Glossary: A Hitchhikers Guide to Berriland


Alphabetic listing of places, words, phrases and acronyms with their definitions, carefully and skilfully crafted by Alex’s sister, Isabella. Crib for the underlying themes and jokes.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
G&T - Gin and Tonic
Gareloi - A volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, USA. More on Wikipedia.
Geezer - Dictionaries define a geezer as an old person, generally an eccentric old man. Its origin likely in the word masquerader (colloquially, guiser) from Middle English gysar. Go figure, as the Americans say.
Gerzillions - An awful lot of something: usually stars
Gizmo - Some kind of gadget or other, normally infuriating
Glenfiddich - Malt whisky: a well known Scots Consultant
Gooseneck - The fitting that connects the boom or a spinnaker pole to the mast.
Gosford-Lord Howe - Gosford-Lord Howe race:?
Great Bear - Great Bear / Ursa Major / The Plough / The Saucepan: names for the same defining constellation in northern hemisphere
Great Circle - See here (Wikipedia)
Greenies - When waves come over the boat as solid water rather than spray they can exert massive force. Usually the water runs down the sides of the boat and out through the scuppers. Your more determined greenie (not to be confused with a conservationist) will send a flooding wall of water across the cabin top, over the dodger and into the cockpit and it may smash anything it meets on the way; see also Dodger, Scuppers
Grib - Weather files. Graphics in Binary file: GRIB files associate a specific weather datum (eg wind velocity or atmospheric pressure) with a geographic position. Because the resulting file is a collection of these points they are extremely small and so ideal over slow links such as sailmail.
Groupama - In this context a massive trimaran attempting a round-the-world record for the Jules Verne Trophy. They overtook us twice – once before we reached Cape Town on their first attempt which they abandoned after damaging a hull. They preceded us into Cape Town and we visited them there. They sailed back to France and set off again and overtook us way to the south before we reached Hobart. More about Groupama here (Wikipedia)
Gunwale Bum - Lesions, looking like pimples on the bum, caused by pressure, chafing, heat, damp etc; sometimes known as spotty botty, skipper’s seat or barnacle butt. . Unbelievably painful and irritating.
Gust Book - The Guest Book on the Berri site, so named to prevent spammers finding it to offer, or request unusual services and medications. The Gust book is here.
Gusts - Short increases in wind speed – or people who signed the Gust Book.
Gybe - Gybe - A sailing term for turning the boat so that the stern passes through the wind. Potentially dangerous if not controlled because the wind can fill an uncontrolled mainsail from the wrong side and crash it across the boat, possibly causing damage to the rig and anyone getting in the way.