Back to Q Flag origins.
Greetings from the Falklands on our fifth “quarantine” day. Luckily, we don’t have to pay tribute to the roots of the word “quaranta giorni” (meaning forty days in Italian ), the period that all ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death plague epidemic, back in the fourteen-century.
When I started sailing I learned that the Q flag -which probably derivers its letter symbol for its initial use in “quarantine”, and its colour from the “yellow fever”- indicates that a ship declares itself free of health diseases, and requests boarding and routine port inspection. We use to fly it right before entering a new country, and we would pull it down once all is clear with customs, plagues control, immigration… But during centuries it indicated the opposite; the yellow flag meant you were an infected boat, or with a better luck, just a temporary isolated one.
On another hand, since we are in British territory and this is a remarkable natural harbour (Port Stanley), the place has reminded me a lot about Mahon harbour, in Menorca Island. A completely sheltered harbour, and once also British, the first historical building you see when sailing into Mahon port, is the “Lazareto”. “Lazarets” were quarantine stations for marine travellers. They could be ships permanently at anchor, mainland buildings or like in Mahon, isolated islands with a dedicated construction.
Connecting dots, it calls my attention that in the modern sailing days we still use the word “lazaret”. Depending on the boat’s design, it can be very large or tiny, but this is how we call to the locker closest to the aft of the boat. On Vinson of Antarctica’s lazaret you can find the rudder posts, part of the steering system, the autopilots, the outboard engines, diving equipment, and much more. It is a very generous space. It makes me think that its name may come from the old large sail boats, when they needed to find a place to keep the infected ones, isolated.
In any case, these are confusing times. We entered the Falklands, Manue and José hoisted the yellow flag, this time probably with its origins connotation. We are in quarantine. May we be released very soon.
Kenneth Perdigón Skipper
