OVE]                              NAUTICAL DICTIONARY.

is the duty of a shipmaster to see that his vessel is laden for any
voyage, to such an extent only as is suitable for the season of the
year and the vicissitudes which may be encountered.

OVERMASTED, expresses that a vessel's masts are too long
and heavy.

OVERRAKE. Heavy seas breaking over a vessel, when she
is at anchor, head to the sea, are said to overrake her,

OWNER (Fr, Armateur).    See Shipowner,

PACK. *A body of drift-ice of such magnitude that its
extent is not discernible.'    See Iceberg, 14.

PACKET, or PACKET-SHIP (Fr. Paquebot). A term
originally applied to any ship employed by government to carry
the mails to and from places abroad. It is now also applied to
any sea-going ship, whether a sailing vessel or steamer, trading
regularly between two places with goods and passengers. A
steam-vessel so employed is termed a steam-packet,

A contract mail steam-vessel is a private steam-ship employed
under contract with government to carry the mails. A govern¬
ment mail packet is a sailing vessel or a steam-vessel in such
service manned by officers and men belonging to the Royal
Navy.

PAD-PIECE, or PAD, in Shipbuilding, a piece of timber
placed on the top of a beam at its middle part, in order to make
up the round of the deck. Pad-pieces are used more especially
for paddle-beams. Fillings on the timbers also get the name of
Pads,

PADDLE (Fr, Pagaie). A kind of short oar with a very
broad blade; chiefly used for canoes.

PADDLE-BEAMS, PADDLE-BEAM KNEES, PADDLE-
BOX, PADDLE-BOX-BOAT, PADDLE-SHAFT. See Paddle-
wheels,                                    r-  ^*.rW^   '4^'-*"'''"^

PADDLE-WHEELS, ^| rAJ)i)LESj(i^.  Roues  ^  aubes)
.Tambours).    The wheels, one on each side of a steam-vessel,
which are driven by means of machinery in order to impel her.
The 'thwart boards   forming  the circumference of the paddle-
wheel are ievvned floats, iv h^ ]'^''

The upper half of the wheel is encircled by a frame of wood

called  the  Paddle-box,      The   Paddle-box   boat   invented  by

Captain George Smith, R.N., is a boat made to fit (with its bottom

upwards) the top of the paddle-box rim, thus forming a covering

276