What are the myths in sailing?

Have a Finn on board. That's a really old Viking superstition, when Finns were thought to be born magicians and call up the winds.

Pouring wine on the ship (a libation to the gods) will bring good luck to a journey. This is the origin for breaking a bottle of champagne against the ship at a christening.

Naked women calm the sea. This is the reason (rationalization?) for using a topless woman as the figurehead. Her eyes also help the ship see where it's going.

In Viking times, the figurehead was a dragon whose purpose was to scare away sea monsters.

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning." A red sunrise is a predictor of a storm.

Sailors had a reputation of being extremely superstitious, and a lot of the superstitions still known today, such as avoiding the number 13 or throwing spilled salt over one's left shoulder, were practiced by sailors.