"Chew the Fat" | MARITIME MUSINGS

March 2026

"Sometimes, 'chewing the fat' was less about conversation and more about survival."

A Personal Note:

First, a word about world events .....

As a Navy veteran myself, I cannot ignore the war with Iran. I do not care what euphemism our current national leadership uses; it is an ongoing armed conflict, and thus a war. I will not get into the politics. However, I would like all hands to keep the men and women, our men and women, who serve our nation, and all the civilians trapped in the Middle East, in your hearts and minds as this war plays out. I ask everyone to also pray for its end. There is no good that will come of it as it’s being fought, and the end state might be worse than the one that previously existed. Those who serve in the military know there are few good wars, and the vast majority did not join looking to fight. We join to serve our nation, fighting only if necessary. We desire our leaders to use us as a last resort. Diplomacy, Information, and Economics are the other pillars of national power, and should always be used first to resolve disputes.

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Words and phrases that you've heard but didn't know they originated at sea ...

The Meaning of "Chew the Fat" at Sea

You’ve heard people talk about chewing the fat, or swapping gossip, sharing stories, or just chatting. It, too, has a nautical origin.

In the days of salted meat being the main provision aboard ship, before canning, and before refrigeration, the beef chosen for salting and sending to sea was often the, shall we say, lesser quality cuts. Thus, the cuts with fat, particularly gristle. Salting and storing in a cask for months, even years, did nothing to soften it! So, when it was boiled and served out, the crew would sit around their mess tables (suspended from ropes and hung from the deck beams on either the berth or gun deck) and masticate their meat until it could be swallowed. Thus, they were “chewing the fat.”

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Naval Trivia

Lubricating the Masts

In the Age of Sail, most of the yards from which hung square sails, as well as the gaffs from which hung four-sided fore-and-aft sails, such as on schooners, slid up and down the masts. Raised and lowered by halyards, they attached to the masts using hoops or other round fittings called parrels. Think of a both as wooden collars that wrap around the mast and are connected to either the sail itself, or in the case of the square sails, to the wooden yard. These fittings were also made of wood. If you’ve ever tried sliding something made of wood across another piece of wood, with a heavy load pushing them together, you’ll know it’s not easy.

So, the mast was lubricated to help the hoops or parrels to slide more easily. What did they use? Tallow. What is tallow, you ask? Reduced beef fat! Take the fat off the meat, and cook it until it’s liquified. The other source of tallow is the fat that rises to the surface when you boil beef until it’s well done. Both were then kept in tubs for use wherever lubrication was needed aboard ship, including the aforementioned mast hoops and parrels, but also the wooden wheels of gun carriages, pumps, capstans, and the like!

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Books, books, books!

As I mentioned last month, the new release date is 13 June, by Acorn Publishing. If you’d like to be an Advance Reader, contact me. I’ll happily send you an ARC as soon as they are ready. BUT, you MUST agree to write a review and post it online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, GoodReads, NetGalley, and BookSprout websites.

Treadnought is still being written, and I’m making good progress. I’m up to chapter twenty four of an estimated forty. I also have the Epilogue for the first three books in mind. I’m still on track to finish the first draft by 30 April, then revise it from 1 to 30 June, and give it to Laura Taylor for editing on 1 July. That would see it released about January or February of next year.

Here's the cover for Perilous Shores.

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What comes after that?

As of right now, my plan is still to reattack Three Brothers (working title), the novel(s) inspired by my dad’s and two of my uncles’ service during World War II. I’ll be querying for an agent for this book(s) to see if any larger publisher might be interested. I love Acorn! But there’s still a small part of me would like a larger publisher to pick this one up. Why do you keep adding the (s)? Because I don’t know if Three Brothers will be a single volume or a duology. I’ve written 92,000 words already, and I’m only up to summer 1943! While I’m certain there’s stuff there that can be cut, I question my ability to tell what are really the stories of three men during the war in a single 95,000 word novel. At least, not without skipping important events!

Enough about book news!

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You can buy signed copies of any of my books here 

Unsigned copies are available online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Books, and GoodReads. 

An audio version of Against All Enemies is available at Audible.com and Apple Books!

You can also buy copies of Phobia!, which is an anthology that includes a short story I wrote. Phobia! Is available at all the same online sellers, and there’s now an audio version, as well.

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Reminders and Events!

Check my website for a book signing near you.

First up is BookCon in Manhattan, New York City, 18-19 April. It’ll be held at the Javits Center on the Upper West Side. I’m also working on getting signings in the Newport and Providence, RI, area, as well as Boston, in April. I’ve got signings in San Diego over the summer, including (hopefully) a book launch for Perilous Shores aboard HMS Rose/Surprise at the San Diego Maritime Museum in June. Then it’s back to the east coast for the Brooklyn Book Festival on Saturday, 20 September, and a signing at Turn the Page Books in Williamsburg, VA, on Saturday, 26 September.

As far as talks, on 2 May, I’ll be a panelist at the Annapolis Book Festival. Then I’ll be a panelist at the Imaginarium Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, 16-19 July. And I’m available to speak to groups, as well.

Whew! Busy! "Retirement" has become a full-time job!