this instrument is to find the hour of the day, the sun's azimuth, and
other common problems of the globe; as also to take the altitude of an
object in degrees.

GUNWALE, OR GUNNEL. Nearly synonymous with _plank-sheer_ (which see);
but its strict application is that horizontal plank which covers the
heads of the timbers between the main and fore drifts. The _gunwale of a
boat_ is a piece of timber going round the upper sheer-strake as a
binder for its top-work.--_Gunwale-to._ Vessels heeling over, so that
the gunwale is even with the water. When a boat sails with a free wind,
and rolls each side, or gunwale, to the water's edge, she rolls
gunwale-to.

GURGE. A gulf or whirlpool.

GURNARD. A fish of the genus _Trigla_, so called from its peculiar grunt
when removed from the water. Falstaff uses the term "soused gurnet" in a
most contemptuous view, owing to its poorness; and its head being all
skin and bone gave rise to the saying that the flesh on a gurnard's head
is rank poison.

GURNET-PENDANT. A rope, the thimble of which is hooked to the
quarter-tackle of the main-yard; it is led through a hole in the deck,
for the purpose of raising the breech of a gun, when hoisting in, to the
level required to place it on its carriage.

GUSSOCK. An east-country term for a strong and sudden gust of wind.

GUST, OR GUSH. A sudden violent wind experienced near mountainous lands;
it is of short duration, and generally succeeded by fine breezes.

GUT. A somewhat coarse term for the main part of a strait or channel, as
the Gut of Gibraltar, Gut of Canso.

GUTTER [Anglo-Saxon _geotan_, to pour out or shed]. A ditch, sluice, or
gote.

GUTTER-LEDGE. A cross-bar laid along the middle of a large hatchway in
some vessels, to support the covers and enable them the better to
sustain any weighty body.

GUY. A rope used to steady a weighty body from swinging against the
ship's side while it is hoisting or lowering, particularly when, there
is a high sea. Also, a rope extended from the head of sheers, and made
fast at a distance on each side to steady them. The jib-boom is
supported by its guys. Also, the name of a tackle used to confine a boom
forward, when a vessel is going large, and so prevent the sail from
gybing, which would endanger the springing of the boom, or perhaps the
upsetting of the vessel. Also, a large slack rope, extending from the
head of the main-mast to the head of the fore-mast, and sustaining a
temporary tackle