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Nautical Terms and Phrases
The letters of the alphabet are listed with their corresponding phonetic alphabet term. The phonetic alphabet is used when spelling terms over a radio so that the listener does not confuse one letter for another. The terms will show up below the list of letters when you click a letter.
A - Alpha	N - November
B - Bravo	O - Oscar
C - Charlie	P - Papa
D - Delta	Q - Quebec
E - Echo	R - Romeo
F - Foxtrot	S - Sierra
G - Golf	T - Tango
H - Hotel	U - Uniform
I - India	V - Victor
J - Juliet	W - Whiskey
K - Kilo	X - X-Ray
L - Lima	Y - Yankee
M - Mike	Z - Zulu

Pad Eye	A round eye attached through the deck used to fasten a line or block to some part of the boat.
Painted Waterline	A painted line on the side of a boat at the waterline. The color usually changes above and below the waterline, and the boat is painted with special anti-fouling paint below the waterline.
Painter	The line attached to the bow of a dinghy for towing or tying up.
Palm	A leather glove with a thimble built into the palm for sewing canvas.
Pan Pan	An urgent message used on a radio regarding the safety of people or property. A mayday call is used when there is an immediate threat to life or property. A pan pan situation may develop into a mayday situation. Pan pan and mayday messages have priority on radio channels and should not be interrupted. In the case of a less urgent safety message, the securite signal is used.
Parallel Rule	Tool used for transferring course and bearing to and from the compass rose on a chart.
Parbuckle	To hoist or lower a spar or cask by single ropes passed round it.
Parral	The rope by which a yard is confined to a mast at its center.
Pawl	A short bar of iron, which prevents the capstan or windlass from turning back.
Pay Out	To ease out on a line.
Pazaree	A rope attached to the clew of the foresail and rove through a block on the swinging boom. Used for guying the clews out when before the wind.
Personal Flotation Device (PFD)	A device used to keep a person afloat. Also called a life jacket, life preserver or life vest.
Pier	A loading platform extending at an angle from the shore.
Pile	A wood, metal or concrete pole driven into the bottom. Craft may be made fast to a pile; it may be used to support a pier or a float.
Piling	Support, protection for wharves, piers etc.; constructed of piles.
Pillar Of The Hold	A main stanchion with notches for descent and ascent.
Pilothouse	A small cabin on the deck of the ship that protects the steering wheel and the crewman steering.
Piloting	Navigation by use of visible references, the depth of the water, etc.
Pin Rail	A rail fastened along the inside of the bulwarks of a vessel and pierced to hold belaying pins.
Pinch	Steering a sailboat too close to the eye of the wind, causing the sails to flap.
Pinky	New England fishing and trading vessel, usually 50 to 70 foot, generally schooner rigged with or without a foresail. Built with pointed stern same shape as the bow.
Pintle	A metal bolt, used for hanging a rudder.
Pitch	Fore and aft movement (up and down) as the bow and stern rise and fall with the waves, also called hobby horsing.
Planing Hull	A type of hull shaped to glide easily across the water at high speed.
Planking	Wood boards that cover the frames outside the hull.
Planning	A boat is said to be planing when it is essentially moving over the top of the water rather than through the water.
Plate	A smooth, flat, relatively thin piece of metal formed in sheets by beating, rolling or casting; used in the construction of ship's hulls.
Plot	To find a ship's actual or intended course or mark a fix on a chart.
Point	Being able to sail close to the wind.
Point Of Sail	The position of a sailboat in relation to the wind. A boat with its head into the wind is known as "head to wind" or "in irons." The point of sail with the bow of the boat as close as possible to the wind is called close-hauled. As the bow moves further from the wind, the points of sail are called: close reach, beam reach, broad reach and running. The general direction a boat is sailing is known as its tack.
Pony Boiler	Variation of donkey boiler.
Poop Deck	A boat's aft deck.
Pooped	A wave that breaks over the stern of the boat.
Port	The left side of a boat looking forward. A harbor.
Port Holes	An opening in the structure of a vessel with a closable section.
Port Tack	A sailboat sailing on a tack with the wind coming over the port side and the boom on the starboard side of the boat. If two boats under sail are approaching, the one on port tack must give way to the boat on starboard tack.
Portage	To carry goods or boat between two navigatible points.
Pram	A square-ended dinghy.
Prevailing Winds	The typical winds for a particular region and time of year.
Preventer	A line and two blocks or the boom-vang used to keep the boom over when reaching or running and to prevent an out of control swing during an accidental jibe.
Pricker	A small marlinspike, used in sail-making. It generally has a wooden handle.
Prime Meridian	The longitude line at 0 degrees, which runs through Greenwich, England.
Priveleged Vessel	A vessel which, according to the applicable Navigation Rule, has right-of-way (this term has been superseded by the term "stand-on").
Prop Walk	Sideways force created by the spinning of the prop.
Propeller Or Prop	An object with two or more twisted blades, designed to propel a vessel through the water when spun rapidly by the boat's engine.
Propeller Shaft	The spinning shaft from the engine to which the propeller is attached.
Prow	The bow, stem and above the waterline.
Purchase	A block and tackle with multiple passes of the line to give power ration increase.
Put About	To change the course of a sailing vessel.