All Triced-Up

rev. 11-24-2010

From the days of wooden boats and iron men:

To trice-up is to tie-up or hoist with a small rope; it can refer to tricing-up a sail, or tying down deck cargo. In the case of a tender on davits, it is the practice of supporting the tender with ropes chris-crossed underneath typically attached to the tip of the davits and to the transom. This provides both support and reduces movement in rough waters.

For the inflatable tender, often ignored for weeks to months at a time by the occasional sailor, it protects against loss of support due to loss of air and the added weight of a heavy snow in winter. In the picture to the right--not ours, thankfully--the floor is just about to be pulled from a sport boat that has lost too much air. This tender fell last winter, in the heavy snow, and it is headed that direction again. I wish I could find the owners telephone number--the one I have doesn't answer.

On the PDQ 32, a pair of 25-foot dock lines I reserve for cruising are just perfect, serving 2 purposes. They are looped over the cleats on the davits, through the welded eye at the tip of the davit, and secured back on the cleats. The complete process takes about 1 minute.