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perchance · 15-02-2011, 14:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark1977

Don't live by them or bieleve in them but heard it was bad luck to say the word ''pig'' don't know why?? And never whistle, when you do you are whistling for strong wind.....

I think whistling was also a sign that mutiny was afoot.

jslade8581 · 15-02-2011, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by perchance

I think whistling was also a sign that mutiny was afoot.

No - this one isn't so scary. Whistling originally wasn't allowed on a warship, except by the cook. Think about it - if the cook was whistling, he wasn't spitting in the food!

Whistling on deck was bad because sound carries so well over the water - which was a damn good reason to 'beat to quarters' if you were ever on watch (enemy ship nearby).

**boatman61** · 15-02-2011, 15:19

Damn..... n I thought it was coz in the old days on warships all orders were transmitted by the 'Bosun's Call'............
A tradition continued in the Royal Navy to this day

Chef-of-the-Sea · 15-02-2011, 15:30

When at sea, sit to pee

jslade8581 · 15-02-2011, 15:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by boatman61

Damn..... n I thought it was coz in the old days on warships all orders were transmitted by the 'Bosun's Call'............
A tradition continued in the Royal Navy to this day

And in the US Navy too, at least on the good ships. Yeah, I forgot about that. Not sure if they piped between the hours of sunset to sunrise (USN doesn't), and I'm not sure if they piped sail changes. But that's still a bit of wind from my sails!

**boatman61** · 15-02-2011, 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by jslade8581

And in the US Navy too, at least on the good ships. Yeah, I forgot about that. Not sure if they piped between the hours of sunset to sunrise (USN doesn't), and I'm not sure if they piped sail changes. But that's still a bit of wind from my sails!

As a former Bosun's Mate.... we piped all calls right upto lights out.... then the 'Rise n Shine' in the AM....

Dune · 15-02-2011, 15:57

If whistling is bad luck, does using one of these

mean your going down soon?

**boatman61** · 15-02-2011, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dune

If whistling is bad luck, does using one of these

mean your going down soon?

HHHHmmmmmmmmmm ... Well hello Big Boy..... you offering...

kenny chaos · 15-02-2011, 16:09

Little beads of sweat in the cleavage?

**boatman61** · 15-02-2011, 16:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenny chaos

Little beads of sweat in the cleavage?

I never avoid those.......

Hang on a mo'..... whose/what cleavage......

**atoll** · 15-02-2011, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef-of-the-Sea

When at sea, sit to pee

british navy myth

"never trust a man who sits down to pee"

**boatman61** · 15-02-2011, 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

british navy myth

"never trust a man who sits down to pee"

Thats why they call him a 'Myth'......

Astrid · 16-02-2011, 11:19

Quote:

I heard it was bad luck to step on to a boat with your left foot first.

This has always been an intriguing superstition, and while I have no idea exactly what its origins are, I can postulate it might have had something to do with boarding a vessel in order to wrest command of it from its rightful owner. It seems to have been a common superstition in the Royal Navy, so its origins were probably of a military nature. Not counting a swordsman who uses a shield and therefore advances habitually with the left, as well as someone armed with pike or bayoneted musket, a person armed with cutlass, rapier, hanger or sabre would normally advance with the right foot so as to keep his sword to the front in the guard position; thusly, in boarding, a swordsman would not want to step aboard with the left foot, as that would put him in a position where it would be difficult to parry a blow should he meet resistance, and if he were unable to parry a blow, that would certainly spell disaster in a very personal sense. Of course, if a swordsman were left handed, the opposite would be true, but most old fencing and combat manuals emphasized using the sword with the right arm.