Adventures in Boating: The Bermuda Triangle

Is there anything that can strike fear into a mariner’s soul more than the words “Bermuda Triangle?” The region has inspired mysteries, myths and even a song by Fleetwood Mac. The paranormal-minded lean to aliens (an aquatic Area 51, if you will), the lost city of Atlantis, sea monsters and time warps as well as other mysterious phenomena. The more scientifically oriented deviate to waterspouts, magnetic anomalies or eruptions of methane gas from the floor of the ocean. While Bob Welch called it “a great big mystery that cannot be explained,” the area is probably not as baffling as it may seem. Let’s discuss.

What is the Bermuda Triangle?

Photo: Wikimedia

Also known as the Devil’s Triangle, the Bermuda Triangle is a 500,000-square-mile section in the Atlantic Ocean. It was first coined “Bermuda Triangle” in a 1964 magazine article by Vincent Gaddis. True to the name, it’s a triangular-shaped area running from Bermuda to Miami and Puerto Rico ((as well as the islands of Hispaniola, Cuba and Jamaica) … or roughly thereabouts.

It’s important to mention that the Gulf Stream runs through this area. The Gulf Stream is a strong current that brings the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It flows from the U.S. East Coast north to Canada.

More than 70 ships and planes throughout history are said to have disappeared, or never been found, in this area. Some never transmitted a distress signal, and some were found abandoned.

In 1492, while sailing the ocean blue, Christopher Columbus reportedly saw a “flame of light” (probably meteors) when he sailed through this area. He wrote about erratic compass readings. A 1909 voyage by Joshua Slocum (the first person to sail solo around the world) disappeared on a voyage from Martha’s Vineyard to South America.

Shakespeare’s The Tempest is said to be inspired by a ship that wrecked off the coast of Bermuda in 1609. It was headed to Jamestown, Virginia. The island of Bermuda is often called the shipwreck capital of the world (due to its treacherous coral reefs rather than aliens and Atlantis). This does, in turn, make it a popular diving destination.

Vessel Incidents in the Bermuda Triangle

• 1800: The USS Pickering, sailing from Guadeloupe to Delaware, was lost with 90 people on board (possibly in a storm).
• March 1918: The 542-foot-long USS Cyclops, a Navy cargo ship with more than 300 men on board, sank somewhere between the Chesapeake Bay and Barbados.
• January 1921: The Carroll A. Deering, a five-masted schooner, was found aground and abandoned near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
• December 1945: Five Navy bombers with a total of 14 men left out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The leader got lost when the compasses malfunctioned, at which point, the planes flew around aimlessly until they ran out of fuel. They supposedly landed in the ocean but were never found. A rescue plane with a crew of 13 also disappeared that day.
• November 1956: A Martin Marlin was lost after taking off from Bermuda with 10 crew members on board.
  
  

Reasons Vessels Could go Off Course in the Bermuda Triangle

• True/geographic north (a fixed point) and magnetic north (the direction that a compass needle points to as it lines up with the Earth’s magnetic field) line up there. This is called magnetic deviation and can be as much as 20 degrees off, which is significant if not accounted for by pilots or captains.
• Gulf Stream storms and currents can cause sudden and extreme weather changes. Rogue waves (a massive wave that reaches up to 100 feet high) can come through as well as storms coming in from several different directions at one time.
• Offshore coral reefs can be treacherous.
• Underwater methane gas explosions have been reported.
  
  

Is the Bermuda Triangle really a dangerous mystery? Probably not, as planes and vessels travel the area all the time. In fact, if you’ve ever flown from Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico (or many other Caribbean islands), or cruised to Bermuda or the Bahamas from a private boat lift rental, you’ve likely traveled above and through the Bermuda Triangle.

To put your mind at ease, the US. Coast Guard doesn’t consider the Bermuda Triangle to be a hazardous area. Neither does the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). According to NOAA, “There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-traveled area of the ocean,” So, there you have it. If NOAA and the Coast Guard are on board, so are we.

Hopefully, you’ve gathered a few facts to calm any triangle angst you may have. The next time you’re hanging out at a private boat slip for rent, you can impress your fellow boaters with a bit of triangle trivia.

If you’re planning an expedition from Florida to the Bahamas from a private boat dock rental, have no fear. Know your instruments, watch out for the weather and take it easy. You may now feel free to move about the Gulf Stream. Happy boating!