Tab nabs were the biscuits dished out in the mess rooms of ships in the merchant navy. If a helmsman was asked if the ships helm was hard a-starboard or hard a-port he often would reply Hard a tab nab sir." Master Mariner J. R. de L. Inniss has spent a lifetime sailing the worlds oceans first as a boy seaman on the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in the mid 1950s & then working his way up through the ranks of the merchant navy. He saw the great days of British shipping & was able to adapt to the great changes that transformed the merchant marine during his long career. There were long hours of very hard work hardly any sleep & at times atrocious feeding; but the seafaring life also lived up to its reputation for excitement & adventure with a good deal of fun & laughter along the way."