DICTIONARY OF

Peeving Beetle 276 Relative Bearing
Reeving Beetle. Heaviest mallet used by caulkers.
Reeving Iron. Wedge-shaped tool, of steel or iron, used when reeving.
Refit. Removal of worn or damaged gear and fitting of new gear in replacement.
Reflecting Circle. Instrument of the sextant type but having a limb graduated through 360°.
Besides being able to measure large angles it has the further advantage that, by reversing the
instrument, two observations can be taken - in opposite directions - and any error of the
instrument will cancel out when the mean of the two values is taken. Invented by Mayer in
1744. Improved by both Troughton and Borda.
Reflecting Sector.* Name given to a sextant, quadrant or octant to differentiate it from a
reflecting circle.
Reflecting Telescope. Telescope in which the image is enlarged by increasing the angle of
the rays from it by the use of paraboidal mirrors.
Reflection. A throwing back of light rays, or heat rays. Sometimes applied to sound waves.
2. An image that is observed through reflection.
Refloat. To float again. In Elizabethan days it often meant a 'flowing back'.
Refracting Telescope. One in which the enlargement of the image is obtained by the use of
lenses that refract rays from an observed body through an angle larger than that subtended at
the naked eye.
Refraction. Deflection, or bending, of a ray of light, heat or radiant energy, as it passes from
surface of one medium into another medium of different density.
Regatta. Originally, a gondola race; now, a gathering of yachts or i boats for racing.
Register. Written document or book in which specific information is entered. Specifically
applied to a ship's 'Certificate of Registry‘.
Register Tonnage. Measurement of a ship, based on internal capacity, as entered in her
Certificate of Registry. Can be 'Nett' or 'Gross'.
Registrar. One whose duty is to keep a register or record. Chief Officers of Customs are
usually registrars of shipping.
Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. Official of Department of Trade. He is
responsible for keeping records of British ships, and of the men serving in them.
Registration of Ship. Legal procedure by which a vessel acquires British nationality on
building, or by transfer.
Regression. Backward movement of Moon's nodes around Ecliptic. Amount is nearly 19°
20' each year, so that this backward circle repeats every 18.6 years. This is considered in
tidal prediction.
Regulus. Star Leonis. S.H.A. 208°; Dec. N12N°; Mag. 1.3. Name is Latin for 'Petty King'.
Relative Bearing. Direction of an observed object when expressed as an angle with ship's
fore and aft line.