Serendipity
Copyright© 2012 by Tedbiker
Introduction and Glossary
Romantic Sex Story: Introduction and Glossary - Serendipity is a sailing yacht, owned by Ted Quinton, who has escaped the rat-race to live a rather selfish life as a free-lance skipper and charter captain. Girlfriends come and go without any serious commitment until Serendipity is chartered by a young woman wanting a few months' adventure while she can; she's newly pregnant.
Caution: This Romantic Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Consensual Romantic Heterosexual Oral Sex Slow
If you already know, or aren't interested, skip this bit.
A sailing boat/ship cannot sail directly into the wind. Usually, the minimum effective angle is said to be forty-five degrees. Some racing yachts can get to thirty degrees 'off' the wind, others, like 'square-riggers', can only manage about sixty.
If a boat is sailing as 'close' to the wind as it can, it is said to be 'close hauled',
If it is sailing into the wind, but not as 'close' as it can, it is said to be 'close-reaching'.
'Reaching' is sailing across the wind.
'Broad-reaching' is sailing with the wind from the side and slightly from behind.
A 'quartering' wind is coming at an angle from behind – i.e. not from dead astern.
A boat is said to be 'running' when the wind is from astern. A 'dead' run has the wind directly from behind and is inherently unstable and usually uncomfortable. (Except in a 'square-rigged' vessel)
Reefing; to reef is to reduce the size of a sail, sometimes by bunching part of it up and tying it with 'reef-points', sometimes by winding the boom or mast so the sail is wrapped round it.
'Bearing away' – to turn away from the wind.
'Gybing' turning the boat away from the wind so the wind is on the other side of the sail. This is a potentially damaging manoeuvre as the sail slams across hard and has to be managed carefully.
'Tacking' turning the boat into the wind so the wind comes on the other side of the sails. Sometimes the boat sticks with the wind from dead ahead, and is said to be 'in irons'.
'Making an offing' getting clear of the land.
Ropes. There are no 'ropes' on board a sailing boat, what the layman calls ropes have specific names relating to their function...
Line. General term for a non-specific rope, used perhaps to lash – tie – something in place, a safety tether, or to pull a warp across to another ship for towing
Halyard – a rope that hoists something – a sail, yard or flag.
Boom – a spar, wood, metal or composite, along the bottom of a sail.
Sheet – a rope that controls the angle of a sail to the wind. NOT a sail.
Stay – a rope – usually wire – that supports a mast. Sometimes a sail is attached to a stay, usually the fore-stay, at the front of the boat, and it is called a 'stay-sail'.
Warp – a rope used to moor, anchor or tow a boat.
Yard – a spar, wood, metal or composite, across the top of a sail, usually on a 'square-rigged' ship, but also elsewhere, like a 'lug-sail'.
Types of boat. Sailing boats are described by various names, depending on the type of sail, number of masts, and so on. A 'Ketch' has two masts, the front one (the main-mast) larger than the back one (the mizzen-mast). The mizzen is set further forward, and is usually larger, than the mizzen on a 'Yawl', which also has two masts.
Cockpit – the place from where the boat is controlled. Usually at the back – the stern – but sometimes further forward with a cabin behind as in 'Serendipity'.
Buoys. Many different types. Most important are 'port-hand' buoys, which are red and on the left as you approach harbour, 'starboard-hand' buoys which are green and on the right as you approach harbour, and 'Cardinal' buoys which are yellow and placed to indicate hazards.
Winds – are described in terms of direction and strength. Google 'Beaufort Scale'.
Whipping – the technique of wrapping the 'bitter' end of a rope, or an eye-splice, with thin cord to protect it and stop strands lifting or separating.