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gadget

A small, specialized piece of gear. See gilhickey.

gaff

1) The spar aloft on the traditional four-sided gaff rig. See rig. 2) A pole with a sharp hook used to retrieve fish from the water.

gale

Wind speed of 34 to 47 knots.

galley

A boat's kitchen. A galley strap is a length of webbing that holds the cook in the galley as the boat heels.

gallows frame, gallows

A permanently installed support for the main boom. Compare with boom (boom crutch).

gangway, boarding gate

An opening in the lifelines or rail, or a ramp that facilitates boarding a boat or a pier.

gantline

A sturdy line rigged to the top of the mainmast and used to haul gear or a crewmember in the boatswain's chair aloft when the main halyard is unavailable. Except in emergencies, it is not used to hoist sails. Compare with halyard.

garboard

The boat's bottom near the keel.

gas

Gasoline or cooking fuel.

gasket

A sail stop, a strap or line used to secure a furled sail.

gate valve

See seacock.

gear

Boating equipment and clothing small and portable enough to be removed from the boat. While a mast and a tuna tower are not gear, a masthead fly and a fishing rod are. Foul-weather gear is clothing specific to boating. Fishing gear consists of the equipment needed for fishing.

gelcoat

See fiberglass.

generator

A device for generating electricity. It may be an engine (also called a genset), a propeller in the air (wind generator), a propeller toward astern, or a solar panel that converts solar rays to energy.

Gennaker

A trademarked name ("genoa" plus "spinnaker") for a type of asymmetrical or cruising spinnaker.

genoa, genny

A large overlapping jib, reportedly first publicly used off Genoa, Italy.

genset

An engine-powered generator.

gilguy

A light line holding a halyard away from a mast to prevent it from clanging.

gimbal

A support for a compass, table, or other object that automatically keeps it level as the boat heels and rolls. The main eating table in a sailboat may be a gimbaled table (swing table).

give

Stretch or bend.

give way

1) Change position. When a boat alters course to allow another vessel to pass she gives way. Under the Navigation Rules (rules of the road), the give-way vessel (formerly burdened vessel) is obligated to alter course when two or more vessels are near each other in order to avoid collions. Compare with stand on. 2) When gear gives way it breaks.

glass

1) Fiberglass. 2) The glass is the barometer.

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System

An international electronic alert system.

Global Positioning System, GPS, satnav

An electronic navigation instrument, using information from satellites, that computes and displays the boat's position and information about her course and speed made good. Satnav was the first of these systems. Differential GPS is the most accurate. See selective availability (S.A.).

GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, Zulu

The time at the Greenwich meridian, or zero degrees longitude.


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go about, come about

To tack.

gold plater

A luxurious boat.

gong, gong buoy

See buoy, buoyage.

gooseneck

The fitting securing the boom to the mast. A sliding gooseneck slides on a track on the mast.

goosewing jibe

See jibe.

government mark

A channel marker or other buoy set by the Coast Guard or other government agency to serve as an aid to navigation.

GPS

Global Positioning System.

grab bag

See abandon ship.

grabrail

A handhold.

granny

A mistied square knot. It will slip.

grapnel anchor, grapnel hook

A light, multipronged hook used as a lunch hook or to drag for objects. See anchor.

great circle route

The shortest route between two distant points on the globe. This rhumb line is shown as a straight line on a globe or on a gnomic projection chart, but on a Mercator projection chart it is a curve. Under way, the boat makes a series of small course changes in order to stay on the route.

Greenwich meridian, Greenwich Mean Time, GMT

See prime meridian and Zulu.

grind, grinder

To grind a winch is to turn its handle. A grinder is a crewmember who grinds. A coffee grinder (grinder) is a winch operated by a standing crewmember.

grommet, lacing eye, eyelet

A small metal ring inserted in a sail, boat cover, or other cloth. Smaller and lighter than a cringle, it is used by reef points or tie-down lines.

grooved (slotted) headstay, grooved (slotted) mast

A groove in the aft side of a headstay or mast into which a sail's boltrope or slugs are fed. A double-grooved headstay allows a new jib to be set before the old one is lowered.

gross tonnage rule

An unofficial safety advisory that suggests that smaller vessels, regardless of their rights under the formal Navigation Rules, should always stay clear of big ones.

ground

Run aground.

groundswell

Long waves that run almost continuously due to prevailing winds. Compare with swell.

ground system

Protection in a boat, intended to prevent damage caused by a lightning strike.

ground tackle

The anchor, its rode, and related equipment.

guardrails

The pulpit.

gudgeon

See pintle.

gunkhole, mud hole

A creek, cove, marsh, or other shallow corner in the shore. Gunk means mud. To gunkhole or go gunkholing is to explore such places in a boat, although sometimes these terms are used to mean going ashore to explore on foot.

gunwale

Pronounced "gunnel". See rail.

gust

A sudden, strong puff of wind.

guy

A line used to position a spinnaker pole or other spar. The afterguy controls a spinnaker pole's fore-and-aft position, the foreguy holds it down. To guy (guy back) the pole is to pull on the afterguy.

gybe

See jibe, gybe.