This week was nautical tattoos … we had over 100 entries and there were some nice looking tats submitted.  After deliberation we here at Old Salt decided that the Old Man and the Sea Tattoo was the winner!  Congratulations to Chris Moreno for submitting the winner!

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It is believed that tattooing on European sailors first originated with Captain James Cook‘s crew after he arrived in the Pacific. Sailor tattoos eventually became one of the attributes that identified a sailor. Many other cultures had long used tattoos for identification or aesthetics, such as the Japanese, Chinese, and Pacific Islanders, but the connection with a seafaring lifestyle in European culture developed into its own unique style of tattooing.

Sailors, at the constant mercy of the elements, often feel the need for religious images on their bodies to appease the angry powers that caused storms and drowning far from home.