gone by, a woman on board was said to make the sea angry while a naked woman would calm it - that's why ship figureheads are often scantily dressed.

Lead with the right.

Old sea salts warn against stepping on or off your yacht with your left foot first.
They also counsel that if the catch of the day is a right boot you should nail it to the mast for luck. Perhaps then you'll catch some fish!

Whistlin' up a Storm.

Whistling on board is said to bring about a gale and is strictly prohibited. One explanation may date back to the days when the captain used whistling to communicate commands to the crew and idly warbling on the poop-deck could cause confusion.

Animal Magic.

There are a myriad of sailing superstitions concerning our animal friends:

- A black cat on board is reputed to bring good luck but keep her well-fed and content as, according to legend, she can whip up a storm with the magic in her twitching tail!

- A pod of dolphins swimming alongside your yacht is also thought to be lucky, while a shoal of sharks lingering behind is held to be an omen of death.

- Some believe that albatrosses and gulls bear the souls of departed sailors and extremely bad luck will befall anyone who kills one.

- And if rats are seen fleeing your yacht then you know you have problems.

Don't Cut your Hair or Nails at Sea.

Hair cuttings and nail clippings are offerings to the Springtime goddess, Proserpina, and Neptune will get jealous if you make them while sailing his waters.

Yes, We Have No Bananas.

One of the stranger superstitions is one that says it's unlucky to bring a banana on board a sailing vessel. It may have its roots in the eighteen hundreds when European sailors calling at Caribbean and South American ports would load their ships with the fruit, oblivious to the venomous spiders hiding in the leaves. Once at sea, the deadly stowaways could happily multiply and overrun the ship.
Today you need have no worries about eating bananas on your yacht - just be careful where you throw the peel.

These are just a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of superstitions found in sailing, perhaps because, in the past, a life at sea was fraught with peril. In those dangerous times, superstitions were a way of trying to control the uncontrollable - in this case, the unpredictable weather conditions. They might sound silly on land but when you're facing a rough sea and a high wind you might just regret clipping your toenails.

Learn more about this author, AK MacKendrick.
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