13 Superstitions That Live on Today with Sailors and Fishermen

So I was watching the delightful movie Fisherman’s Friends. First of all, it’s super fun, cute, and based on a true story about a partying London music label executive who goes to a remote Cornish village with his buddies for a bachelor party weekend. His boss plays a joke on him while they’re out drinking that involves him having to sign a group of shanty-singing fishermen, and it turns into a legitimate goal for him. Yes, he falls in love as well, but I digress.

While watching this movie, I learned the color green is considered bad luck for fishermen and sailors because it signifies land and running aground. So of course, it got me thinking about what other superstitions are out there for fishermen and sailors when it comes to embarking on the great blue sea for pleasure or work.

With fishing and sailing being such a huge industrial and recreational part of the United States and beyond, I asked a couple of my friends who sail, as well as a couple of lobstermen, if folklore and superstitions still ring true today. All said that for the most part, they do, especially if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool mariner.

Superstitions are after all traditional beliefs that come out of stories, folklore, tropes, myths, or legends from all over the world, so they don’t just end. Whether bringing good or bad luck, they are what they are.

Now, there are so many more that I didn’t include rather picked 13 of the most popular superstitions, even if some seem a bit rediculous today.