• Continental shelf
    Extension of a continent in relatively shallow waters, generally no more than 450 feet deep which slopes at no more than .5 degrees. In 1958 and 1982, nations bordering a continental shelf were given economic rights. For fishing this is a highly productive area often with shallower banks.
  • Cook
    The person whose occupation is to prepare food for others.
  • Coolie
    Derogatory and dated term. The original meaning of the term came from the Chinese word for heavy labor and the Hindi word for baggage carrier. In the 1800s, the British used the term to describe indentured laborers from the East Indies and China. Later used as a racial slur for anyone of East or South Asian descent.
  • Cooper
    One who makes casks and barrels for oil, water, wine, or other liquid and solid materials. In Penobscot Bay, coopers made thousands of casks for the lime trade. Also, a dock-worker who takes care of repairs or reconditioning to damaged packages or cases.
  • Coordinates
    Latitude and longitude information that gives a specific location.
  • Copernicus, Nicholas
    Nicholas Copernicus

    1473-1543. Polish astronomer and mathematician who developed and published the view of an earth that orbited a stationary sun. His book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) was printed just before his death.

  • Cordage
    Collectively, all the rope used on a vessel.
  • Cordwood
    Wood piled or stored in cords. One cord of wood is measured 4' x 4' x 8'. Cordwood was used extensively in the lime industry, which needed cordwood for kilns.
  • Council for New England
    An outgrowth of the Plymouth Company founded in 1606, the Plymouth Council of New England was a company, created and led by Sir Ferdinando Gorges. It was granted a royal charter in 1620 to found colonies in New England from the 40th parallel to the 48th. The Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony were given a contract or patent for their land from the Council. The Council was dissolved in 1635.
  • Crab
    Rock Crab, Green Crab
    Crabs are often found in lobster traps. The Rock Crab is Maine's native crab, up to 6 inches shell size, while the smaller Green Crab is an invasive Northern European species which had spread all along the Maine coast by 1953. A newer invasive crab species is the Asian Shore Crab which is slightly smaller than the Green Crab. They have been reported as far east as Schoodic. There is a commericial market for Rock Crab, caught chiefly as by-catch in the lobster fishery.
  • Cradle
    In shipbuilding and maintenance, the structure that supports a vessel upright on land and in which a vessel can be moved.
  • Creole
    Language that has evolved from a pidgin but serves as the native language of a speech community.
  • Cross staff
    cross-staff
    Early navigational device for measuring altitudes of heavenly bodies, also called a fore-staff, based on an Arab instrument called a Kamel. A cross arm is moved up or down a graduated staff so that when sighting along the staff the user sees the sun and horizon at the ends of the cross arm. The altitude of the sun is then read off the staff. The earliest reference to its use at sea is about 1514.
  • Crossjack
    The lowest square sail, or lowest yard of the mizzenmast.
  • Crustacean
    crustacea
    Lobsters, shrimp and crabs all belong to the subphylum of arthropods called crustacea, or crustaceans. They have a hard exoskeleton which is shed as the animal grows.
  • Cungy
    A thin porridge made from rice
  • Customs
    Duties, tolls, or imposts imposed by the sovereign law of a country on imports or exports.

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