ancient mariners

Ancient mariners are old, experienced sailors who have spent long careers at sea.

The phrase evokes weathered seafarers with hard-won wisdom about ocean and ship.

It owes much of its currency to Coleridge's 1798 poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," where a cursed sailor stops a wedding guest to tell his supernatural tale.

Someone called an ancient mariner today is typically an old hand with stories to tell: He's the ancient mariner of the department, full of tales from the early days.