Submechanophobia

...Goes of to watch The Abyss.

How on earth does someone living in a land locked county develop such a fear?

I thought you had a shop in the UK?

Edit: Doh, county not country.

I used to drive ROVs for a living, so nope.

Yep, I have exactly that fear. Love the sea though. Grew up beside it (Sussex) and now living near it in Devon.

I was just discussing a snorkelling holiday with Mrs S this morning and that looks fascinating.

Water, deep water or large objects in it don’t bother me; actually being in it, on the other hand…

I was expecting a thread about the PM seeing how far underwater his poll numbers are.

I've got a phobia of videos with awful voice-overs and music, so I lasted about two seconds of that.

I'm the total opposite OP. I see those pictures or in real life and I want to explore and see more 😂

I'll tell you what's weird is I saw this word for the first time a few days ago and not once in the preceding 5 decades.

I don't think it's a phobia, there's definitely something creepy about man made structures under water. Usually they present some sort of danger, so being wary or even afraid of them is natural.

Looking forward to a ride around the Elan valley this year when the weather's better, the creepiness of the dams, the underwater Victorian engineering, submerged villages, followed by the bleakness of the track towards Teifi pools is something to savour.

I have an irrational fear of swimming/diving in the sea, turning round and seeing a navy submarine heading towards me. 🤣 Other than that I'm good.

I find myself humming the JAWS music whenever I am sea swimming in deep water

Yup, I get it.

Up in Scotland last week and seeing this from about 1km away gave me the heebie jeebies!

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Big wall holding back the sea, big platform. Nope!

Also not a fan of dam walls, crossing road bridges, piers, canal locks, being alongside ships in ports etc

I did some snorkel diving in Aus...way back. We were doing it in this bay that had a shallow sandy sea floor but then the shelf just dropped away so quickly that when you looked down from just a hundred meters or so out from the shoreline, the sea was black. It gave me the fear every single time. Stuff in the water, not so much, stuff that my imagination can conjure up...very much so.

Just re-read China Mieville's The Scar which plays on this a bit, though more what may come out of the depths.

Rebreather diver here. I love big wrecks and the feeling of awe as they take shape as you approach.

Yes, exactly this! Never knew it was a thing!

I love the water, being in it or on it, swimming in open sea. But no way can I swim or even kayak near anything that penetrates the water - quays, groyns, bouys, ships - even standing on a pier and looking down at the stanchions into the water - nah-uh!

And no I'm not looking at any of those videos...

Nope. And I didn't think I had any phobias til I saw that ladbible website and realised I have a phobia of utter bollocks.

I was a ship's diver when I was in the Navy.  I had no problems diving around, under close to all manner of ships and port infrastructure.  Mostly.

The one time I felt very unsettled was underneath a frigate in Portsmouth, near zero visibility because of the silt. For some reason I couldn't move my fins. The depth below the keel was only about 2.0m and my feet had become stuck in the goopy soft harbour mud.  I was night time also, that didn't help much.

Left "bottom" pretty quick that night.

Submechanophobia never heard of before and not personally bothered, but yeah deep water in general can be pretty creepy. Not an environment I'm happy with! Don't like the idea of spiky/slimy things biting my toes.

Swimming in the sea in France once was an unnerving experience:

1) Something kept breaking the water a few metres away from us with a swoosh of ripples, no idea what but it seemed as interested in us as we were in it

2) Long thin strands of seaweed were underwater, just deep enough to be out of sight but long enough to trail gently along your legs while swimming.

3) Very distinct thermocline about 1m down. Tread water and get cold legs.

Creepy as hell but in a good way, like putting yourself through a horror film 😅

We were doing it in this bay that had a shallow sandy sea floor but then the shelf just dropped away so quickly that when you looked down from just a hundred meters or so out from the shoreline, the sea was black. It gave me the fear every single time. Stuff in the water, not so much, stuff that my imagination can conjure up…very much so.

Ooh yes. Most terrifying water I've ever seen was a lake in the Peaks somewhere, have a feeling it was the north end of either Howden or Winscar reservoir. Was driving nearby and noticed very black water, seemed interesting so got out and went down to the edge to have a closer look... It looked like after about 6 inches from the shore the water dropped straight off a cliff, pitch black and couldn't see a thing in it. It was a sunny day but deathly still and silent down by the water. Just a horrible oppressive atmosphere. Wouldn't have touched that water for anything... I could swear the birds started singing again as I got back up to the car sharpish 🤣

Nope thankfully as I spend a lot of time on semi submersible drilling rigs. Currently decommissioning lots of subsea infrastructure and pulling it back to surface.