DICTIONARY OF

Height 169 High
Height.* Elizabethan term for 'Latitude'.
Height of Tide. Distance that water level is above chart datum when due to tidal effect.
Height of Wave. Vertical distance from trough to crest expressed in feet. May, rarely,
exceed 70 feet.
Height Staff. Graduated rod used for measuring heights during the building of a vessel.
Heliacal Rising. The rising of a star or planet during morning twilight.
Heliocentric. Having Sun as a centre.
Heliometer. Instrument for finding solar time and latitude, when appropriately set, at noon.
Heliostat. Instrument used in hydrographic surveying for reflecting Sun's rays at one
observation station to another at distances up 40 miles or so. Used when direct observations
and identification of the station are not possible. 'Heliograph.'
Helm. Tiller by which a rudder is controlled. Also applied to the machinery by which a
rudder is controlled, and to the duty of controlling it.
Helmet. Brass cover over a compass carried in a binnacle. Usually carries the lighting
arrangements.
Helm Indicator. Pointer geared to steering wheel and moving over a graduated arc to
indicate amount of helm being used, and angular position of rudder.
Helm Orders. Orders given to a helmsman.
Helm Port. Opening through which a rudder stock passes into a ship.
Helm Port Transom. Wooden stiffener in way of a helm port.
'Helm's Alee.' Report made when under sail and going about. Warns personnel concerned
that vessel is coming up to the wind.
Helm Signal. Sound signal, or visual signal, made to another vessel in sight when altering
course under helm.
Helmsman. Person steering a vessel.
Helmstock.* Old name for a 'Tiller'.
Hemp. Vegetable fibre, largely from India, from which rope is made.
Hencoop. Enclosed framework in which fowl were formerly carried by sea-going ships.
Hercules. Northern constellation situated south of Draco and Hydra.
Hermaphrodite Brig. Former name for a brigantine. Brig rigged on foremast, schooner
rigged on mainmast.
Herring Buss.* Sailing drifter of 10 to 15 tons.
Herring Gull. Sometimes called 'Silvery Gull'. Common British species.
Hesperus. Name given to planet Venus when an evening star. Greek for 'Western'.
High. Alternative name for an anticyclone. A gyro compass is said to be 'high' when its
indication, in arc, is higher than it should be.