What are your favourite sailing sayings?

[novapamela]

I'm curious, what are your favourite sailing sayings?

Here's one from the BVIs:

"If it's brown go around, if it's green it's lean, if it's blue go through."

Thanks,

Pamela

[bamamick]

'good race, guys'. I always say that to my crew as we are finishing. Assuming we had a good race, of course, which is why it's my favorite saying.

:)

Mickey Lake

[Thorne]

From a sailing instructor who sold me my San Juan 21,

"Keep the people in the boat and the water out of the boat"...

[Paul Pless]

Arrrr!

[banjoman]

If you don't know the knot...tie a lot.

[novapamela]

These are great! Thank you.

Please keep them coming.

Cheers,

Pamela

[outofthenorm]

For right of way, gross tonnage rules.

[John Boone]

While on a friends schooner off one of the Maine islands, he was asked how close to shore we could take the boat. His reply -

"When the bow be in the trees we'll be running out of seas" .

I love the looks on my crews faces when I use that one :eek:

[John B]

said with a mock English accent. ( or real one if you have it I suppose)
In a puff ,spring a luff; In a lull , keep em full.

But my favourite is 'let go forward'.

[Pernicious Atavist]

Keep the sails dry!

[John B]

often heard on our boat on approaching some land/ bay/ point.

me: ' any hazards?'
Kirsty: ' Just frills'

[botebum]

I have two favorites-
"Comin' About! Somebody grab my beer!"
and
Always shouted after the fact- "Jibe! Somebody get me another beer!"

Doug

[boylesboats]

:D That cute Doug, keeping someone else on their toes, while they fetch ya a beer...:D

[dhic001]

First rule of navigation (for those of us who start up rivers), "Seagulls paddling dead ahead, you should stop and scratch your head".

Daniel

[soba]

This isn't exactly a boat saying, but we quote it often on the boat to our amusement...

about 4 years ago, took a buddy from Kansas sailing in the Gulf Islands. He seemed particularly taken with the marine head, and used it often over the day trip. My girlfriend asked him how he liked the head (after his fifth use) and he said;

"Me head's fine, darlin. The thing is, my turd baler's done run out of twine!"

[SchoonerRat]

I have always cautioned my charter passengers to

"Please do not put anything into the head---unless you have eaten it first!"

[Ian McColgin]

Another favorite sign in the head,

Gentlemen, please be seated.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

This now has limited application, but before GPS I used to enjoy sticking my head out of the hatch after a spell at the chart table, gazing round at the sea, and saying, with the Chorus in "The Pirates of Penzance",

"What a pleasant spot, I wonder where we are?"

[isla]

Arrr I know every rock and shoal on this coast..CRASHHHHH!! and there's one of them now.

[Larks]

Splice the main brace

[Jonathan Kabak]

My new favorite nautical saying for all those times that things are just not quite working out:

"now that's a hot cup'a suck".

Jonathan

[outofthenorm]

Not so much a saying as a good navigational idea that smacks of common sense. It's called "Potato Navigation". As far as I can remember, it comes from Farley Mowatt.

When traveling in fog, send someone forward with a bucket of potatoes, and every minute or so, have him heave one forward as hard as he can in the direction of travel. If you hear a splash, proceed. If you don't - tack.

[Dave Davis]

"Captains have great imaginations for disaster."

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

another one for the heads compartment:

"Continued cheerfulness is a sign of great wisdom" - Confucius

"Dolefulness is a sign of constipation" - Uffa Fox.

[Brian Palmer]

Not sailing, but from my 10 year old son to me on a recent canoe trip:

"I'll start paddling when you stop acting like it's the end of the world if we hit a rock."

Wise guy.:D

Brian

[Iolaire]

How about:
"There are old sailors and bold sailors, but no old bold sailors"
or when it really pipes up and you feel like challenging the wind
"blow you b****ch blow"
or if not so brave
"if you think you should reef, then reef"

[ishmael]

"One hand to the ship and one to your arse."Words to that effect.

[gavinpascoe]

Y.A.C.H.T.

A New Zealand Coastguard term, it's an acronym for "Yet Another C* Having Trouble"

[John Turpin]

"The Sea will teach you what you did wrong"


"The cure for all that ails a man is saltwater--in the form of sweat, tears or the sea"

[Ian McColgin]

B.O.A.T.
Break Out Another Thou$and

[Noah]

The best is "Puff On" or "Wind On" on a windy day in an understated tone as the boat get's knocked on it's ear and the rail goes under.

Or the other way around - Yell it like the end of the earth is coming on a light day when it goes from 2 knots to 5...

[TimT]

"Kevin, your paddle is drying"
That's another paddling one, said to my son several times each day as we worked our way through Quetico.

Then the little smarty started noticing that I occasionally took a break....

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won't drown.

[John Turpin]

Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won't drown.

Beautiful. Thanks for that.

[soba]

Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won't drown.

That's the telegram from "Father" in Swallows and Amazons.

If you haven't read those books yet, start now!

[gavinpascoe]

John Turpin - Where did you get your second quote from? It's a good'un:

The cure for all that ails a man is saltwater--in the form of sweat, tears or the sea

[prestonbriggs]

The cure for all that ails a man is saltwater--in the form of sweat, tears or the sea

Google suggests it's Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixen).
She wrote "I know of a cure for everything: salt water... Sweat, tears, or the salt sea."

Preston

[TerryLL]

In the head: "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the entire performance."

Also, "The winds and the tides always favor the ablest mariner."

[Tinman]

Not sure if this qualifies as my "favorite" but it was the one that got the most attention during my naval career.

"Secure, the brow is now open. Stand fast the engineering department"

A great qoute fond on many boiler room hatches.

"The prelude to action is the work of the Boiler room crew"

[elad]

When going out on the ocean, I have always referred to it as "I am going out on the deep"

I also like to use larboard instead of port

Dale

[Jay Greer]

If you feel queezy please stay on deck. If you must barf, do it to leward!
Jay

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Grab a chance and you won't be sorry for a might-have-been.

This quotation from Ransome was carved round Wanderer III's companionway.

[Larks]

"Bring it on Huey"

and

"Starboard you #$@%!"

[Larks]

"You can't cross an ocean without leaving port"

[novapamela]

These are fun and fabulous!

Thank you!

Pamela

[Paul Pless]

[quote=Larks;1964446
"Starboard you #$@%!"[/quote]
good one:D

[gavinpascoe]

"If you want stand up, go on deck". Or something like that from Uffa Fox.

Related, and again, one I heard in NZ (and a bit saucy):
"A woman will never lay down in a boat she can't stand up in"

[gavinpascoe]

And the poem Ithaca:
By C.P. Cafavy


As you set out on the way to Ithaca
hope that the road is a long one,
filled with adventures, filled with understanding.
The Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes,
Poseidon in his anger: do not fear them,
you’ll never come across them on your way
as long as your mind stays aloft, and a choice
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes,
savage Poseidon; you’ll not encounter them
unless you carry them within your soul,
unless your soul sets them up before you.

Hope that the road is a long one.
Many may the summer mornings be
when—with what pleasure, with what joy—
you first put in to harbors new to your eyes;
may you stop at Phoenician trading posts
and there acquire fine goods:
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and heady perfumes of every kind:
as many heady perfumes as you can.
To many Egyptian cities may you go
so you may learn, and go on learning, from their sages.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind;
to reach her is your destiny.
But do not rush your journey in the least.
Better that it last for many years;
that you drop anchor at the island an old man,
rich with all you’ve gotten on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca gave to you the beautiful journey;
without her you’d nothave set upon the road.
But she has nothing left to give you any more.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca did notdeceive you.
As wise as you’llhave become, with so much experience,
you’llhaveunderstood, by then, what these Ithacas mean.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

"If you want stand up, go on deck". Or something like that from Uffa Fox.

Uffa quoted it, but it's older - it starts with E.F. Knight's "The Falcon on the Baltic" - 1880's!

[Bill R]

Not my favorite, but probably the one I use most often...

OH S#!T !!!

[bott]

Supposedly in the captain's quarters in the Cutty Sark:

"Do right, and fear not"

[Robmill0605]

My 3yr old nephew was driving with his mother ( my sister in law) when she slammed on the brakes in traffic and she yelled'

" WILL YOU JUST LOOK AT THAT JERK"?

Nephew;

"Daddy???"

[Thad Van Gilder]

that boat looks yarr today, with the tops'l sheeted tight and all.

-Thad

[Hal Forsen]

Watch the Boom! :D

[John Turpin]

"Better put ice on that"

[AndreasJordahlRhude]

Splice the main brace.

Rope yarn Sunday.

[Tom Hunter]

Don't forget, the ocean is trying to kill you


There is a reason it's called the boom

[Bill Perkins]

Be resolute when wind and wave oppose you ; but shorten sail when a fair wind blows too strong .

[neilm]

"Red sky at night sailor's delight,
Red sky in morning sailor's warning."

"There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing."

"You are without a doubt, the worst priate I have ever heard of."
Jack: "But you have heard of me?"

"There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black." - Nathanael G. Herreshoff

"Boats, like whiskey, are all good." -R.D. (Pete) Culler

"To be successful at sea we must keep things simple." -R. D. ( Pete ) Culler

"Below 50 degrees south there is no law. Below 60 degrees south there is no God."

"I cannot not sail."
- E. B. White

[Capn Hand]

"Love many, trust few. Always paddle your own canoe." -Billy Two-Rivers
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” W.A. Ward
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made." - L.F. Herreshoff
"At last, the god-damned engine is quiet!" -William Snaith
"It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better." -Sir Francis Drake
"The single commandment of anchoring is "thou shall create scope." -Reese Palley
"To young men contemplating a voyage I'd say go." -Joshua Slocum

[John B]

B.O.A.T.
Break Out Another Thou$and
Usually repeated here as bring out or bring over another thousand . Meaning's the same though.
It often goes with 'A thousand is the new hundred'.
And a lament from one of my friends is that everything ( any capital or maintenance expenditure)costs the same as the price of a small car.

[Jay Greer]

For light air racing, "Time to play a puff card!"
Jay

[spirit]

Another from Arthur Ransome, that my father used to read aloud:
"We didn't mean to go to Sea"

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

I think the original mentioned "foxholes", but I always liked:

'there are no agnostics on board a sinking ship'

Then there is...

'uh... no... the other starboard'

One that has saved my bacon once or twice...

'when in doubt, come-about'

[skuthorp]

"Ooops!" and anything to do with "splicing the mainbrace".

[Bobcat]

Call on Allah, but row away from the rocks.

[Steve Paskey]

My original contribution, spoken by the Captain to crew:
"If you want to drown yourself, get your own boat."

And a few random ones from various sources:

Smooth seas do not make a skillful sailor.

If the water's up to your neck, it's too late for swimming lessons.

After the boat sinks, everyone will know how she might have been saved.

[Roger Cumming]

Marriages performed by the captain of this vessel are good for the duration of this voyage only.

[novapamela]

I haven't been this entertained - and enlightened - in a while! Thanks all! Cheers, Pamela

[leaotis]

while relieving one's self over the stern... "this water is awfully cold, mighty deep too."

[leaotis]

"oh, watch you head". Always spoken after the thunk of a forehead on the companion way hatch or boom or whatever.

[DavidF]

An old Phoenician's Prayer (are there any young Phoenicians?):
Gods, judge me not as a god, but as a man whom the ocean has broken.

[paladin]

Somewhere on this earth, at any time, the sun is over the yardarm.....

There's old sailors, and bold sailors, but very few old, bold sailors......

or on a picnic sail between Akreness and Hofn, Iceland, Sweet Thing says "Chuck, there's a nice whale swimming alongside and I can almost pet it"..I look over from standing near the mast and say "That's a great white shark, no petting"....

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

(with apologies to Michael Green, author of "The Art of Coarse Sailing" and "The Art of Coarse Cruising")

"We were seized by a giant hand..."

[Sam F]

Uffa quoted it, but it's older - it starts with E.F. Knight's "The Falcon on the Baltic" - 1880's!

Which, if anybody is interested can be read here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=AvVCRms4zXEC&dq=The+Falcon+on+the+Baltic&pg=PP1&ots=8FgpNDdQy9&sig=k3CG7xPJj9NZb5iMlv-2-BQjAB0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPP1,M1

[Rich VanValkenburg]

'Don't get that blood on the sails.'

[TimH]

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[gavinpascoe]

This is a tip rather than a quote: Never join a racing outfit where every crew member is a professional manager.

I know this from bitter experience

[boylesboats]

This is a tip rather than a quote: Never join a racing outfit where every crew member is a professional manager.

I know this from bitter experience

awwww do ya... What happened? I like to hear more about this..

[gavinpascoe]

Well in a nutshell - On a 36 footer in the Solent on a business regatta: Everything went wrong that could possibly go wrong as everyone was paying attention to everybody else's job and not their own (big picture thinking I guess you'd call it). And in 30+ knot breeze too, with a tidal stream running cross ways, they insisted on running by the lee. End results were of course accidental broaches, crash gybes, collisions and one MOB. All in one race of twice windward/leeward and no longer than 7nm!

And of course it was my fault the kite wrapped around the forestay though noone seemed to think it important to keep tension on any of the lazy sheets when I tripped the pole, or indeed control the mainsheet gybe, or at even warn me when the damn boom was about to be thrown across like we were in a bloody laser, tipping the deck through 120 degrees, and pitching us god knows what.

After every mishap, instead on knuckling down and concentrating on the next thing the afterguard would convene in the cockpit, nesting in their spaghetti, to analyse what went wrong, even before we'd properly recovered. I was crying out from the foredeck "just pay attention you expletives!" but got nowhere. I'd like to point out heere I don't hate all afterguards.

I couldn't get off that bucket quick enough. Live (luckily) and learn.

Which makes me think of another quote: It the foredeck's hands aren't bleeding, he's not working hard enough.

[boylesboats]

Well in a nutshell - On a 36 footer in the Solent on a business regatta: Everything went wrong that could possibly go wrong as everyone was paying attention to everybody else's job and not their own (big picture thinking I guess you'd call it). And in 30+ knot breeze too, with a tidal stream running cross ways, they insisted on running by the lee. End results were of course accidental broaches, crash gybes, collisions and one MOB. All in one race of twice windward/leeward and no longer than 7nm!

And of course it was my fault the kite wrapped around the forestay though noone seemed to think it important to keep tension on any of the lazy sheets when I tripped the pole, or indeed control the mainsheet gybe, or at even warn me when the damn boom was about to be thrown across like we were in a bloody laser, tipping the deck through 120 degrees, and pitching us god knows what.

After every mishap, instead on knuckling down and concentrating on the next thing the afterguard would convene in the cockpit, nesting in their spaghetti, to analyse what went wrong, even before we'd properly recovered. I was crying out from the foredeck "just pay attention you expletives!" but got nowhere. I'd like to point out heere I don't hate all afterguards.

I couldn't get off that bucket quick enough. Live (luckily) and learn.

Which makes me think of another quote: It the foredeck's hands aren't bleeding, he's not working hard enough.

Wow, no teamwork at all...

[gavinpascoe]

And to be fair - I've wrapped a kite or two with no help from anyone else in my time!

[switters]

"Love many, trust few. Always paddle your own canoe." -Billy Two-Rivers
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” W.A. Ward
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made." - L.F. Herreshoff
"At last, the god-damned engine is quiet!" -William Snaith
"It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better." -Sir Francis Drake
"The single commandment of anchoring is "thou shall create scope." -Reese Palley
"To young men contemplating a voyage I'd say go." -Joshua Slocum

good first post, welcome aboard,

[Sam F]

This isn't my favorite saying, but it is fairly common:
"We're aground.
Again!"

[paladin]

The worst day sailing is better than the best day at work....

[Sailor]

I like
"I want a boat that drinks 6, eats 4, and sleeps 2." -Earnest K. Gann

[Concordia...41]

"Better put ice on that"

John I believe you mean "Better put ice in that" ;)

[John B]

which reminds me...


' Foursies'

[Rum_Pirate]

Better a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy


Better being in a boat with a drink on the rocks than being in the drink with a boat on the rocks.



BOAT : spending ever increasing amounts of money with increasing frequency

[BBSebens]

Row hard - No excuses - I don't know where this comes from but i think its pretty common.

"So Steve, what shall we tear out next?" - working on our restoration project.

And I can't believe no one put this one up yet:

There is nothing, simply nothing so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

-Unfortunately, I don't know where this comes from, but I think its somewhat well known.

And a saying that, apparently, everyone gets when they step on IRENE:
"If you drop this winch handle overboard, I expect to hear TWO splashes."

and something heard, much too often:
"Um ... hey guys? Is that thing supposed to be doing that?"

rofl

KThxBai!

[WX]

You are sailing close to the wind boy!

[PeterSibley]

et:

There is nothing, simply nothing so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

-Unfortunately, I don't know where this comes from, but I think its somewhat well known.




Wind in the Willows :) ......Toad !

[S B]

One from my old man. " If you realize, that the next mistake you make will probably be your last, you will be less likely to make it."

[prestonbriggs]

Wind in the Willows :) ......Toad !

No no, Ratty!

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

Heard on some boats...

"well, your vote might count for something if this were a democracy"

[Pernicious Atavist]

Well, at least for yesterday's sail that almost became a swimming event....DON'T CLEAT THE SHEET! DON'T CLEAT THE SHEET!

[paladin]

Tana Mari was the only authorized mistress that I was allowed to have.....it was always like having two wives, two girlfriends or two mistresses because both were jealous of each other, but both knew they were on equal footing.....and one was happiest when the other was present......

[John B]

Rocks are named after boats( vessels).

[Mike DeHart]

Boating around the Delaware where sandbars shift regularly I will often tell people:

Birds do not WALK on water.

[boylesboats]

Boating around the Delaware where sandbars shift regularly I will often tell people:

Birds do not WALK on water.

I did seen geese and ducks runs on water...

[sv Lorelei]

It ain't sailin' if you ain't breakin' sh!t!

There are three kinds of sailors. Those that have run aground, those that are about to run aground, and liars.

[Mhija]

My favorite regarding most things, but especially sailing

"Never deny the neighbors a good laugh."

[Peerie Maa]

A fishing charter boat skipper on a day sailer intent on using us as a turning mark "W A F Is" = Wind assisted f***g idiots.

[John R - Kitenui]

It takes as much work to build an ugly boat as it does to build a beautiful one.

Why would you build an ugly boat.

[dhic001]

Not directly a sailing quote, but said of one of the most innovative engineers and ship builders of the 19th century, Isambard Kindom Brunel. ..."great things are not done by those who sit down and count the cost of every thought and act", Daniel Gooch (later Sir), Locomotive engineer, of the GWR, later one to help lay the first trasatlantic cable, with Brunel's leviathon 'Great Eastern'.

Daniel

[Milo Christensen]

Sing it like Janis while sailing in light air:

Oh Lord, won't you send me ten knots of good air.
I'm counting on you, Lord, to help me get there.
Show that you love me and that you do care.
Oh Lord, won't you send me ten knots of good air.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Those that have run aground, those that are about to run aground, and liars.

We prefer to say, "We took the ground." It makes it sound intentional....

Also --

"One hand for yourself and one for the ship." (Also quoted in Ransome as far as I recall, but not attributable to him.)

[Paul Girouard]

"Shift colors , the ship is in port!" :D

[sv Lorelei]

We prefer to say, "We took the ground." It makes it sound intentional....


As we prefer to say "We then performed a percussive docking maneuver" rather than "We crashed into the dock".....

[Captain Blight]

"If it ain't broke, fix it till it is." Sticker on the engine room hatch of M/V ITASCA

"Don't drive the boat where the birds are standing."

"Tie off. Let's go home." Captain "Big Dave" Strandquist

[Mike DeHart]

Sailing is the art of going nowhere, very slowly, at great expense.

[TR]

From my Father....

"Ya gotta be tough to love the Sea."

[outofthenorm]

In the 1954 Fastnet race, Dick Nye’s "Carina" fell off a wave early on the race and cracked her stem. The crew had to bail non-stop for the rest of the race to stay afloat. As they crossed the finish for the win, Nye called out, ’All right boys, we’re over now, let her sink!’

[almeyer]

I like the line that appeared in Small Boats:

"God is great, but don't go dancing in a small boat."