The number 8 ball comes from the long games of billiards played by sailors during stopovers. The black ball that closes the game has two meanings. The first is a sign of luck or victory or, on the contrary, bad luck or defeat. Everything depended on the meaning that the owner wanted to give it.
The number 8 ball comes from the long games of billiards played by sailors during stopovers. The black ball that closes the game has two meanings. The first is a sign of luck or victory or, on the contrary, bad luck or defeat. Everything depended on the meaning that the owner wanted to give it.
The choice is fait?! Several of them applied for the position of co-skipper to accompany the British sailor - Breton by adoption - Samantha Davies on the Transat Jacques Vabre. Thomas Pesquet, François Damiens and even Tanguy De Lamotte volunteered to cross the Atlantic in duet aboard the IMOCA Initiatives-C?ur. But on reflection, it was Paul Meilhat whom the talented sailor chose to accompany her on the Route du Café. She explains her choice to us.
The heart is the symbol of love, passion, feelings. But depending on the figures that complete it, its meaning is different. A heart locked by a lock or padlock evokes fidelity. A bleeding heart symbolizes lost love, a winged heart symbolizes freedom and one surrounded by a crown of thorns (like Jesus on his cross), faith.
The subtitle "A small family experience of a life punctuated by the singing of sails and the whispering of stars" shows how, despite the difficulties encountered, the failure to find its fullness and the wisdom of life today. This unpretentious little book that can be read in a few hours is a kind of explanation of the path to take. An ideal reading for those who would like to cast off with their family one day.
The Five-pointed Star is the lucky charm of sailors because it represents the star in the sky that guides sailors. It symbolizes hope, the road to follow in the dark night, the right path. Not to be confused with the six-pointed star used by prisoners.
The number of stars tattooed on the bodies of sailors could also represent the number of years at sea.
Crossed cannons
Sailors who had completed their naval military service had two crossed guns tattooed on them.
Hold & Fast
Some sailors by profession had the Anglo-Saxon verbs "Hold" and "Fast" tattooed on their phalanges. This tattoo was a guarantee of efficiency in sailing manoeuvres.
The Pin-up
Women were considered as bad luck charms on board a ship, and were outlawed on royal ships. "Object" of lust and temptation, they could have provoked fights between sailors wishing to attract their favours.
So to keep a connection with them, they got tattoos of young and pretty young women on their bodies. It symbolizes the woman who is waiting for her sailor to return home.
The mermaid, a mythical creature that attracted sailors with its song, has a reputation for pushing them to perdition. Either by pushing them to throw themselves overboard or by causing them to run aground on the rocks.
The mermaid, a mythical creature that attracted sailors with its song, has a reputation for pushing them to perdition. Either by pushing them to throw themselves overboard or by causing them to run aground on the rocks.
It represents beauty, but also danger, like the sea for sailors. But it also symbolized the desire for women and the risk of losing everything by succumbing to their charms.
The spider's web
Sailors had the spider web tattooed on their right elbows. This elbow he used to put up the counter of the bars where they spent their time.
This tattoo has two meanings. The first is the time that passes, the time that we spent "to lose" in stopovers. The canvas also symbolizes confinement, imprisonment and thus by extrapolation, the refusal of order and submission.
Moreover, a spider web tattooed on a prisoner's left elbow means that he has already killed.
The vahine
The sailors who had visited Hawaii opted for a vahine
Tattoos among sailors' wives
Women who wanted to show their attachment to their partner could have a bird tattooed with a cherry in their beak. The latter symbolizing carnal love, it indicated that their hearts were taken.
