“rhymes for occasions”

I came across this and thought it was worth sharing. Enjoy…Bob



This is from a book Titled SONGS of AMERICAN SAILORMEN Copyright date 1938

In the back of the book from a section called “rhymes for occasions”

“These were the Rules of the Road at Sea,” which every young sailor learned as soon as he learned to box the compass. The first for day-time, the second for night use.

I
If close hauled on the starboard tack,
No other ship can cross your track;

If on port tack you appear,
Ships going free must all keep clear;

While you must yield, when going free,
To ships close-hauled upon your lee;

And if you have the wind right aft,
Keep clear of every sailing craft.

II
When both side lights you see ahead,
Port your helm and show your red;

GREEN to GREEN or RED to RED,
Perfect safety—go ahead!

If to your starboard red appear,
It is your duty to keep clear;

But when upon your port is seen
A vessel’s starboard light of GREEN,
There’s nothing much for you to do,
For GREEN to port keeps clear of you.

Thanks Bob ..

I for one, love things this of this sort.
Here's a few quotes in hopes of keeping the ball in the air

In all systems, as complexity approaches infinity, mean time between failure drops to zero.
- Stephen Streib-

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

Sailing Boats breathe sturdy eager confidence, a living embodiment of the truth that the sea is for sailing, that strenuousness is the immortal path and sloth the way of death.

It ain't sailin' if ya ain't breakin' shit.
-David Beale-

To me, nothing made by man is more beautiful than a sailboat under way in fine weather, and to be on that sailboat is to be as close to heaven as I expect to get. It is unalloyed happiness.
-Robert Manry-Tinkerbelle

The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span,
those days spent sailing.
- Ancient proverb-

The points of destination are only worth seeking out because of the journey required to reach them. Wherever I may be, if I were told to stay there, even paradise would become hell to me. The thought of having to leave somewhere touches me and endears it to me. And so it is that each time I bury a dream, so quickly forgotten, only to yearn for a new one.
- Bogdan Szafraniec-

Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it but sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes-

The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. -Jules Verne-

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things 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-


Regards, Greg

Loved the rhyme and quotes. Here are a few that I have enjoyed over the years. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!


There is poetry of sailing as old as the world.
Antoine deSaint-Exupery (1900-1944)
French writer and aviator


He is the best sailor who can steer within the fewest points of
the wind, and extract a motive power out of the greatest obstacles.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
American essayist, poet and philosopher


To me, nothing by man is more beautiful than a sail boat underway
in fine weather, and to be on that sailboat is to be as close to heaven
as I expect to get. It is unalloyed happiness.
Robert Manry (B. 1918)
American journalist and sailor


If a man must be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good
as anything, perhaps a bit better than most. A small sailing craft is not
only beautiful, it is seductive and full of promise and the hint of trouble.
From “The Sea and the Wind that Blows”
E. B. White (1899-1985)
American writer


A wet sheet and a flowing sea, a wind that follows fast and fills the white
and rustling sail and bends the gallant mast.
Allan Cunningham (1784-1842)
Scottish poet