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Steady on your course!

jackie2jet

jackie2jet

Senior Member
chinese
Hi:
I saw an idiom in Pocahontas 1995 when a storm struck their ship,the captain yells at the sailors "reef the topsails" and "steady on your course".on the latter one,I'm really confused with its meaning since there seems to have different meanings which all sound fine,here are what I come up with by now:
1.stay at their stations or stick to their post
2.keep the course (because there are main course,forecourse etc on a ship)steady
3.stay the course
4.keep the direction of the ship
so which one is more accurate in this scenario?
 
    • Welcome.:)

    We have no way of knowing what happened to the ship nextbut I think that the meaning here is to keep the ship on course. It definitely does not mean:

    1.stay at their stations or stick to their post
    2.keep the course (because there are main course,forecourse etc on a ship)steady.
     
    'Steady on your course' is shouted to the people steering the shipto make sure they keep the ship on the same heading (pointing in the same direction) despite the storm. Like many orders on board shipit has a fixed meaning.
     
    The "your" in "your course" excludes the possibility that it might be a reference to the lower sails (forecoursemaincourse etc.). At that point the captain is addressing the helmsman who is steering the ship.
    Only option 4 is possible.
     
    london calling said:
    Welcome.:)

    We have no way of knowing what happened to the ship nextbut I think that the meaning here is to keep the ship on course. It definitely does not mean:

    1.stay at their stations or stick to their post
    2.keep the course (because there are main course,forecourse etc on a ship)steady.
    Click to expand...
    thank you for your reply:)
    the ship were not destroyed,of course,and it's safe again,Do i have it right that the captain just wanted the sailors to keep the vector of the ship so he can save the person that droped into the ocean?(because he did jump into the ocean to save his shipmate)
     
    jackie2jet said:
    Do i have it right that the captain just wanted the sailors to keep the vector of the ship so he can save the person that droped into the ocean?(because he did jump into the ocean to save his shipmate)
    Click to expand...
    I haven't seen the film so I cannot tell why he wanted to keep the ship on the same coursebut your explanation is reasonable. Reefing the topsails slows the ship down.
     
    I haven't seen it eitherbut if you want to recover a man overboardslowing the ship down is not enough. It needs to come to a complete stoptypically in a procedure known as "heaving to". Had they already gone round in a circleand were they approaching him? Or was that in a completely different part of the film?
    You mentioned that a storm was coming. Reefingor reducing sailis what one does when (or ideally before) the wind gets strongotherwise it puts too much strain on the rigging and on the structure of the ship.
     
    Edinburgher said:
    I haven't seen it eitherbut if you want to recover a man overboardslowing the ship down is not enough. It needs to come to a complete stoptypically in a procedure known as "heaving to". Had they already gone round in a circleand were they approaching him? Or was that in a completely different part of the film?
    You mentioned that a storm was coming. Reefingor reducing sailis what one does when (or ideally before) the wind gets strongotherwise it puts too much strain on the rigging and on the structure of the ship.
    Click to expand...
    Thanks!
    My fault! I should've shed more lights on this,so the sequence is like this
    the storm struck the ship
    the captain yelled"reef the topsails" and "steady on your course"
    the sailor fell overboard
    the captain yelled"stay your course"
    other salors yelled " He's lost!

    And what the differnce between "steady on your course"and "stay your course"?
     
    jackie2jet said:
    And what the differnce between "steady on your course"and "stay your course"?
    Click to expand...
    I see no reason why they should not mean exactly the same. But then what happened? You say the captain jumped in the water to save the man. How did they get back on the ship? It must have turned aroundand not stayed on course.
     
    Edinburgher said:
    I see no reason why they should not mean exactly the same. But then what happened? You say the captain jumped in the water to save the man. How did they get back on the ship? It must have turned aroundand not stayed on course.
    Click to expand...
    The man was saved and storm calmed down and everything back to normal,then the speech about exploring the new world and the sailor started singing。
     
    Last edited:
    jackie2jet said:
    And what the differnce between "steady on your course"and "stay your course"?
    Click to expand...
    'Steady on your course' specifically means be careful not to wander off-coursenot to zigzagto keep the course steady.
    'Stay your course' means do not change coursewhen the person at the helm might think the current course is wrong. In this casethe person at the helmseeing the sailor fall overboardmight want to turn the ship about. The captain is telling him not to.
     
    Uncle Jack said:
    'Steady on your course' specifically means be careful not to wander off-coursenot to zigzagto keep the course steady.
    'Stay your course' means do not change coursewhen the person at the helm might think the current course is wrong. In this casethe person at the helmseeing the sailor fall overboardmight want to turn the ship about. The captain is telling him not to.
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for your patience!
    I think that makes perfect sense!
     
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