Friday, January 29, 2010

Ever Wondered What "Heave To and Trice Up" Means?

Mike Rhyner has taken to using this phrase in his introduction to the Hardline program.

The phrase apparently has a couple of meanings from military naval usages.   It is more frequently expressed as "heave out and trice up."

In former days, it reportedly was a call to the crew to get out of bed (hammocks, whatever) and assemble on the deck to view floggings administered as discipline to crew members. All sailors were required to be present to view the punishment.

More recently, it is a call to the crew to get out of their bunks and fold the bunks up to the wall and secure them there.

If I get any other (better) explanations, I'll post.

13 comments:

  1. "Heave to", also "hove to" is a nautical term in which one backwinds their foresail and turns the tiller to oppose it. The boat can't sail in this config and gently drifts with the wind. It's generally used to weather a storm or as a pause in sailing, for maintenance or feeding the crew.

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  2. You speak with the voice of authority, Anonymous. However, I'm thinking that my definition (of course, I got it from Googling the phrase -- I have no expertise in oceangoing terminology) sounds more like what Mike R is conveying when he urges the P1 Nation to "heave to and trice up." Thanks, your erudition is most welcome.

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  3. The captain of our small Navy ship flipped out when he heard a the novice watch announce his own version as "Heave up and trice to". We all received a lecture on just where that phrase came from!

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  4. What about "bill about smartly" and what is the entire phrase its been awhile since I have heard them play the whole thing at the beginning of the hardline...

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    1. Mill about smartly

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    2. it means take the cannons and pull them into firing position (heave to), batten them down (trice up)

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  5. I thought it was mill about smartly

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  6. I thought it was mill about smartly

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  7. Laserman says.... AS one who used it over the 1MC whilst on watch.... it's meaning was to get your butts outta bed, make up that bed and square away your designated living space. Albeit that was only for those that were working during the daytime. Watch standers on alternate schedules were allowed to sleep in.
    The saying came from the time when Navy beds were hammocks and needed to be secured during the day.
    Aboard sailing ships discipline was carried out whenever the Captain deemed it necessary. Not always by scheduled times. Normally as close to the infraction time the better. Fair winds and good seas to ya.....

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    1. It’s fair winds and following seas.

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  8. Four years ago I posted this full transcript of Rhyner's monologue: https://paulsagemarketing.com/2017/03/09/what-mike-rhyner-says-every-day-around-330-on-the-ticket-ktck/
    I transcribed the phrase as "HEED to" because that's what I hear when I listen the the playback. I could be wrong. I tried to remain agnostic of nautical vernacular and write what I heard.

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    1. Paul Sage. You are. Wrong I mean. It is "heave to". It is a position of ship control by a coxwain or helmsman. It is found in modern times to also apply to the actions of personnel. There is a tremendous amount of history in my Navy. An example of a broadened use of phrase, look up "getting your ashes hauled". This is an example of a term morphing to become something different than it was originally intended.

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  9. Dear Anonymous: I know HEAVE TO is the proper term, but when listening to Mike Rhyner's recitation many times, it always sounded like HEED TO. Mr. Rhyner was never in the Navy.

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