Ghost Ship

April 21, 2007 7:18 AM

A modern day Mary Celeste. A ship has been found adrift near the Great Barrier Reef... without her crew. The engine was idling, the table was set, and all the expensive kit was still on board (pirates surely would've gutted the place). The mast was ripped and the life rafts were missing. It's looking less and less likely that three sailors will be found alive. Where is Jack Ryan when you need him?
posted by chuckdarwin (48 comments total)

Even the link disappeared!
posted by pompomtom at 7:24 AM on April 21, 2007

Ghost link!
posted by Ohdemah at 7:26 AM on April 21, 2007

And yet, the URL has a proper header. It's a mystery link!
posted by eriko at 7:33 AM on April 21, 2007

How appropriate! Grrr.

I hate looking like a goddamned n00b. My first post had HTML issues, too. Sorry, everyone. I'm not a complete fuckup, I swear.
posted by chuckdarwin at 7:34 AM on April 21, 2007

1 2 3 4
posted by chuckdarwin at 7:38 AM on April 21, 2007

They were using a cloth mast? Well there's your problem!
posted by DU at 7:42 AM on April 21, 2007

Jack Ryan? No, this is a job for Dirk Pitt.
posted by smackfu at 8:02 AM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

From 1:
It was also reported that food was on the table, but police denied this.

2:
...had its engine running and food on the table for dinner...

3:
The table was set.

4:
Police said...there was food on the table...

(No comment.)
posted by kmennie at 8:28 AM on April 21, 2007

PROTIP- An email to the admins can fix your URL problems before anyone notices.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:28 AM on April 21, 2007

A giant squid showed up and picked 'em all of the boat like popcorn. Next!
posted by jimmythefish at 8:38 AM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

Another interesting ghost ship case is the mystery of the Caroll A. Deering^.
posted by BeerFilter at 8:41 AM on April 21, 2007

I like Jimmythefish's idea.
posted by Busithoth at 9:01 AM on April 21, 2007

jimmythefish & Busithoth support the quid theory... I think it was mermaids, personally.
posted by chuckdarwin at 9:04 AM on April 21, 2007

Thanks, Rhomboid
posted by chuckdarwin at 9:09 AM on April 21, 2007

Sailor rapture!

or not:

Suspicions were heightened when photographs of the recovered boat revealed its fenders were down, which would normally indicate another boat had come alongside.

posted by damn dirty ape at 9:13 AM on April 21, 2007

THIS IS TOTALLY FREAKING ME OUT.
posted by The Straightener at 9:36 AM on April 21, 2007

Where was Billy Zane on the night of 20 April?
posted by Mocata at 9:37 AM on April 21, 2007 [3 favorites]

Perhaps they pulled up to shore somewhere, got off the stretch their legs or explore before dinner and the boat drifted away and they are stuck in the backcountry somewhere. I actually had something like that happen to me, although I was able to flag down a passing boat.
posted by stbalbach at 9:43 AM on April 21, 2007

I believe they are victims of wild theories being thrown around.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:46 AM on April 21, 2007

I have a perfectly logical theory that explains all of this;

While out on the water, they found themselves in bad weather. One of the men was swept overboard and the storm damaged their communications gear. Fortunately they were able to flag down another boat to help them in their search for their missing friend. Unfortunately that boat turned out to be full of pirates who set about looting their ship. Old school pirates; the kind with eye-patches and parrots. There was probably some kind of time warp involved.

Even more unfortunate was when the UFO showed up and abducted everyone.

Then as the empty boat drifted aimlessly, it was discovered by Godzilla who was in desperate need of a tooth-pick. The mast was just the right size.

I think that about covers everything, right?
posted by quin at 10:04 AM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is not a ship. It is a pleasure yacht.

The Mary Celeste was a ship, of sorts - a two masted brigantine sloop.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:10 AM on April 21, 2007

Off the great barrier reef? Those waters are full of squid pirates, all salts know that.
posted by Iron Rat at 10:50 AM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yeah, but Ghost Yacht made for a shitty title.
posted by chuckdarwin at 11:20 AM on April 21, 2007 [2 favorites]

You poor fools! They are in the real current dimension. We have been left behind.
posted by Firas at 11:54 AM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

The Stygian Prophecy has come true!
posted by Kattullus at 12:00 PM on April 21, 2007

Ghost Pleasure Yacht is better.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 12:55 PM on April 21, 2007

I'm with chuckdarwin … I think we can blame ths on mermaids. The mermaids were hanging out on the Great Barrier Reef, combing their hair and singing, and the sailors saw them and leaped off the boat. Even now, the sailors are partying hard in the underwater fleshpots of Atlantis.
posted by hattifattener at 1:23 PM on April 21, 2007

No sailboat thread is complete without a link to the strange story of Donald Crowhurst and the Teignmouth Electron. Cheating, insanity and then suicide--fascinating stuff.
posted by vaportrail at 1:33 PM on April 21, 2007

The 12m (40 foot) catamaran was spotted by a helicopter on Wednesday drifting off the Great Barrier Reef, but a rescue team only reached the boat on Friday

Huh, guess it's true what they say: They do things slow and easy down south.
posted by TheSpook at 1:41 PM on April 21, 2007

Sirens loved 'em up and turned 'em into horny toads.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:42 PM on April 21, 2007

I've been sailing before, I know what happened.

They got bored and left.
posted by aubilenon at 1:50 PM on April 21, 2007

Poseidon was pissed at the good time they were making on their way home from the war so he picked them off and dropped them on an isle with some gorgons. It's soooo obvious.
posted by drezdn at 2:33 PM on April 21, 2007

People are always disappearing in Australia. (Possibly they are accidentally slipping into the Dreamtime.) A few years back, a pair of American scuba divers vanished under murky circumstances, never to be found again.

And of course, there was the famous incident in 1900 at Hanging Rock.

And let's not even get into the hushed whispers surrounding Wolf Creek.
posted by Midnight Creeper at 2:44 PM on April 21, 2007

"PROTIP- An email to the admins can fix your URL problems before anyone notices."

Unless... UNLESS! The three people on that boat WERE OUR ADMINS!

Oh my god! Matt, Jessamyn, cortex! No! Oh dear GOD! Food for the sharks! Alien abductees! NOOOOOOOOO!!!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:53 PM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

A real Ghost Ship.

A friend of mine has a taste for certain sort of cheesy movie. He latched on to that one one night at a video rental place because the cover of the DVD had the tag line "Sea Evil." GET IT?
posted by sparkletone at 3:26 PM on April 21, 2007

My twelve year old self could not get enough of Bermuda Triangle stories. It was concurrent with my Sasquatch fetish.

However after about six months pondering the facts and then actually looking at a map it became obvious that ant stretch of water with that much boat traffic would statistically have about the same number of mysterious sinking's and goings on. It didn't take long to dig up proof of that theory.

Needless to say I was kind of a downer to the other 12 year olds.

That said. SASQUATCH IS REAL!
posted by tkchrist at 3:32 PM on April 21, 2007

::rolls eyes::

Of course he's real, tkchrist. Who do you think tipped the aliens off? I sorta figured that was a given and I wouldn't need to spell it out for you.

Sheesh.
posted by quin at 3:47 PM on April 21, 2007

[fixed the link]
posted by jessamyn at 3:59 PM on April 21, 2007

[fixed the link]
posted by jessamyn at 3:59 PM on April 21 [+] [!]

IMPOSTER! Where's the real jessamyn, you, you... sea-going alien pirate?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:40 PM on April 21, 2007

So "giant squid" is the new dingo.
posted by Challahtronix at 5:19 PM on April 21, 2007

Her emergency equipment, including life jackets and the emergency locator beacon, appeared not to have been touched. The dinghy was still lashed to the hull.

Three life jackets and survival equipment, including an emergency beacon, were found on board, but no life rafts.
posted by ryanrs at 7:21 PM on April 21, 2007

Sasquatch fetish? I don't think I wanna know... this takes the whole "furry" thing to a whole new level and I'm not sure we're ready for it yet.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:22 PM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

A 1965 episode of Dr Who suggests the disappearance was caused by Daleks

Oh, Christ, more viral marketing.
posted by dhartung at 9:25 PM on April 21, 2007

Oh, Christ, more viral marketing.

viral marketing? exterminate
posted by flaterik at 1:53 AM on April 22, 2007

Dingos ate mah sailors!
posted by five fresh fish at 10:53 AM on April 22, 2007

Midnight Creeper: To add to your list, the mysterious disappearance of Australian Prime Minister, Harold Holt.
posted by elphTeq at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2007

tkchrist sez: SASQUATCH IS REAL!

So was the Six Million Dollar Man. He kicked sasquatch's ass!

(I recently watched their epic battle on youtube and got a nostalgia high)
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:00 AM on April 23, 2007

This is all just part of the Lost Experience.
posted by drezdn at 6:47 AM on April 23, 2007