A wale is also a welt, a raised ridge on the skin or on the epithelial lining of an organTaber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary A wale is a broad, thick plank around the outside of a wooden ship. The garboard is the wale next to the keel; the gunwale is the top such plank and covers the heads of the timbers between the main and fore drifts. [LINK: http://www.hmssurprise.org/Resources/SteelSWVMLex.html] [1] Gunports on armed ships were placed in the Middle Wales. [LINK: http://www.maryrose.org/ship/hull2.htm] [2] External links · [LINK: http://home.att.net/~shipmodelfaq/ResearchNotes/smf-RN-WaleWidth.html] Wale width, planking width/evolution of wales References Ship construction