Do Boats Have 'Souls' ?

[The_Bean]

Now now boys and girls.... religion, politics..... and guns.... are best left at home.
There are those that are religious, and those that are not. There are those that support one political party and those that support another. Some sail in a Cat and others in half a Cat... (the latter obviously said in jest... but here comes possible trouble again.... see how easy it can be to upset someone)
We are all different and we all need to respect each other's different views and the reasons we have them.... without jumping up and down.

Whilst I may not agree with some of the things CaptainJeff said... I do agree that "A simple "I think you may have overlooked something in my post" would have served just fine, and likely have gotten you an apology."

Personally, I think that having a boat re-naming ceremony is a great thing to do... irrespective of anyones belief. If you love your boat... give it a party so that it can be appreciated.

Is it bad luck to rename a boat? I haven't the foggiest.

What I really want to know is....
Is it bad luck to walk under a ladder?
Is it bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?
Is it good luck if a bird craps on your head?
Will you have good luck if you carry a Rabbits foot in your pocket?

Regards
Dave

[hellosailor]

Dave-
"Is it bad luck to walk under a ladder?"
Only if the resident basilisk is there. They live under ladders, that's why you're not supposed to walk under them. I've never seen one and suggest that was a middle-ages OSHA story, easier to peddle than "things on the ladder can fall on you".<G>

"Is it bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?"
Who was the chap in the old testament who got stuck working seven years for the wrong bride? Unless she's bar-coded, don't buy one sight unseen,e ven from a catalog.

"Is it good luck if a bird craps on your head?"
Compared to...You mean, like Aeschulus? Wasn't he the guy that got killed when an eagle dropped a tortoise on his bald dome? (Honest.) Yeah, I guess in the grands scheme of things, the crap is middle-lucky.<G>

"Will you have good luck if you carry a Rabbits foot in your pocket?"
Now I have never heard someone ask me "Hello, Sailor, is that rabbit's foot in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" So I would say no, carrying a rabbit's foot will not make you lucky.<G>

[cooper]

l had a boat......a long time ago l was given an 18 ft cold molded flying machine. It had been neglected and hadnt sailed for years. To be blunt it was sad looking at it where it was, trapped in a yard full of junk. l took it home and spent 18 months stripping it sanding out the angle grinder marks and gereally turning it into a thing of beauty. It looked like it really would fly. The boat was a jolly boat. The last boat that uffa fox designed (as a sedate sailing dingy for one who is getting along in life) It turned out to be one of his fastest ever designs. Afetr l had finished the boat had a five minute wet in a very small local lake. The rig wasnt put up because l hadnt finished it yet. Some weeks later the grand day arrived and l headed down to Port phillip bay on a typically hot summer morning. Glinting in the sunshine, l got a hand to carry it down to the beach where l set it up with all its strings and bits. Problem was there was no wind. Lunch came and went and still no wind just opressive heat. At about three in the afternoon a slight breeze sprang up and my heart raced. A nice afternoon sea breeze was kicking in. Loading the boat up with two other "slightly "experienced guys off we went. Gliding over the water at 3 knots was pure bliss.............for 100 metres..... The breeze unfortunately was not a gradual sea breeze..No ....this was a full blown *%^%$@* SOUTHERLY BUSTER !! and we had just launched straight off the beach into it. The boat went straight over in an instant. 35 knots and climbing. The jolly boat is not the lightest of boats but under normal circumstances ,three fit 20 year old somthings should have no problems getting it back up. There was just no way......We tried over and over, it was just not possible to fight the wind. On top of that a swell had started to build. Half an hour or so later the boat turned turtle. This was no bloody fun anymore. Realising that we had to try and swim the thing in, and the mast was up...or should l say down....l dived under the boat over and over to slowly undo the shackles holding the standing rigging. We were in trouble. There was a number of quite large power boats on anchor but no one was the slightest bit interested in helping. Things wre getting pretty rough and we were getting pushed parralel and out from the coast. Finally a rescue rib arrived. Some kind person had seen us and raced around two beaches to the surf life saving club and they had come to help. It was pointless trying to right the boat so we hooked up a tow and headed for the beach.......Not a hope.....even with the engine flat knacker we where still going sideways. The only hope was we where, bit by bit moving in. After what was now neally two hours in the water the boat got picked up by a wave and started to surf. l had to throw off the tow line so they could get their steering back. One of the guys jumped in with me to try and swim the boat sideways but.........we ended up coming in on the rocky head land. The boat pounded its way up a narrow cleft shedding varnish and plywood as it went. (breaking my toe) . Finally the crowd of "car crash" watchers came and helped to drag the thing up off the rocks and carry it back down the beach. It was a funeral procession with a hunred or so marches and a several hundred spectators. The boat was a wreck. l took its shatted carcass back home but couldnt face rebuilding it all over again and ended up donating it to a local yacht club............... Now why this long winded story in this post..............................The boats name was ICARUS.....

[seafox]

Boats only get a soul when you are in bad conditions in the middle of the Cook Strait. Then once in port they become a sterile asset/liability again.

[Ex-Calif]

First of all I'd like to state that we are not superstitious in any way and we would never worship pagan gods, ever, and we would certainly never hang out or associate with people that do. Having said that we "are" going to rename our boat using the following recipe book.

http://www.bluewatersailing.com/docu...ngceremony.pdf

(Hope the cross post is OK ;-)

The main reason to use this method is to be able to invite a bunch of other keelboaters to the dock next Friday and have a good ol' fashioned piss up. It seems a shame to pour so much expensive grog in the water and over the boat but so far that'll be cheap compared to the other stuff - LOL

It also sounds like a lot of fun.

(Oh - and if it keeps Neptune and Aeolus happy that would be great too. We don't worship them but I didn't say we didn't believe in them - and why take the chance of pi**ing off the guy who runs the ocean and the guy who makes wind? We're a 26 foot sailboat for Pete's sake! We need all the friends we can get - LOL)

[44'cruisingcat]

Aeolus? I thought the god of wind was Heinz.

[hellosailor]

Dan, you're in Singapore? Think of funeral money--you're not supposed to waste the good booze, do a little sleight of hand or use small cups for the Gods. (Just don't let them catch you at it.<G>)

[Ex-Calif]

I already bought cheap grog. If I also shrink the cups I know we'll be cursed - LOL.

So far the booze is cheaper than the new toilet we installed last week

[dennisail]

Wow, all the nut jobs are coming out of the woodwork in this thread.

[roblanford]

I read every post in this thread and all I have to say is,
I can't stand intolerance.

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by roblanford

I can't stand intolerance.

How ironic. You need to learn to tolerate intolerance.

[boris]

" do boats have souls"
well I for one hope so, other wise who have I been talking to when going through the karori rip

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

("A Freindly Nazi" who believes in Santa Claus and respects Pagan boat naming ceremonies, likes Easter Egg day and also Pancake day - not quite enough of us around to start a Cult. yet )

I always thought it was "Satan Claw's".

And you'll be glad to know that there is a "Giant Omellete Day" in New Caledonia.

"Giant Omelette Festival
New Caledonia's Giant Omelette Festival at Par Fayard takes place around Easter, during which a dozen chefs make a huge 3.5 diameter omelette using 7000 eggs"
Festivals of New Caledonia - Jasons New Caledonia

pretty sure they do one at Dunbier NC as well.

Quite a few there to start a cult, and easter eggs and omelletes go together

Dave

[roblanford]

Originally Posted by dennisail

How ironic.......

Gee, Ya think?

[mudnut]

I wonder if anyone that has bought a second hand boat has ever asked the PO if the name was ever changed and if so was there a proper ceramony performed.If ya believe all this ritual stuff and didn't ask that Question,you may have just bought into bad luck to start with.Woooow,scary stuff heh.Mudnut.