22nd May: National Maritime Day

National Maritime Day celebrates the first Atlantic crossing by a steamship. De Savannas sailed from Savannah, Georgia to Liverpool, England in 1819. Here are ten quotes about seamanship:

1. We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship. Omar Bradley
2. If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
3. Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors. African proverb
4. Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk. Sir Francis Chichester
5. The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail itself. John Rousmaniere
6. If you have the sea in your soul, then boat rides can become a spiritual experience. Tom Anderson
7. The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
8. You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. Christopher Columbus
9. Perhaps we cannot raise the winds, but each of us can put up the sail, so that when the wind comes we can catch it. EF Scumacher
10. You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. Rabindranath Tagore