# Negril.com Message Board Forums > Negril Message Board >  where did this come from?

## Canadageorge

Just wondering, why is a trip to Jamaica called a "REACH"

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## captaind

Just a guess but.....

In patois "you reach?" means "did you get there/here?"

So I think that is something that was originally asked of a visitor by a Jamaican ....

Like "mi glad you reach" or "so you reach"

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## yetta

Sounds good to me Captain!! Mi soon reach!! And I cannot wait to reach!

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## BR Mon

A reach is a sailing term...If you catch a favoriable wind and can travel on a "broad reach" that is the fastest point of sail. " We made great distance and time on our last "reach"....".A head wind reuires one to tact several times to get to point B. This can double the distance required to arrive at your distination. Yes you can sail directly into the wind but it requires one to tact (zig zag) to get there.  If you have a quartering head wind or a wind  across the boat you can set the sail and the boat in a "broad reach" or a reach...My bet is this is where the term started....Yes I was a sailor but not a pirate....

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## TizzyATX

Interesting question....and responses. Never even thought to question that.  :Smile:

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## Canadageorge

The old Harry Belefonte song with the line "when I REACHED Jamaica I made a stop" came to mind but the sailing reference makes sense.

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## TizzyATX

I just figured it was a term that more "seasoned" travelers use instead of "Trip" hahaha

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## captaind

> A reach is a sailing term...If you catch a favoriable wind and can travel on a "broad reach" that is the fastest point of sail. " We made great distance and time on our last "reach"....".A head wind reuires one to tact several times to get to point B. This can double the distance required to arrive at your distination. Yes you can sail directly into the wind but it requires one to tact (zig zag) to get there.  If you have a quartering head wind or a wind  across the boat you can set the sail and the boat in a "broad reach" or a reach...My bet is this is where the term started....Yes I was a sailor but not a pirate....


Having raced the Miami - MoBay race several time you don't start reaching until you enter the windward passage. Until that starboard turn it can be a beat.

BTW. There is no such maneuver as "tacking" It's called "coming about. It's one of the "trick" questions on the sailing endorsement test.

Captain D
Master unlimited (AGT) all routes
Master Sail 500 tons
Master Auxiliary Sail
Approved course instructor / examiner < 1,600 GT

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## kim&betty

au contraire mon frere

come about**: To tack or change heading relative to the wind.

tacking: working to windward by sailing close-hauled on alternate courses so that the wind is first on one side of the boat, then on the other. 

jibing: changing direction with the wind aft; to change from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind; also spelled gybing.

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## captaind

> au contraire mon frere
> 
> come about**: To tack or change heading relative to the wind.
> 
> tacking: working to windward by sailing close-hauled on alternate courses so that the wind is first on one side of the boat, then on the other. 
> 
> jibing: changing direction with the wind aft; to change from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind; also spelled gybing.


I'm sure the USCG and the National Maritime Center who sets the standards for testing would be interested in that definition.
Notice that in describing the gybe it says to change from one tack to another. A tack is a point of sail representing which side of the vessel the wind comes from.
If you answered that a tack was a maneuver it would be marked as incorrect. Tack is a noun not a verb.

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## BR Mon

> Having raced the Miami - MoBay race several time you don't start reaching until you enter the windward passage. Until that starboard turn it can be a beat.
> 
> BTW. There is no such maneuver as "tacking" It's called "coming about. It's one of the "trick" questions on the sailing endorsement test.
> 
> Captain D
> Master unlimited (AGT) all routes
> Master Sail 500 tons
> Master Auxiliary Sail
> Approved course instructor / examiner < 1,600 GT


Thanks for the "sailing class"...I was a fresh water sailer with only one short trip Bareboating on a Bristol 29 in the Abacos for a week...yes, I would announce "coming about" just before the tack....I have followed your post here and have total respect for what you guys do on the open seas. I thought about the people that caught rides on the Banana boats to and from Jamaica and wondered if this term could have been used by them after hearing the terms used by the crew.. however I have heard the term "Reach' used around the world and not just Jamaica...Oh, I can fly an airplane...yes take off and land and not bend the plane....Just incase the conversation moved from boats to aircraft...

BR Mon

C-130 CrewMember
1,802 flight crew hours
118 Combat Missions in Vietnam
Pilot in Command Cessna, Beachcraft
Jamaican Junkie
Commissioned Red Stripe tester
Grill Master

My C-130 Navigator taught me to sail in the Gulf Of Thailand....

My response is in jest as you would guess. Thanks for your contributins and your knowledge of Jamaica and life in general..

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## kim&betty

i certainly do not disparage your credentials or accomplishments captain, however tests/examinations are prepared by people, and people make mistakes. in my field we are required to take exams for different licencing levels. these are also "official" government prepared exams. on occasion questions that are answered correctly are marked as incorrect. they may be challenged, and after consideration if found to be a bad question it is thrown out of that and future exams. seen, respect.

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## captaind

That question has been challenged and NMC won't budge. I think they got the definition from Bowditch Vol ll.

You can be sure I give my candidates a heads up about this one.  :Smile:

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## BR Mon

This thread is now officially "In Irons"...I am going to give Captain D the "big boat right of way"...The OP asked why it is called a reach...I still say a reach is the sailors delight especially when the wind direction alows the boat to sail in a reach for a long period...Jamaica is not the only place I have heard a term used... Passengers most probably heard the term reach used by the crew...

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## kim&betty

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tack     i am not an english major, they say it's a verb. i really could be wrong, don't care, i'll REACH seastar in 9 days, blessings and respect to each and everyone of you!

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## kim&betty

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reach           look at definition 2b intransitive verb

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## BR Mon

I think the conversation on this board more fits the noun....On my last reach to Jamaica....Reach is a noun and can replace words such as trip, journey or voyage...That appears to be the way this word that got popular a few years ago on this board is used.....For a verb it could be.....What time did we we finally reach Negril after heavy traffic in Mo Bay??....Your usage above is a verb but most of the uses here are as a noun....I am not an English major but i do remember some substitution rules that can be used to see which one it is used as...

Oh, my money is still on the Sea Captain and his experience and use of sailing terms over an English Major that wrote a dictionary for merriam-webster..

Enjoy you upcoming REACH (n.) you will be very happy once you finally REACH (v.) Seastar..

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## Rambo

ITS SO SIMPLE.........

when your here your always reaching..$$$$$$$$$$

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## Island Girl

Verrryyy interesting conversation {{grin}} IRIE! *IG

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## MissBlue

it's a kind of message board slang - pretty much only used on these JA boards -  that came out of an incorrect interpretation of what people THINK is Jamaican patois.  it's a huge pet peeve of mine, for years now...  "reach" is not a noun, and isn't used as a noun in patois either...  patois speakers say something like "call me when you reach" -  a verb.  

If you replace 'reach' in any sentence with the word 'arrive', and see whether or not it makes any sense, that's what will tell you if it's being used correctly - either in speaky-spokey _or_ patois.

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## captaind

> it's a kind of message board slang - pretty much only used on these JA boards -  that came out of an incorrect interpretation of what people THINK is Jamaican patois.  it's a huge pet peeve of mine, for years now...  "reach" is not a noun, and isn't used as a noun in patois either...  patois speakers say something like "call me when you reach" -  a verb.  
> 
> If you replace 'reach' in any sentence with the word 'arrive', and see whether or not it makes any sense, that's what will tell you if it's being used correctly - either in speaky-spokey _or_ patois.


That's what I originally posted before we got off to the sailing terminology thing. I've heard it used that way since the 60s.

When I'd go to the States for a visit I always had to  write a letter (took 7 days back then) and tell the family "I reach home safe"

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## ackee

thumbs up ..Miss Blue !! dats di original meaning ...seems like di tourist dem come up with an "evolved" , meaning.    :Smile: )

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## Rambo

we have been going to Jamaica since '84, I just started hearing that around 2002-2003 and on the boards....most of Jamaican 
people that we hang with do not speak too much "patwa" with us...........

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## FATRAT

This is exactly why I decided not to become a sailor. (lmao) Can I still be a pirate?

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## M&G Montreal

Holy cow!  I had no idea you were a real captain, CaptainD!  I thought that was just handle!  I can do "tip the Swiss" in a canoe!  (much more entertaining that dump test!! )And I did dragon boat races once ... think the coast guard would take me?   :Smile: 

Arrr, maties.  Maybe you're both right - different lingo in different countries?

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## M&G Montreal

Holy cow!  I had no idea you were a real captain, CaptainD!  I thought that was just handle!  I can do "tip the Swiss" in a canoe!  (much more entertaining that dump test!! )And I did dragon boat races once ... think the coast guard would take me?   :Smile: 

Arrr, maties.  Maybe you're both right - different lingo in different countries?  

A sailing matter that makes me laugh everytime.  Don't know if it's true or not, but surely it wouldn't be on the net if it weren't, right:
This is the transcript of a radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95.

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a Collision.
Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States' Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change your course 15 degrees north, that's one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.
Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.[2]

Ahoy, maties!   :Smile:

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## captaind

> Holy cow!  I had no idea you were a real captain, CaptainD!  I thought that was just handle!  I can do "tip the Swiss" in a canoe!  (much more entertaining that dump test!! )And I did dragon boat races once ... think the coast guard would take me?  
> 
> Arrr, maties.  Maybe you're both right - different lingo in different countries?  
> 
> A sailing matter that makes me laugh everytime.  Don't know if it's true or not, but surely it wouldn't be on the net if it weren't, right:
> This is the transcript of a radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95.
> 
> Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a Collision.
> Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
> ...


That's been around since WWII. Usually accredited to the Navy of one country or another. There's no evidence that it really took place.

Yes, I am a ship's Master and came to Jamaica in 1968 for a job on a ship with Wray and Nephew. My first job out of the Merchant Marine academy.

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## kim&betty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR0lWICH3rY

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## bjritz

Canadageorge, thanks for asking this question. I've wondered this for a while. I thought I'd just wait for my next reach to find out. Now I'll arrive with the definition in mind.

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## poolguywindsor

You wont ever catch me calling it a "reach" it always bugs me when someone uses it! But thats just me, I will get over it.

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## TizzyATX

> You wont ever catch me calling it a "reach" it always bugs me when someone uses it! But thats just me, I will get over it.


its not just you lol

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## Rambo

"cant wait to "reach with mi "peeps"....I know a couple to Jamaicans that would not know what was going on LOL LOL :Wink:

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## BR Mon

I still don't think we actually decided how it is used as noun rather than a verb...The question is why do folks on this message board call a trip to Jamaica a "reach"...I think reach is a pretty common word and it has nothing to do with patois or Jamaican use as a term...Did you reach the end of the race...Did you reach the final destination, did the package i sent you reach you in time...This is pretty common but the question is why do people call their trip a Reach...I agree with Rambo it just popped up her a few years ago...I did find a book titled "My Reach" a Hudson River Memoir...It is about a Kayak journey up the Hudson...So it appears that the term is not that unique to Jamaica or from patois for that matter. I guess I will just have to think about this until my next REACH.....

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