Something for your imagination

[pjthompson]

I'd heard of some (but not all) of these, being one who is fascinated with mysterious sea stories (though, curiously, not at all interested in the Bermuda Triangle). This is a interesting and fun article—including the comments, which are...yes, interesting.

I'm already thinking to incorporate some of these in that pirate epic of mine which somehow never gets written.

Comments

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

If you want mysterious sea stories, try Braudel's "The Mediterranean". Some strange things there - I think that's where I came across the incident of a ship travelling across the western Med on a calm night that suddenly simply disappeared shortly after a perfectly routine radio communication.

[pjthompson]

Thanks for the reco. I love stories like these. The Bermuda Triangle is boring because I don't think there's any stretch of water on the planet that doesn't have its crop of mysterious stories.

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

I think you're absolutely right here. The most fascinating thing I've come across in recent decades is that the scientific world now accepts the phenomenon of "megawaves" capable of sinking really large ships with absolutely no warning at all. They've now even identified areas where these waves are most prevalent, for example off the Cape of Good Hope*

And that's a name that ranks with "Pacific Ocean" and "Greenland". I'll just mention the Flying Dutchman here and leave it at tha.

[pjthompson]

I know! The thing is, many "legends," both on land and sea, have some basis in fact, I think. And it's rather delicious when science catches up to legends like these.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

LOL, Cape of Good Hope, Pacific Ocean, and Greenland.

those were all named by Mr. Sarcastic

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

Actually, Greenland was named by Mr Real Estate Salesman. Erik the Red wanted people to settle there because he'd discovered it, but decided he'd have to give it an attractive name or nobody would want to go there.

[pjthompson]

Irony is an under-appreciated art. :-)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Those are awesome--especially that one that floated around in the arctic for decades--but really, all of them.

[pjthompson]

Yes! The arctic one really got me going, too.

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

oooh, those are full of writerly wonder. And my quote is even more relevant.

[pjthompson]

Royal O'Reilly Tenenbaum sailing the seas on a ghost ship...

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

if he was captain, they'd all be ghost ships