The marine anchor
The anchor is the oldest of all marine tattoos, but also the most popular. It represents the link to the earth and has several meanings. The anchor connects the boat to land and prevents it from drifting. It is a sign of stability and strength, attachment, security and promotes safe values such as family.
The anchor also has a religious connotation. In the time of the first Christians, it was used to symbolize the cross, which was forbidden by the Romans. It therefore allowed sailors to display their faith in a discreet way.
Finally, the anchor tattoo was a symbol that was generally earned and realized after the first Atlantic crossing. The anchor is the opposite of the symbolism of the sailboat.
The Gatteville-Berfleur lighthouse
Lighthouses guided sailors through the seas at night, allowing them to avoid the dangers they represented. So the lighthouses symbolize hope. Hope to return home safely, to return safe and sound from a long journey to meet his loved ones, his family.
In a broader sense, it also marks the commitment we make to our loved ones, regardless of their distance, since it symbolizes the return to them. In this sense, it has the same meaning as the tattoo of the swallow.
The compass rose represents the cardinal points and guides sailors on their way. With its 8 branches, it evokes both the compass and the 4 cardinal points, but also the different wind directions: North, North-East, East, South-East, South, South, South-West, West, North-West.
The compass rose represents the cardinal points and guides sailors on their way. With its 8 branches, it evokes both the compass and the 4 cardinal points, but also the different wind directions: North, North-East, East, South-East, South, South, South-West, West, North-West.
It therefore symbolizes the guide, the path to follow, the right direction.
The carbon wheel steering has become an essential option on many sailboats. Nevertheless, its budget remains significant. To enable dealers to offer a wheel steering system different from the standard stainless steel, without increasing the yachtsman's bill too much, Nautex has developed a range of fibreglass wheel steering systems. "We replace carbon, at half the cost," says Florian Foglietti, the company's director.
Wheel steering has several meanings. Its first role is to guide the ship in navigation. In this sense, it symbolizes determination, the righteousness to stay the course and weather storms.
It is also the skipper or captain who has the privilege of steering the boat. It therefore also symbolizes leadership, strength of character and leadership ability.
The 3 masts
The three-masted square mast, synonymous with the first major sailing expeditions, symbolizes the journey and the first discoveries. It is a strong symbol and it was the privilege of the sailors who had rounded Cape Horn.
It represents travel, freedom, adventure, the desire to discover new horizons, unlike the anchor, which materializes attachment and return.
But it also symbolizes another less joyful ideology, that of the missing at sea and the danger represented by it. This meaning comes from Viking culture, since sailing symbolized the start of war, but also the burial of the deceased. According to Viking funeral tradition, the bodies of the dead were placed on a boat. The latter was on fire and started a long drift before disappearing.
