What does a yardarm do?

yardarm in American English either half of a yard supporting a square sail, signal lights, etc.

What does when the sun goes over the yardarm mean?

A traditional nautical saying to indicate that it is time for a morning drink.

Why is it called a yardarm?

The expression is believed to have originated in the north Atlantic where the sun would rise above the upper mast spars (yards) of square sailed ships around 11am. This coincided with the forenoon ‘stand easy’ when officers would go below and enjoy their first rum tot of the day.

What is a Navy yardarm?

(ˈjɑːdˌɑːm) n. (Nautical Terms) nautical the two tapering outer ends of a ship’s yard.

Is the sun over the yard arm?

It is the appropriate time of day to begin drinking alcohol. A “yardarm” is a horizontal bar on the mast of a ship, and it is supposed that when the sun passed it at a certain time of day (around noon), sailors were allowed to drink.

What does it mean to hand a sail?

To stop using (i.e., to “hand”) the sail, the sheets are released and the clewlines and buntlines are pulled tight. The sail folds in half – back in its gear – and so no longer catches the wind.

What is the yard arm of a ship?

The yardarms on a sailing ship are the horizontal timbers or spars mounted on the masts, from which the square sails are hung. It seems that officers in sailing ships adopted a custom, even when on shore, of waiting until this time before taking their first alcoholic drink of the day.

Why did sailors drink rum?

Sailors were given a daily tot of rum from 1655 until the ration was abolished, as recently as 1970. Originally it was given to sailors neat when the beer ran out (water was not safe to drink as it became rancid very quickly at sea and it was often taken from polluted rivers, such as the Thames).

Is a jack a flag?

A jack is a flag flown from a short jackstaff at the bow (front) of a vessel, while the ensign is flown on the stern (rear). Jacks on bowsprits or foremasts appeared in the 17th century. Merchant ships may fly a house flag. Yachts may fly a club burgee or officer’s flag or the owner’s private signal at the bow.

What time is the sun past the yard arm?

This was originally a nautical expression: a yardarm is the outer extremity of a yard , a cylindrical spar slung across a ship’s mast for a sail to hang from. The time of day referred to is noon, rather than 6 o’clock in the evening, as is often supposed.

What is it called when you sail into the wind?

Tacking is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel, whose desired course is into the wind, turns its bow toward and through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side of the boat to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction.

What is a ships yard arm?

Which is the best definition of the word yardarm?

Definition of yardarm : either end of the yard of a square-rigged ship Examples of yardarm in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web When Billy is strung up on a yardarm, the sailors murmur their discontent; a display of martial discipline staves off any threat of mutiny.

Where does the saying the Sun is over the yardarm come from?

the sun is over the yardarm. This was originally a nautical expression: a yardarm is the outer extremity of a yard , a cylindrical spar slung across a ship’s mast for a sail to hang from.

Is the arm at the end of the yard?

It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere! The ‘arm’ is only the end of the yard and usually painted white and outboard of the lifts. But to be pedantic not all yards have arms! To be strictly accurate only vessels that set stunsails had arms because the ends were markedly longer than yer common square rigger’s yard.

What does the red and white flag on a yardarm mean?

We refer, of course, to the distinctive red and white flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain which we proudly hoisted to the yardarm of the 35ft Jeanneau Sun Odyssey yacht ‘Thiaki’ chartered from Greek Sails for the duration, making it easier to identify from the many other, similar looking yachts in the Greek Sails fleet.