17 July 2007

Is That a Banana in your Pocket?

On the way out the door Sunday, we were hastily putting together lunch. I made some sandwiches, the boat already had snacks and water, so Camille was left in charge of fruit. She innocently grabbed a couple of bananas to put in the lunch bag. I freaked out.

Me: What in the name of Neptune are you doing?
C: Putting these bananas in the bag?
Me: Are you crazy, you want us to capsize, sink or worse?
C: No.
Me: Then put those bananas away right now.
C:
Me: The bananas, put them away...next thing you're going to want to sail on a Friday.
C: Mama, there's something wrong with Daddy.
Me: Aaaaiiieeeeaaaaaaa.

It went something like that. The point being, I won't have bananas on my boat and I don't know why. I've heard the theories: methane gas rotting the other fruit, scary spiders, methane poisoning, no fish. None of these pertain to me or will ever pertain to me. So why do I worry?

Let's call it a hedge. I'm on the precipice of sailing disaster at all times; I sail in one of the craziest places in the world, I barely know what I'm doing (just kidding future crewmates) and I have a 30+ year old boat. Something could so easily go wrong either through my doing or through no fault of my own that I can't imagine why I would take one more chance when I can control it. So, no bananas on board and I won't leave for Hawaii on a Friday.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've watched too many cartoons with people slipping on banana peels. :-)

Carol Anne said...

Edward, I'm behind you 100 percent. No bananas anywhere near the boat, EVER.

Yeah, it's partly about banana peels' physical dangers -- last spring, when I was in a training program for the Adams Cup, the supposed "safety officer" for the boat ate a banana and then discarded the peel by tossing it in such a way that it landed at the bottom of the companionway -- and I was the next person to go down that companionway.

But it's not just about that. Bananas are just plain bad luck. And in warm weather, the discarded banana peels make a miasma that makes sailing extremely unpleasant.

Bananas just have no place on board a sailboat.

Anonymous said...

That's why you throw the peels overboard...they sink anyway.

Anonymous said...

Just to really freak you people out: a whole boatload of bananas. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?detr:7:./temp/~ammem_TFK4::displayType=1:m856sd=det:m856sf=4a12582:@@@

Just to make you feel better, and to comfort Camille, who I suspect is the bomb:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/bananas.htm

Just for Edward, because I heart you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwvz1LNZ5OQ

At least take some limes with you, folks. We wouldn't want anyone getting scurvy.

Anonymous said...

My wife once raced on a boat named "No Bananas". I suppose it was a reference to the the superstition being discussed here; on the other, it was an all female crew. Double entendre?