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Favorite Nautical Sayings and Quotes

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by brian eiland, Sep 9, 2012.

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  1. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    For some reason I didn't see such a subject thread?,...so I thought I might start one. Here are my first two.

    A ship is always referred to as "she" because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder."
    -ADM. Chester Nimitz


    "The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place."
    - Arthur Ransome
  2. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    I dunno
  3. revdcs

    revdcs Senior Member

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    "Sea-Fever"

    I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
    And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
    And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
    And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

    I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
    Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
    And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
    And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

    I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
    To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
    And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
    And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

    John Masefield
  4. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    'the call of the Running Tide'

    Yes Revdcs,
    I like that one as well. ;):cool:

    In fact it appears on my website's opening page
    Running Tide Yachts
  5. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    Samuel Langhorne Clemens

    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain
  6. discokachina

    discokachina Senior Member

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    Hold Her Down Newt!

    When we were healed over and hiked out hauling a** in a big wind my Dad would scream out, "Hold her down Newt!" with the biggest grin ever on his face! :D Yeah just like that!
  7. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    "Three sheets to to the wind" The fastest way to stop a 3 masted square rigger running down wind was to release all sheets and let the sails flap. The ship swerved like a drunken sailor.
  8. discokachina

    discokachina Senior Member

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    Is The Sun Passed The Yardarm?

    That reminds me, every afternoon my Dad would look at his watch and pensively ask, "Is the sun passed the yardarm?"

    Wiki.answers says, "It's an old sailing term: the yards on a ship are the horizontal timbers or spars mounted on the masts from which the square sails are hung; and the yardarm is the tapered end of the yard.
    In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun would reach the height of the end of the yard (the yardarm) at around 11 am - signaling the time for the morning tipple of grog (watered-down rum)."

    Had my Dad known that bit of trivia he could have had his afternoon libation before lunch!!!
  9. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    tipple of grog (watered-down rum)."


    Grog - named after "old grog", adm Ed Vernon, who wore a gaugram (sp?) seacoat, and made his sailors add a slice of lime to their rum and water to "freshen " the often green (like in algae) water. Little did he know, it helped ward off scurvy too.
  10. discokachina

    discokachina Senior Member

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    And I always wondered why folks would want to ruin a perfectly fine Corona with a slice of lime!!
  11. AlfredZ

    AlfredZ Senior Member

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    ...and I always thought a perfectly fine Corona was one with a slice of lime!
  12. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    From Whale of a Tale: "Blow me down and pick me up..."

    and another Popeye favorite: "I yam what I yam"

    :D
  13. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    These are the Royal Navy toasts for the Rum, by the Limeys.

    The Toasts

    Sunday - To Absent Friends and those at Sea and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    Monday - To Our Ships at Sea and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    Tuesday - To Our Friends and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    Wednesday - To Ourselves as no one else is liable to concern themselves with our Welfare and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    Thursday - To a Bloody War and a Sickly Season, to a Bloody War and a quick Promotion and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    Friday - To a Willing Foe and Sea Room and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    Saturday - Sweethearts and Wives, May they Never Meet and the Queen, God Bless Her.


    Standby Toasts (Mismuster)

    To the Wind that Blows, the Ship that Goes and the Lass that Loves a Sailor and the Queen, God Bless Her.

    There are Wood Ships and there are Good Ships but the Best Ships are Friendships and may they always be and the Queen, God Bless Her.


    Black Mass Toast

    To the Queen, God Bless Her.


    Followed every evening by these chaps. I've only been a member for 20 years.

    Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda
  14. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    Confirmed! As written on the wall in Pussar's in Tortola. Great dark and stormies
  15. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    Oh dear, another victim!!! :)
  16. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    Indeed! Took a whaler over from the Bitter end - whole 'nother story - with another couple. It was a long ride home..... I think we arrived via Puerto Rico, they had a hand held GPS, ha! Of course, it had nothing whatever to do with the consumption of that very excellent rum.....
  17. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    "Son of a gun". Give us your thoughts?
  18. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    Not Peter Gun's son

    Gun = cannon on deck.

    Son of a Gun = Father not known; Mom and Gun present at birth; hence Son of a Gun.

    Wiki does a better job, with multiple explanations.

    Son of a gun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  19. coismov

    coismov Member

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    "Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes."
    - Kahlil Gibran
  20. Blue Ghost

    Blue Ghost Member

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    Boat owners celebrate two times in their lives; when they purchase their boat, and when they sell it.