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Learn the boating lingo

Do you know your port from your starboard? Do you know the difference between an on-line and an off-line mooring?

If not, the Waterscape.com beginners' terminology is just what you need to brush up on your boating language.

A - L

Aft / stern – back of a boat.

Anti-vandal key - commonly used on locks in areas where vandalism is present. For information, call Customer Services on 0845 6715530. Also known as conservation key and handcuff key.

Beam –a boat’s width.

Bow – pointed front of the boat.

Breasted pair – two boats moored together.

Butty boat – a narrowboat without an engine, usually towed behind or alongside a powered narrowboat, has an open hold to carry cargo.

BWB key - Opens sanitary stations, waterpoints and some swing bridges and locks. Also known as a sanitary key and watermate key.

Cill – "doorsteps" inside the lock, on which the lock gates sit.

Conservation key - commonly used on locks in areas where vandalism is present. For information, call Customer Services on 0845 6715530. Also known as an anti-vandal key and handcuff key.

Cut – another term for a canal: workers ‘cut’ the ditches to make the canals.

Draught – the depth of a boat / how deep it is under water.

Electricity card – to purchase units of electricity to use facilities.

Elsan disposal – place to empty disposable toilets.

Flight of locks – locks which follow one another in quick succession, with a short section (pound) in between.

Galley – a boat’s kitchen.

Gangplank - a plank used for getting on and off when the boat won’t quite reach the bank.

Gangplank on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal

Gongoozler – someone who stands on the towpath watching the boats.

Guillotine locks – a lock where the lock gate is wound upwards like the blade of a guillotine.

Handcuff key – commonly used on locks in areas where vandalism is present. For information, call Customer Services on 0845 6715530. Also known as an anti-vandal key and conservation key

Hull – the main body of a boat, not including the cabin.

Inclined plane – a structure used to raise or lower boats from one section of the waterway to another in water filled troughs. There are no working inclined planes in Britain.

Junction – where two or more canals meet.

Lift bridges – a bridge that needs to be lifted for a boat to pass underneath. These are usually found in rural areas. They can be manually, mechanically or electronically operated.