Sailing the Italian Language

la barca
boat

When you go boating (andare in barca) in Italy, you don’t just leave the land behind. You enter a watery world teeming with new words.  

Una barca italiana may be a humble rowboat (barca a remi), a sailboat (barca a vela), a motor boat (motoscafo) or a splendid ship (nave), like the Amerigo Vespucci, a training ship for Italian mariners (above).  You can go on a cruise (in crociera) along Italy’s long coastline. Or you can board a ferry (traghetto) to travel to Italian islands (isole), such as Sardinia and Ponza. My favorite is the hydrofoil (aliscafi, from ali for wings) that shuttles visitors to Capri.

Once on board it’s important to know your way around. Starboard (to the right) translates as tribordo; port (to the left), as babordo. The bow or front of a barca is called the prua; the stern, the poppa; the helm, the timone. The word cambusa doubles as the name for a boat’s galley and for the on-board cook.

Depending on its size, a veliero  (sailing vessel) may have several masts, including the main mast (albero di maestra), jury mast (albero di fortuna), foremast (albero di trinchetto), mizenmast (albero di mezzana) and topmast (albero di perrocchetto). Of course, every boat needs an anchor (ancora),  which you raise (levare) or drop (gettare) -- and an ancora di salvezza or salvegente (life-preserver). 

In addition to a captain (il capitano), the crew (l’equipaggio) might include a navigator (navigatore) and sailors (marinai) who hoist (issare) and lower (calare) the sails (le vele).  My husband likes to joke that his job on board is that of the mozzo (ship’s  “boy”).

What does one wear in barca?  A professional sailor would dress in a divisa da marinaio (sailor’s uniform) and a cappello alla marinara (sailor hat). Private boaters might opt for vestiti alla marinara (sailor-style clothes).

Even far from a marina (porticciolo turistico), you’re likely to hear una barca di (a lot of) nautical sayings.  On land or sea you and your companions might be stranded by a storm and end up nella stessa barca (in the same boat).  In hard times, you may have to do whatever you can to mandare avanti la barca  (send the boat forward, keep a family afloat) or barcamenarsi (manage, cope somehow).

If you find yourself navigare in cattive acque (sailing in bad waters, the equivalent of skating on thin ice), don’t tirare i remi in barca (draw the oars on the boat or give up.) But if you hear the cry “Scialuppe a mare!”, it’s  time to  launch the lifeboats or face the worst of a seaman’s fates:  naufragare (to shipwreck) and annegare (to drown). Remember: In tempo di tempesta ogni buco è un porto. (Any port in a storm.)

If you’re prone to mal di mare (seasickness) in mare mosso (rough seas), you may prefer to be a  marinaio della domenica (Sunday or fair-weather sailor). Better yet, stick to navigare su internet  (sailing the web).

Words and Expressions

tela da vele  -- sail cloth
porticciolo --  small harbour
a gonfie vele  -- at full sail,  things are going very well
vaporetto -- steamboat, waterbus (in Venice)
zattera -- raft

DIanne Hales is the author of La Bella Lingua, My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.

Comments

[Salvatore Prisco]

We too enjoy traveling to Capri as a favorite
destination, and have seen the island in all sorts of weather. One of the worst crossings we had was in June of 2007 in a driving rain storm that produced "mare mosso." It was so cold that Caprians
told us the weather was much more like novembre than
giugno. It is amazing how different an island can
appear under dramatic weather conditions.

[LindyLouMac]

Yet another immensely interesting and useful post, thankyou.

[valtrex online]

I like this information: "In hard times, you may have to do whatever you can to mandare avanti la barca (send the boat forward, keep a family afloat) or barcamenarsi (manage, cope somehow)..." is very interesting!!!