"Krusty Morgan" stupidly wrote ..

It let's people know, "You're there and OK and they
would also like to
know the same of you. No need of assistance."


Thats right Ol Thom, Its a primal fear of the water that
drives waving.
You get the points.

Joe


Oh, baloney!

Waving is an offshoot of shaking hands, which goes back to
medieval times.
Shaking hands when meeting is a "body language"
demonstration that you are not
using your "sword hand" for anything else. It's a greeting
of peace. When you
are physically too far away to actually shake hands, you
mimick shaking hands by
waving.


Yulp, I'm always wondering if that passing sailboat is
touting swords.

Scotty