Burial at sea

[kdonnel]

My parents have been hanging out in my basement for almost 10 years. We have an upcoming cruise and I have arranged to chuck them overboard.

I ordered some cardboard shipping tubes that are rebranded as biodegradable urns. A good 1000% markup.

The environmental officer has to attend to make sure you don’t throw something overboard you shouldn’t.

What can I do so that he goes back after and starts every sentence for a couple days with you won’t believe what they did?

A crazy chant? Have a contest with my son to see who can throw the urn the furthest? Who can skip them on the ocean?

Any ideas?

 

[iivye]

No ideas here. My grandma (dad's mother) wanted her ashes spread over the water at a lake where she lived so our family and my grandma's brother took a boat out on the water to spread the ashes. The boat was slowly moving and my dad started taking handfuls of ashes and throwing them out. My grandma's brother was sitting towards the back of the boat and due to the boat moving and a breeze, the ashes flew back in his face and mouth. We had a good laugh about it, it's like she got one last dig in on her brother. My plan is to be cremated and buried at sea from a Navy ship.

 

[kdonnel]

The urn has to be thrown unopened to prevent someone on the ship getting a face full of my parents ashes.

 

[easyas123]

The urn has to be thrown unopened to prevent someone on the ship getting a face full of my parents ashes.

My paternal grandparents and my great grandparents are all buried at sea, although not off of a cruise ship so we never had to deal with any formalities of a environmental officer. I'll just say I applaud your families approach and attitude towards this situation...a faux skipping contest with a whole talk up or argument before hand over who won the last urn skipping contest and who had the trophy from last time - maybe even a quick discussion of urn skipping techniques???

 

[bcla]

Most of the stuff I've heard about it were that most just have it scattered, but I suppose the cruise line might have a different policy. I understand that most end up just hiring out a small boat where it's just dropped fairly close to the water level.

If the cremains are packaged in a cardboard "urn", I'd think that just doing with a simple drop is the most respectful way.

I suppose if it's in international waters, that would take care of any need to get a permit. At least in California, a permit is required as long as it's within California, but it's pretty cheap. I believe for US territorial waters, it would require reporting to the EPA within 30 days.

A permit might be required depending on where the death took place. I'd look into that.

 

[kdonnel]

My paternal grandparents and my great grandparents are all buried at sea, although not off of a cruise ship so we never had to deal with any formalities of a environmental officer. I'll just say I applaud your families approach and attitude towards this situation...a faux skipping contest with a whole talk up or argument before hand over who won the last urn skipping contest and who had the trophy from last time - maybe even a quick discussion of urn skipping techniques???

I like the idea of having a trophy to hand out to the one that wins whatever contest we have. We already have one that will be perfect!

 

[kdonnel]

Most of the stuff I've heard about it were that most just have it scattered, but I suppose the cruise line might have a different policy. I understand that most end up just hiring out a small boat where it's just dropped fairly close to the water level.

If the cremains are packaged in a cardboard "urn", I'd think that just doing with a simple drop is the most respectful way.

I suppose if it's in international waters, that would take care of any need to get a permit. At least in California, a permit is required as long as it's within California, but it's pretty cheap. I believe for US territorial waters, it would require reporting to the EPA within 30 days.

A permit might be required depending on where the death took place. I'd look into that.

The cruise line just requires getting permissions from them ahead of time, a biodegradable urn, a copy of the death certificate, and a copy of the cremation certificate.

They then offer up times for the burial that meet whatever regulations might be in place.

 

[jimmymc]

Hide a firecracker inside the urns so they make a pop when they fall overboard.

You could also try to sling them as far as possible:

 

[tvguy]

I know two people who scattered ashes on a cruise, didn't do it from the ship. They chartered a boat in port and scattered the ashes from there. I didn't know any cruise line would allow ashes to be scattered

 

[kdonnel]

I know two people who scattered ashes on a cruise, didn't do it from the ship. They chartered a boat in port and scattered the ashes from there. I didn't know any cruise line would allow ashes to be scattered

None allow scattering.

All allow you to chuck the urn as one into the ocean with prior permission.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Welllll when Grandmother was disposed of at sea It was pretty early in the private terrace attached to cabin days and it wasn’t discussed with the crew. I never asked Mom and her younger sister how they accomplished their goal; just happy Grandmother was out of my hall closet….

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Jeez, when you said your parents were hanging out in your basement I thought they were living and you were going to take them on a cruise. I need more coffee.

 

[barkley]

if it were me being 'chucked' i would appreciate the chuckers joining in song, maybe something along the lines of-



*who lives in a shipping tube under the sea? gram and grandpa. gram and grandpa, gram and grandpa..... (and then if someone had a little whistle they could do the end of the song with)



*sung to the theme of sponge bob square pants

 

[kdonnel]

Jeez, when you said your parents were hanging out in your basement I thought they were living and you were going to take them on a cruise. I need more coffee.

My in laws live in the basement. Didn’t want to end up with four urns down there.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I know two people who scattered ashes on a cruise, didn't do it from the ship. They chartered a boat in port and scattered the ashes from there. I didn't know any cruise line would allow ashes to be scattered

We "scattered" my parents ashes from a chartered small boat (fishing boat type). Close to water and we were required to have them in degradable urns for dropping in the water. My father's urn dropped like a stone, my mother's floated on the surface for at least 20 minutes before slowly sinking. That's just how obstinate that she could be.....

 

[Newsies]

if it were me being 'chucked' i would appreciate the chuckers joining in song, maybe something along the lines of-



*who lives in a shipping tube under the sea? gram and grandpa. gram and grandpa, gram and grandpa..... (and then if someone had a little whistle they could do the end of the song with)



*sung to the theme of sponge bob square pants

Oh my god... writing this into my will

 

[tvguy]

We "scattered" my parents ashes from a charted small boat (fishing boat type). Close to water and we were required to have them in degradable urns for dropping in the water. My father's urn dropped like a stone, my mother's floated on the surface for at least 20 minutes before slowly sinking. That's just how obstinate that she could be.....

No first hand experience. My wife's stepfather's remains were taken back to the state he was born in by his brother, and my MIL was sent photos of them appearing to scatter his ashes in the mountains near where he grew up. More like dumping them. I say appear to have been scattered because a few years ago we discovered on Find A Grave that his family bought a plot for him and checking cemetery records there are cremains buried in the plot. So, it is possible some of his remains were scattered and some were interred because he was a large man, over 400 pounds and his cremains filled two urns. But as far as I know, no permits or process were followed with the scattering, they just drove into the mountains and picked a spot.

 

[barkley]

I suppose if it's in international waters, that would take care of any need to get a permit. At least in California, a permit is required as long as it's within California, but it's pretty cheap. I believe for US territorial waters, it would require reporting to the EPA within 30 days.

A permit might be required depending on where the death took place. I'd look into that.

all i can think of pertaining to california and water scattering of ashes is the case in northern california wherein there was a pilot who was licensed with the state to scatter remains over the water but was found to have put MOST of the ashes into a public storage unit. the capper on it was the interview the renter of the adjacent storage unit did with local and national news wherein they reported how they had repeatedly complained to the managment about the abnormal amount of 'dust' that kept spilling from the pilot's unit into their unit through the air vents

Oh my god... writing this into my will

 

[kdonnel]

the capper on it was the interview the renter of the adjacent storage unit did with local and national news wherein they reported how they had repeatedly complained to the managment about the abnormal amount of 'dust' that kept spilling from the pilot's unit into their unit through the air vents

I guess at least the bodies were cremated.


I always think about Ray Brent Marsh. He just threw the bodies behind the crematory and gave the survivors cement instead of cremains.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Crematory_scandal

 

[tvguy]

all i can think of pertaining to california and water scattering of ashes is the case in northern california wherein there was a pilot who was licensed with the state to scatter remains over the water but was found to have put MOST of the ashes into a public storage unit. the capper on it was the interview the renter of the adjacent storage unit did with local and national news wherein they reported how they had repeatedly complained to the managment about the abnormal amount of 'dust' that kept spilling from the pilot's unit into their unit through the air vents

Ah, Allan Vieira. Yup, they found almost 5,000 boxes of cremains in his storage space