From century to century, sailors pass on mysterious legends and maritime beliefs to each other. Perhaps the most famous and darkest story is that of the Flying Dutchman. Even the most seasoned and fearless sailors of the past felt horror at the mere mention of this ghost ship. What is the Flying Dutchman famous for, this mysterious wanderer of the sea?
No one knows exactly what century the events that the most famous marine legend says. Some say that the Flying Dutchman appeared in the 16th century, others believe that everything happened a century later. Be that as it may, but once, according to legend, a Dutch ship with an excellently trained crew, an experienced captain and passengers on board, under full sail, rushed to the southern tip of Africa.
When the ship was already approaching the Cape of Good Hope, a terrible storm broke out at sea. Frightened by the bad weather, the team members turned to their captain with a request to moor to land to wait out the deadly storm, and only then continue sailing. But the brave skipper was adamant. He gave his word that the ship would not dock until it had rounded the cape. Some of the crew even decided that the captain, intoxicated by the storm, had simply lost his mind.
The captain's decision excited the crew. The sailors mutinied, determined to remove the too desperate and reckless captain. But the skipper managed to outwit the rioters, neutralize their leader and throw him to feed the sharks. According to legend, this act greatly angered God. Suddenly, the skies parted, the formidable clouds shone with bright fire, and a thick black shadow descended on the deck of the ship.
At that moment, the captain and his crew heard a voice that sounded like a sentence. The voice impassively and harshly said that for his heartlessness and cruelty, the captain would be punished and cursed. Now his wine will be bitter bile, and his only food will be cold iron. Instantly, the ship's crew turned into decaying skeletons, and the captain himself became the Flying Dutchman forever.
An old legend says that the salvation of the captain and his poor crew can only be the great love of a God-fearing woman. Can you really find in the endless ocean that only woman capable of self-sacrifice for the sake of saving the unfortunate sailors? Since then, a ghost ship with silent prisoners on board, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman, has plowed the ocean, surrounded by anxious silence and a dim deathly glow.
Of course, any modern educated person today will be skeptical about the described legend. However, the superstitious sailors of the past centuries, who allegedly appeared as the Flying Dutchman during long sea voyages, were not amused. Any sailor, even the most brave and seasoned, considered it a very bad omen to meet this gloomy ship with sails torn apart by the wind.
