Burial at Sea ?

[Nostrodamus]

Ok it is not the kind of subject anyone likes to think about but sometime or other I am going to die.
Being buried is expensive and does not do much for your looks.
I could be cremated but that does not appeal to me either. They could scatter my ashes at sea but the chances are the wind would be in the wrong direction and Auntie Rita and Uncle Bob would swallow and spit me out all over the deck. Not very dignified, although if I got into their eyes there may be a few tears or even someone else staggering blindly overboard.
I have thought about being stuffed and made into a figurehead but with pontoons the way they are I am liable to get my nose pushed in.
I do want my body to be of some use and my wife suggested I would make a good fender but again I don’t think I would last long.
I could however go for the sliding off the wooden board under the flag and strait into the sea. It’s cheap, non-messy and at least I could help a few fish with their evening meal. OK, Bob and Rita may go in for a large cod and chips and get a bit of me but that’s OK.
Can you still be buried at sea or can you think of another suggestion?

[Astrid]

Yes:

Burial at Sea--Rules and Regulations

[PamlicoTraveler]

So if they are cremated remains the rules are the same as for the macerator or holding tank; go three miles out before dumping. Further proof that we will become human waste when we die.

[Astrid]

True enough, when you come right down to it. I suppose, once the spirit has departed, one may as well be buried at sea--call it being recycled--very green thing to do.

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

Ok it is not the kind of subject anyone likes to think about but sometime or other I am going to die.
They could scatter my ashes at sea but the chances are the wind would be in the wrong direction and Auntie Rita and Uncle Bob would swallow and spit me out all over the deck. Not very dignified, although if I got into their eyes there may be a few tears or even someone else staggering blindly overboard.

I read your post an imediately thought of the movie "The Big Lebowski " where they went to a overlook on the Ca coast to spread there friends ashes and the wind blew it in there faces, Yuck sadly funny

Remember no tennis shoes they float and come ashore with your feet still in them, this has happened in the PNW often. and I think I read that Japans tsunami will bring more folks shoes with feet to the west coast of the US this next year.

[Missou]

I took this from a canadian funeral home who seems to offer the service.

Experiences in other countries have shown that a great deal of distress can be caused by the remains, once committed for burial, being yielded up or trawled up by a fishing vessel. Therefore, it is the government’s position that initial inquires about burial at sea should be discouraged, and those who ask should be requested to consider scattering the cremated remains at sea as an alternative

Come to think of it, I wouldn't want my catch of the day to be Rita or Bob

[Astrid]

Good point

[Blue Stocking]

Not that unusual around here. 5 or 6 of my mates sitting around the poker table, a few miles east of St David's Lighthouse. Newport-Bermuda fleet sails right over them at the finish line.
Noble way to go, but my kids don't think so.

Edit: We don't trawl around here.

[webejammin]

Maybe wrap you in chains first in 4000 ft of water

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

We have on the Rita T a length of chain known as Hannah's chain. I figure it is optimistic to assume I'll still be sailing when the time comes and not warehoused somewhere drooling in my soup.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Astrid

Yes:

Burial at Sea--Rules and Regulations

Astrid:

I didn't see anything about burning funeral pyre's used in a traditional Viking funeral. I guess if yo had a good enough lawyer and you made your Pyre in the shape of a wreath this section would apply, "c) Flowers and wreaths consisting of materials which are readily decomposable in the marine environment may be disposed of under the general permit set forth in this section at the site at which disposal of human remains is authorized."

[David_Old_Jersey]

Just because you get cremated doesn't mean you have to be scattered, can get interned in a graveyard (subject to local rules) with a headstone or buried wherever you want. At sea don't have to scatter the ashes, just consign the casket to the deep (make sure it is heavy enough not to float! - unless that is the idea!)

FYI the results straight out of the oven are not 100% ashes - that comes from the next step.

[s/v Moondancer]

Astrid thanks for the regs.

My Dad was on motor torpedo boats (PT boats for the Yanks) in the English Channel during WWII. When the skipper a young Lt was killed he went over the side in a hammock weighted with machine gun brass. Even though the boat was only an hour from port they never dreamed that a sailor would want to go any other way!

I have and old kedge anchor I have never used in 15,000 sea miles...that and a spinnaker bag should do the trick!

[boatman61]

Yup... no worries at sea... I've skippered a few 'disposals'... but they've always been toasted first...

[WarmBreeze]

I LOVE that I am not the only person who would like this.
I have told my old salt that when I die, because as you said, we all will sometime. But when I die to take me out on the water and tie my nude body to an anchor and toss me over.
He mentioned that there would probably be legalities etc etc...But in all seriousness, if I have my way THIS is how I want to go. I want my body to go back into the earth from which it came.
Will be looking forward to what info you come up with.