On boats, bad things happen when words get mixed up.

Take the Cosco Busan, the 900-foot cargo ship which slammed into San Francisco's Bay Bridge in dense fog last November. According to a newly released transcript of an interview taken the morning of the crash, the ship's pilot asked the ship's captain to point out the "center" of the Bay Bridge. The pilot said he was trying to locate the center point between the bridge's towers on the radar screen. The captain, a Chinese national, showed him the center of the bridge's entire span, which was also the location of one of the towers.

The miscommunication resulted in a spill of more than 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel. It was the worst oil spill in the Bay in decades, fouling beaches from Marin to Contra Costa to San Mateo counties and killing more than 2,000 birds. The pilot, Capt. John Cota, has been charged with criminal negligence for his actions guiding the ship out of the Bay.

Teamwork is all about communication, and sailing is all about teamwork. The crew all need to speak the same language -- even if it means using obscure sailing-specific terms. After all, it's hard to mix up "you're right" with "your starboard." Check out the safety section for tips about fire danger, safety gear and particularly marine communication, where failure to communicate can result in failure to live.