The bow is the front of a boat and the stern is the back. Anything towards the bow is forward, and anything towards the stern is aft.
The bow is the front of the boat, the pointed end that leads through the water. The stern is the back. Moving towards the bow is going forward, and moving towards the stern is going aft. Something behind the boat altogether is astern, and something in front of her is ahead.
These words are combined with port and starboard to describe directions precisely:
- The bow also means the forward corner of each side, so a ship “on the starboard bow” is ahead and to the right.
- The quarter is the aft corner of each side, so a boat “on the port quarter” is behind and to the left.
- Abeam, or “on the beam”, means out to the side, at right angles to the boat. The beam is also the boat’s width at her widest point.
Other parts are named from the bow and stern too. The foredeck is the deck near the bow, where the anchor and the jib are handled. The transom is the flat, or nearly flat, surface across the stern, and many modern yachts have a swim platform or boarding steps in it. The forestay runs from the bow to the top of the mast, and the backstay from the top of the mast to the stern.
“Fender aft on the port side” is quicker and clearer than pointing, and it means the same to everyone aboard whichever way they are facing.
More in the book: Chapter 1, The sailing boat