Facts
- Boating is amazingly popular. In fact, there are 140 million boaters world-wide and 100 million Americans boat each year.
- The world’s most pricy boat is gold plated and custom crafted from over 100,000 kg of precious metals. This nautical treasure took three years to construct.
- The youngest person to sail around the world on her own was Laura Dekker, a New Zealand-born Dutch sailor who was 14 years of age at the onset of her trip and 16 when her circumnavigation of the globe was complete!
Fiction?
- Boaters can be a superstitious bunch. Speaking of bunches, did you know that bananas on board a boat can result in a very poor day of fishing and that whistling on a boat can whip up high winds? Yeah, me neither.
- It has also been said that a man with a briefcase aboard a boat as well as nailing anything on your boat on Sunday are both frowned upon. I have to agree that weekend work on a boat tends to be a bad thing.
- Swearing while fishing is also said to be problematic (Do these people know my mother?), as well as grooming when you are out at sea (or maybe my brother).
- For good luck while boating, you can toss a piece of cake overboard or spit some wine into the ocean before setting sail. Now that’s just sad. Ever hear of putting your best foot forward? They say you can also board a boat with your right foot first for some good luck. Now that one’s not so bad.
