Fun Fo'c'sle fundamentals

Today was nautical terminology day here at the Center for Nautical Terminology. Come to think of it, every day is! Reid, Carter and I had an intensive session that focused on many diverse and substantive skills in the art of sailing, marauding, piracy, and merchant-marine protocol. Here are the terms they shall be quizzed on tomorrow:

port, starboard, aft, fore, lifeboat, sextant, bilge, captain, Love Boat, PT-109, Das Boot, head, Davey Jones' locker, keelhaul, bluebeard, blackbeard, variant astrological tracking (I made that one up!) and landlubber (whose synonym is daddy).

We are finalizing the guest speaker appearance of Mr. Bob Ballard of Wood's Hole Oceanographic Something or other in Massachusetts. This may be delayed as he is explaining to James Cameron that making a 3-D movie called "Raise the Britannic" may not appeal to anyone.

After tomorrow's quiz, we shall have a hands-on interactive lesson on the fine art of swashbuckling. Please excuse me as I have to go find my sword now. The best I can remember, I left it skewered through a gigantic tofu club sandwich.