# Spies die in mysterious boat accident **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951 "2023-06-03T09:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/1 "2023-06-03T09:30:34Z")
[This really does sound like something from a spy novel.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65788462) Maybe it was an innocent pleasure trip that caught bad weather, but the whole thing is weird. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/2 "2023-06-03T10:08:01Z")
Since, to the best of my knowledge, it is still the case no one controls the weather (apologies to conspiracy theorists) I’m guessing the storm/deaths were completely unintentional. But yeah, that’s a lot of spy-types in one boat. On the other hand, they probably all knew each other through work. I don’t know why “intelligence services” wouldn’t have get-togethers with people who know each other. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/3 "2023-06-03T15:08:18Z")
That many sneaky folks in one semi-public place seems unusual for a genuine party. I’d much sooner expect agents of one force or the other to gather withtheir coworkers in one of their controlled haunts, be it an embassy or whatever. Although if a clandestine meeting between a couple people was planned and the boat was selected as a venue where they’d be safe from eavesdroppers or observers, then they have a slight problem. Either you charter the whole boat for, say, 4 people, which will look odd / suspicious / memorable to at least the crew, and any hostile observers. Or you fill the boat with “extras” so it looks like a normal party charter. But where would the two sides recruit “extras” they could have on board without them being security risks for the actual meeting? Answer: from their own staffs. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/4 "2023-06-03T16:01:11Z")
My inner Jessica Fletcher is wondering if the real intended victim was the captain’s wife… ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/5 "2023-06-03T18:57:42Z")
I’m thinking 1) somebody is testing weather manipulation technology as they plan their quest for world domination, and used to stop this covert raid by superannuated agents called up for “one last mission” Or 2) it was old former foes getting together to chat about the good old days. “Remember when we held you in Lubyanka and you cried like baby? Those were the days indeed, my friend, da?” The boat then capsized when fist fights broke out. Empty vodka and grappa bottles were found near the wreckage. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/6 "2023-06-03T20:18:18Z")
_Smyert Spionam_! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/7 "2023-06-03T21:27:16Z")
“And make it look like an accident, 007….” ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/8 "2023-06-03T21:31:14Z")
I wonder if someone saw an opportunity ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/9 "2023-06-03T21:40:17Z")
Wonder how many guns were lost in this tragic boating accident? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/10 "2023-06-03T21:52:18Z")
Since I’m currently in the middle of binge-watching _Get Smart_ for the first time in decades, my mindset is that it’s natural for spies to organize social events together! I can easily see Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 going out on a boat cruise, joined by the Chief, after a hard day at Spy School! (The Spy School is located in an ordinary residential neighbourhood. When Max went to the wrong address one day and announced “the swallows have returned to Capistrano”, an annoyed old housewife replied “you must want the Secret Spy School. That’s next door.”) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/11 "2023-06-03T21:59:23Z")
I loved _Get Smart_ back in the day. I’m not sure the current calibration of my impatience-o-meter could withstand quite that much concentrated stupidity for one whole episode, much less a binge. Which raises a question: How many episodes constitutes a “binge”? Is it like a handful? More like a dozen? Is anything less than a whole season at a single sitting merely a mini-binge? Semi-binge? Demi-binge? Is a dual episode a hemi-semi-demi-binge? Enquiring minds want to know! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/12 "2023-06-03T22:00:47Z")
I’d say a binge is at least three episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/13 "2023-06-03T22:08:54Z")
Or a bingette? A microbinge? And should the thread title be “boat accident” or “boating accident”? I guess boating is only if it’s in motion? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/14 "2023-06-03T22:32:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I loved _Get Smart_ back in the day. I’m not sure the current calibration of my impatience-o-meter could withstand quite that much concentrated stupidity for one whole episode, much less a binge. Understandable. You have to get in the right mindset of complete silliness, the sort that prepares one for art forms like Bugs Bunny (and allows one to appreciate that the Bugs _oeuvre_ contains occasional flashes of creative brilliance aimed at adults!). I am fortunate that I can get myself into that mindset without the aid of any foreign substances; in fact, I’m sometimes told that it’s extremely difficult to get me _ **out** _ of that mindset! 😁 My usual nightly dosage of _Get Smart_ is as many as I can take, watching on my tablet in bed, until I doze off. So far around 63 episodes, the first two seasons and a few from the third. It’s probably cost me a measurable drop in IQ from which I won’t likely recover, but everything’s a tradeoff. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/15 "2023-06-03T22:56:45Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > And should the thread title be “boat accident” or “boating accident”? I guess boating is only if it’s in motion? I think of a “boat accident” as something that happens to a boat. e.g. the collision of two boats, or the grounding of a boat. Boat damage is the outcome, not people damage. Conversely, a “boating accident” is something that happens to people. Three dead and the boat has some scuffed paint? Boating accident. A big gash in the hull, a thousand gallons of oil in the water, and Captain(s) newly looking for work? Boat accident. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/16 "2023-06-03T23:03:15Z")
Of course, that line from Hot Fuzz springs to mind: “Accident implies no one is to blame.” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/17 "2023-06-03T23:13:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > How many episodes constitutes a “binge”? Merriam Webster’s defines a binge as “a drunken revel”. In this context where “drunken” is related to “drowned” I would say: one. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/18 "2023-06-04T01:49:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Since, to the best of my knowledge, it is still the case no one controls the weather Oh, _really?_ [![](https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/900/https://media.snopes.com/2015/12/chemtrails-photo.jpg) ](https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/900/https://media.snopes.com/2015/12/chemtrails-photo.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/19 "2023-06-04T01:59:37Z")
Two "ON"s, no “OFF”. Kinda makes you wonder why they installed the switch. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951/20 "2023-06-04T02:01:38Z")
‘They’ have their reasons. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spies-die-in-mysterious-boat-accident/984951.md?page=2)