Bart wrote:
What is the difference between "faking" and "flaking'?


Just a few weeks ago I took my family to the Hull Lifesaving Museum, a
little gem of a museum near Boston dedicated to preserving the
lifesaving tradition.

http://www.lifesavingmuseum.org/index.html

They have on display a life saving wagon including gear such as a Lyle
Gun, a faking box, a Breeches Buoy, etc. They don't have a good
picture of it, but here's a similar museum in Ohio:

http://www.nightbeacon.com/zmaritime...ime_Museum.htm

The faking box can be seen in the lower right picture, a set of spokes
sticking up. The full box has spokes around the periphery, and you
can wind up about a third of a mile of string, to be shot out to a
wreck by the Lyle Gun.