ABC Wednesday - Yacht

How about a weekend sailing, a bit of Yachting.  Although this young girl is determined to head for open water without sails. Her boat is yar or easy to handle.  Pity it wasn't a dinghy because she is French, and would call it a youyou.  The man at the back reminds me of Millais' The Boyhood of Raleigh

which I remember hanging on my Grandparents wall, years ago, along with other paintings with a maritime theme, my Grandfather being a sailor.  However as this yacht is on a lake or Etang de Boulet it will not be journeying as far as Raleigh on the high seas.

A sunny day and a fresh breeze perfect for taking a yacht out on Coniston Water.

Wind rattling through rigging on moored yachts is one of the evocative sounds that always brings back wonderful memories of warm Mediterranean holidays.  No wind on this day though as can be seen by the still water, and not the Mediterranean but the old Maritime Cinque Port of Rye.

When visiting moorings there is usually

a boat for sale.  Have ye ever been tempted?  Have ye a yen for sailing , Yes?

We have the Dutch to thank for the yacht.  Their navy used light fast sailing vessels to pursue pirates in the shallow waters of the Low Country.  The original Dutch word started with a J and meant hunting. Soon the boats were being used for sport, and called speel-jachts, the naval ones were oorlog-jachts. Good job they did not enter our language as Jachts because what would I have done for the Y ABC.

Small fast ships would be popular with smugglers, and the south coast of England was a smugglers paradise, as long as they were not caught by the Revenue Cutters. Yikes.  Brandy and tobacco were brought at night by boat from France to avoid the high tax.  Battles were fought between gangs with the revenue just like Russell Thorndike's Doctor Syn whose stories or should I say, yarns, take place in Romney Marsh which is not too far from Rye.

The sign on The Ship Inn, which in times past was used as a store for smuggler's contraband, is headed with a quote from Lord Pembroke in 1781 - "Will Washington take America or smugglers England first".

Yomp over to ABC Wednesday for more blogs and words beginning with the letter Y