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My father was a sea captain, so was his father, and his father before him, and all my uncles. My mother's people all followed the sea. I suppose that if I had been born a few years earlier, I would have had my own ship.

I sailed a bit as a child, but it wasn't until I was around 40, when I was halfway through Patrick O'Brian's 'Master and Commander' novels, that I had the sudden epiphany that I had to go sail on a square-rig ship.

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.

Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.

There can be only one Captain to a ship.

Every seaman is not only a navigator, but a merchant and also a soldier.

A young sailor boy came to see me today. It pleases me to have these lads seek me on their return from their first voyage, and tell me how much they have learned about navigation.

A century before the concept took hold in America, pirate ships were democracies. Most captains were elected by crew and could be voted out anytime.