Nautical Terms

Sea Legs

Sea Sickness is Rare on the Bay. But, if this happens try these:

  • Keep Standing
  • Try to Balance
  • Don’t Go Below
  • Keep Busy
  • Stay Hydrated
  • Relax & Breathe
  • Focus on a Far Point
  • Ginger Root or Ale
  • Over-the-Counter Meds

On Deck & Down Below

The Sail Area is ~1,000 sq. ft. and the deck is our platform from bow to stern. She has bow and stern overhangs, and a beam. The beam is the width at the center of the boat. The draft indicates the depth the boat draws. Inboard is away from the toe rail.

Tabasco’s basic fittings are: Cables, Cleats, Clevis pins, Cotter pins, Jib hanks, Shackles, Shroud or stays, Snatch blocks, Spinnaker pole, Traveller, Turnbuckle, & Blocks, & Winches… 

The cabin below has cozy sleeping quarters, a head, room for light cargo storage, and an icebox for your lunch. Down below is where you’ll also find additional cleats, lines, and a pfd for every man on board. We look forward to sailing with our friends.

Ties & Hitches

Use your line and take a turn around the cleat. Now wrap the rope over the middle of the cleat and under the ear of the cleat. This will start a figure eight across the top of the opposite ear. Make an underhand loop and place it over one of the cleat’s ears. This should pin the free end of your rope under the last line wrap. Pull the free end tightly to complete this half hitch.

Safety at Sea

Equipment on Board:

  • PFD for Crew is In-Sight & Auto Inflatable
  • Radio Signal to TowBoatU.S. – Emergency Tl.#: 800-391-4869
  • Navigation w/Fixed VHF Garmin
  • Compass Flush Mount
  • Flares for Visual Distress
  • Fire Extinguisher is Marine Grade
  • Air Horns w/ Super Blast Signal
  • Running Lights
  • Bell for Fog
  • Ring Toss, Life Preserver
  • Ginger Ale and Fresh Water
  • Beds & Head Down Below
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Nautical Basics

  • Bear off: turn away from the wind
  • Broad reach: sailing with wind over the windward back quarter
  • Ease: let the sail out
  • Head up: turn toward the wind
  • Heel: tip the boat windward or leeward
  • Hike: lean out to windward in order to hold the boat in a trim
  • Jibe: a turn where the wind moves from one side to the other across the stern and causes the sail to change sides
  • On the wind: sailing close hauled
  • Pinching: sailing too close to the wind
  • Port tack: wind is over the port (left) side
  • Ready about: command before tacking
  • Sailing by the lee: running with the wind blowing over the leeward quarter: then it’s time to jibe.
  • Starboard tack: wind is over the starboard (right) side. The boat will have the right of way
  • Tack: same as jibe except the wind moves across the bow
  • Trim sails: moving and adjusting sails for maximum efficiency
  •  

Helming & Trimming

  • Helming: Steering the boat takes a little practice. Move the tiller the opposite way you’d like the boat to go. The best way to get started is to pick a course that will take you at right angles to the wind direction.
  • Trimming: Depends on the point of sailing (the direction of the wind) and speed of the wind. Flat sails work well with heavy air, while full sails work best in light air.
  • Maximize speed: Depends on sail trim and positioning the weight of people in the boat (to work as a ballast) working to balance the pressure of the wind on the sails. The almost constant shifting of your body position is essential. To sail you do little more than point the boat where you want it to go to keep it from luffing.

Her Rigging

If you are new to sailing with us, we thought you might like to become familiar with how we use blocks, cleats, winches, and travelers as we head out for a day sail.

  • We use cleats on the main sail and jib to secure the lines. We also use a cleat to secure the hatch covers and the tiller.
  • The traveller is used to trim and refine the sail.
  • The main sheet has two blocks for mechanical advantage.
  • The running backstay has two blocks that are only directional, with no mechanical advantage, but we do use a self-tailing winch.
  • The jib sheet has a snatch block for direction, and a winch for mechanical advantage.
  • Halyards are lines used to pull the sails up. They are assisted with a winch.
  • Sheets control the sails.
  • We have a topping lift to hold the end of the boom off of the deck.

Points of Sail

  • A “no-sail” zone is approximately a 90 degree zone into the direction of the wind (called “dead zone” or “in irons.”) This leaves 270 degrees of options to move the boat in the wind.
  • At either edge of the no-sail zone are the two close-hauled courses. On these courses, the sails are hauled as close to the centerline of the sail boat as possible.
  • If the boat is sailing directly downwind the course is said to be running or simply downwind.
  • As the sail boat’s course turns away from the wind it is reaching (the process by which the wind comes across the sail boat.) Reaching is divided into three different courses:
    • Beam Reaching, where the wind comes across the boat at a 90-degree angle
    • Close Reaching as the course gets closer to close hauled
    • Broad Reaching where the course is further downwind beyond the 90-degree mark.