I wonder if it's an increased sense of permanence, habitability and sometimes magnitude that allows it to happen.
Some boats become decade long institutions, and living aboard a 'thing' that is dynamic and alive with motion is probably very emotive.
Even small sailing vessels are often designed to be lived aboard and occupied for days or weeks on end.
Cars and planes can be very transient in comparison.
I am a car enthusiast and even I try to keep my cars at arms length, knowing they could (and have been) totalled and whisked away in an evening for no better reason than someone glanced at their phone for too long.
Re:Where oil rigs go to die
by techdragon on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @04:56AM
(#14254059)
We definitely humanise cars and planes, it's just different due to how we interact with each of them. Early fighter pilots and race car drivers did a lot more hands on maintenance than their modern counterparts and the way they talked about their cars and planes definitely shows they were humanising them.
>>but it seems to not happen with planes and cars.
Sure, most people I know don't care about their cars, it's just a thing they use every day. But go to any car enthusiast meet and they will tell you how their car has its own character(and usually has a name too).
I find interesting that by even reading about boats one tends to humanize them but it seems to not happen with planes and cars.
Probably it has to do with the long relations kept by crews and the ships they sail in.