Of ships and sailing (8)
I believe the answer is:
nautical
'of ships and sailing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for nautical that I've seen before include "like a sailor" , "Of ships and navigation" , "Relating to sailors" , "Relating to ships and sailing" , "Like 8 21[HORATIO NELSON]" .)