CHAMBERS. Clear spaces between the riders, in those vessels which have floor and futtock riders.
CHAMFER. The cutting or taking off a sharp edge or angle from a plank or timber. It is also called camfering.
CHAMPION. The great champion of England, who at the coronation of the sovereign throws down his gauntlet, and defies all comers. Held at the coronations of George IV., William IV., and Victoria, by a naval officer, a middy in 1821.
CHANCERY, IN. When a ship gets into irons. (_See_ IRONS.)
CHANDLER, SHIP. Dealer in general stores for ships.
CHANGE. In warrantry, is the voluntary substitution of a different voyage for a merchant ship than the one originally specified or agreed upon, an act which discharges the insurers. (_See_ DEVIATION.)
CHANGEY-FOR-CHANGEY. A rude barter among men-of-war's men, as bread for vegetables, or any "swap."
CHANNEL. In hydrography, the fair-way, or deepest part of a river, harbour, or strait, which is most convenient for the track of shipping. Also, an arm of the sea, or water communication running between an island or islands and the main or continent, as the British Channel. In an extended sense it implies any passage which separates lands, and leads from one ocean into another, without distinction as to shape.
CHANNEL-BOLTS. The long bolts which pass through all the planks, and connect the channel to the side.
CHANNEL-GROPERS. The home-station ships cruising in the Channel; usually small vessels to watch the coast in former times, and to arrest smugglers.
CHANNEL-GROPING. The carrying despatches, and cruising from port to port in soundings.
CHANNEL-WALES. Strakes worked between the gun-deck and the upper deck ports of large ships. Also, the outside plank which receives the bolts of the chain-plates. The wale-plank extends fore and aft to support the channels.
CHANTICLEER. A name in the Frith of Forth for the dragonet or gowdie (_Callionymus lyra_). The early or vigilant cock, from which several English vessels of war have derived their names.
CHAP. A general term for a man of any age after boyhood; but it is not generally meant as a compliment.
CHAPE. The top locket of a sword scabbard.
CHAPELLING A SHIP. The act of turning her round in a light breeze, when she is close hauled, without bracing the head-yards, so that she will lie the same way that she did before. This is commonly occasioned by the negligence of the steersman, or by a sudden change of the wind.