"Ghost Ship" - MARY CELESTE

[Shamus The Brute]

Today is October 17, 2012.
Exactly 2 weeks from today, the "spookiest" holiday of the year will be celebrated.

The holiday that I am referring to (of course) is...
HALLOWEEN!

Avast! Although many of the scariest things associated with HALLOWEENtake place on land...

...or within the air...

...but, have ye ever considered the alternative?

Question: "What is the scariest, most spookiest thing ye have ever heard occur at sea?"

*Mates, I introduce ye to the MARY CELESTE...

...a real, "ghost ship!"

(Note: Learn more about the MARY CELESTE below).​

 

[Constance O'hara]

I heard about the Mary Celeste on Mysteries at the Museum. One other theory was that they thought it was going to explode because the barrels, which were made from oak, leaked alcohol fumes and filled up the cargo area. They abandoned ship, rowing a safe distance away after tying the rope to a mast just in case it didn't explode. Then a rogue storm blew the ship away, breaking the rope and leaving them behind in the stormy water. Dunno if this is true, though.

 

[Shamus The Brute]

I heard about the Mary Celeste on Mysteries at the Museum. One other theory was that they thought it was going to explode because the barrels, which were made from oak, leaked alcohol fumes and filled up the cargo area. They abandoned ship, rowing a safe distance away after tying the rope to a mast just in case it didn't explode. Then a rogue storm blew the ship away, breaking the rope and leaving them behind in the stormy water. Dunno if this is true, though.

Aye! Who would have thought that RUM could have caused such possible "trouble," rofl!

 

[Rick]

I subscribe to the theory that they Captain & Crew feared explosion (pure, industrial alcohol fumes + a sealed hatch + a tiny spark = BOOM). If they began to smell fumes from the hold, maybe from a barrel that broke during a storm, they would unseal the hold which would realease strong fumes & even fog / steam; so they vented the ship by opening the hatches & aft lazarette. Then they lowered the lifeboat attached to a line, which parted in open ocean swell (squall maybe?) and watched as the ship sail off on its own.

There are modern accounts of sailors either falling or jumping overboard and watching their boat sail off without them - one ended up swimming to a crowded beach in Newport butt nekked!


I was taught never to leave a floating boat - but if I really thought it might explode.....Oh, forgot to add - though it sounds creepy, the "sodden" quarters and water between decks are actually very common - we have 2 dehumidifiers aboard our boat, and it STILL can get a bit damp on really foggy mornings - even with all of the hatches closed.
As for water between decks, all wooden boats leak to some extent. Our boat is fiberglass, but still has an inch or so of water in the bilge nearly all the time (the pumps auto-start at about 4 inches deep).

I can only imagine how much water would accumulate on a 19th century brigantine with hatches open, and nobody manning the pumps - especially if there was a storm.