It's always Over the Yardarm Somewhere...

Well, the sun is over the yardarm....

Which, in nautical speech means it's around 11am and time for a drink...

the sun is NOT over the yardarm here. the sun was about 4 hours from being over the yardarm.
and it was stormy...

Okay.

Actually, it's 8:47pm.

If I were to actually have a 'drink' at 11am I would be napping by 11:30am.

I need to finish up a load of laundry and pack as we are heading down to paint the hull of the fixer-upper. In pirate days that was called 'careening' – where they intentionally beached the boat, letting the surf knock the boat over and scrape it over the sand, knocking the barnacles off it.

We are just planning to scrub, sand then paint.

So the it's going to have to be much later than 11am round these parts..

But back to that yardarm.

The yardarm is the very end of a horizontal spur which holds a square sail in shape. The phrase 'the sun is over the yardarm' is believed to have originated in the north Atlantic where the sun would pass over the yardarm around 11am. And 11am coincided with the forenoon 'stand easy' when the officers of a sailing vessel would go below for the first drink of the day.

Running a ship is thirsty work.

this ain't no water purifying rum. this is some super fancy rum given as a gift.
its good to have pirate friends

Why rum?

Well, there was a lot of sailing around the Caribbean where rum was manufactured. And, there was always a liquor ration on board long distance ships. This was more of a necessity than a luxury. Water was difficult to transport as it tended to become infected with bacteria. Rum and other alcohols were added in small amounts to kill the bacteria.

On Navy vessels the rum ration was managed. Pirate ships were more democratic and consequently the rations were more of a suggestion.

And if you have ever had rum in the Caribbean, then you know how this ends...

Rum is the Reason, pirates never ruled the world...or got the next to last A to Z challenge post done!

This has been the next to last A to Z challenge post!! For more entries click here:

 a-to-zchallenge.com

A-Ahoy

B-Bells

C-Catamaran

D-Dramamine

E-Escape

F-Flags

G-Galley

H-Head to Heel

I-IC24

J-Jib/Jibe

K-Keys

L-Lakes

M-Motors

N-Navigation

O-Oceans

P-Points of Sail

Q-Quote

R-Reef

S-Sailbags

T-Trade Winds

U-Underwater

V-Volume

W-Weather Eye

X-X marks the Spot