The white spar that sticks out from the bow is called the bowsprit, the wooden extension to the bowsprit is the jib boom. Three sails are carried on the bowsprit along with the spritsail that hangs from the spritsail yard. This was often considered the most dangerous place aboard ship to work. In a heavy sea the bowsprit and jib boom could plunge underwater sweeping away anyone who was working out there.
A view of the bow from above. You can see the lookout near the starboard cathead. |
View of the forerig, made up of three spars; the lower spar in white is the bowsprit, the wooden spar in the upper right is the jibboom, and the spritsail yard runs perpendicular to both, athwartship, near the doubling. |
Under the bowsprit is the figurehead. The figurehead is a carving that, in most cases, reflects the name of the ship. (They were not always bare-breasted women!) On ships of the 
Royal Navy the practice was to make the
figurehead as bellicose as possible. Since it was difficult to make a rose look ferocious, the figurehead of the H.M.S. Rose was the British lion, a symbol of England much as the eagle has become a symbol of America.
Behind the figurehead is an area of the ship known as the beakhead which is enclosed by the head rails. It is from this area that the marine toilet derives its name "head," since this was the sailor's latrine. The practice was to put one's feet on the lower rail, sit on the middle one, and lean back on the upper. This was later improved with the addition of outhouse style seating. The beakhead was an ideal location for its purpose, considering that it was down wind and self flushing. The greatest drawback was that one could not regulate when it would self flush.
