Swallow landed in my lap wile sailing 100 miles offshore

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rusocool@reddit

I’ve had a few birds land on my boat over the years (deep sea angling on a power boat 30-45 miles offshore) they are just happy to have a rest, often a lifesaver for non aquatic birds.

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TopFox555@reddit

Magical. Amazing how they do vast and dangerous migrations alone, where we have well equipped boats.

It amazes me how they can find their way with their natural internal guidance. If we tried we'd die at sea.

They would enjoy the rest and hydration.

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kosieroj@reddit

European swallow, or African swallow?

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Blue_foot@reddit

That little fellow couldn’t carry half a coconut

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Superb_Ad3962@reddit

True, but I'd bet two of them could carry it together.

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NiTeTrain37@reddit

Well it couldn't be an African Swallow because African Swallows are non migratory

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TheCarolinaCop@reddit

Aren’t swallows good luck for sailors? I thought old school sailors would get tattoos of them.

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4runner01@reddit

Had one come aboard for a 12 hour rest (in the cabin 🙈) while about halfway between Bermuda and NYC.

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CreativeBasil5344@reddit

I keep waiting for boobies to land in my lap, and then a swallow.

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On a long distance race across Lake St. Claire, light air afternoon, l was working the foredeck rigging the windseeker, and a tiny song bird, smaller than a nuthatch, perched on my shoulder. I slowly finished rigging the sail, reached over and he hopped in my hand and then simply flew on. One of the many magical experiences I’ve had sailing. I felt like I had received the blessings of the sailing gods that day.

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Secret-Temperature71@reddit

These events are a bit magical. Here we are tense because we are off shore in a well equipped boat feeling proud of our bravery. And here they are traversing this great expanse if deadly water in their on wings, alone.

We have had this happen, not a swallow but small land bird. Sometimes they are just resting on a long passage. Sometimes they are exhausted and clearly in trouble. Precious little we can do to help them.

One day my Wife was below asleep on the settee. A small bird flies below and lands in her leg. He explores this new geography and finally gets to her face when she abruptly awakens. The bird flies into the aft cabin and eventually leaves us.

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haight6716@reddit

You can offer them water and food.

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Secret-Temperature71@reddit

I have never had them take it.

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is0ph@reddit

During a channel passage aboard an old gaffer, a wood warbler landed on the rail. It looked exhausted and went to sleep. Then after a while, opened its eyes and noticed the bulwark had lots of spiders. Ate one spider wearily. Sauntered a little more energetically to the next spider. Started to fly. It then spent about 20mn perching anywhere, then darting to catch flies. At some point "anywhere" was tthe top of my head while I was at the helm. I remember the feeling of its tiny but sharp claws.

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WestFun1693@reddit

Great story

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Secret-Temperature71@reddit

LOL!!

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dickwae@reddit

This has been my experience too. Both times it happened to me I made a little bed from a shirt under the dodger, put out water, and cheerios, or whatever i had, and both times I later found them expired, which seems like a bad omen when you're far from shore.

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mercury-ballistic@reddit

I used to work cargo ships and this was pretty common. We assumed it was birds that somehow got lost or pushed to sea as most were not migratory. We also had a flock of pigeons ride the ship from a grain terminal until a falcon showed up and killed them all.

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shiftty@reddit

I's tired, boss

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joesquatchnow@reddit

Special moment, harbor seals taking a rest (ride) and Raccoon catching a ride in the keys are my personal favorites

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Mackey_Corp@reddit

When I worked on an offshore fishing trawler we would always catch birds off Nantucket that got blown out to sea and couldn’t make it back. They would hang out on the boat the whole trip, I would give them fresh water but didn’t really have food for them, sometimes they would eat bread but sometimes they wouldn’t. Didn’t really know too much about birds and this was before smart phones so it wasn’t really something I could look up while offshore. They were all different kinds too depending on the time of year. Sometimes they lasted the whole trip and made it back to land and sometimes they didn’t sadly.

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RobinsonCruiseOh@reddit

came here for the Monty Python... was not disappointed

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40ozSmasher@reddit

Its mother nature gifting you with soup ingredients.

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EllieVader@reddit

I love when this happens. Just a couple of land animals surviving together in a place that would swiftly kill us both if not for the boat.

I loved seeing butterflies and insects of all kinds land on the boat. I always wonder if they know we’re not an island. I think it’s the same exploration drive that we have too, always heading to the next island to see what’s there to eat.

It makes you feel a closer kinship with the rest of the planet.

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CornerCases@reddit

My wife and I had a shorebird land on our boat when we were motoring in a dense fog off the coast of Nova Scotia. He tucked in at the jib for a while and rested. Then he came back to the cockpit, sat on the aft rail as if to say thanks, and took off in the direction of shore. It was a moving moment.

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