DICTIONARY OF

Cowl 100 Crevasse
Cowl. Metal fitting for collecting and directing an air-stream to a particular space.
Cowner.* Old corruption of ship's 'counter'.
Coxcomb. 'Cockscomb.'
Coxswain. Person who steers a boat and is in charge of crew.
Crab. Winch whose axis lies in a fore and aft line. Originally a portable hand winch used in
sailing ships for hauling on topsail halyards, fore and main sheets, and for working cargo.
Crachin. Northerly wind bringing drizzle and mist, occurring between January and April in
the China Sea.
Crackerhash. 'Crackerjack.'
Crackerjack. Hash made of preserved meat, broken biscuit and any other available
ingredient.
Crack On. To carry sail to full limit of strength of masts, yards and tackles.
Cradle. Framework of iron or wood, resting on launching ways, that supports a ship under
construction for about three-quarters of her length. Slides down the ways when ship is
launched. 2. Padded box in which horses, etc, are hoisted aboard. 3. Railed stage used for
painting ship's side, or for repairs, when ship is in dry dock.
Craft. Vessel or vessels of practically any size or type.
Cran. Fish measure equivalent to 37 ½ gallons, or 420 Ib. of herrings.
Cranage. Money paid for use of cranes. 2. Outfit of cranes in a port.
Crance Iron. Iron rigging band at extremity of jib boom or bowsprit. Sometimes applied to
any boom iron.
Crane. Machine for hoisting or lowering heavy weights. Name is also given to a projecting
bracket, or pillar with curved arms, used for supporting booms or spars.
Crank. Said of a vessel with small stability, whether due to build or to stowage of cargo.
2.*Iron braces that supported lanterns at quarters of poop.
Cranse Iron. 'Crance Iron.'
Grayer. Three-masted, square-rigged merchant vessel of Tudor times.
Creek. Inlet on sea coast. Short arm of a river. 2. Seaside town that is not of sufficient
importance to be a Customs station.
Creep. To search for a sunken object by towing a grapnel along bottom. 2. Gradual and
steady deformation of a metal fitting when under stress.
Creeper. 'Grapnel.'
Crepuscular Rays. Coloured rays radiating from the Sun when it is below visible horizon
but above crepusculum. Results in alternate dark and light rays being visible across sky.
Caused by light being broken up by clouds or intervening mountains.
Crepusculum. Twilight circle. Small circle parallel to horizon and about 18° below it.
Crescent. Moon's shape from new moon until first quarter.
Crevasse. Crack in an ice sheet.