Careening

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The careening of a sailing vessel is laying her up on a calm beach at high tide in order to expose one side or another of the ship's hull for maintenance below the water line when the tide goes out. The process could be accentuated by securing the top halyard to a fixed object like a tree or rock and pulling the mast over as far as possible. Such maintenance might include dry rot or cannon shot repair, tarring the exterior to reduce leakage or barnacle removal to increase her speed. A particularly well protected area might be called "Careening Bay" to the locals and they would know shallow, calm water could be found. Pirates would often careen their ship because there was no dry dock available to them. A secluded bay would suffice and this is where they would careen their ships for necessary repairs and/or cleaning of the hull. This would make the ships faster and able to overtake a prize vessel. Similar to beaching.