up your galley and cooking onboard

What’s your passion? Have you taken it cruising?

Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.