Glossary
Terms & Glossaries of Shipping and Trading
Devil Seam
The devil was possibly a slang term for the garboard seam; hence 'between the devil and the deep blue sea' being an allusion to keel hauling. However, a more popular version seems to be the seam between the waterway and the stanchions which would be difficult to get at; requiring a cranked caulking iron, and a restricted swing of the caulking mallet.
