Traditions and Supersticions

[GordMay]

One tradition holds that it is the "highest coin of the realm" that you secrete under the mast step.

[Vasco]

Gord,

You mean I have to replace my dime with a toonie !!!

[coyote]

Originally Posted by GordMay

One tradition holds that it is the "highest coin of the realm" that you secrete under the mast step.

Ouch. The highest coin of this realm would be the American Eagle Platinum coin. One ounce of platinum, with a face value of $100 (the highest ever to appear on a US coin) Platinum is running around $1,275/oz today. A real sailor would probably put two or three under the mast....

[GordMay]

The Royal Canadian Mint wishes to produce a non-circulation gold coin of the denomination of $1,000,000 (yes, you read correctly - one million dollars, Cdn).
Goto:
Canada Gazette

Just remember that superstition brings bad luck !

[Alan Wheeler]

A mill coin would be the last thing I would have under a mast. Just imagine if someone heard a suspicion that a mill coin is under some mast out in the marina. We would arrive down to the marina only to find hundreds of masts cut down over night :-)
It would make searching down the back of sofas worth while :-)

[KaptainKen]

I heard a gold coin must be used. As it happened, I had a US 2 1/2 dollar gold piece that I had gotten somehow. A legacy, I think. Several years ago, when the mast was out for maintenance, I put it under the mast as it was being re-stepped.

The mast is still there. The boat still floats. I'm still here. There must be something to it (grin).

[Alan Wheeler]

It would need to be gold. Anything else won't be there when needed. Just a small piece of crusty corrosion.

[GordMay]

More Maritime Traditions:

There are numerous unofficial certificates, those documents attesting to where a sailor has been, what they have done, and most importantly, what they are - a Slimy Pollywog, Shellback or a Blue Nose or a Mossback ...

* The Order of the Trusty Shellback for sailors who have crossed the Equator.
* The Order of the Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the Equator at the 180Th Meridian (International Date Line).
In 1965, the submarine USS Capitaine (AGSS-336) topped nearly everybody by crossing the intersection of the two lines underwater.
* The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
* The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
* The Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors who have crossed the International Date Line.
* The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
* The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
* The Order of the Mossback for Sailors who have rounded Cape Horn.
* The Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (where the equator crosses the Prime Meridian)
* The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
* The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the Earth.

More ???

[Alan Wheeler]

So whats a "slimey pollywog" Gord??

[SkiprJohn]

Alan,
A slimey pollywog is the opposite of a trusty shellback. Slimey wogs are the ones you catch on deck who haven't been through a thorough initiation whilst crossing the equator.
Your trusty shellback,
JohnL