Rules to follow when at sea
The ship should be treated with kindness.
Not all waters are good.
Don’t look deeper than you absolutely have to.
A sudden shallow means something is beneath you.
Never sail alone at night.
There are things best left unseen.
Whales are wise. Do not anger them.
You are very, very small.
There may be eyes in the fog. Don’t make contact.
Some ships sail under no flag. They are not real. Not anymore.
Occasionally, you will get a distress transmission from the Atlantic. Don’t answer it.
The sound of motors in the fog is never, ever, a good sign.
Some lighthouses move. Don’t depend on them.
Make as little sound as possible whenever your chest feels strange.
It is entirely possible to lose time at sea. Do not worry. You will remember eventually.
If the water goes murky, leave the top deck.
There may be blood in the water. Don’t look.
If you startle at nothing, it was not nothing.
There are some kinds of fog your lights won’t shine through. When you encounter it, take a different route.
Some fjords are not for human travel.
The singing is most likely not sirens. Pray that is is not.
Never dive and expect nothing strange to happen.
If something feels off, check your ropes.
If someone shouts to you in the dark, do not reply.
Sometimes curious things knock on the hull. They will usually leave.
Nothing is ever entirely as it seems.
Moonlight on the ocean has a hypnotic effect. Don’t stare.
There will always be something watching from the coast.
When the sky turns strange colours, close your eyes. It is best not to see.
If your compass does not work, let yourself drift on the current. Something wants you gone.
Take a seat, young captain.
1. The ship should be treated with kindness.
There is a reason we name ships, a reason we keep them clean, a reason we carve them with faces like ours. She is not an “it,” she is a vessel of protection, and that deserves, at the very least, kindness. If not respect and love.
It is always repaid in full, of course. A well oiled and cared for ship will keep you alive through the strongest storms.
2. Not all waters are good.
Many are. Some would even say most are. But any sailor with enough mileage under their belt will be able to tell you. Sometimes the waters sour, and nobody can tell you why.
Maybe it’s the creatures that move in. Maybe something comes up from below. Or maybe it’s just the way of things, a kind of death that completes a cycle.
3. Don’t look deeper than you absolutely have to.
The seas can provide a sizable bounty, if you are brave enough to claim it. Between the food and the riches, there is an adventure for any and all. The price may not even be that steep.
But if you get greedy, if you poke around deeper than you should, you may become something for another bold soul to discover later on.
4. A sudden shallow means something is beneath you.
When you head in to port and feel something scrape, that’s a reef.
When you have left a port and feel something scrape, battle stations.
5. Never sail alone at night.
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