Afloat Xword 62  

Compiled by John Gray  

Athwart

  1 Sinks lower into the water – or eases a fall or tackle slightly (7) 
  5 Merchant vessel, usually tanker or grain ship, fitted in wartime with temporary flying deck to provide for landbased aircraft (7) 
  9 The piece of hide, wood or iron secured to backstays or shrouds to prevent running rigging from chafing (9) 
  10 Point on the celestial sphere directly below where one is standing (5) 
  11 Circular loops, in the shrouds or stays, where they pass over the masts at the hounds (4) 
  12 His anode is enough for the attraction between the surfaces of two bodies (8) 
  15 Small blocks of wood or brackets attached to spars or masts to support other spars attached to them (7) 
  17 Term for the reversion of a ship from operational to non-operational reserve (4,3) 
  18 A portion of a glacial ice discharged into the sea (7) 
  20 Maritime term for a piece of low-lying ice which has broken off the ice pack and is dark in colour (7) 
  21 The plotting line joining points of equal temperature (8) 
  22 Some names can hold a prophetic sign (4) 
  26 He had a Lua mixture in his Hawaiian tree (5) 
  27 Sailor’s name for the storm petrel (9) 
  28 A sea pen with the 24th letter creates a wide open space (7) 
  29 The place where seals are regularly hunted for their skins (7)

Below

  1 Term to describe a ship that is built to the same design as another (6,4) 
  2 A wooden brace for an oar set in a boat’s gunwale (5) 
  3 To attach a sail to a gaff or boom by passing a rope through eyelet holes and then round the spar (4) 
  4 Typical small and light boats of oriental waters and rivers, propelled by one scull over their sterns (7) 
  5 Term for a form of ceremonious salute in a warship by aligning the ship’s sailors along the yards and rigging (3,4) 
  6 Constellation: The lesser dog (5,5) 
  7 A type of craft lifted clear of the water at high speed by planes or foils (9) 
  8 Slang term for an allowance in cash for a particular office or employment (4) 
  13 Generic term used during the war to describe auxiliary support vessels which accompanied the fleet providing ammunitions and stores replenishments (5,5) 
  14 This way the ferry often will predispose audacity or cheekiness (10) 
  16 To decorate a yacht with flags on the day the yachting club holds it’s annual regatta (5,4) 
  19 A Mediterranean wind blowing from the north-east, normally associated to Malta and Sicily (7) 
  20 Two concentric metal rings which form mountings for compasses and chronometers aboard ship (7) 
  23 A seam in a triangular sail such as a staysail or jib where cloths which run in two directions are joined (5) 
  24 The position of the helm of a yacht when pushed down to leeward in order to tack or to bring her bows up into the wind (4) 
  25 A violent easterly squall in upper part of the Adriatic Sea (4)

Answers to Xword 62