The Sabagashira I is a relatively small craft designed to resemble an open-mouthed fish, complete with painted eyes, a sculpted dorsal fin, and tailfin-esque rudders; its cockpit may fit two average-sized men. When idle, it is docked at the "head" of the Baratie, lending the entire restaurant its famously eccentric appearance.
When deployed, the ship must be propelled and steered with two sets of pedals built into the cockpit floor. The ship's interior contains three cannons that can be extended through the mouth, and fired simultaneously.
History[]
East Blue Saga[]
Baratie Arc[]
When the Krieg Pirates invaded the Baratie, Patty and Carne deployed the Sabagashira I against them, to some success. However, Don Krieg himself easily withstood a full barrage of shots with his armour, and proceeded to catapult the entire ship with one hand. The Sabagashira nearly crashed into the Baratie's upper floors, only being "saved" by Sanji, who kicked it into the Baratie's battle-deck instead.[2]
Though Patty and Carne survived the crash with minimal injuries (and much fury at Sanji), they made no attempt to re-deploy the ship, and pursued the rest of the battle hand-to-hand.[3] After the Krieg Pirates were driven off, the Sabagashira was returned to the "head" of the Baratie, its damage patched with an extra-large bandage.[4]
Translation and Dub Issues[]
This ship's name is a reference to the Japanese for mackerel head (鯖頭,Sabagashira?), a common focus of many seafood dishes. All of the series' official licensors—4Kids, Viz, and Funimation—translate it directly as Mackerel Head, with 4Kids also dropping the "I" designation.
Trivia[]
While the "I" (1号,Ichi-gō?) designation is an extant suffix for Japanese watercraft (e.g. the Shiro Mokuba I), in this particular case it may also be a pun on the Japanese for strawberry (いちご,Ichigo?)—an unusual, though not unheard-of, cooking component for mackerel.
