Eastern Time minus 4 hours
One of our lecturers on this segment, Los Angles to Sydney, is Robert N. Macomber, an internationally recognized, award-winning maritime author, lecturer and TV commentator. It is great for us to have him on our cruise because we all belong to our Florida sailing club, the Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society (CMCS). He is a charter member. Although we have heard him speak, we hadn't actually met him until he embarked this week. He travels a lot and so do we. He lives in Matlacha Florida, which is also the home of The Yard Dogs.
Yesterday his subject was Modern Day Piracy Around the World and today it was Grog. I know this is out of order. I have lots of things stored up to write about, but this was so funny I had to write it now. Bob suggested that anyone that was attending the lecture bring a drink to toast with, even if it was water, because that was part of the lecture.
When it was time to leave for the lecture, Jeff had his Mount Gay Rum flask that he bought in Barbados. I had 2 glasses and a bottle of water.
When we got there, Bob explained about Grog. It was the drink of the Royal Navy and of the US Navy as well for a long time, like over 100 years. Actually it was very interesting, but I forgot to write it down in my new notebook. He gave an extensive history of the drink. It was used as punishment and reward etc.
Grog is the most famous drink afloat. Grog is made with Rum from the British Islands of the Caribbean and water in varying strengths from ¼ Rum and ¾ water and sometimes much stronger. We didn't know it ahead of time but we happened to have the perfect ingredients for Grog. He mentioned that Mount Gay is the preferred rum of current day sailors, which is why Jeff has the flask.
Bob announced he was going to tell is about some historical toasts of the Royal Navy. He said we should have the drinks ready so Jeff tried to open the flask. It was stuck. He used his shirt, his belt, my jacket and my shirt. Stirling used his shirt, Clare's shirt, the cloth of her purse and then a piece of paper (not sure of the thinking behind that one) to try to open the flask. Then Jeff used the top of his sock and then, believe it or not, the tongue of his gym shoe to try to open it. At this point he said he was going to go back to our cabin to get a pliers. I don't know why he has a pliers. (This reminds me of when he fixed the tour bus with his Swiss Army knife when we were in Nova Scotia.) He came running back in and said he was able to open it with the phone cord on the phone in the hall. By this time I was laughing so hard I was snorting. No one has ever said Jeff doesn't think out of the box. Anyway, success!!!!
The Toasts: Most were from the Royal Navy
Monday: “To our ships at sea”
Tuesday: “To our men”
Wednesday: “Ourselves, as no one else is likely to concern themselves with us”
Thursday:” A bloody war and a quick promotion”
Others:
“To our sweethearts and our wives, may they never meet”
“To absent friends and those still at sea”
Confederate Navy: “Here's to the ships of our Navy and the ladies of the land. May the former be well rigged and the latter be well manned.”
Tonight we met him up in the Commodore Club for a some Mount Gay and Tonic and Mount Gay and Coke.
1 comment:
I can't believe Dad didn't have his knife on him. I mean, doesn't he have a holster for his belt like he gave us?
Glad the phone cord worked out. (That's a new one.)
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