After all, matey, ’tis Friday.
For those unfamiliar with the expression, what is a yardarm you ask? On traditional sailing vessels the tall thing holding the sail is the mast. Back in the day it was often crafted from a tall tree—see the critical timber industry of New England and the white pines provided to the Royal Navy. From the mast, horizontal (usually) beams of wood, called spars, anchored to the mast provide the connection points for the sails. These spars, especially for the big square-shaped sails on the famous fighting ships of yore, are called yards. The yardarm is the end of the yard after all the bits and bobs controlling the sails.
Back in the day, when the sun rose over the yardarm, sailors knew the time had arrived for their first ration of rum of the day. And as today is the Friday before—in the US—a three-day weekend, somewhere in the world the sun is over at the yardarm.
In other words, this Friday is a good Friday to highlight xkcd’s post about the common type of sailing rigs. The combinations of masts and sails can be grouped into a thing called a rigging and we classify riggings based upon shared traits.
Happy Friday, all.
Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.
