What is the name of the bivalve famous, in days of yore and even today, for eating the planks of wood boats and ships?
Send your answers to cruisingcompass@bwsailing.com. A winner will be drawn from the correct answers and will win a subscription to the digital version of Blue Water Sailing.
Congratulations to Silvia Roth, Brooklyn, NY who did some homework and came up with a great answer to last week’s question. “The tradition of putting a coin under the mast when stepping it goes back at least to ancient Rome. They used to us an Oblolus or silver Roman coin. Because sea travel in those days was so dangerous, the sailors had to be prepared to meet their ends at sea. But, to get their souls across the River Styx to the final resting place in the underworld, Charon, the ferryman of souls, had to be paid. Hence the need for a coin.”
