Saloon VS Salon

[John Stone]

A topic for morning discussion.

I see and hear the term salon a lot these days when referring to the main cabin on a sailboat, especially in the glossy advertising for new boats. To me a salon is where a woman goes and gets her hair done. I guess some men get their hair cut in a salon these days, though not at Camp Lejeune. Whatever a salon is and is used for, it’s definitely not the main cabin on a sailboat. Or is it...?

I have been sailing and around boats all my life. I was raised with the term saloon. “The saloon hatch.” “The saloon table.” “The clock is on the bulkhead in the saloon.” “The water tanks are under the sole in the saloon.” “It’s cold topside. Would you care to join me for drinks in the saloon?” Though being from the South I freely admit we have different ways of sailing things than our brothers and sisters from up north or out west.

Saloon sounds like camaraderie. A place where maneuvering tactics are discussed over an old chart. Where we seek shelter when there is no delay between the flash and bang of a biblical scale electrical storm. Where cruisers from many countries gather for drinks and laughs as the sun drops below the horizon leaving evryone to row back to their boats in the dark.

Salon sounds soft. It sounds like maybe it comes from French. I like the French and admire them very much. Great seafaring history.

But salon? On our rugged boats? I think a saloon could make it around Cape Horn. A salon? Probably have trouble there. I would not hesitate to drag my soaking wet twisted jib through the saloon of my boat during a horrid squall but I might be hesitant to do that in a salon.

Can I take a swig of scotch out of the bottle in a salon without raising eyebrows...I know I can in a saloon. Can I drink my coffee black in a mug in a salon or must I use a small teacup and hold my little pinkie out and take only sips?

Maybe the Vanderbilt’s took tea on a Trumpy motor yacht in the salon but I bet Jack Aubrey would use the term saloon.

Maybe it’s just me...perhaps I have just lost touch with the forward thinkers of the 21st century.

So what do you call this area on your boat? Thoughts from the CD brain trust?

[Frenchy]

I like "cabin" referring to the area below. "Saloon" has connotations of men slugging whiskey and slugging each other and
"Salon" has connotations of perfumed women getting their hair and nails clipped. - Jean

[Paul D.]

I vote for saloon. Nautical terms generally have good reason for being.

[casampson]

I found this online:

The social area of a larger boat is called the saloon. However, it is pronounced “salon.”

So perhaps both are correct.

I'd like to know whether a mooring line should be called a pennant or a pendant...

[Vincent]

Not arguing the point, I have always called it the main cabin, (damned Yankees), but salon is kinda pansie, I would go with saloon as an alternative term.
My shock is to discover that the carefully thoughtful John Stone I thought I knew, is not the John Adams type of intellectual revolutionary, but is actually the Sam Adams fire breathing bomb thrower type of revolutionary. Hahahaha, glad I woke up today and read this post.
Whatever direction this thread takes, there is one immutable truth. I GOTTA HAVE MORE COWBELL!

[John Stone]

Well, I kinda thought we would have more back and forth on this topic. Sounds mostly like crickets out there. Maybe it’s the heat. No worries. Hopefully, those that want to sail over the 4th are able to get out there the next few days. Darn hot down here in Carolina.

[Jim Walsh]

I GOTTA HAVE MORE COWBELL!

Christopher Walken....great actor.

I've always referred to it as the main cabin. Were I to choose between saloon (found in most of the British writings) and salon, which seems to have been a marketing agencies attemp to lure more of the ladies onto the water during the boating boom of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, I'd have to go with saloon.

[mgphl52]

Well, I kinda thought we would have more back and forth on this topic.

It ain't dead of winter any longer and there's better things to do than argue free-wheel/loose -foot etc...

[John Stone]

It ain't dead of winter any longer and there's better things to do than argue free-wheel/loose -foot etc...

No way folks are too busy to argue about whether to lock or free-wheel the propeller.

Happy July 4th.

[Vincent]

We could always throw “standing a watch” or “It’s my shift” into the mix. Sorry, sailing is not a factory job, you are standing watch.

[Neil Gordon]

Just don't call it "downstairs."