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tabernacle A hinged on-deck mast step. It allows the mast to be lowered easily. tabling Cloth reinforcement on the edge of a sail. tack 1) A sailboat's heading relative to the wind. Unless she is headed into the wind, a sailboat is always on a tack. On starboard tack the wind comes over the starboard side, on port tack it comes over the port side. "The" may be used before "tack", but "a" is never used. For example a boat sails on port tack or on the port tack, but not on a port tack. 2) To tack (change tacks, come about, go about) is to head up through the eye of the wind, and then head off with the wind on the other side. To tack through an angle is to inscribe that angle while tacking. 3) The lower forward corner of a mainsail or jib; the corner of a spinnaker near the spinnaker pole. To tack down a sail is to secure its tack to its fitting. tackle, block and tackle, handy billy Traditionally pronounced "tay-kul". A system of blocks through which line is rove. It increases hauling power. The sections of line between the blocks are parts, and the pulling end of the line is the fall. The number of parts determines the power of the tackle, less friction. For example a four-part tackle has a purchase of slightly less than 4:1; a 10-pound pull on the fall should lift a weight of almost 40 pounds. A handy billy is a tackle ready and available for any use. A relieving tackle is a tackle led to the tiller or steering wheel to facilitate steering in rough weather. tactician The crewmember in a racing boat who decides on the courses to take and maneuvers to make. taffrail The rail at the stern. Taffrail log, see log. tail To pull on the end of a line that is under load. The tailer is the person who does the pulling. See winch. take on, take aboard To bring something or someone aboard a boat. To take on (take aboard) fuel is to put fuel into the tanks. To take on water may mean either to fill the water tank or to leak. To take on crew is to bring on new crewmembers. A boat takes a wave aboard when a wave breaks on her deck. tall buoy A mooring buoy with a tall rod that may be easily picked up from the deck of a boat. tall ship A square-rigger, or square-rigged sailing ship, used for training or commerce. See also rig. tank A permanently installed container for water, fuel, or sewage. A holding tank is for sewage; see marine sanitation device. tank test, model test A test of the potential speed of a design by pulling a small model through water and measuring resistance. Taylor Made® Canvas Custom patterning of standard and accessory boat tops, covers, curtains, enclosures. Complete range of fabrics , colors and price levels for boatbuilders. Taylor Made® Door Systems Premium quality flush-glass welded or mechanically framed salon doors, bi-fold and sliding companionway doors, shower doors, interior door frames and acrylic doors that can be custom-sized. Taylor Made® Glass The leading supplier of tempered safety glass in virtually unlimited variety of flat and curved shapes, sizes and tints. Taylor Made® Hatches Widest selection available for all sail and powerboat applications using stat-of-the-art designs for access and ventilation hatches. Taylor Made Systems The world's largest manufacturer of marine glazing systems and the leader in framed glass technology. T-bone When one boat rams another amidships at a right angle. The worst kind of collision. telltale, woolly A short length of yarn or ribbon on a stay or sail that indicates wind direction and assists in sail trim. Telltale compass, see compass. tender 1) Describes a boat that heels easily. 2) A small boat that carries crew and supplies to and from a larger boat. terminal fitting, rigging terminal A metal fitting attached to the end of a stay or other wire in order to connect it to a turnbuckle, the deck, a spar, or other object. tether See safety harness. Thermal Performance Coatings Durable coatings provide improved thermal performance which reduces the air conditioning requirements in the cabin. Available in a wide range of attractive colors. thimble A metal or plastic eye spliced into the end of a wire or line. When a shackle is inserted, the thimble protects the line or wire against chafe. three sheets to the wind Drunk. 360 rule, 720 rule See turns. throat In a gaff rig, the forward end of the gaff, usually in the shape of jaws that slide up and down the mast. The throat halyard raises and lowers the throat. throttle Accelerator on an engine. through-fastened Bolted, not screwed. through-hull, thru-hull A water intake, water drain, transducer, propeller shaft, rudder shaft, or other object in a hole in the bottom or side of a boat. A seacock or stuffing box usually is fitted to prevent leaks and close the hole if the fitting fails. throw rope, throw bag, throw sock See heaving line. thruster Bow thruster. See bow. thwart A seat running across a dinghy or other small boat. thwartships See athwartships. Tide, Tidal Current tide The vertical rise and fall of the oceans, seas, and their extensions due mainly to the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. High tide is the highest level, low tide the lowest. Mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW) are the average heights of tide. Tidal range is the average difference in feet or meters between MHW and MLW. The flood tide is the rising, incoming tide when the tide floods (is on the flood, is flooding). Contrarily, the ebb tide is the falling, outgoing tide when the tide ebbs (is on the ebb, is ebbing). Slack water (slack tide) is when there is no ongoing tidal change. Spring tides are especially high and come during the new and full moon; they have nothing to do with the season. Neap tides come at the quarter moon. Tide changes usually follow a regular diurnal (one tide change daily) or semidiurnal (two daily) schedule. A tide table is a printed or electronic publication showing the times of high and low tide and other tidal information, usually excepting currents. A tidal clock displays the tide schedule in clocklike format. tidal current Horizontal water movement caused by the tides rather than by the wind (wind-driven current). Maximum tidal current usually is halfway between the times of low and high tide, minimum tidal current is at the very beginning or end of the tidal cycle. A tidal current table provides the time, speed, and direction of tidal current. A tide rip (tide race, tidal race) is an area of especially rough water caused by fast-moving tidal currents running either over shallow water or in conflict with each other, and often helped by a strong wind. tie-down A line or other device for holding something in place. tight Taut, straight. A tight (straight) leech on a sail does not curve. Compare with loose. tiller The rod that turns the rudder to steer the boat when there is no steering wheel. A tiller extension (hiking stick) is a hinged extension on the tiller that permits steering from off to one side. An emergency tiller is installed if the steering wheel breaks. time allowance Corrections to the elapsed times (times taken by competitors to finish a sailing race) and used to handicap the performance of boats of different size. See handicap and rating rule. tongue weight See trailer. toerail A low footbrace. toggle A U-shaped metal fitting that, when its jaws are closed by a clevis pin, links a stay's turnbuckle with its chainplate. The toggle permits movement so that the turnbuckle is not bent when the stay shakes or is out of line. tooling The molds and plugs used to build a boat. topping life A line or wire that holds up a boom, spinnaker pole, or other spar. topsail Pronounced "topsul". See sail. |
topside On deck. Top-Sider A brand of deck shoes. topsides The sides of the hull above the waterline. torque See propeller. tote bag An open-topped canvas bag. See ice bag. tournament A fishing competition. tow To pull. A boat under tow is being pulled by another. track 1) A boat's course made good as drawn on a chart. See made good. 2) A boat that tracks well has good directional stability and holds her course without too much work by the steerer. 3) A length of metal on which jib leads, cars for travelers and spinnaker poles, and sail slides move. trade winds, trades Predictable seasonal ocean winds relied on by commercial sailing vessels. traditional boat, character boat Wooden boats, vessels with square or gaff rigs, and pleasure boats derived from workboats or fishing boats. Examples are the catboat, lobster boat, and trawler. Traditional appearance (traditional lines) is the look of sailboats and powerboats designed before about 1960 and of more recent boats inspired by them. Those boats usually have at least a few of the following characteristics: wooden construction, low freeboard, narrow beam, heavy displacement, long overhangs, long keels, short masts, divided rigs, and fractional rigs. See classic. traffic separation scheme A pattern of one-way shipping lanes laid out to separate vessels in shipping channels and crowded waterways. trailer, trailerable To trailer (trail) a boat is to pull it on a trailer behind a vehicle on the highway. A trailerable boat or trailerboat is a boat that can be readily trailered. The trailerboat rig is the trailer, boat, and accompanying gear. The trailer consists of an axle, wheels, boat supports, warning lights, and a tongue hooked to the towing automobile's trailer hitch. The downward pressure at the hitch is the trailer tongue weight. transceiver Radio receiver and transmitter. transducer An electronic sensing device in the bottom of the boat, usually in a through-hull, that provides the dat for a boat's depthsounder or speedometer. transformer A device that changes 120-volt electrical current to 12-volt current. Compare with inverter. transom A flat surface running across the stern. A boat without a transom is double-ended and has a pointed stern. A transom stern is raked aft, a reverse transom is raked forward. An open transom has large holes to save weight and allow water to drain aft. A notched transom has a recess in the hull near the stern to improve water flow near the propeller and allow the propeller to be raised slightly. See counter, rake, stern. Transpac A sailboat race from Los Angeles to Hawaii held in odd-numbered years. trapeze In small racing sailboats, a wire hanging from the mast that supports a crewmember who is standing outboard in order to improve stability. traveler An athwartships track with an adjustable block (the car) that controls the athwartships set of a sail. Travel-Lift A vehicle that hoists, hauls, moves, and launches boats at boatyards. trawler A heavy-displacement powerboat inspired by commercial fishing boats. Trawlers with a fine finish and cruising accommodations are trawler yachts. tricolor See navigation lights. trim 1) To pull on a sheet. 2) The attitude of a boat. Trimmed (down) by the bow (stern) means that the bow (stern) is lower than desired. Trim tabs are flaps at the powerboat's stern that are adjusted so the boat rides level. 3) The condition of the sails and boat. The boat in good trim is in good shape. A well-trimmed sail has the right shape. 4) Wooden detailing. trimaran, tri A boat with three distinct side-by-side hulls, the center one larger than the others. The side hulls (outriggers, floats, amas) are attached to the center hull (vaka) by a bridge, struts, or crossbeams (akas). The design originated in Polynesia. A folding trimaran (tri) can be folded up so it is sufficiently narrow to be trailered. Compare with cathedral hull and tunnel hull. trip, trip line Disconnect remotely. To trip the anchor is to break it loose from the bottom by pulling straight up on a trip line attached to it. Trip lines are also used to open fittings from a distance. troll To ish while the boat moves very slowly. A trolling engine is an especially small gasoline or electric outboard motor (kicker) carried for this purpose. trotline A line used to moor several small boats or to pull a boat to shore. true direction Geographical direction ignoring the earth's magnetic field and oriented toward the geographic North Pole and South Pole. Shown on the compass rose on a chart. Compare with magnetic direction. true wind The actual direction and strength of wind, as felt on a boat that is not moving. Compare with apparent wind. trunk The cabin above deck. trysail, storm trysail See sail and storm. T-stop A canvas or other fabric cover over the helm to protect the steerer. Compare with hardtop. tumblehome The curve of the topsides toward the deck. tuna tower A high platform in a fishing boat from which spotters look for fish. A low platform is a marlin tower. tune To adjust an engine, rig, sail, or rigging until it is at optimum performance. In tune is to be at peak performance. tunnel hull A powerboat with one or two low tunnels in the bottom, extending the length of the hull from bow to stern. The side hulls (sponsons) are not as distinct as the hulls in a catamaran or trimaran but are more distinct than the ones in a cathedral hull. turn A wrap of a line around a cleat or winch. turnbuckle, rigging screw A device for adjusting tension, usually in a stay. It consists of threaded rods joined by a threaded barrel, plus jaws to attach it to the deck and the stay. turning radius, turning circle The distance required for a boat to turn around. turns, 360 rule, 720 rule In sailboat races, boats that acknowledge that they have violated the racing rules may take a penalty by sailing in circles while their competitors sail on. twin engines, twins Two engines. twing, tweaker A control line for a spinnaker sheet. twin jibs, twins Two jibs set on cruising boats on either side of the headstay when the boat is running before the wind. With the mainsail lowered, a boat rigged with twins will steer easily. twist The curve of a sail's leech to leeward. two block To raise a halyard all the way. two-stroke A two-cycle outboard motor. Type I-V See PFD (personal flotation device). |
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