What the *$^% is: Careening

Wooden ships are highly succeptable to rot, parasites and other things that could destroy the integrity of their hulls. Therefore, every few voyages a ship has to be pulled onshore and its hull exposed so that pieces can be replaced, treated, and otherwise refurbished. This is still true of ships today.

The same sort of repairs take place in dry docks, but most pirates didn't have access to such luxury.

What the *$^% is a: Quartermaster?

A Quartermaster enforces discipline aboard ship; sometimes the same job as the Bo’sun. They were elected by the crew and were the second most powerful men aboard ship and had veto power of the Captain's orders as long as they were not in the middle of a battle.

Quartermasters led raiding parties onto other ships and some Quartermasters, notably Captain Jack Rackham succeeded to command their own ships and become captains in their own rights.

Pirate Symbols- The Black Spot

This, like parrots, planks and eye patches, is one of the famous accouterments of pirate life, or in this case, death. When a pirate had done something truly awful, and usually, done several things truly awful, and usually, several truly awful things, pretty often to many of his friends, he was given a death sentence. The mark of this sentence was a black spot of ink on a page ripped from the bible. It informed the soon to be deceased that his time had come.

From Treasure Island to Pirates of the Caribbean The Black Spot is a staple of Pirate movies and stories.

What the *$^% is a: Cabin Boy?

A Cabin Boy is a boy usually between the ages of six and twelve who tends to the ship's quarters and runs errands aboard ship. These boys were usually onboard as apprentice sailors, and often received an education in navigation or other important seafaring skills.

These boys may have been powder boys when they were younger.

Cabin Boys feature prominently in many folk ballads and stories like Treasure Island.

What the *$^% is: Grog

Grog - Refers traditionally to a mixture of alcohol and water.

Today Grog can refer to any number of drinks usually involving rum, usually pirate themed.

In Australia and New Zealand it means pretty much any alcoholic drink.

Ironically, while most people associate Grog with pirates and sailors accounts show that they prefered Bumboo, rum mixed with water, sugar and nutmeg.

What the *$^% is a: Bo'sun?

Boatswain or Bo’sun, aka Third or Fourth Mate

Foreman of the ship’s crew he disciplines the crewmembers and is responsible for anchors, colors, rigging, deck crew and ship’s boats; He signals the crew in their jobs with a code of whistles.

What the *$^% is a: Cooper?

A Cooper

A cooper is person who makes barrels. Barrels are extremely important aboard ship because they hold fresh water among pretty much everything else. Having a cooper aboard ship means that you can fix these barrels and make more if necessary.

While this skill probably wasn't a skill that kept a person busy all the time, being a cooper was definitely enough to make a man valuable.