Superstitions: Knife and Launching

Never Say P*G – The Book of Sailors’ Superstitions is the nautical reference book you never knew you needed. Compiled by R. Bruce MacDonald, he goes through the alphabet detailing on what provides good and bad luck at sea. Here’s a sampling from K and L:

Knife
If becalmed for a long time, a knife was stabbed in the (wooden) mast with the handle pointing in the direction of the desired wind.

Launching
If a ship turns naturally toward the sea when first being launched then she will be lucky.

For more sage advice, click here.