Random Ship Crewmen Describe Creepiest Experiences They've Had Out On Ocean (17 items)

• (#1) They Thought They Saw A Child In Storm Debris

  From Redditor /u/dgblarge:

  I was on a research vessel south of the Solomon Islands after a cyclone had torn the place to shreds. Come 3 am it was time to lower the instrument (a CTD with Nisken bottle rosette, for those interested ) and turn on the searchlights over the quarterdeck.

  The ocean surface was awash with coconut palms, bits of wood, outdoor furniture, and so on. The islands had been swept clean and the ship was sitting in a vast field of floating debris. Mesmerized by this, I kept staring at it all when I noticed a small pink shape with what appeared to be arms, legs, and a head. My heart almost stopped beating. A child? Closer inspection revealed it was a child's doll. But for those few seconds... horrific.
• (#2) They Discovered A Floating Skull

  From Redditor /u/Lake_Throwaway:

  Two friends [and I]... rented a boat on Lake Okeechobee in Florida. We get a 30-foot pontoon boat that had a cover, although there was no cabin or anything under the main deck. It was winter in South Florida so it was cool but not cold, so we decided to just sleep on the boat instead of setting up a camp. We planned on spending three days and two nights on the lake. We spent our time drinking, fishing, and playing games.

  On the second night I woke up, still drunk from our previous activities, but my senses were on overdrive and I just felt aware of something. I was sleeping toward the back of the boat while my friends were at the front. It was eerily calm with no waves in the water.

  We were about 250 feet from shore with land on our port side. I started scanning the tree line looking for... something. Nothing on land, so I scanned the water on the port side. Nothing. So I scanned the water aft of the boat. Nothing. I didn't want to disturb my friends up front, so I scanned the water on the starboard side. That's when I saw it: a skull floating in the water with just the eye sockets and part of the nasal cavity sitting there in the water, looking right at me about 50 feet away.

  An immediate sense of dread took me; it was the most scared I'd ever been in my life. Then an even worse feeling took over: calmness and the sudden urge to jump in the water. I had the notion that I would be at home and at peace if I just jumped into the water. Before I could act on it, I think one of my friends stirred in their sleep because I heard a beer bottle start rolling near the front of the boat.

  This snapped me out of it and the feeling of dread returned. I yelled at them to get up while I moved to start the engines. One didn't respond at all while the other drunkenly told me to f*ck off. I yelled again that I'm not f*cking around, and nothing. I was about to pull the starter on the engine/yell again at my friends when I heard something. I froze and listened closely... a very faint splashing sound was slowly getting closer.

  I forget about yelling at my friends and focused on starting the engine. I pulled and pulled and pulled on the starter, and nothing. In between the pulls, I heard the splashing getting closer but I didn't dare look in the direction of the noise. Finally, the engine started and I punched it out of there. I must have gone 30 miles before I came to a stop to conserve fuel. Until the sun rose and my friends woke up, I spent the rest of the night scanning the waters just in case.

  I had to make up a bullsh*t excuse to explain to my friends why we were so far away from our previous spot. I wanted to tell them, but I doubt they would believe me. When I got home I did some research, and apparently Native American tribes possibly used the lake as a burial ground, plus there are thought to be the bodies of many victims of hurricanes throughout the decades lying in the lake. Fishermen have found many human bones over the years.

  This was over six years ago and I have yet to set foot near any body of water larger than my shower. No lakes, oceans, rivers, water parks, pools, hot tubs, nothing. I don't blame you if you don't believe some random guy on the internet. Many times I tried to write it off as my drunk self seeing things. However, I can't write off the feeling of wanting to jump into the water with something, real or not, that struck me with terror just a moment ago. Thinking about that feeling of wanting to go into the water with whatever was out there chills me to this day.
• (#3) The Sky Was Bright As Day At Midnight

  From Redditor /u/Randy_shackelsFord:

  I was an ABE [US Navy aviation boatswain's mate - equipment] on board a carrier in the middle of the ocean somewhere. We launched the last bird of the night and started wrapping everything up topside. It was midnight, and pitch black out. [We used] only the light from the stars, and the dim yellow tinted lights off the island. My goggles were scratched to sh*t, so everything was just foggy and dark.

  Out of nowhere, it was as bright as day for a few seconds. Caught off guard, I looked up... in the sky and saw a massive f*cking white light with a long... trail of fire. It looked almost like a jet with full afterburners shooting flames, but was so f*cking massive, it just couldn't be a bird. I started thinking it was just a big f*cking [incendiary device].

  [It] eventually went behind some clouds for about five seconds, then we saw it again. This time you could see the fire forming around the front of the sphere-shaped thing. It was so massive in size, and going so fast, it didn't take but a few seconds to go across the whole horizon of sea. Two weeks later in port we saw that a big comet struck Russia. Not sure it's even possible for something like that to stay in orbit for two weeks... but it was definitely a weird thing to see.
• (#4) They Found An Abandoned Raft In The Middle Of The Atlantic

  From Redditor /u/Coastie071:

  [I] came upon an empty life raft in the middle of the Atlantic. In all likelihood it was probably an "accidental discharge.” Maybe a crew member was f*cking around with the release or something...

  The implications otherwise are very disturbing though. Did a ship go down with all hands without anyone making it to the raft? Was the raft abandoned for some reason? It left me feeling vaguely disturbed for a while afterward.
• (#5) They Saw Fog That Looked Like A Beach

  From Redditor /u/app134:

  Halfway through an eight-month deployment we found ourselves in a dense fog in the middle of calm seas. The way the fog was sitting made it look like a soft white sand beach was about 30 feet away from the ship. I had such a strong urge to jump off the ship and swim to that little white sand beach, I had to force myself to go below deck.

  I knew, deep down, there was no beach, but my eyes and brain were telling me that's what I was looking at, and the peace I imagined sitting on that little beach was incredibly tempting.
• (#6) A Shark Was Looking For A Snack

  From Redditor /u/gtaguy75:

  We did a man overboard drill on the way to Hawaii that included throwing a dummy into the water.

  I went portside to see the experience in less than one minute, and by the time I reached the water there was already an 8-foot shark waiting near the dummy.
• (#7) They Saw A Real Face In The Water

  From Redditor /u/Geopride:

  About four years back I was involved in a search-and-rescue operation off northwest Australia. [It] wasn't uncommon to hear of immigrant boats going missing, and to get the normal "keep a good lookout and report" messages. This particular boat was estimated to be carrying about 80 people; a full operation was carried out.

  The second night of the search my cadet called me to the bridge wing, where I got a glimpse of a body in the water. We quickly lost sight of it and couldn't tell if it was living, but it was face up. We turned around and did an intensive search, but never saw it again. That face will never leave me.
• (#8) They Woke Up To The Sound Of 'Fiberglass Worms'

  From Redditor /u/bethelmayflower:

  This was over 30 years ago. We were living aboard a 22-foot O'Day - our first boat. We pulled into a dock and were trying to sleep.

  We heard the crackling sound - almost like twigs burning. It was very concerning. I tried to figure out what was wrong with my boat.

  Our neighbor didn't help: he said it was fiberglass worms. Apparently, this is some mollusk that attaches itself to the hull and clicks in some way that the hull picked up and amplified.
• (#9) They Saw Three 'Torpedoes' Coming Right At Them

  From Redditor /u/shoalmuse:

  I was sailing across the Pacific doing a night watch when I saw three glowing torpedoes come straight toward our boat from the side. I tried to change our course but didn't have time.

  Turned out it was three dolphins coming to play with our boat and traveling through phosphorus algae in the water. They played under the bow of our boat for almost an hour before heading on.
• (#10) They Experienced The Doldrums

  From Redditor /u/huskola:

  The doldrums. You spend a year or two at sea watching the waves, and winds are blowing constantly, then one day they stop. Not so much as a whisper of wind, and the sea is like glass. It feels as if time has stopped.

  Realizing how creepy it feels, the captain calls for an all stop... Like a horror movie, everyone migrates topside and just stares to the horizon. No one says a word and you can hear yourself breathe. He lets the ship rest there for an hour and the sailors freak out. Panic can set in quickly with a green crew.

  The only thing the captain says when we get underway is, "Men, this is the doldrums."
• (#11) They Regretted Accepting The Gift Of An Alarm Clock 

  From Redditor /u/dancesrarely:

  First day on my first ship ever. It was winter and like 30 degrees, and the steel bulkheads/racks(beds)/etc. were cold. [my]sShipmate was nice enough to give me a small electric alarm clock to use the next morning. I climbed in my rack and put the alarm over my head kind of under the pillow and crash.ed

  [At] 2 am I woke up after feeling something weird. Something just ran across my boot-camp shaved head! I opened my eyes and stared into the darkness. Then something else ran across my head! I turned on my overhead light in my rack and about two dozen roaches ran for their lives. They were nesting on my alarm clock and head to keep warm.

  Yes, this was a new-guy joke. Yes, I used it later on someone else. No, it was almost 30 years ago and I haven't forgotten. I still feel them sometimes.
• (#12) A Ghost Ship Appeared To Pursue Them Along The California Coast

  From Redditor /u/sodiumcanine:
   
  Offshore from the Northern California coast [it] was foggy and creepy warm for some reason, [with] lots of green glow in the water casting weird shadows.

  I swore I heard and saw a Gold Rush paddle wheeler off in the distance [following] us.
• (#13) They Never Figured Out What Was Next To Their Boat

  From a former Redditor:

  [I] woke up at 3 am to a search-and-rescue alarm (former Coastie). I booked it to the boat, we launched, and ended up cruising along for a few hours. Everything was pitch black.

  One of the crew members was looking over the side at the bioluminescent algae kicked up by our wake and said he saw something big roll over in our wake. We explained it... was probably a shark, and about 15 minutes later a deep fog set in. The fog was reflecting our running lights, so it looked like we were in a hallway or tunnel...

  Everyone got a little more tense. We started keeping a close eye on the GPS, then the fathometer alarm went off. We were in 5 feet of ocean. The alarm stopped. We were in 300 feet, then 3, then 250, then 6 feet. Something was swimming very close to the bottom of our boat.

  It was such an eerie experience. We never figured out what it was, perhaps whales? Or the kraken.

  We got to the boat we were rescuing and everything else was uneventful. There's something wonderful about being on the ocean in the middle of the night, but things can be very strange too.
• (#14) They Came Upon A Burned-Out Boat

  From Redditor /u/sh*tterplug:

  My buddy and I were about 20 miles west of the Lower Keys, in the Gulf of Mexico. We were on his Bertram looking for dolphins and wahoo when we saw a boat in the distance heading our direction. We weren't under power or anything, just drifting and drinking beer. The boat got closer and we saw smoke. It was pretty much a burned-out cabin at that point, but still running. It just idled by.

  We yanked our lines up and ran it down. Luckily, no charred [bodies] (that I could see). I kicked it into neutral... and we decided to see where it came from. On the way we reported its location to the Coast Guard. We drove that general direction for probably 10 miles. Didn't see a single thing. No other boats, no life jackets, nothing. Hopefully the people who were on that boat were picked up safety. It was like something from [a zombie movie]. Just a burned-out boat floating on by...
• (#15) They Saw Panga Boats Adrift

  From Redditor /u/confusedbossman:

  [I] worked for a bit as a deckhand on fishing boats out of San Diego. A few times we would come across deserted smaller boats (pangas) drifting with outlandishly big motors. Every time, the captain would just cut hard port or starboard to get away from them as quick as possible. I knew they were boats [carrying illegal substances] that had probably dropped off their cargo, but I would check them out with the binoculars if we were close.

  One had two people on it - both had clearly been [fired at] a bunch of times, and one was moving and fairly alive. I told the captain, got a disapproving head shake, and we were on our way.
• (#16) Someone Was Standing In An Impossible Place

  From Redditor /u/FranzHiggins:

  I worked as a deckhand on a private 53-foot yacht. I helped deliver it from the East Coast of the US to the Virgin Islands with a pit stop in Bermuda.

  En route to Bermuda, I woke up and headed up to accompany the guy on watch. He looked pretty disturbed and pointed up. Our cockpit had a cloth bimini with a plastic window in the top (a roof thing over the helm for you non-nautical folks). On the plastic window were two boot prints in the salt residue.

  There's no way anyone could stand on the bimini... it's cloth and would've broken. We never figured out how it happened and the captain brushed it off, probably so I wouldn't be freaked out since it was my first time at sea.

  Not terrifying, [but] definitely weird. It could've been a prank, but no one was laughing, and who would risk losing their boots overboard for a stupid prank?
• (#17) This Sailor Has Come Across Several Mysterious Vessels

  From Redditor /u/hellofromwa: 

  Sailing across the Pacific, [we] had a faint ping on the radar starboard side. Followed us for a few hours. Could not find it visually (it was night).

  Also, while [we were] navigating through the South China Sea going through fishing vessels, a tanker was sitting in the middle of the fishing boats, no AIS [automatic identification system] on. Didn't see it visually until we went buy. It turned on its running lights and tailed us for a few hours... Working on a US-owned vessel we were instructed to be on the lookout for suspicious vessels. This one definitely qualified.

  Another trip there was a SART [search and rescue transponder] signal about 10 miles out. We altered course to intercept. As we approached, it looked like a fleet of small fast boats and one larger one. If anything was sinking they definitely were being helped, but looking with the high-powered sights nothing was wrong. Notthing about the situation sememed right. We quickly turned back for fear of known pirate [strikes] in the area.

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