A Glossary of Prospector Terms (in no particular order)
A Glossary of Prospector Terms (in no particular order)
Quinn Tobin is Prospector’s linguist. He applies his particular and often peculiar
sensibilities to all aspects of Prospector’s equipment, operations and daily
routines. You can’t understand Prospector if you don’t know DialQ, a language
Quinn invented. This might be helpful.
Supermodel: Our A2-4 masthead spinnaker. Tall and curvy, she is very beautiful
but extremely high maintenance. She will give you plenty of trouble if you don’t
pay the utmost attention to her.
The Girl Next Door: Our fractional A-5 spinnaker. Safe and reliable, the GND is
easy to handle and trim. Lately the boys have been referring to her as Caitlin
Jenner following an unfortunate incident that required extensive surgery to fix.
The Green Monster: The toilet seat in the head, painted green in honor of our
beloved navigator.
The Silk Road: The pathway between the galley/head area and the forepeak.
This is the most heavily travelled area of the boat.
Lindsey Vonn: Our number five jib. She is very beautiful, very sturdy, and always
comes through in the clutch.
The Drive Thru Window: A cockpit portlight that opens to the galley. Food and
beverages are distributed to the on deck crew from here in foul weather.
Pol Pot: The persona assumed by our beloved navigator when he doesn’t get
enough sleep.
The Carbon Cabana: Also referred to as steerage, this is the below deck area at
the very back of the boat where our nippers Scotty and Lu sleep and do strange
things that no one wants to know about.
The General: Our Genoa Staysail. Set just behind the headsail, the General
doesn’t go to the front lines but he is always ready to lead the charge.
The Third Dolphin: If you know, then you know.
Cambodia: The starboard lower bunk in the main salon. Pol Pot can often be
found sleeping here.
Spin Class With Henry (aka All Aboard the Pain Train): The unlucky position of
being main grinder when Henry is trimming the mainsail and Dave is lawn darting.
The tone in Henry’s voice will let you know how much it is about to hurt.
Owner’s Stateroom: The dark cave portside aft with three bunks where
Brendan, Paul, and sometimes Larry have their bunks
Owners Changing Room (aka The Group W Bench): The bench just outside the
Owner’s stateroom. A perfect place to get into or remove your foulies.
Colette’s Stateroom: The starboard side companion to the Owner’s Stateroom.
ESU: Emergency Services Unit. Led by Tery and assisted by various off watch
crewmembers, the ESU responds to on deck emergencies to help shorten sail or
take jibs/kites down. Its motto is “You flag ‘em, we bag ‘em”
Bear Claw: A sheet hobbling device that was initially met with much derision by
the Prospector crew. However, with time the boys have come to appreciate the
invaluable service provided by the Bear Claw.
Poking the Bear: Sailing too close to a low pressure system. (See also: The
Widowmaker)
Bikes: Arm-driven handles that power the mainsheet and primary winches. (See
also: The Midget)
Baptismal Font: The nickname given our offshore companionway hood.
Mulligan – Ever Elusive: Spending a watch in your bunk instead of on deck when
you are perfectly capable of standing said watch. This never happens. Sorry
Dave.
Monkey: The act of bouncing along with the new active sheet during a jibe. Its
effect is to tension the leach of the spinnaker and snap the twist out of the head.
Dryer: An extremely valuable device invented by Tery, the Dryer is a tray in the
engine room for drying hats, gloves, and socks. Accessed through a trapdoor in
the galley counter.
Sched: Fleet position update. The obsession of racing navigators the world over.
Offshore race boats live and die by the Sched. Updated on the half hour during
the TR 2015.
Cranky: What our navigator is when we have a bad Sched, which may lead to Pol
Pot making an appearance.
Get The Lulu: What is said when an item or is too heavy for the old guys to lift.
The Deflect: What you get when you try to get an answer or commitment from
our sailmaker.
BFL: Big F***ing Light. A large flashlight with many thousands of lumens.
The Widowmaker: The low pressure system that we got a bit too close to, that
tried to kill us.
Longboarding: Benign surfing conditions. A less aggressive version of the Lawn
Dart.
Lawn Dart: A big wave surf. So named because the Prospector’s bowsprit often
pierces the next wave in the train, much like a lawn dart.
North Atlantic Boat Racoon: Our nickname for Scotty who is found constantly
eating out of the cooler of left over freeze dried in the early morning hours.
Always armed with his “Racoon Spoon”, he is something of a human garbage
disposal, which explains his frequent gastrointestinal distress. This usually leads
to the administration of a cocktail of stomach medicines by Dr. Dave.
The Midget: The mainsheet winch bike. It seems just a bit too short.
The Keystay: An ingenious device devised by Tim Keyworth, aka Keys. The
Keystay consists of a masthead halyard led back to a padeye on the weather rail
which helps to stabilize the topmast when flying The Supermodel.
Moneypenny: Our number four jib. It is our money sail when things get sporty.