Windfall

ANOTHER SEASON BEGINS!

On April 17th we were finally able to accommodate some of the remaining spring break visitors with a pirate cruise and a sunset sail. People had been calling all week about going sailing but unfortunately most of the week was cold and windy. By Friday, however, it was ideal.

A lot of sailors would be hesitant to start a season on a Friday. Seafarers have always been a superstitious lot and one of their most time-honored traditions is never to begin a voyage, or launch a ship on a Friday. I believe it has something to do with the Crucifixion.

A few years back I was chatting with a friend who was a merchant marine captain. He told me he was flying to New York the next day to take charge of a container ship
Bound for Europe. He mentioned that the ship would be all loaded and ready to go by Friday morning but that they weren’t going to leave until just after midnight Saturday morning.

“Is the shipping company so superstitious that it’s willing to make such an expensive delay?” I asked him in amazement.

“The company isn’t,” he said, “but if we tried to leave on Friday half the crew would probably jump ship.”

According to an old British navy legend, the Lords of the Admiralty once became so disgusted with the sailors’ superstitions that they set out to debunk them. They commissioned a warship whose keel was laid on a Friday. They christened it “H.M.S. Friday,” launched it on a Friday and sent it to sea on a Friday under the command of a Captain Friday. It was never seen or heard from again!

Nobody much believes that. We had 24 passengers on our first pirate cruise of the season last Friday and it was a great time. Just the right amount of wind from just the right direction. It was great to see the old schooner stretch her legs again.

Until school lets out in mid-June, we'll only be sailing sunset trips. After the children return, we'll resume ye pyrat cruises. AAhhrr!