The most well known superstition of course is the re-naming of the boat. The origins are apparently Greek (Poseidon), continuing through the Romans (Neptune) and at least peripherally influencing the Norse (Ran, Aegir, Njord, Odin and Hagar). Boaters, fisherman, sailors, etc.… are superstitious folk.
The “bad luck” is brought upon by the God of the Sea who maintains a ledger of all boat names. Thus the first component to disable the bad luck of a new boat name is the de-naming ceremony. This ceremony causes the God to forget the name and of course requires alcohol.
All of these ceremonies require quality champagne or wine. To properly de-name the vessel, first pour a portion of the beverage into the ocean as an offering to the God and then pour some into your mouth(s). The alcohol helps the God forget.
Next gather all items emblazoned with the previous name, burn them and scatter the ashes into the sea. “White out” the “Previous Vessel Names” on your Coast Guard documentation, as you might need it later; otherwise make sure all vestiges of the old name are completely eliminated.
The re-naming ceremony begins with appeasing the Gods with more liquor and a request that they accept the new name. Following this second offering to the Gods, a glass of the quality champagne or wine is enjoyed by the captain and the first mate, in the name of good luck. Don’t bring aboard anything with the new name until the first ceremony is complete, or you’ll have to do a lot more drinking to do.
The last required ceremony is the appeasement of the four winds. This ceremony includes (yep, you saw it coming) pouring four equal amounts of the chosen beverage and tossing them in each of the primary compass directions. The remainder of the beverage is to be consumed by those involved in the ceremonies.
During my training I was taught that nudity was involved in this ceremony, however, I found no such reference in my exhaustive validation research. I did come across a reference to naked women. It is bad luck to have women aboard, because they distract sailors from their duties, but naked women are good luck because they calm the seas. Thus topless figurines of women adorn the bows of so many sailing ships.
The takeaway is that quality champagne or wine help solve boating problems. If you and/or your first mate are recovering from alcoholism, we support you. Please contact us and someone from our office will be happy to perform the ceremonies on your behalf.
p.s. we like women on our boats, with or without clothes