Blooding the Sails

In the northern regions of Kos, it's tradition to celebrate launching a new ship by blooding the sails. It's a symbol of good luck for the ship. The full ritual is only performed at the start of a ship's career, but a modified version can be performed whenever the mainmast needs to be replaced. Many people see it as barbaric and old fashioned, but the sailors cling to the tradition. The ritual starts several days in advance where the red paint is made using sea water, red pigment, and kelp powder. It creates a sticky and rather foul smelling red paint. Next, they create an effigy of a fish using rope, worn out sail cloth, wood, and seaweed. There's a ring in the mouth so it can be hoisted up by the yardarm. The fish effigy is at least as large as a person, and for large ships, even bigger. Once the ship is in the water, the sailors raise the effigy and dance around the deck of the ship singing about all the ways the ship could sink. At the end of each line, other sailors splash the red paint on the sails until they're all splattered with "blood". Each line tends to be more and more outrageous and unrealistic. Sailors often add their own verses once the first few verses are sung. Once the sails are blooded, they take turns beating the effigy until it starts falling apart. Meanwhile, everyone else is chanting "Drown at the bottom of the ocean!" Once the effigy is a mangled mess, it's launched off into the sea to great cheering. They believe that the ritual will save the ship from sinking because they have put all the bad luck into the fish and drowned it in the ocean. The ritual, however, doesn't stop there. The sails are left stained red until the sun naturally bleaches out the color. Onlookers find the tradition to appear cultish and deranged. But it's been practiced for centuries, and many sailors swear that the only reason their ship survived harrowing circumstances was because of the ritual. The modified version when the mainmast needs to be replaced is done less frequently. They create the paint and paint fish on the sails while singing about all the different ways the ship could sink. Again, the paint is left to fade naturally. Intentionally washing the sails or replacing them before the paint has faded is a sign of bad luck, and sailors believe that the ship will sink. During war, it's understood that battle may requires sails to be replaced more frequently due to damage, and that's seen as not counting towards bad luck. The practice only exists in northern Kos, and sailors elsewhere don't engage in the ritual.