Hi Marie!!
I've heard the back of a boat referred to as a "transom" before. I heard it called that in Jaws. Remember when they shot the shark with those spears attached to ropes and barrels? They ended up tying the ropes to the clips located at the back of the boat. Suddenly the shark began swimming against the boat creating huge waves and turbulence. Quint (the captain) told Matt and Chief Brody to cut the ropes loose or else the shark "will pull out the transom". But that is the only time I can ever remember hearing it said when referring to the back of a boat or ship. 
Wow, David - you have a great memory! I do remember that part in Jaws, but that shark was freaking me out and I would never have remembered the words!
And I realize I almost forgot to vote! This is tough. I'm tempted to go with "Press for securing glued pieces of wood until dry" b/c I can picture exactly how that would work. But, I'm thinking about Jack washing their clothes up on Brokeback and how he was wringing them out by hand, and I'm guessing a
Portable clothes wringer would have come in handy in the 1800s. So I'm going with that!
Marie
