There’s a good number of sailing tattoos – decoration and bragging rights! It’s a fairly antiquated tradition, but tall ship sailors tend to really like antiquated tradition. Here’s a quick guide to some of the more common ones! I’ve seen half the ones on here just between my first three crews alone. They’re not taken too seriously, but some are still points of pride.
Oh hey, that’s my art! This image gets shared around a fair bit without context, so if you’re curious about more seafaring traditions, check out Baggywrinkles, my series of comics about living on an 18th-century sailing vessel in the present day!
This poster was originally drawn for an exhibit at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, and has since toured to a number of tall ship-related locations. If you’d like to see the poster in its current home, stop by the San Diego Maritime Museum.
(You can also get prints of this image in my shop, if you’re into that sort of thing.)
tinfoilparachute 