Lots of us with no particular nautical experience, knowledge or ability love nautical songs.  Some people fall in love with the sea and learn about sailing ships from the seashore, others by way of books, and even more by way of TV and movies.  For me, it was building plastic models of ships.

Polystyrene Shipwright
by Peter Alway

My first ship was Old Ironsides
I’ll not forget the day she died
The fire raged below her deck
The powder blew her all to heck

Chorus:
Cement the mainmast to the deck
Cement the deck into the hull
Paint before assembly
Use cement sparingly
The tan thread’s for the running tack
The standing rigging’s all in black
Any boy can glue her there
It takes a man to rig her square

My next ship was the Golden Hind
Any foe she’d leave behind
She could weather any seas
But not my nephew and my niece

(Chorus)

I found an old instruction sheet
from nineteen sixty-two
They gave you all the names for parts
the ancient sailors knew
From mizzen mast to anchor stock
they told you what to do.

The Beagle will be my next ship
The one from Darwin’s famous trip
The cruise that read the book of life
Now get me my X-Acto knife

(Chorus)

Any boy can glue her there
It takes a man to rig her square

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