In the crossing the line ceremony, polliwogs(first timers) who could include fairly senior sailors, were inducted by Neptune and his court--his wife, their baby, Davy Jones--into the brotherhood of the sea. And were thereafter Shellbacks. Polliwogs would never have been dressed as His Maritime Highness, Neptune. By the way, I have a Crossing the Line certificate from the Great White Fleet, in which the inductee is a full commander of the US Navy.

Barry, as long as you're going to talk of sailing, bear in mind that when a sailing boat is dead before the wind, it tends to roll. This is one of the reasons a prudent captain sets course slightly off. If he/she doens't it is likely the rail will roll under. Annoying but no biggy on a vessel with decks but in a dinghy or canoe, definitely undesireable.