Ah! For all designers and makers – at the end of a long and tiring day, it’s said that when the sun is ‘over the yard arm’ it’s time for a glass of wine – or whatever takes your fancy.
The yard is the spar of a mast from which the square sails are set, and the expression is thought to originate from the 11.00 am first rum tot of the day – ‘stand easy’ time in the North Atlantic, co-incidental with the sun coming up over the uppermost sail. So in colloquial terms it’s just the time considered acceptable for the first drink of the day – different on holiday and work days, however it’s generally consider to be early evening around 6 o’clock – ish.