Wiktionary
stempost
n. (context nautical English) A vertical post, at the front of the keel, that forms the main part of the bow
Usage examples of "stempost".
It came toward them prow-first, its stempost carved into a yawning dragonhead, but no voice hailed them as it approached, only the ever-louder hum which seemed to paralyze them all.
Indeed, when Jack pulled on his wrist-tether the great barrel moved in his direction—though Dappa was maintaining tension on his tether, so that the tun remained stretched out in the current between them, staying well clear of the brig’s stempost.
These were long and lean, clinker-built, gaudily painted, many with stemposts carved into fantastic figureheads.