Buffett wrote this song about his grandfather, James Delaney Buffett, who was a huge influence on his life. Buffett's grandfather was a sailor born in the town of Rose Blanche in Newfoundland, Canada, later moving to Glace Bay in Nova Scotia and eventually settling in Mobile, Alabama. His death in 1970 also inspired Buffett's early tune "The Captain and the Kid."
This was the only song Jimmy Buffett performed in his only appearance on Saturday Night Live (May 13, 1978). He had to do it sitting down with his leg propped up in a cast after breaking it in a softball game earlier that week.
Buffett said of the song: "I saw a picture of my grandfather after he had come back from a trip to Nova Scotia. He was born there but left when he was a young man and didn't return until he was 84. He was standing on dock staring at an old sailing schooner, and the look on his face told the story of where he had come from and where he had been. I have always been very proud of my heritage as a sailor and wrote this for the men who taught me the skills."
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