C
CABIN to To CALK, or CAULK
CABIN
CABLE
Stream-CABLE
To bit the CABLE
To serve the CABLE
Heave in the CABLE!
Pay away the CABLE!
CABLES length
To CALK, or CAULK
CALL to CANNON
CANNON to CANOE
CANOE to To rig the CAPSTERN
Surge the CAPSTERN to CARPENTER of a ship
CARTEL to CATS-PAW
CAULKING to CHANNEL
CHANNELS to CHEARLY
CHEEKS of the mast to CLINCH
CLINCHER-WORK to COASTING-PILOT
COAT to COLLIERS
COLOURS to COMPASS
COMPASSING to COVE
COUNTER to CRAWL
CREEPER to CROW-FOOT
CROWNING to CUT-WATER
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To CALK, or CAULK
To CALK, or CAULK, (calfater, probably from calage, Fr. hemp) to drive a quantity of oakum, or old ropes untwisted and drawn asunder, into the seams of the planks, or into the intervals where the planks are joined to each other in the ship's decks or sides, in order to prevent the entrance of water. After the oakum is driven very hard into these seams, it is covered with hot melted pitch or resin, to keep the water from rotting it.Amongst the ancients, the first who made use of pitch in calking, were the inhabitants of Phaeacia, afterwards called Corsica. Wax and resin appear to have been commonly used previous to that period; and the Poles at this time use a sort of unctuous clay for the same purpose, on their navigable rivers.
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© Derived from Thomas Cadell's new corrected edition, London: 1780, page 60, 2003
Prepared by Paul Turnbull
http://southseas.nla.gov.au/refs/falc/0255.html