. .     Home   •   About the Site   •   About the Museum   •   Visit www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org .  .

 .  .  .  .
.
.
Penobscot Marine Museum
Learn AboutSpecial Features
.
Search Our Collection
 .     
 .
.  
.
. .
 .
.
 .  .

Glossary


 .
 
A  B  C  D 
E  F  G  H 
I  J  K  L 
M  N  O  P 
Q  R  S  T 
U  W  X 
Y  Z 
 .  
 .
V-notch notch
In Maine, the notch required to be cut in the tail of a female egg-bearing lobster.
 .
Vane
1. Rotating device which is used to indicate direction of wind. Also called wind or weather vanes. 2. Flat surface that rotates pushing against air or water. 3. Fins that stabilize a towed or dropped object. The otter boards that hold a otter trawl open are vanes. 4. The sighting devices on a backstaff or other nautical instrument based on the derivation of vanes as pieces that stick out at 90 degrees from an axis.
 .
Vector
In mathematics a vector has magnitude and direction. A vector line in navigation has a length related to speed and direction related to compass bearing.
 .
Verrazzano, Giovanni da Giovanni da Verrazano, Giovanni da Verrazzano
c.1485-c.1528 The first European to sail the American coast from North Carolina to Newfoundland. An Italian captain from Florence of a prominent family, he was wealthy and well-educated. He entered the French service in 1522 and organized his first voyage to America for French king Francis I, sailing in January 1524 from the Madeiras, and landed in North Carolina probably around Cape Fear, early in March. He then sailed up the coast, staying prudently off shore, missing the Chesapeake, and Delaware but anchoring in New York Bay at the Narrows that now bears his name. He made contact with the local inhabitants, the Lenape but did not explore the harbor although his crew may have landed on Staten Island. Sailing on, he spent two weeks exploring Narragansett Bay, anchoring in what is now Newport Harbor. After friendly encounters with the natives he set sail around May 5 or 6. Escaping the shoals of Vineyard and Nantucket, he sailed around Cape Cod and struck the Maine coast around Casco Bay. The native inhabitants were inhospitable, shooting arrows and fleeing, and when visible acted rudely. This suggests that the natives knew about Europeans and had been badly treated. Verrazzano called the coast "Land of Bad People." Continuing on past Monhegan, Isle au Haut and Mount Desert, he may have sailed up into Penobscot Bay, for on the map that his brother created of the voyage "Oranbega" shows up where the Penobscot Bays should be. Contrary winds kept from seeing the Bay of Fundy, and most of the Nova Scotia coast. He departed from Newfoundland in mid June, and indications are that he had Portugese information about Newfoundland. If his place names had been followed, America would be Francesca. His voyage was well reported in his letter to King Francis and his brother Girolamo's world map of 1529 records his trip. Verrazzano was killed in 1528 in the West Indies on his second Atlantic voyage.
 .
 .
 .
 
 .  .  .  .  .  .
.





 .
.
 .  .  .  .

.   © Penobscot Marine Museum     Home   •   Contact   •   Credits   •   Sitemap .