Bananas on a boat superstition

Timbeck2

Timbeck2

Final Approach
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Timbeck2
Anyone ever heard of this? On a recent charter on Lake Ontario we were getting bounced pretty good by 4-5 foot waves. The big cooler behind the captain was bouncing towards the back of the boat so he turned around to pull it back up front when he noticed a bag and picked it up. When he noticed that there were bananas in the bag he throttled back to neutral and asked, "Who brought these bananas on the boat?" I know that it wasn't me, so I said nothing. My friend Steve admitted that he brought them on. Now when we boarded the boat there was a sign above the captain's chair which had a bunch of bananas with the red circle and line through it. I thought nothing of it since I didn't bring bananas, Steve thought that it was a joke. Apparently it wasn't because the captain seemed pretty ****ed. "You guys need to get these off the boat, either eat them now or throw them overboard, didn't you see that sign?" We had already caught five of the nine lake trout with the forbidden fruit on the boat but that didn't matter. Steve threw the bananas overboard.

I had never heard of this superstition; the nautical equivalent of breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder.
 
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That's just odd. I'd piped back a question on what his issue was against bananas.
 
He jut didn't want any competition for his, uh, member? :dunno:
 
It isn't just him. He said that ALL the charter captains don't allow bananas on their boats. One in particular goes into fits of rage if discovered.

One guy in our party could have used them. He spent 7 of the 8 hours we were out there chumming the water.
 
Ancient superstition. We hid a banana on our buddies' charter and we caught way more fish on ours. THEN showed them the banana....
 
It used to be considered bad luck to have green on a race car, until major sponsorship money came in and their company colors were green, then that superstition went away and was forgotten....... quickly.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I had never heard of this superstition; the nautical equivalent of breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder.
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Considering that Chiquita and Dole have entire fleets of ships filled with bananas, I'd say it's some charter boat BS.

Sounds like something Henning would come up with.

None of the captains or mates that I've come across who hauled bananas ever complained about them.
 
Zeldman said:
It used to be considered bad luck to have green on a race car, until major sponsorship money came in and their company colors were green, then that superstition went away and was forgotten....... quickly.
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Where did British Racing Green come from?
 
Suicide Mission:

0aaaan2.jpg
 
Funny just ran across this same thing last week on a scuba live aboard. Was lamenting the the lack of bananas for breakfast and was given the stern warning about bring them on-board.

I had never heard of this before, was told the story about the spiders killing crew etc, but on the end it simply a superstition, but one enforced with impunity. Stories of folks left at the docks, sent home.
 
It is a joke with a bit of truth to it. I spent many years working as an offshore diver and we would always tell the new guys who were sea sick that they should have the bananas so when they puke it will taste like bananas. In reality they should eat crackers or oats and rice yo help fill the stomach and soak in some stomache acids.
 
Well, we came in first in our class in the Port Huron to Mackinac sail boat race with a bunch of bananas on board, but only got a 4th last Saturday without any - I think I'll make a point of bringing a banana this weekend.
 
Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home

Work all night on a drink of rum
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Stack banana till de morning come
Daylight come and me wan' go home

...
 
SkyDog58 said:
Day-o, day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home

Work all night on a drink of rum
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Stack banana till de morning come
Daylight come and me wan' go home

...
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I remember that tune, parents had the record. A record, some here probably don't know what that is. Well google that sh** if ya wanna know! :rofl:
 
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Before someone figured out the role of ethylene in the shipping of bananas, they were a fruit that was a high economic risk to the shipper and the ships owner. I dont think they ever sunk a ship, but a freight hold full of rotting bananas can't be a lot of fun.
 
I like history.
That said, I have a question: did this superstition start because bananas cause some real trouble on a boat? Such as attract unwanted species or whatever?
 
BigBadLou said:
I like history.
That said, I have a question: did this superstition start because bananas cause some real trouble on a boat? Such as attract unwanted species or whatever?
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I wonder if it didn't have something to do with the CIA's use of United Fruit Co. ships in the attempted overthrow of Castro. I'm guessing with a large cuban expat population, a lot of sport fishermen in the Miami/south Florida area still carry grudges against the CIA and the United fruit Co.
 
wilkersk said:
I wonder if it didn't have something to do with the CIA's use of United Fruit Co. ships in the attempted overthrow of Castro. I'm guessing with a large cuban expat population, a lot of sport fishermen in the Miami/south Florida area still carry grudges against the CIA and the United fruit Co.
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Not likely. Most professional fishermen I've come across would be hard pressed to spell CIA...
 
DAY-O....DAY-AY-AY-O

Come mister tally man, tally me bananas...
 
I don't know where the idea came from, but as long as I can remember, the rule has been, no bananas on the boat! When we used to fish off shore tournaments guys would try to hide bananas on other boats! It's supposed to be bad luck for fishing, I never really worried about it, because I don't eat a lot of bananas
 
I once went on an off-shore fishing charter in Costa Rica that my buddy rented and my wife (girlfriend then) who is Costa Rican brought a bunch of fresh bananas because it was going to be a full-day trip and we wanted something to snack on. The local captain went ape sh*t when he saw them and refused to let us even board the boat with them. We had to dump them.
 
In Manteo, NC there is a dolphin watch tour boat captain who uses this every tour. I thought it was just his own invention. If dolphins have not been seen for some time (usually you have to slow down and even stop to avoid any chance of harassing them), the captain goes on a rampage looking for which guest has brought bananas on board. Even had one poor lady in tears before he explained it was a joke! I always thought it was local, not being a boat person, but now I learned something.
 
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