RCE wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...

Chuck Gould wrote:
Another Norse tradition was sacrificing a virgin on the ways when a
new boat was launched. Red wine was eventally substituted, as it was
deemed easier to find and less costly to waste than a perfectly good
virgin. That's one of a few competing reasons advanced for the use of
wine when a modern vessel is "christened."
Wine which was poured on the bow or into the boat as a "christening"
sometimes blessed as opposed the breakage of the bottle.

I'm pretty sure the Vikings used beer.

Hey, ya gotta find something to do on a boring, cold Friday night.

Kill a few slaves, sacrifice a virgin or two, launch a long boat, spill
some beer, pillage/rape and loot England, France, colonize Japan and
Nebraska.

Those were the days I tell you - those were the days.