Bow - the front of the boat.
Stern - back of the boat.
Guardrails - the fence to stop you falling overboard.
Main mast - the mast toward the front of the boat, which carries the mainsail and foresail. It's 24 metres high.
Main boom - the mainsail is attached to the main boom, which allows us to control how the sail is angled to the wind.
Coachroof - the roof over the saloon. We stow our dinghy (Little Jimmy) on the coachroof.
Companionway hatch - that's our door into the boat.
Mizzen mast - the smaller mast, which carries the mizzen sail and sometimes the mizzen staysail.
Cockpit - that's where we steer the boat and keep watch when we're sailing. The helm (steering wheel) and the ropes we use to trim the sails are controlled from the cockpit.
Helm - the steering wheel
Liferings - you'll always be clipped onto the boat with a harness and safety lines when we're at sea, so you shouldn't fall overboard, but if anyone does, we throw liferings in to keep you afloat.
Saloon - that's the living room and dining room while we're at sea. It has fold-away tables and seats along each side. The James Cook's engine room is under the saloon floor.
Lazarette - a big storage space at the very stern of the boat. It also contains the steering gear that links the helm to the rudder.
Keel - a large metal blade that hangs down from the hull into the water. It keeps the boat upright by balancing the force of the wind on the mast and sails, and it stops the wind pushing us sideways through the water, which means we can sail forwards.
Galley - the kitchen.
Heads - toilets. On old sailing ships the toilets were at the very front of the boat, sometimes known as the head of the boat, hence the name heads.
Forepeak - storage locker at the front of the boat. It's home the the many ropes we use to keep James Cook either sail ing or tied up when we're in harbour.
Pig pen - is where we stow most of James Cook's sails. We have 13 sails, and when not in use each is stored in its own bag and tied down either in the pig pen or in the dinghy.
Navigation table - this is our navigational and communications centre. The navigation table has our charts (maps), satellite navigation system, radar, radio and logbook. This is where the skipper and mate run the boat from when we are sailing.

For an introduction to the outside of the James Cook, the all important sails and rigging...next page.