Superstitions: Mugs and Nudity

Never Say P*G – The Book of Sailors’ Superstitions is the nautical reference book you never knew you needed. Compiled by R. Bruce MacDonald, he goes through the alphabet detailing on what provides good and bad luck at sea. Here’s a sampling from M and N:

Mugs
If a mug is stowed on a hook, then the handle should always face forward with the rim facing aft. This is a practice for good luck but may have originated from a time when mugs would have been stowed out in an open cockpit and, if they were not hung in this way, would have filled with seawater.

Nudity
In Catalonia, it was common practice for fishermen’s wives to expose their genitals to the sea to calm it before their husbands set out. “La mer es posa bona si veu el cony d’una dona” was the common expression (“The sea calms down if it sees a woman’s vagina).

For more sage advice, click here.