Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land.
During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the members of the crew, who took it as a prime opportunity to drink in excess, indulge in other pleasures denied to them aboard the solely masculine ships, and desert. Many captains were forced to take on new members of the crew to replace the ones lost due to shore leave.
Read more about Shore Leave: In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words shore and/or leave:
“Then you arrived, meditative, ironic,
richly human; and your presence was shore where I rested
released from the hoodoo of that dance, where I spoke
with my true voice again.”
—Robert Earl Hayden (1913–1980)
“They say that my donkey-hearted lover
might leave sometime tomorrow.
Grow long, Blessed Night,
so that for him
tomorrow just won’t be.”
—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)