#roadstead

A roadstead is a sheltered, natural or man-made anchorage for ships near the coast, situated outside the harbour proper. This may be because the harbour is overcrowded or the ship is too large to berth. Alternatively, the ship may be waiting for a pilot, instructions or customs clearance, or seeking shelter from the weather or wishing to avoid dangerous waters. As the North Sea coast of Germany and the Netherlands is very shallow in many places,ships often resort to roadsteads to make room or even to protect them.

Schiffe auf Reede, by Caspar David Friedrich, 1817-1820 (x)

The word roadstead originates from the Middle Low German term rēde or reide (‘anchorage’), which was adopted into standard German in the 17th century. Compare this with the Dutch term ree (older form: reede), which has the same meaning, and the Swedish term redd.

The further origin of the term for an anchorage is unclear. On the one hand, ‘roadstead’, in the sense of ‘a place where ships are fitted out’, may belong to the same linguistic family as the Middle Low German [ge]rēde or rēden, meaning ‘to prepare, to get ready, to fit out’. On the other hand, ‘roadstead’, in the sense of ‘a place where ships 'ride' the waves off the harbour’, may be related to the verb ‘reiten’.

So, when you hear the word ‘roadstead’, or 'Reede' it means the ship is moored near the harbour but outside the harbour area itself.