Superstitions of the Sea - Fridays.

Most of you might have heard of a man called Willem van der Decken.

He was a captain for the VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or East India Trading company).
He was known for delivering the goods fast and safely, this his trusty ship was named the Flying dutchman.

Now there is a rule on the seas, you never sail during Holydays. Willem didn't believe in this and sailed during a heavy storm on good Friday around cape hope.

He was never heard from since that day... But some say his ship sails the seas forever as a ghost ship!

@mighty-ace123 The Efteling uses folklore tales to tell their stories.
De Bokkenrijders, De Witte wuven, Den vliegende hollander, The Forest of Oberon etc.

@mighty-ace123 Yeah I'd love to see the Rare devs go there for inspiration on how an actual town would look like in sea of Thieves. I think the Efteling's style would work really wel in Sea of Thieves. Using old boat parts as houses etc is right up their alley.

@katttruewalker It is, if you're ever in or near the Netherlands and like theme parks this is a great one.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5269/5568637923_46c007f6b2_b.jpg

This is the outside of their Flying Dutchman ride, they have a certain style in their aestetics (Anton Pieck Stijl) that's kind of Dark/ Fantastical.

The banana one is still in play. Being a Florida boy and spending many, many days on the Atlantic and in the Gulf, the rule has always been no bananas on the boat. Ever.

From "show them the ropes" to "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey", you wouldn't believe how much of the English language comes from the Sea, or maybe you would considering we're a tiny island that relied heavily on the Sea for hundreds of years of trade, exploration and conquest. I'm interested though, is the same true for the other Imperial powers? Do the French or the Dutch have any weird nautical terms that have found their way into common parlance? Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey supposedly comes from the pyramidical stacks of cannonballs kept on deck, held in place by a brass object known as a "monkey", in extreme cold the brass would shrink and the pile would fall apart, obvious testicular connotations lead to this being used by folks on land for centuries after without knowing what it really meant. English is full of these, but I'd love to know some foreign ones!

Friday the 13th, and I have 13 notifications...;-;

@reedski said in Superstitions of the Sea - Fridays.:

Do the French or the Dutch have any weird nautical terms that have found their way into common parlance?

Can't speak for the french but Dutch culture is built around trade and this includes nautical trade.
As stated above the whole friday myth is found in our folklore with the tale of the flying dutchman.
A ship is cristened by a woman and the text "Ik wens u een behouden vaart" is uttered (I wish you well on your journeys)
Shipnames cannot end with an A
Always load your ship on the port side. (port is always the superiour side, a ship coming in with sails over it's port side has the right of way for example)
People on board had nicknames to trick the Devil
The Soul of a ship was in it's ornament.
Don't speak of the devil, call him Joost if you need to speak of him.
The Crowing of a rooster brings good fortune.
Always enter a ship with your right foot first

Those are a few examples of Dutch superstitions and practises on the sea.

These are fantastic and all very true, I remember with great fondness my "Crossing The Line" ceremony on board HMS Brazen many years ago,

Royal Navy tradition dictates that any ship crossing the equator must pay their respects to the Lord of the Seas, King Neptune to gain his acceptance.

This ritual requires all those who had never previously crossed the line to be brought to charge for their crimes and get the justice they deserve, the whole thing starts the night before crossing the line, the ship is taken over by "Davy Jones, The Bears and The Police (normally the senior rates on-board the ship (dressed up in make shift costumes made from fire fighting suits, cardboard and anti-flash hoods with bear ears sewn on!!) working their way through the ship looking for the uninitiated and warning them of the fate that awaits them, for a young sailor this can seem quite intimidating, especially as all your friends and oppos that have been there before wind you up like crazy about is what to come.

Each mess deck is visited and the names of those all that are charged are read out by the "Joss" (master at arms) and you are summoned to attend King Neptune's court the next day.

One of the Senior Rates (now of course dressed as King Neptune) and the Queen and Judge (one of the other Senior Rates done up with a mop head wig and balloon b*****s) hold his "Court" on the flight deck of the ship, complete with a dunking pool, the seniors of the ship dressed as Neptune's bears and Police are all present in the court.

An announcement is sent out over the ships tannoy system that King Neptune has boarded the ship, and he is ceremonially piped aboard the ship, and he takes up court on the flight deck, so those summoned along with the rest of the ships company all head down to the flight deck to face the court, you were grabbed by the Police and the Bears and dragged up front ready to go to court.

Traditionally the first at the court is normally the Captain and First Officer (even though they have probably done this before, they get it light and easy to reassure you its not so bad) but then its the rest of you, who get the proper treatment.

Those that had to go before Neptune needed to be presented smartly of course so you first had to go and have a shave with the "Barber" this meant having your head and face covered in a shaving foam made from normally mashed potatoes with all sorts of "orrible" bits in it, it was nicely rubbed in and then shaven off with a comic oversize cardboard/tin foil razor (not much came off i can tell you, and it stank!

Next you needed to be in full health to see the King, so a trip to the "Ships Doctor" (no qualifications required) he gave each of the accused a "Nice n Spicy" pill and some "Sweet Medicine" this consisted of a stuffing ball sized pill made up of some of the hottest peppers and sauces I have ever tasted, it honestly brings tears to your eyes, and "Sweet Medicine" was equally nasty, god knows what was in that, but I definitely remember the taste of some rum and mouth wash!!

Now that you didn't look and smell to nice, you needed to be cleaned (for cleaned read dunked and held under for a while) in the ceremonial pool, the bears would grab onto you and and pull you in fully clothed of course (no nakedness here this is the Royal Navy after all) you were now ready to be presented to the King.

Of course some would try and avoid this ceremony and would run off and hide in the ship, if they could find a compartment where the occupants would let them in, in these instances the police was dispatched to gather them up, and you can imagine they had to under go double helping of the barber, doctor and the bears before seeing the king.

After being seeing the King and his lovely (ahem!!) wife each person crossing the line is given an elaborate certificate, which you always keep hold off (ready for next time you cross the line) some 40 years later I still have mine securely kept away just in case!

The ceremony is finished off that day with a flight deck BBQ which is cooked by the officers (wardroom) of the ship, and plenty of beers too for those not on watch (although you always keep some back for the on watch guys) it really is a fantastic couple of days to be honest, and one I will always remember.

But dont forget there is the Blue Nose certificate too for crossing the arctic circle!

@captnjaq I've always thought they used them in game as a bit of irony.

@OldRusty-Gaming I am pretty sure most navies do that as well as private vessels and even cruise ships do something. Those who have crossed are Shellbacks. Those who haven't are pollywogs. Those that have crossed the equator at the international date line are Golden Shellbacks.

I have pics of a good friend being initiated. He spent six years in the US Navy and crossed many times.