An unlucky day on the high seas

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

Friday the 13th means nothing to sailors, because sailors are not

the least bit superstitious. Well, not if you leave out that it is

bad luck to change the name of a boat; or that you shouldn’t bring

bananas aboard; or that having a woman on board a ship angers the

seas but having a naked woman on board calms the seas (you thought

there was no rhyme or reason).

I actually use this saying:

Red sky at night,

Sailor’s delight.

Red sky at morning,

Sailors take warning.

How about being lured in from the sea by the sirens with their

persuasive song? Greek mythology states that they live on the islands

of Sirenum scopuli, where ships would crash onto the rocks trying to

get to the sirens. I am still looking for sirens and mermaids.

Did you know it is bad luck to set sail on a Friday? Now I know

why I see all the sailors using their engines and not their sails to

get to Catalina for the weekend.

Do not forget to place a silver coin under the masthead for good

luck before you depart.

That action brings up an interesting question: If you set sail on

a Friday and place a silver coin under the masthead, then do the two

opposite superstitions cancel each other out, or is one superstition

more powerful than the other?

Black cats are considered good luck on board, but seeing rats

scurrying off a ship is bad luck. I always thought that the rats were

running so that they would not be dinner for the cats. One of the

funniest superstitions is that if you see a cross-eyed person on the

way to the harbor, then your voyage is doomed.

Lastly for my Friday the 13th nautical superstitions, never, and I

mean never, step aboard a ship with your left foot first.

TIP OF THE WEEK

BoatUS has a free vessel recall alert registry that helps the boat

manufacturers reach you, the boat owner. You will be contacted if

there is a recall affecting your boat.

Up to 10 years after a boat is built, the boat manufacturer is

required by federal law to recall and repair its boats if the vessels

are found not in compliance with Coast Guard regulations or when the

vessels have any safety defects. The glitch in the system is that the

law only requires that U.S. Coast Guard defect recall notices be sent

to the original vessel owner. Since many vessels change ownership at

least once during their first 10 years of life, well-meaning

manufacturers often have difficulty reaching subsequent owners to let

them know that they have a fix available to remedy a safety problem.

BoatUS has stepped in to fill this important gap between boat

builders and owners with its National Recall Alert Registry. This is

a free service for manufacturers that connects them to owners with

U.S. Coast Guard recall actions.

“No one wants a recall action,” said Caroline Ajootian, BoatUS

Consumer Protection Bureau director. “But when one does occur, the

system often fails because second or third owners aren’t notified. It

also fails when new boat owners don’t return warranty cards. In both

cases, manufacturers have no way to notify owners about a recall and

their good efforts to correct them.

“The way the recall is handled is often remembered by boat owners,

and using this registry helps to reinforce the positive image of a

company and its product,” Ajootian said. “It can only help a

difficult situation get better.”

To register your boat, go to https://www.BoatUS.com/ recall. Since

its launch four years ago, the registry’s database has been used in

several recall actions, saving manufacturers’ time and efforts and

potentially many lives.

I am signing up my sabot today.

Tune in to my “Boathouse Radio Show” this and every Sunday from 4

to 5 p.m. on KCBQ-AM (1170), or listen over the Internet at https://

www.boathouseradio.com. You can call the toll-free listener line at

(888) 344-1170 and join in on Southern California’s only boating talk

radio show, reaching up the coast from San Diego to Oxnard and out to

Santa Catalina Island.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit https://www.boat housetv.com.