Maritime superstition and lore.........

[Baldur]

I have heard a few...

Of course, renaming a boat is bad luck.

Never mention the boats' name in the same room as you are building her. You don't want to wake her up too early.

Drinking whiskey after attaching the last plank (whiskey plank)

Never start a voyage or launch a new boat on Friday.

[SailDesign]

Never drink whiskey anywhere _near_ a boat. It is a landlubber's drink, not like rum, which should always be drunk on board, but always after offering a good portion to the Old Man of the Sea.

Steve

[RThompson]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

not like rum, which should always be drunk on board, but always after offering a good portion to the Old Man of the Sea.

Steve

drink the good portion yourself and you'l probably give it to the old man anyway (whether he wants it or not) ...

Rob

[Baldur]

A shark following the ship is a sign of inevitable death.
Sharks were believed to be able to sense those near death.

Don't look back once your ship has left port as this can bring bad luck.

And my favorite:

Women on board a ship make the sea angery.

[yokebutt]

Some people have a strong aversion to bananas onboard, but personally, I've never been able to decieve myself into blaming them for our shortcomings on the race-course.

Yoke.

[safewalrus]

Where the Hell does the bananas come from never heard that one before (and that after working for 14 months for some outfit called "United Brands" our American cousins will know that outfit (so will the central Americans!)

[nero]

Some of the French do not want the color green on their ship. Also nothing to with rabbits ... not even allowed to say the word. They even cut the Quick bunny off the box!

[marshmat]

" Women on board a ship make the sea angery. "
Hmm.... I kind of like having a few women out on the sunpads, so long as they're not over-dressed for the occasion the seas haven't complained too much yet

[nero]

That should be "Fat, ugly women on board ....

[marshmat]

another old superstition: your sea bags must not be black (don't really know why...)

[safewalrus]

Is that the ones under yer eyes?

Further the use/non use of certain words - Rabbits is called 'underground mutton' in the West Country (England and Cornwall - some say Cornwall is not part of England being one of the six Celtic Nations) yet funnily enough the Royal Navy refer to rabbits as anything got cheaply; normally as presents for those back home! And as a lot of Royal Naval personnel come from the west country 'tis a bit confusing!

Pigs and salmon have the same stigma (something to do with witches I believe!).

You MUST absolutely not whistle at sea! Brings the big winds! Oh yes and as mentioned above green is the fairy colour so must not be used to paint a vessel at all - you guessed it the Royal Naval ship has green decks normally!

There again their symbol is a fouled anchor and we all know how bloody useless a fouled anchor is - could easily get you killed.

Somebody trying to say something?

[yipster]

some triangles perhaps?

[Corpus Skipper]

I think the banana thing comes from the old sailing banana boats that were prone to sinking (not much money in banana shipping?) Anyway, that's bad luck for fishing. You must throw the bananas overboard and pour a beer around the boat for Neptune to regain good luck.

[Ranger]

Walnuts are unlucky, as are the color blue (on the boat), and black suitcases.

[Latch48]

Oh, come on, what are you supposed to do when you buy a boat and it is named after someones daughter and they didn't give her a name that you find appealing??????????
I am NOT going to make my boat continue to carry that name around.
So how do you fix that hex?????