Weatherman Witch

[queenskybird]

Hello Yacht Owners.

My name is Derrick.
I'm wondering if there is a market for hiring witches to be on board during a yacht trip in order to keep the weather at bay.
I call this "white-witching". If you don't believe in witches, you can just answer theoretically.

Imagine if in fact, a person could do this... would people pay for the service?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Derrick

 

[KevinV]

It's been done - the sailors threw him overboard, he got eaten by a big fish which also found him hard to stomach and vomited him back out.

 

[queenskybird]

It's been done - the sailors threw him overboard, he got eaten by a big fish which also found him hard to stomach and vomited him back out.

Cute.

 

[MisterBaxter]

Sailors used to buy pieces of rope or fabric that had had knots tied in them by Finnish / Laplander 'wizards' (we would call them shaman now). Untying the knot would release a wind, which was always in a helpful direction but sometimes too strong for comfort.
The belief in the weather-controlling abilities of the shaman from that region is very old, being referenced in some of the Viking sagas, and continued well into the era of the big steel square-riggers.

 

[Daydream believer]

You could take @franksingleton along. I am told he is a really decent fella & i would not wish to argue with that. Seems he actually knows what way the wind is going to blow. Unlike some who do not even know what way it has blown the day after it blew.
But be careful, once he starts whingeing about climate change, you would probably want to chuck him overboard

 

[Laser310]

Sailors used to buy pieces of rope or fabric that had had knots tied in them by Finnish / Laplander 'wizards' (we would call them shaman now). Untying the knot would release a wind, which was always in a helpful direction but sometimes too strong for comfort.

is that allowed under the Racing Rules of Sailing?

can I order different knots for different wind speeds and directions?