What depth have you?

A departure from our little anchorage at last, and a short trip to Üçağiz, a small village in Kekova roads that serves as the harbour for dozens of dayboats that take visitors to the sunken city opposite and to the nearby coves like our anchorage.

The exit from the anchorage and entrance to the village are both narrow and rock bounded. As I asked the crew 'what depth have you?' I realised that this was one of an endless series of questioning euphemisms. It really meant 'watch out for those rocks'. Along similar lines, 'what course are you steering?' really means 'where on earth are you going?'; 'where is the wind?' really means 'have you not noticed that flapping sail?' I could go on, but better not.