From old French, eschine, a blend of Latin’s ‘spina’ (spine) and a Germanic word meaning ‘narrow piece’; Nautical: angle where the bottom of the boat meets the side.
She has a hard chine—
who said it? A hard chine. A strong
spine. Say it nodding, wise—
pitch lowered by bruised
memory. Mac, you wanted no chine
on the Bowdoin. A curved hull
to follow the globe’s curve
north, to slide up easy onto ice
when it gripped. Can we slide
so easy? Can we? I like it
when the edge of things
is clear. Like to know when
I’m deadrise, when freeboard.
If a boat tips easily, we say
she’s tender. Responsive and quick-
turning at weight-shift yet also
quicker to capsize. In heavy seas,
a hard chine has an edge to push
against, a way to recover.