Some Trivia - Some Of It Funny

I thought you might like to read some of the trivia I told those who took my "Sailing Classes" so long ago. Six nights on the water, four per class and alotta fun over the four years I taught it.

 

Son Of A Gun

In the Military Navies, most sailors were not the tune slugging, pleasant, happy guys we see in the movies. Drunkards, felons, those in jail and those who the officers got drunk and stole away to the ship and when they sobered up, they were miles at sea.

These ships would be on the open water for 1-2 years without coming to a port. The Captain knew, if he did dock the ship, he would have to rouse a new crew from wherever they were.

"Men", being "Men", and especially these "Men" missed female companionship after a while. So the ship would be anchored in the harbor and the Soiled Doves or Ladies of the Evening would be brought to the ship instead.

A Military vessel had guns which were on gun decks. The more guns they had, the better. Sometimes 3-4 decks of them. Ceiling height was maybe five feet at best and, the "Men" slept in hammocks between the big guns to save space.

Well, I always was told, "The first baby comes any time, the rest take nine months", and, later, some of these gals had babies and hence the term "Son of a Gun".

 

Latrine

The Latrine is the netting in the bow of the ship from the actual bow to the end of the bowsprit.

The Captain and Officers had their own "Head" in their quarters in the rear of the ship, but the crew had none. So, they used the Latrine as their privy.

Now remember, back then, a sailing vessel could not go down wind. Only across or down wind. So their aromas and fragrances as they used the Latrine would not offend the Captain and Officers, who kept to the rear of the ship. Where, the air was always fresh.

 

Larboard and Starboard

When the Vikings would sail (and row) from Norway to England to rape and plunder, they had two "boards" on either side of the transom. A Larboard to the left (facing forward) and a Starboard to the right. Hence, when the ship was heeled over (tipping), they would use the one with most of the board in the water.

When the left their homes, the right side of the ship was on the "Star Board" side. The side with Polaris, the North Star. When the returned to port, the other side of the vessel was next to the dock. The Larboard side.

Somewhere along the way, they discovered a single board at the transom of the ship worked just as well, the right side of the ship became the "StarBoard" side and the other, the "Port" side.

Port and Left are four letter words and Starboard and right are longer.

Easy to remember.

 

Keel Hauled

One severe punishment for an errant sailor was Keel Hauling.

Ropes would be put over the side from the bow on both sides. The ends would be tied to the victims arms and feet. They would then throw him in the water and he would be drug along the bottom of the boat with the ropes from either side.

In those times, the bottoms of the hulls were encrusted with every form of barnacle or parasite and these would slice the skin of the victim to pieces as he was drug along.

Rarely, would the poor guy survive as he was cut to ribbons or drowned.

 

Limey

To this day, Trafalgar Square in London has a massive column with an Admiral, Lord Nelson on top.

In the 1700's and 1800's, when England Ruled The Waves, scurvy would hit the sailors a few days from port and it was a serious problem. Lord Nelson discovered, by feeding each man a lime a day, would prevent scurvy.

Hence, the term "Limey".

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And We Think We Are So Smart!

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In the 1800's, the Queen of England posted a 50,000 pound reward if someone could figure a reliable way to calculate Longitude - the location one finds themselves around the world, not above or below the equator - that's Latitude.

All the students and educated folks in the sailing business put to the task. For years, they tried to find a solution. All failed.

Then, a plumber stepped forward and claimed the prize. His secret? An extremely accurate clock called a chronometer. Set that to the time from Greenwich, England and from reading the stars, moon or sun, and consulting some tables, one can calculate how far around, they are.

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And ...

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It was about 2500 BC when someone placed a Dhow on the Mediterranean Sea. Triangular (Lateen) type of sail. And they could maneuver about with the wind.

But, it could only go down wind or across the wind. At best.

There have been alotta really smart folks who made boats or sails or sailed the oceans. And, it took until the mid 1800's before mankind realized, by placing a keel under the ship, and moving the sail's center of effort slightly ahead of that keel, then one could sail close to the wind.

Amazing, it took 4500 years to figure that out!

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More later ...