Gam (nautical Term)
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Gam is a nautical term to describe one
whaling ship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
(or "whaler") paying a social visit to another at sea. The term was first used to describe a school of whales, and whalemen may have taken its meaning from that source.


Examples

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
titles Chapter 53 of ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'', "The Gam." After explaining that the word does not appear in dictionaries, he gives his own definition: ::GAM. Noun - A social meeting of two (or more) Whale-ships, generally on a cruising- ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats' crews: the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship, and the two chief mates on the other. He then expounds its meaning for whalers: ::What does the whaler do when she meets another whaler in any sort of decent weather? She has a "Gam", a thing so utterly unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the name even; and if by chance they should hear of it, they only grin at it, and repeat gamesome stuff about "spouters" and "blubber- boilers," and such like pretty exclamations. William Hussey Macy describes the meeting of two ships at sea as a "beautiful and imposing sight". He describes a "good old-fashioned 'gam'" as "rough entertainment," but with a "vein of politeness and deference to their guests... which might be studied with profit by many accostomed to more courtly circles." Macy reported that "a man who should overstep certain bonds in his intercourse with visitors from a strange ship... would be taken to task unmercifully by his shipmates." A gam would also be the occasion for the exchange of newspapers, perhaps letters, and tobacco. pp
99-101, 107, 311
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See also

*
Glossary of nautical terms (disambiguation) Glossary of nautical terms may refer to: * Glossary of nautical terms (A–L) This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though n ...


References

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External links


Vessels and Terminology
New Bedford Whaling Museum The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the colonial region of Old Dartmouth (now the city of New B ...
Nautical terminology Moby-Dick