"Nigel" wrote in message
...

As I recall, the stories I've read that included descriptions of dead
calms,
seem to have a common theme of an absence of hungry fish in the area as
well the absence of wind.

then I guess at least you could go for a swim without having to worry
about the locals


I was sailing back to Marina Del Rey with my buddy and his current
girlfriend. It was a beautiful day on the water. I asked the girlfriend if
she had ever been for a swim in the middle of the ocean. She said no. I
offered to stop the boat and let her hop in the water for a couple of
minutes. She declined, stating sharks as her reason. I told her there
weren't any sharks around. She still declined. With a shrug of my
shoulders I continued on. 2 minutes later I'm tapping my buddy on the
shoulder and quietly signalling to look over my right shoulder. Yep, a
shark swimming along fully visible. What a laugh (although she didn't think
it was very funny)!