It struck me immediately how ill equipped I am to discuss anything boat-y. Not only do I have almost absolutely no idea what I am talking about, I also have no idea about the vocab. How do I respond when someone offers to shotblast my gunwhales? Where are my gunnels? All I know is that draft certainly doesn’t refer to beer.

The fact that most of the limited time I have spent on the water was in the bows of an eight rowing  boat only makes things more confusing… I was at the back of the crew but also at the front… so which end is the bows? And how on earth do I refer to the steer-y thing in the picture below?

Time for a good old diagram. Most seem to relate to full on sailing boats or to power launch type things. Perhaps I should get on Amazon and find a copy of “Boat building for Beginners” or “My First Boat” or such like. Any recommendations welcome.