She's in good company - further up the arm, there's a sailor girl pin up, an anchor, swallow, ship's wheel and a Sailor Jerry inspired tall ship continuing the maritime theme. Ultimately she'll be joined by a turtle, an octopus and if there's room even more.
But why the nautical doodling, I'm not a sailor, my descendants weren't naval or even merchant seamen. Today, thanks largely to shows like LA Ink, it seems you have to have a sentimental reason for a tattoo design - a deceased relative or friend, overcoming some personal challenge of leviathan (you see I got another sea monster in there) proportions! My reason is that I like the art, the tradition is interesting and the symbolism - did you know that a turtle tattoo symbolises that the wearer has crossed the equator? It does, and I have, so even if it's not a 'reason', I'm entitled to wear it with pride.
I've always loved being by the sea, and water in general but that really has no bearing on my tattoo choice. I could claim England's long history of seafaring, exploration and empire building, but my ancestry is Irish so it's not really that.
I'm not trying to belittle people's serious and memorial justifications for choosing tattoos, as I believe that the ritual of being tattooed is a powerful one and a spiritual one too, with healing properties. However I feel that many people choose some ink, purely because they like the art, (just like me) and then feel that they have to fabricate a story to back up and in some way validate its existence on their skin. Don't worry, if you did the tattoo to please yourself, that's probably the best reason there is.
The important thing is to love your ink, and don't search for a reason that isn't there. It's valid, whatever.
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