These stories share an historic tradition hundreds of years old. In the past, sailing ships (especially whalers) in light airs or becalmed often hove-to and lowered their longboats so that their crews could socialize, gossip, tell sea stories, or update news from the last port of call. This was called ?gamming?.
This practice is not dead yet. The big commercial carriers no longer have time for a gam at sea, but the bridge watch may sometimes chat at length on the radio telephone. Off watch in the messrooms the crews still ?shoot the bull? and tell sea stories when they weary of the video tapes. And when mariners are shore, this ancient custom still carries on in the bars, union halls, whorehouses and other waterfront social facilities.
Many who seek their living or pleasure from the sea follow this old, established tradition, as well as others ashore who cater to them and sometimes exploit them. These tales are the stories of seafarers, yachtsmen, divers, salvors, smugglers, the sharks of land and sea, water-front hustlers, beachcombers, and the general run of TTTs (Typical Tropical Tramps).
One would hear such stories in environments like the ?mamacita? in Puerto Cortes, Dick Avery's Boathouse, or the Normandy Bar in St. Thomas; Colacho's Cantina and the Merchant Marine Bar in San Juan; and other waterfront hangouts in the West Indies, Bahamas, Caribbean and other parts of the world.