Taffrail

In naval architecture a taffrail is the handrail around the open deck area toward the stern of a ship or boat. The rear deck of a ship is often called the afterdeck or poop deck. Not all ships have an afterdeck or poop deck. Sometimes taffrail refers to just curved wooden top of the stern of a sailing man-of-war or East Indiaman ship. The rail of these wooden sailing ships usually had hand carved wood rails, often highly decorated.^[1] Sometimes taffrail refers to complete deck area at the stern of a vessel.^[2][3][4][5]

A taffrail log is a mechanical speed logging device, used like a car odometer. The taffrail log was towed from the stern or taffrail of the ship by a long line. Taffrail log were developed in the eighteenth century and became a practical device in the nineteenth century. ^[6]

Gallery

• 
  Taffrail (#1)
• 
  William Heysmann Overend painting: Naval Captain on the Poop deck taffrail
• 
  Weather deck of the Swedish 17th-century warship Vasa looking aft toward the sterncastle, with a hand carved taffrail
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  Gdańsk "Lew" a seventeenth century galleon replica, stern with wooden carved taffrail
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  Prins Willem stern with wooden carved taffrail
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  Star of India stern taffrail

See also

• Common names for decks
• Main deck

References