【英语时差8,16】船锚与弱扣环-上

What happens if you throw your anchor overboard and there isn’t enough chain to reach the bottom? Does the anchor haul you down with it? This sounds a little bit like something that would happen in a cartoon. But for sailors it’s no laughing matter. It’s unlikely the whole ship would be pulled under, but there could very well be damage to the hull¹ caused by not having enough chain, including a sudden hole where the anchor used to be. That’s why the nautical² rule of thumb is to use three times as much chain as is needed to hit bottom. That extra chain piles up around the anchor and provides added stability. Still, what if you don’t know how deep the water is? Or what if you just make a mistake?

1 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

2 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。