Are you superstitious? If you see a ladder on a sidewalk, do you pass right underneath or rather walk around it? Do you get extra anxious if you break a mirror or when Friday the 13ths is ahead of you? There is also a whole wagonload of myths and superstitions in a sailor’s world, which most of us might not be so familiar with. I have been working on the ocean for the last decade of my life and came across all sorts of funny ones, many of which are (luckily) ignored nowadays. For example, in the old days, sailors would avoid bringing bananas and women on board, both causing bad luck. Reasonably thought, bananas release ethene gas which could make other fruits and vegetables go to waste more quickly. Also, boxes of bananas are likely to carry tropical bugs or spiders – Sailors used to take a cat with them to avoid any unwanted bugs, rodents and such. What is the sailor’s problem with women? Distraction of the crew is the main reason, which is why a wooden naked woman as figurehead on the bow was long seen the only women on board (because naked women bring calm seas, apparently). Luckily, men have managed to control themselves and I nowadays know many amazing and capable women working at sea as captains, sailors and alike. I have indeed seen one superstition to persist amongst a few captains until today – the avoidance of whistling on board. It is thought that whistling attracts wind, waves and storms. I wonder, did we overhear a passenger whistling lately? We only managed to venture out to sea with the speedboat Stenella today and had to cancel the trips on Ribeira Brava and the whole rest of the week due to unfavourable wind conditions. Both trips on Stenella were rather adventurous. Between high waves and winds, we still managed to marvel wonderful Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Short-finned Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the morning. In the afternoon, we did not find any cetaceans between all the whitecaps and discovered other marine wildlife instead – Flying fish (Cheilopogon melanurus), Crabs, Nudibranchs, Seabirds and even a whole group of triggerfish crossed our path. The windsurfers at the entrance of Calheta’s marina foretold us that it that we had to stop we might have to pause going out onto the ocean, and whistling, for a few days.
by Sarah Kather
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:30 Cancelled due to bad sea conditions
13:30 Cancelled due to bad sea conditions
Stenella
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned Pilot whales
13:30 No sightings