Working hard

Today's nautical word is "futtock" as in "futtock shrouds" which are much better explained by the intelligent seafaring updaters of Wikipedia.

Futtock is a great word...apart from sounding slightly naughty, it's not exactly an every day word, so it's great for impressing the ladies at parties.

And by impressing I mean showing off, not making them be sailors in the British navy.

Ha.

I've been listening to "The Golden Ocean" by Patrick O'Brian, which is his first book. It's not an Aubrey/Maturin novel and is about an actual voyage that took place in 1740. So in addition to being helplessly lost with the nautical dialogue and various intricacies, I now have no idea if anything is well-done, since there are no references to "Nelson would have approved." It's still an incredibly good story though. I'm only worried I'm going to run through all of O'Brians books in a matter of weeks and then be without suitable reading material for the rest of my life. Dear, dear, I shall have to pace myself...