There is a scale issue with matches in water, and what that shows is surface tension issues. In the ocean—even dead calm—the situation is not as idealized as in a cup of water.
Functionally, in the sea, any wind driving one ship directly towards another (in-detectible breeze, say) would push the two together. Any breeze not directly on a line between the two would push BOTH ships maintaining their separation. Move the breeze randomly, and you'll see that the breezes will then tend to push them both in the same direction OR will push them together (perhaps this is where this notion comes from?). Summed up, they will be pushed together since all other breezes have no effect on separation.
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