Slideshow

"I got my tattoo in the summer of 1991 when I was working as an Able Bodied sailor aboard a square-rigged sailing ship. We were in Savannah, GA when some of my shipmates and I decided to get them done. Unfortunately, I was having some problem with my feet and calves, which were hurting and so swollen I couldn't tie my boots. Anyone with any brains would not have had a tattoo done on a swollen ankle, but I was determined to get a tattoo with my shipmates. Me and one of my buddies sat for our anchors, grimacing in pain. The third guy, the ship's boatswain, was laughing and joking as he had his done, which made me feel like a wimp until he later admitted to having had four shots of vodka and three Tylenol, contrary to our agreement. In any event, my tattoo looked great for about a week, and then the swelling went down and the ink smeared and now my anchor looks like a soft focus photograph. I vowed to have more work done to correct it. It has been eighteen years now, and I am still making that vow. Maybe this will be the year."

"In 1989 I flew to Hawaii to sign aboard my next sailing ship, the Edna. We were preparing her for her next voyage to the South Pacific at Barber's Point on Oahu. My mates began coming home from jaunts to Waikiki Beach with Polynesian arm band tattoos. I had been considering my next tattoo, something to commemorate this voyage. This particular tattoo artist had researched the ancient Polynesian tattoo designs and their meanings. I decided on an ankle band rather than an arm band because I thought the arm was too butch for a woman. The top band in my tattoo is Nalu which means wave. The bottom is Ima Loa, meaning those who search for spiritual truth. Now many years later, as a wife and mother of four children, I toy with the idea of removing my tattoo, thinking it cheap and common, but I wait for a time when its removal will be instructive. Perhaps when my teens come to me wanting one of their own. I hear it hurts more than getting one in the first place!"

"In 1962 I was a green Navy Ensign just out of Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, when I reported aboard my first Navy ship the USS Thetis Bay (LPH-6), home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. As I walked up the gang plank and approached the quarterdeck, one of the personnel I first saw, besides the Officer of the Deck, was a Bos'n's(Boatswain) Mate 1st class, who seemed to stand at least six and half feet tall and looked like he'd been in the Navy since it was created. And on each ear lobe was an anchor. I never forgot that tattoo and to me it is emblematic of an old salt and what I think of as old Navy. Today in the modern Navy personnel are no longer allowed to have tattoos that are visible with clothing on. I've never seen one since, except for mine. Thirty eight years later in the year 2000, after retiring from the Navy and the State of California, I went to the local tattoo parlor and had one tatted on my left ear lobe. It takes me back to fond memories of my seafaring days. I get a lot of looks at it and favorable comments as well. It's become a fun part of my life. PS: I tell my children and grandchildren that 'I'm rough and tough and full of stuff-I'm Barnacle Bill the Sailor'."

"Ahoy! Sending my image on the head's up of pirate Black Jim and Jamaica Rose of No Quarter Given! Aye then...there comes that day in every girl's life whence she ceases t' be afraid o' what society imagines o' her, takes th' plunge......an' turns pirate. In whate'er way that might be. An' there be no finer nor soul stirrin' way t' tell th' world than t' hav' it inked where no one can mistake yer trade. And, as a boss once told me.....'Well, there's no turning back now.' Nay. Nor would I. Fair Winds and followin' seas......... Mimi Foxmorton, Piratess, th' Bloomin' Bloomer"

"Many of the "sailorly" tats my shipmates have are actually all from the same two Marquesan brothers, so the styles are similar. Their names are Simeon and Efraima Huuti and they have shops next door to each other in the Papeete Market, Tahiti. Simeon, the younger brother, tattooed my arm band. I believe the brothers are Marquesan, and the motifs in their work are almost entirely Marquesan as well. I don't know which island they would have been from; on our way north from Tahiti we had a port stop at the Marquesan island of Nuku Hiva, which, like Tahiti, is part of French Polynesia. The artists don't have much in the way of "flash", but rather look to you for an approximate body location, tattoo size and shape, some themes or symbols, and then go to town. In my case, not speaking much in the way of Polynesian or French, I gestured at my right arm to indicate an arm band and requested a turtle as the centerpiece, a common symbol for sailors having crossing the equator. Simeon drew two circles around my arm with a pen and then started right in, working freehand with the tattoo gun (the traditional pointy-stick-and-hammer tattooing is no longer allowed on the island of Tahiti, though it is still done elsewhere in FP). It was for me a bit of an exercise in faith, as I couldn't see what he was doing and he never said a word until it was done, 45 minutes later, and I finally got to see it. I am very happy with his work! These guys are very skilled artists in addition to being master tattooists in the land where sailors first started getting tattoos."

"These are the two chickadees on my sternum, inspired by traditional maritime swallows on the chest. However, swallows have no significant meaning to me, so in lieu of them, I chose chickadees, mostly because swallows signified a return to home, no matter how far the voyage. For me, Maine will always be home, and as such, I chose the Maine state bird, birds I remember whistling at when I was little. I prefer a realistic tattoo style, so the only stylized portion I opted for were the hearts in their tails. Eventually, I plan to have a bouquet of lupine flowers tattooed in-between the birds, to round out a chest-piece."

"Here's an image of one of my tattoos. It is based on my master's thesis from Winterthur, Inking Identity: Tattoo Flash and the Emergence of an American Industry. All flash in the sails comes from late 19th/early20th century books found at the Smithsonian, American Folk Art and Winterthur."

"A friend drew it and he liked its originality. It is a tribal. It was supposed to continue around the back more, but this was an extremely painful area to get a tattoo."

"This is the clown from Stephen King's book and movie It. It is actually covering up a tattoo he got when he was young of a pot leaf and the ZigZag man (you can make out the pot plant)."

"Double L", 82, as he was often called by those close to him, was born and raised until the age of 14 in Wallagrass, Maine. At 14, the remainder of his family relocated to Topsham, Maine. At the young age of 16, he began his 49 year career at Bath Iron Works. He began a career like everyone else to make money. What he didn't expect was to create a life-long extended family. BIW is where he learned to mix work and pleasure. BIW also formed his passion for the sea. In 1943, at the age of 17, he was drafted into the US Army infantry WWII. One night out with the "boys" in Portland, Maine lead into the next morning with a bandaged right arm and, to his surprise, was tucked underneath a maritime clipper ship tattoo. And this was only the beginning of the lifetime of jokes and stories. In 1945, at the age of 19, he left the service to continue his duties with BIW. Throughout this career he had the opportunity to work on many ships. He also saw many ships commissioned, but none affected him like the DDG 51 USS Arleigh Burke, that not only did he work on, but he and I had the honor of riding on at the commissioning. Although at the ripe age of 82 he has no plans or intentions of ever getting another tattoo, I took it upon myself to get a tattoo as a tribute to the most amazing grandfather ever. Also in Portland, Maine, John Biswell (www.biswelltattoos.com) was able to work with a photograph of my grandfather's aged tattoo and recreate it. Now I proudly share a clipper ship with him. Maybe not the most girly tattoo. But it has meaning that I hold near and dear to my heart. Papa still asks why I couldn't have just taken a picture and hung it on the wall?"

"This is a drawing of a future tattoo; the women's breast will need to be larger, however. It is King Neptune and a mermaid. This came from a retired Navy seal."

"After five frustrating years of not being able to see my only tattoo I decided to get one on my forearm so I could see it. In some Celtic mythologies the Hazel tree is a symbol of wisdom. My mother had given me a pair of comedy and tragedy mask earrings when I was a teenager and I often wore them when I performed. I wanted to combine both elements into the tattoo. I brought Trevor pictures of Hazel leaves and flowers, and a book that had a fanciful drawing of entwined Hazel shrub branches. After some discussion he marked out the parameters of the design on my arm with a pen then began the tattoo. He drew this freehand on my left forearm in just over three hours."

"He used to be afraid of spiders: says 'Face your Fears'. It is also the logo from the band Cold."

At age 26 I had just finished a contract for my first job on the water, and the most profitable job I'd held in my life. I went to Seattle's famous Madame Lazonga's to get a small image of Bambi on my back covered with a much bigger 'tribal'-looking piece. Then I traded my Subaru for an RV and took a trip across the southwest, even lived in the Grand Canyon for awhile, before heading out to Hawaii. Four tattoos later I received my captain's license. I'm pretty simple. I'm a woman who would like to be a little more fashionable and aesthetic than what's reasonable in the maritime industry, I lean towards the accessory that can't be lost nor broken - permanently inked skin. I get new tattoos on a whim, and get them covered with bigger/different ones as my mind changes about what I've got. I hear lots of people say they want something with deep meaning because it's going to be there forever. For me that's silly, because it's just skin and if anyone's going to judge me on even a stupid tattoo then I don't need them in my life. Boat people are some of the best people in the world, accepting of all types of folks and their eccentricities, whether they be 'cool' or interesting or not. I feel like I'm with the right crowd." Editor, Jack Tar Magazine. Visit jacktar.org

"This is my brother-in-law's tattoo. He had wanted to get one but didn't know what to get and got the idea off his shower curtain. Unfortunately he's got about four 4-hour sessions into it and the artist is now in jail so it is not finished."

"Memorial to grandfather whose nickname was 'Bee', because he was like a bee, fought when provoked."

"My daughter's name is Esmé. It comes from the JD Salinger story: To Esmé With Love and Squalor and hence the inspiration for the tattoo. I thought it was a tribute to her appreciation for the story, for her name, and for the connection that she feels with the story in general."

"My tattoo is of the sun god Tonatiuh. I got the tattoo because it connects me to my Aztec heritage. I did research on what the symbol meant before getting it. It is in the middle of all the Aztec calendars (the circle) that we always saw when I went to Mexico and I have always liked it. According to Aztec mythology, there have been four historical ages, called Suns - those of earth, fire, air, and water. Each has been destroyed. The present era is that of the Sun of Movement. The fact that this is the era of Tonatiuh made it even more fitting to get it."

"It was 1941 and I was 20 years old. After graduating from the Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. Navy boot camp some buddies and I were on our first liberty in downtown Norfolk. One of the fellows suggested we get tattoos. I rolled up my sleeve and because I was a sailor, asked to have a fouled anchor tattooed on my left forearm. Sixty-seven years later, it is still there. After Norfolk, I was sent to Chicago for diesel training and New London, Connecticut for submarine training. Eventually I earned my "Twin Dolphins" and spent the rest of World War II in the Pacific on submarines fighting the Japanese."

"This guy got his tattoo to celebrate his first set of orders as a Command Master Chief which was aboard the USS Vicksburg. The 2 stars on the top are the sign for Master Chief in the Navy."

"These are my husband's tattoos. He is a seventh generation seaman who is obviously very proud of living on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island, Maine). The tattoo that spells out "ISLESFORD" on his back has within each letter something different. Included are his lobster buoy, his boat (F/V Two Chances), his son's lobster buoy, etc. The letter 'D' is a memorial tribute to his deceased brother. The tattoo under the lettering is the shape of the island, with a star marking our home address, a private road named for his brother. We are all very proud to live on an island with a year round population."

"The crossed anchors (the insignia for Boatswains Mate in the Navy) was put on in a grass shack in the weltering heat of Majore Atoll in the Marshall Islands, made with soot from a kerosene lamp and the needle made from the bones of a frigate bird, or blue-footed booby, I can never remember which, although I have tasted and photographed both at sea. The pirate was endured at a San Diego shop when I was on oceanographic survey ships. (In 1986 Jack Sparrow did not exist. It may be Edward England's nephew, Phillip, but most people called him Phil.) The pirate's parrot began on the atoll Aling Laplap in the Marshall Islands as well, after a morning breakfast of breadfruit, fish, and copious amounts of the local moonshine 'Jakaro' made fro the palm tree while I was acting second mate on the tops'l schooner Tole More. The sextant was put on after I received my AB Unlimited ticket with the Merchant Marine (after finally learning how to find my latitude with a noon fix). The Rubenesque hula dancer soon to be inked on my waistband will be done by King Tyna's great-great-grandson still living on the island of Tofua in Tonga; however, now that I'm married, it may not be in 2009, but hoping before the Mayan calendar runs out on December 21st, 2012."

I got my first tattoo at the age of 27... I had always wanted one, and have a good friend who is a tattoo artist. So I went to him with the idea for a snowflake with fire behind it like a comet. It was more about big snow and mountains. I had always thought it would be all over my leg and slowly I am filling it in. I can always be thigh deep in snow--even here in the East when the actual snow is ankle deep.

My upper arm is more of a charm bracelet. Everything was drawn and done by Owen Connell, who owns Parlor "F" Tattoo in Seattle. The pineapple is for the mountain pass of the same name, a place I spent many days hiking and snowboarding in the Cascade Mountains near Seattle. I had to add one snowflake, just because. The bee, I had seen in some of Owen's other work, and wanted one. The foot with the 'A' on it is the exact size and shape of my daughter's right foot on the day she was born.

"The lip tattoo says 'ROCK' with a tiny skull in between the 'O' and the 'C'. Got it when I was pretty young from a friend who was apprenticing tattooing and had never done a lip tattoo."