Oh NO!! A banana!

Back in the days of the transatlantic crossings by wooden sailing ships many hazards would befall the captains, crew and passengers. Disease, pirates, shipwrecks, storms, etc., claimed the lives of a good percentage of the captains, crew and passengers attempting the dangerous voyage.  Needless to say, a transatlantic crossing in the 17th and 18th centuries was a very risky endeavor.  Often the vessels would stop along the way in tropical islands to gather provisions such as food and water.  There the passengers and crew would often purchase wooden crates of bananas from the locals and bring them aboard the ship.  These crates would have all manner of critters in them such as bugs, spiders, vermin and snakes.

These critters would make their way into the bilges of the ships, multiply, and then find their way into the captain’s quarters.  The captains circulated the rumor that bananas were bad luck in an attempt to keep the critters off the ship and out of their cabin.
A couple days ago as we were pulling in to lunch I opened the cooler to find that a banana had made it’s way into the cooler with out my knowledge. We already had 20+ fish in the boat so I wasn’t too worried. We left it in the boat to test the myth and continued to have a very productive day. The myth has been busted. I’m no longer scared of the banana. Well, maybe the banana in the tailpipe but that’s a different story. Oh yeah, Clark Fork has been pretty good. What stretch you ask? The one where they are eating hoppers of course.

Even with the banana.

What banana?

Jason Lanier
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