Forums

Fellow Forteans, I'm searching for a very specific account, about a captain who actually boards a ghost ship, which I've only read once and, for the life of me, I can not remember which book I read it in.

Here's what I know:

This was supposed to be a "true" account.

It may have been a whole book about ghost ships (or possibly just a chapter; helpful, I know)

I believe this incident happened on the Great Lakes (likely Lake Michigan or Superior)

In it, the captain of a vessel sees a ghost ship which he thinks is a ship in distress, most of the crew won't board, but several get into a smaller boat with him and approach the vessel.

I believe he was the only one to actually board the ship.

He was given a dire warning from the crew to leave before he got stuck with them/became one of them/something like that.

I've never read anything like this in any other book. This appears to be a unique instance.

Any thoughts on where I might have read this? It may have been a book specifically about ghost ships of the Great Lakes, but, honestly, there are so damned many of them that I find the process of figuring it out rather daunting.

All help is appreciated.

Posted: 22-09-2013 19:03 Post subject:

Sounds a bit like Pirates of the Caribbean.

Posted: 22-09-2013 19:26 Post subject:

If I recall correctly, this book is a lot older than the movie.

Posted: 22-09-2013 19:52 Post subject:

Posted: 22-09-2013 20:09 Post subject:

Was it a plague-ridden ship by any chance?

Posted: 22-09-2013 20:10 Post subject:

@Myth: Sorry, just wanted to be clear. I could see a newbie on this board saying that and everyone chiming in that they were mis-remembering the movie. Very Happy

@Enola: From what I remember, this was kind of a phantom ship or something. Not like the typical abandoned ship that gets labeled "ghost ship" just because it doesn't have anyone on board.

EDIT:

@gncxx: No, I don't think so. I wish I remembered more, but my impression was that this ship had disappeared years previous and appeared every so often at random. The interaction betwixt the captain and the "ghost" crew was fascinating, but I can't remember the exact exchange.