"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote
Ive read a few accounts, mainly from around 1900, of people using oil to calm the seas.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of this being done in modern times? I really cant understand the logic behind it or see
what it would to so calm seas.... any enlightenment welcomed ;-)

They made it illegal in the United States. You can't have even a sheen on the water without
violating some law. That being said, it doesn't work anyway. It's an old salt urban legend. You
can see for yourself it doesn't work. Next time it's really windy and there's a lot of fetch and
there are giant seas built up put some oil out. Plain old diesel fuel works just fine. You'll see
all it does is remove the small ripples and feathering on the surface. It does nothing to reduce
the overall size of the waves. It's a local surface effect only.
It's just another example showing people don't think things out for themselves. They'd
rather listen to stuff that makes no sense at all. Duh!

Cheers,
Ellen

Cheers,
Ellen