I love the ocean. I love the sea.
But it freaks me out. I hate going to the beach at night because you never know what is lurking in the dark waters.
That's why I could never be a sailor or in the navy. I'd be too nervous about what lies beneath.
Sailing was made fun by Johnny Depp, but you'd have to be as drunk as Jack Sparrow to navigate the life at sea.
We have no idea really about the waters that surround us.
Redditordeaddamselwanted to hear from all the sailors out there, tell us some stories.
It was asked:
"Sailors, what's the creepiest thing you've ever seen or experienced at sea?"
I once was on a fabulous cruise.
I loved the days at sea, but I had a few moments where I feel like I saw and heard some things on the open waters that were questionable.
Especially at night.
Slither
"Hundreds of sea snakes feasting on the bloated corpse of some kind of animal." ~ goat-of-mendes
GiphyAlaska
"On a boat in Alaska recording humpback whale sounds, we picked up an odd, rhythmic noise on the hydrophone. We were on a 100 ft schooner around Admiralty Island, near Juneau."
"Nothing seen on the surface, just this odd repetitious mechanical sound. The skipper contacted the local authorities who seized the tape and spent several hours interviewing him. Not that scary, but surely weird." ~ dvmdv8
Shine
"We had a noise "shine" down on us my second time out. We were smoking and our bridge also saw/heard/ confirmed it."
"It was a pretty bright starry night, but this one area was a little brighter and had this dull washed out shaft appearance to it, a lot like seeing the Milky Way overhead in the sky."
"We passed right by it and there was a cyclical sound like 'WEEwahwahwahWEEwahwahwah' somewhere between a humming and a sort of siren. It wasn't loud, almost more of a frequency, about 3 or 4 miles wide maybe, coming down not quite vertically."
"We could see it every time we checked for over an hour behind us, then we checked and it was totally gone."
"I wasn't horrified or anything, but the creepy part was how quiet everyone was. We all just kind of looked at each other and cracked a few nervous jokes."
"Not as juicy as seeing The Flying Dutchman or something like that, but I still think about it every time I see the night sky."
"Scariest thing? No doubt the 40-50-60ft crests and being at a 45 degree angle for like 10 seconds at a time." ~ AlienSasquatchhunter
floating at the top of a big nothing...
"Not a sailor, but I've spent more time out at sea than most because of my fondness for most boat related stuff. Even though I enjoy being out there, it always has kinda of an eerie feel. I live in the south of Norway, and the North Sea is really dark, even on the most beautiful days you can max see a meter down."
"Well this one time I was out by myself, in a pretty small, about 14 feet boat. It was one of these "not sunny" but still adequate weather days. Well, long story short I lost control over the engine and my boat spun around, landing me just underneath it."
"As I saw mentioned in another post, I have never felt as vulnerable as just then, floating at the top of a big nothing. You know there is nothing for possibly hundreds of feet underneath you."
"Probably the worst part of it is when you have to duck under the boat to get up and away. You just stare down into the abyss. You can choose not to look, but then it's almost just worse. There are no big sharks or that sort here, but still."
"You feel like there is just something, down there in the dark. I managed to keep calm and after about half an hour someone must have spotted me, cause I was soon picked up by the local SAR boat. I still don't like to look down into water, but I will continue enjoying the sea, as long as I am above the surface." ~ VelocityTM1
Flashed
"Not creepy, but saw the Green Flash one morning when I was in the Navy." ~ DEdwardPossum
GiphyFree Willy is not out there just waiting for us.
That was one whale in one movie.
There are a lot more dangerous creatures swimming about.
Noises Off
"Sailing at night and hearing the dolphins surround the boat. You can hear their wakes and blowhole sounds all around you, but you can't see them. It's creepy." ~ upeepsareamazballz
GiphyThe Shape
"Was sailing on a tall ship in the open sea. Good breeze so making 12+ knots and heeled over so hard that, over the rail, you were almost looking straight into the water."
"Out of nowhere a dark gray shape, maybe 20ft long, pulls right up along side us. Just paces us, for 1-2min, right over that starboard rail and keeping up like it's nothing."
"Then it rolls over and we see a bright white belly before it disappears under the waves. To this day I have no idea what it was." ~ Nephroidofdoom
Hallucinations
"I woke up to take a piss. Head was occupied, went to the stern. The entire sea behind the boat was glowing glowing blue."
"My piss stream made these beautiful colors of aquamarine and violet. Thought I was hallucinating or dreaming and went back to bed."
"I stayed awake petrified I had died and was in some sort of alternate reality or something. Told no one for years."
"Found a video online, apparently it's a type of bioluminescent algae. It f'ked with me for far longer than it should." ~ the-goku-special
The Ship Speaks
"Leading Seamen here, nothing scarier then doing a round (walking around exterior decks checking rooms for fires and such) when the ship is under way at night so it's pitch black and only a red flashlight for light and the ships engines are very loud, I always get the sense there's something following you in the dark/if you fell in no one would know for at least 20 minutes or much more." ~ DistributionUpper634
History
"My great uncle never talked about his time in the Navy, but I can absolutely answer this for him. He was at Pearl Harbor during the attack. He also participated in the shelling of Iwo Jima." ~ Abadatha
war hbo GIF by Game of ThronesGiphyI'm good on dry. land.
But mad props and thanks to the people who make their living on the sea.
We need sailors and fishermen.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.