When James Scott, Able Seaman, sailed to American Samoa, he decided to get a traditional Samoan tattoo with two of his ship mates. James got to choose the location of the tattoo (above and below his elbow), but the design evolved as the artist was at work. The artist applied the ink with a hand-carved boar’s tooth attached to a wooden stick, which he hit with a larger stick. During the process, the artist asked James questions about his life and chose the designs he tattooed accordingly. With every answer, the artist would take a new turn and adjust the pattern, rendering a very personal representation of James’ life as a seaman. The process lasted 3-4 hours, and James confessed that “yes, it did hurt!”.

A tradition of sailors and fishermen is to have a tattoo of their home port coordinates. This way, if they get lost at sea, they can be returned home. James comes from a fishing family in Westerly, Rhode Island, the coordinates of which are tattooed on his right arm.

The mythological creature of the kraken attacking a ship is tattooed on James’ left arm, representing the universal dangers of life at sea.