Ellen MacArthur wrote:
"Jeff" wrote

And the proper spelling is "ware ship."

Nyut ah!! http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/WEARSHIP



More proof its Neal in drag. He's using a lubber's dictionary for
nautical terms.

From "The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor," Darcy Lever, 1819:

To Ware ... To turn the ship from the wind.


From "The Seaman's Friend," Richard Henry Dana, Jr., 1879
Wear (see Ware.)
Ware, or Wear. To turn the ship around ... carrying the stern around
by the wind.


Also, in the 1802 edition of Bowditch the primary spelling is listed
as "To Veer Ship."