DICTIONARY OF

Fluted Shackle 141 Food Scale
Fluted Shackle. Has a grooved pin and a corresponding groove in lug. When these grooves
are aligned a locking-pin is inserted.
Fly. Lengthwise expanse of a flag. 2. Old name for a compass card.
Fly Block. Double or single block used as upper purchase block of topsail halliards.
Fly Boat. Fast boat used for passenger and cargo traffic in fairly sheltered waters.
Flying Bridge. Light fore and aft bridge above main deck.
Flying Dutchman. Phantom vessel, commanded by Vanderdecken, said to be met with off
Cape of Good Hope. Was sighted and reported by H.M.S. 'Bacchante' at 4 a.m., 11 th July,
1881.
Flying Jib. Sail set on outer fore topgallant stay (or flying jib stay). Foremost of fore and aft
sails.
Flying Jib Boom. Either the outer length of jib boom, or a separate boom extending forward
of it.
Flying Kites. Fine weather upper sails.
Flying Light. Said of a vessel when in ballast and her draught marks are well above water
line.
Flying Moor. Alternative name for 'Running Moor'.
Flying Pier. Light and temporary pier erected for embarkation or disembarkation.
Flying Skysail. Skysail with yard attached to sail and sent aloft on truck halliards; clews
being stopped to royal yard. Was the earliest form of skysail.
Fly to. To come to the wind quickly while under sail.
Foam. Whitish froth that appears when water is agitated. It is generated more quickly in salt
water than in fresh, consisting of a mass of bubbles containing air.
Fog. Impaired visibility near sea level caused by small particles of moisture suspended in
air. Is usually a cloud at sea level, but may be due to smoke when in vicinity of land. A
combination of smoke and fog is particularly dense. Meteorologists consider fog
to exist when visibility is less than half a mile; seamen make this limit one mile.
Fog Bank. Low-lying dense fog.
Fog Bell. Bell rung by anchored vessel in fog, in accordance with international regulations.
Sometimes applied to a bell rung in fog by a lighthouse, or at a pier end. Occasionally
applied to bell on a moored buoy.
Fog Bow. White 'rainbow' sometimes seen opposite to Sun during fog.
Fog Horizon. Near horizon as observed in foggy weather.
Fohn. A warm dry wind blowing down the leeward slopes of a mountain range.
Following Sea. Sea that runs, approximately, in direction of ship's course.
Fomalhaut. Star Piscis Australis. S.H.A. 16°; Dec. 230°; Mag. 1.3. Name is Arabic for
'Mouth of the big fish'.
Food Scale. Statutory scale of food for seamen. Laid down by Merchant Shipping Act and
Order in Council.