The following website agrees with the original poster.
http://powerboat.about.com/library/g...f-topsides.htm

--
Jim

"Kiyu" wrote in message
...
On 16 Jul 2003 18:48:27 GMT, (Chris
Crandall) wrote:

Kiyu ) wrote:
: Hmm. Do yachting definitions differ from military nautical
definitions?
: When I was required to "go topside" I went up on deck.

To go "topside" doesn't mean to go onto the "topsides". It means
what you
say it does. However, they are simply different words (albeit quit
similar).

An example: Give him aid! vs. Give him AIDS!
Funny what one "s" will do.
Isn't it?
Especially when the "S" stands for Syndrome, a part of the acronym
for Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Two entirely different things.

If I was told to paint the topsides I would have still have had to
ask the Bos'n
what he wanted me to paint because it is relative and has no clear
definition -
the topsides of what? If I had to redo the topsides of a Thistle I
wouldn't redo
the outside of the hull.
The original poster said the topsides was the area between the
waterline &
gunwales. The only thing I have heard this area called is the side
of the
ship/boat.
Are there any old salts out here who want to jump in?

Kiyu