In the Caribbean sailing is one of the most popular pastimes…and it seems to go hand in hand with drinking. I suppose we can attribute this to the Royal Navy’s tradition (defunct since 1970) of supplying each man with a daily tot of rum. In the days of great naval battles under sail, men were often issued a double ration before engagements began – Dutch courage, I suppose. More rum was issued after a victory. The ration was as much as half a pint per man before Admiral Grogram ordered the daily tot to be diluted with water. His name is now associated with the feeling you get on the morning after – ‘Groggy.’
Today there are numerous hangover recipes, many containing alcohol and called ‘hair of the dog’ (that bit you.)
However, it’s rather like getting credit at the bank – you have to pay sometime. Better antidotes include drinking large quantities of water flavored with vitamin C rich citrus.
The other day Charlie was out sailing with some guests and he learned of another apparently marvelous cure for that party scourge, the hangover. “You just wouldn’t believe this,” explained Charlie. “The back of the boat looked like the emergency room at the local hospital. The hangover victim was supplied with a plastic bag of saline solution (about a liter) hung from above the victim’s head that dripped through a tube into a vein in the arm. After the bag was empty (twenty minutes or so) the victim was completely recovered – no headache, memory restored, nausea gone; the party began afresh, with jokes, laughter and an early morning beer.”
Apparently some of the guests were firemen who had emergency medical training and were competent at administering ‘the hangover cure of a lifetime.’
Yesterday Charlie found a ‘Supplier to Hospitals’ on the Web. He’s ordered a coupla gross – and a case of 151 rum!
