i am hoping there are other sailors out there that can quell my concern about (penny)whistling while sailing. i am about to leave my life as a landlubber, and go spend time bluewater cruising; there is an old seadog (not feadog) tradition that bans whistling at sea, as it will call a tempest from the deep. one thing most sailors agree, it doesn’t matter if you believe in the old superstitions, as long as you do not act against them. i believe that the ban on whistling is specific to pursing one’s lips (sans whistle), but if there are any sailors out there that can offer me their take i would be glad for it!
I am not a sailor, but I recall someone mentioning (not too long ago) that they learned the whistle while on a sub or some such. I’ll give a quick search and see if I can find that post.
Well I don’t know about the legends and traditions of whistling mariners but I do know that Spongebob Squarepants whistls underwater with his nose. I would love to find an arrangement of Spongebob tunes for the penny whistle. I hear that sometimes they play a traditional hornpipe on the show. Maybe since S’bob and the submariners play under water you could play down in the cabin of your sail boat as long as you are below the water line. A nice loud clear whistle could make a fine fog horn or boatswain’s whistle. Pirates are always shown singing, playing the squeezebox and dancing while at sea. Also, if the dolpins or seals start looking real good to you as a lonely sailor just start playing your whistle. Hope my suggestions helped. God speed on your voyage.
I figure it’s just the pursing your lips type
of whistling, since there’s been plenty of
Bosun’s whistles blown at sea, with no ill
effects besides grumbling from sailors.
As a “Shellback” I was taught that this superstition could go both ways. Whistling in a heavy blow could bring on a Gale. To call up a good wind, it was common practice to stick your knife in the mainmast, symbolicly “wounding” the ship in penance/appeasment before whistling up the wind.
In both good and bad cases, the Whistling is done with the lips and not a musical instrument.
here are some other “Salty Rules” for you to peruse before you’re “lost at sea”.
http://www.liquidmoonsports.com/stories13.htm
(I’m jealous as hell !! but Bon Voyage!!!) 
Ah, wikipedia, where would we be without you:
That would be our friend Ron Steed, a nuclear attack sub captain and excellent whistle player, who would sneak away to the engine room to tootle. If playing below the waterline is the key to avoiding Davy Jones’ wrath, I think he had it nailed.
Google finds a story from Greenland where “blowing a whistle” raises a storm. Quote
Here
Maybe you can just sail south and stay out of North Atlantic waters…
Best wishes.
Steve
Shellbacks unite! I played aboard two different surface vessels during two separate deployments…never had any issues whatsoever. I agree with the chap who mentioned the bosun’s whistle. Just wipe 'em down after exposure to the salty air, and you should be good to go.
–Blake
In Arthur Ransome’s nautical YA novel We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (Vol 7 in his ‘Swallows and Amazons’ books), one of the children’s attempt to learn to teach himself to play tin whistle plays a role in the novel’s climax*. I don’t recall there being any suggestion that this might be unlucky to do at sea.
*His offstage playing (ie, below decks) is part of a ruse intended to simulate adult drunkenness.
I’d always heard that it was the Captain’s place to ‘whistle up a wind’ and that any sailor trying it was asking for trouble.
Thanks to all who responded!
i guess i should have researched this a bit more before i succumbed to WhOA, admittedly it has been a mild case so far (BlackBird, FeaDog, Clark Original, Little Black Whistle, and two Gen Ds), but that was all in my first week.
thankfully i feel there is ample case for a loophole now, for whistling via a whistle. however, i am sure my dock neighbours are most likely less thankful.
I learned to play whistle while onboard my sailboat, often off shore, pipes too. I’ve only been in 7 hurricnes, so it must not be true. i usually have flowers on board when in season 
fair winds, tansy
yes.. if it had been eight hurricanes, well maybe i would have given it some credence.. the fact that my boat is green doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it should i think..