1/18/10 4:55 PM
The rope that ties the boat to the dock is called the “painter.”
Not sure why that is, but most nautical terms are pretty mysterious – shroud, mizzen, gunter – the list goes on. I remember part of the struggle of reading Moby Dick in middle school was trying to translate the terminology into some mental picture that made any sense at all. And the fact that Eddie Glenn stole my copy and added ” ‘s” to the end of Moby on the front cover. Funny how you can cherish a grudge for thirty five years.
This one does resemble a brush at the moment, though…
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