Do boats have Ghosts?

[Nostrodamus]

Have you heard of a boat being haunted?

We seem to have an invisible sadistic electrician on board and his sense of humour is just not funny.

After the winter lay up we had a winch that would start on its own for no reason at all. Having wd40'd the switch and used it a few times it seems to be cured.

Then, at 4am this morning the electric toilet decided to switch itself on. By the time the mad whirring woke me up and I got to it and pulled the fuse it was smoking and smelly.

Why should electrical items turn themselves on for no reason what so ever.

Has similar things happened to others or have I got a ghost?

 

[Chrissie]

yes

 

[Nostrodamus]

I forgot to add that he eats all the chocolate biscuits, drinks my beer and seems to pee around the side of the toilet in the boys heads. They categorically deny any of the above has anything to do with them and agree to the theory we have a ghost.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

No

You have a damp problem.

 

[DJE]

Yes, and they particularly like damp conditions.

 

[Angele]

If it means I can continue to go sailing even after I am dead, then I intend to haunt Angele until eternity (or whenever Angele is scrapped, whichever comes sooner).

 

[Koeketiene]

Why should electrical items turn themselves on for no reason what so ever.

Has similar things happened to others or have I got a ghost?

Maybe you just have way too much electrical stuff?
Winches and heads don't need to be electrical.

As for the chocolate biscuits and the peeing around the loo: you have teenage sons - they'll grow out of it eventually. Usually around the time they discover girls.
They'll start bathing too.

 

[sarabande]

the winch problem is serious (not that the elec pump isn't, I hasten to add !).


A recent well documented accident when someone was up the mast, and the winch started spontaneously, leading to a mangled hand and lost fingers. A quick check of all the control functions and switches (do you have a remote for the winches ?) would be a priority for the next sunny day. I bet you find evidence of corrosion and arcing.

And perhaps the elec pump needs a smaller fuse ?


The BG (boat ghost) will then transfer his attentions to lights, instruments, nav gear .....

 

[Iain C]

I'm not in any way superstitious, religious, or anything like that. But on at least 8 separate occasions now I've asked under my breath I frustration where the hell something is (a fiddly component, a tool, keys or similar) to the previous owner, a dear family member sadly no longer with us. And bugger me, it suddenly turns up, right slap bang in front of me, in a "how the hell did I miss that" kind of way. Freaked the hell out of me the first few times, now it just makes me smile.

Weirdest one was the very first time, when I'd bought the boat as a project. I was driving along and thinking to myself "I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing taking the project on. I don't even have all the tools I'd need to start work on her". At that exact moment I spotted the missing screwdriver bit, missing from my Leatherman for weeks, sat on the passenger seat of my car. The Leatherman had been a gift from that family member. I nearly crashed the bloody car! Every other time it's happened has actually been on board.

As I said, not at all religious, but that did get me thinking that my boat does have her guardian angel somewhere...

 

[Angele]

I'm not in any way superstitious, religious, or anything like that. But on at least 8 separate occasions now I've asked under my breath I frustration where the hell something is (a fiddly component, a tool, keys or similar) to the previous owner, a dear family member sadly no longer with us. And bugger me, it suddenly turns up, right slap bang in front of me, in a "how the hell did I miss that" kind of way. Freaked the hell out of me the first few times, now it just makes me smile.

Weirdest one was the very first time, when I'd bought the boat as a project. I was driving along and thinking to myself "I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing taking the project on. I don't even have all the tools I'd need to start work on her". At that exact moment I spotted the missing screwdriver bit, missing from my Leatherman for weeks, sat on the passenger seat of my car. The Leatherman had been a gift from that family member. I nearly crashed the bloody car! Every other time it's happened has actually been on board.

As I said, not at all religious, but that did get me thinking that my boat does have her guardian angel somewhere...

That is a lovely story. I hope you do indeed have your departed family member acting as a guardian angel.

 

[dancrane]

Iain C, have you tried asking the departed, about next week's lottery numbers?

Very nice story, and why shouldn't there be something in it? Even the most determined cynic would acknowledge that your relative would always have your best interests (and easiest solution of practical problems) at heart.

 

[Sniper]

I'm not in any way superstitious, religious, or anything like that. But on at least 8 separate occasions now I've asked under my breath I frustration where the hell something is (a fiddly component, a tool, keys or similar) to the previous owner, a dear family member sadly no longer with us. And bugger me, it suddenly turns up, right slap bang in front of me, in a "how the hell did I miss that" kind of way. Freaked the hell out of me the first few times, now it just makes me smile.

Weirdest one was the very first time, when I'd bought the boat as a project. I was driving along and thinking to myself "I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing taking the project on. I don't even have all the tools I'd need to start work on her". At that exact moment I spotted the missing screwdriver bit, missing from my Leatherman for weeks, sat on the passenger seat of my car. The Leatherman had been a gift from that family member. I nearly crashed the bloody car! Every other time it's happened has actually been on board.

As I said, not at all religious, but that did get me thinking that my boat does have her guardian angel somewhere...

I regularly have similar experiences in my late Dad's shed. I chat to him and ask him where things are and suddenly they seem to 'appear'! Like you, I have no belief around this sort of thing, but its strangely comforting.

 

[Woodlouse]

Ever tried asking your resident ghosts to stop hiding all the things you are looking for in the first place?

 

[Angele]

Ever tried asking your resident ghosts to stop hiding all the things you are looking for in the first place?

... but if they did that, you wouldn't know they were there. What is the point of that? Surely if you are going to haunt somewhere you have to do these things or else you aren't really doing your job properly.

 

[Vern]

As the newly appointed General Secretary Of The Ghost Club (London), in our 150th year.....I see no reason that boats shouldn't be haunted.

As a believer that is, naturally

 

[ANDY123]

I forgot to add that he eats all the chocolate biscuits, drinks my beer and seems to pee around the side of the toilet in the boys heads. They categorically deny any of the above has anything to do with them and agree to the theory we have a ghost.

I have a bear that visits me in the night - It sh-ts in your mouth, nicks all your beer and money, hits you over the head and then visits all my mates.

 

[Cardo]

This thread potentially relates to a previous thread.

Is it ghosts, or the boat's personality?

 

[jimi]

I can recall a stormy passage when my 2 crew were below totally incapacitated and I was alone on deck on the helm and became aware of the presence of my late father behind my right shoulder just keeping me company.

 

[Nostrodamus]

No, I have decide that I am being stupid and there is no more a ghost on board my boat than there is a virgin over 16 in Essex.
I have to be logical about this and realise that it is actually my boat speaking to me. She has heart and soul and listens to me so I have to listen to her.
I also need the person who forgot the toilet is not working to own up and no it is not funny to make a cocktail stick mast for the battleship you left in there!

(An Essex girls favourite nursery rhyme .... Humpme Dumpme)

 

[sarabande]

I can recall a stormy passage when my 2 crew were below totally incapacitated and I was alone on deck on the helm and became aware of the presence of my late father behind my right shoulder just keeping me company.

you are not alone, jimi. We were returning from Amsterdam in a F8/9, and the yacht fell off a wave just outside Harwich, and sprang the garboard planks, with lots of water coming in.

Lots of high-adrenaline action, fothering sails, firing of rockets, etc, and a man in a grey suit appeared on the pulpit, saying "not to worry, put her on the other tack". Which I did, and the keel twisted the planks back roughly into alignment, to the point where pumps and buckets could cope until we arrived in Harwich.

I wasn't the only crewman to see or hear the transient passenger.