Voices in the night

[Allied39]

Yup, been there.
Wifey was looking for a radio that she figured must have been stashed in one of the lockers and turned on. I asked why and she said she could hear something. She was surprised when I said I heard it too.
Me.....I know I have issues......and I suppose wifey must too.......just to be with me.

[Kim Gregory]

Deltaville, October 18, 1982.
We had breakfast at Taylor's, and moved off the dock of Deltaville Marina to anchor, rowed ashore, and went to dinner. As we returned to our dinghy, we thought we heard someone crying for help. "Help!", "Help Me!", sounded from the water.
Some locals were nearby, and they could hear it too, and said an old man lived on the other shore. Fearing he may be hurt, we found a local with a powerboat, and raced across to help. We found a goat, tied to a stake, bleating "Help"! It sure sounded like a person from the other shore! The locals were laughing all the way back!

Next time we hear a call for "help", we will shout "What is two plus two?"

- Kim & Pam & Mike and Shelley

[LoudMusic]

I occupy myself with tracking down the noise makers on passage. There's always something squeaking, rubbing, grinding, bouncing, knocking ... and your brain turns it into something familiar.

I think it's fine, so long as you don't start responding

[Hardhead]

It could be a form of sensory deprivation after a long period of time, where repetitive white noise is reinterpreted by the brain, seeking the voice stimulus it is normally accustomed to hearing. I've read a good number of accounts where people at sea, alone for a long period to time, can sort of drift off into a self induced thought LaLa land. As one example, Joshua Slocomb had Columbus' navigator keeping him company - which was nice.

I think if you accept that tendency as likely, it can help re-assert some stabilizing perspective.

[Gene Neill]

I have read that solo sailors in particular are sometimes known to clearly hear non existent voices after long periods at sea. Accounts of guys tossing their entire vessel, looking for stowaways.

[boatman61]

Each boat sings its own song..
Yes.. I have heard voices..

[Standbly]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Each boat sings its own song..
Yes.. I have heard voices..

That's why I try to stay away from French boats. I can't figure out what they're saying.

[Wckoek]

Interesting, I guess this can be the origin of sea legends like sirens or flying dutchman.

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Standbly

That's why I try to stay away from French boats. I can't figure out what they're saying.

That brings up a question. If it is white noise produced by wind and sea that your brain translates into a recognized pattern, wouldn't the "voices" always be in a language you speak?
Has anyone ever heard voices in an unknown language at sea?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by chris mac

That brings up a question. If it is white noise produced by wind and sea that your brain translates into a recognized pattern, wouldn't the "voices" always be in a language you speak?
Has anyone ever heard voices in an unknown language at sea?

Yeah.. But they beamed down and sat on my boom... figured they wanted me to take them to my leader but.. they left after a coupla minutes.

[crooks]

This is a great topic. I am not going to tell you why I think that way.

[dwedeking2]

On my solo trips I always hear people talking though I can't make out the words. I theorized that its the different frequencies of sounds (lines, stays, boat creaks etc) meshing together coupled with the minds reaction to isolation.

[Don C L]

Yeah I couldn't make out the words, let alone the language, but it had an English inflection to it... and a familiarity in a way...
uh-oh

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I read about this. The sea makes a wide spectrum of sound. Your brain tries to find recognizable sounds in amongst it. So occasionally you'll hear something a bit like voices.

Me too.

I think it's similar to how the mind can make human faces out of just about anything. One that always happened for me was sitting alone at daybreak. Then when more light is available you realize just how wrong you were.

https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Sa.../dp/0877429634

I suspect you might have read about it in this book.

Also agree that sound carries across water much further than land, but assuming you are way out of range of any humans, then it's just your mind.

[DefinitelyMe]

When I did my first ever ocean crossing on a yacht......... there were two of us sailing from Florida to Bermuda in July. Violent thunderstorms every day for the first few days. Neither of us got a wink of sleep and were both exhausted. We didn’t have any self-steering so we were sailing watch and watch. Strange things started happening. First, the ornately-decorated ‘North’ symbol on the compass seemed to pop right out of the compass. I felt it whack me in the forehead and it knocked me over backwards. Then I thought I heard a car, so I looked off to starboard and saw a 4x4 overtaking us. My sleep-deprived brain didn’t think ‘I’m at sea. That can’t be here. I must be hallucinating’. It thought ‘damn him. Why can’t I go that fast!’

The clincher though was the sheep. I had some diesel containers latched to the aft rail and as they moved back and forth a little with the motion of the boat they sounded like....... well........ diesel containers. But the sound changed, until it sounded just like sheep bleating. I look d behind me and there was an entire field of sheep grazing away contentedly.

The next night we decided to heave-to and get some rest. We set alarms so that one of us would wake up every 20 minutes and check on things. We went to bed at 6pm and both awoke the next morning at 10am, having slept right through the night for 16 hours and missed the alarms.

Those were the days. Things have moved in a little since then.........