No one ever said picking up a sailor was rocket science, but there are ways to make seduction even easier.
My friends and I crash the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (376 Purcell's Cove Road) at 21:00 hours. The club is members and guests only, but fortunately no one asks for our credentials.
Common themes emerge after speaking to sailors. Some have just finished a yachting race from Boston to Halifax. Others are locals.
An interest in sailing is a turn-on, if not a requirement. Bone up on the lingo by consulting an online nautical dictionary before heading out. Then make double entendres using words such as "sheets," denoting ropes in sailor-speak, "sprit," a phallic-shaped object on the bow, and "rail-meat," a body onboard for extra weight.
The key to a sailor's heart also lies in a bottle of Gosling's.
I meet Leif Fixen, a tall blonde South Dakota boy who's just jumped off The Solista, and he sweetly suggests I buy him a dark-and-stormy to drink.
Flattery works too. Fixen advises stroking men's arms and exclaiming, "What big forearms you have!"
Augustin Ferrario, an Argentinean sailor, prefers romantic seduction. He suggests asking sailors to take you to an island "in full moonlight."
Erin Norwood, who's sailed in Halifax Harbour her whole life, advocates asking female sailors for sailing lessons. Her friend Emily enjoys skill swaps, such as trading surfing classes for sailing classes. It also helps if you have "Sperry dock shoes, salty hair and a sunglasses tan."
The biggest turnoff is definitely motion sickness. If you toss your cookies at sea, take a Gravol and some Red Bull to counteract the drowsiness before attempting to attract a sailor.
One sailor says seduction is as easy as strutting along a dock in sexy beach garb. You'll be rail-meat before you know it. ---Lizzy Hill
