Donate your boat…help SALTS transform lives

and pigs on the feet to prevent the sailor from drowning. In early times, many seamen were unable to swim and they believed gods would have mercy on them during a shipwreck if they saw the images of animals on their feet. Why roosters? This superstition may have started from stories of shipwrecks, where lighter livestock often survived because their crates would float on the ocean. In the days of long, slow ocean passages, tattoos were also a way to pass the time. (No tattoos were applied during the aforementioned Vic-Maui.)

IT’S A SHE

Boats are commonly referred to as a she, but why? A straightforward rea- son could be the Latin word navis is feminine. However, the more exotic, exciting and romantic explanation is that boats were traditionally dedicated to goddesses or captain’s wives who were believed to protect the ship from danger. “She” naturally evolved as a lasting legacy and as a protector from the dangers of the sea. This is ironic since women were banned on boats for ages. These days, boats are named after all sorts of things, but the tradition of referring to them as “she” lives on.