This time of year there is a special treat for those who actually see when they look. The cold sea and the warm air combine to give us a bit of magic.
Fata Morgana.
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Morgan Le Fay raises her wicked head and distorts your surroundings. Most commonly she mirrors what actually exists, upside down directly over the physical form. She has the ability though, to distort your perception of what's actually there and even project images at a higher elevation. It is said that when looking for the northwest passage numerous mistakes were made in initial charting due to Fata Morgana. I remember being off of Del Rey and looking towards Malibu, there were sailboats in the sky. The rounded hilltops turning to tall plateaus is a dead giveaway she is working her magic on you.
False Horizon.
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Anyone who knows their way around a sextant realizes this can get you lost at sea. The actual horizon melts into the sky seamlessly. The false horizon can mimic the effects of Fata Morgana. The vast majority of images of ships in the sky are really False Horizon as are floating landmasses.
The Green Flash.
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For us this is not a rare event. It always surprises us when people watching the same sunset fail to see the Green Flash. They have lost the magic. They look but they do not see.
A true rare event is the Green Ray.
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The pirates would say that it signaled the return of a soul from Davy Jones' Locker. We only catch it once every few years.
As sailors we are acutely aware of our surroundings. We get the benefit of seeing the special phenomena that most people can not see.
Happy Halloween!
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