My short story Bloody Rain — Murder, Madness and the Monsoon, set on a sailing ship in the 1880s, is free as an ebook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. That’s right — free. Feel free to grab a copy. About … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
With decreased pollution, the Chesapeake Bay has seen a significant recovery in its blue crab population in recent years. All is not good news, however. The 2017 crabbing season was cut short by a significant population decline. With luck, the … Continue reading
HMS Warrior is a fascinating ship. It may be heresy to say so, but when I visited Portsmouth, I spent more time on HMS Warrior than I did on Nelson’s Victory. Warrior is a 40-gun steam-powered armored frigate built for the Royal Navy in 1859–61. … Continue reading
When my wife and I recently passed through Western Long Island Sound near City Island on a recent Saturday morning, we saw dozens of fishing boats — large and small, including at least three kayaks outfitted for fishing. I recall … Continue reading
On Wednesday, the dock landing ship USS Ashland rescued two woman sailors and their two dogs from their sailboat roughly 900 miles southeast of Japan. The sailboat had been spotted by a passing Taiwanese fishing boat, which alerted the navy. The two … Continue reading
Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18: Episode 2 The Volvo Ocean Race, now in its 13th edition, is back. From the start on October 22 in Alicante, Spain, seven teams are racing around the world, and will be stopping in 12 cities before … Continue reading
A year ago last March, marine archeologists determined that the wreck of a ship found off the coast of Oman was the Esmerelda, one of the ships in a fleet led by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1502. The wreck … Continue reading
Last Thursday evening, a man described as being extremely drunk, stole a skiff in Bayonne, NJ, and drove it across New York harbor to Staten Island. He docked the boat in a slip at the St. George Staten Island Ferry … Continue reading
I am pleased to announce that my latest novel Evening Gray Morning Red is now available in print and as an ebook. A little about the novel: In Evening Gray Morning Red, a young American sailor must escape his past and the clutches … Continue reading
A fleet of seven teams of racers set off this morning from Alicante, Spain bound for Lisbon, on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018. The eleven leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents, ending next July in The Hague, Netherlands. The teams … Continue reading
The Sultana Downrigging Weekend and Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival has grown to be one of the largest annual Tall Ship gatherings on the East Coast. Now in its 17th year, it is held on the Chester River in Chestertown, … Continue reading
Part of one of Roman Emperor Caligula‘s ceremonial Nemi ships has been recovered from an unexpected location. The New York Times reports that a four-by-four piece of mosaic flooring from one of the ships has been “sitting in … the Park … Continue reading
His name is Rimas Meleshyus. He recently showed up adrift on his 30-foot sailboat, Mimsy, off Saipan, where he was towed into port. He had last been reported almost 3,000 nautical miles away on July 31, off Fiji. Over the last several … Continue reading
The 2017 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race turned out to be a great race indeed. The schooner Virginia, which has been absent in recent years due to financial issues, returned to race and was the first across the finish line, breaking her … Continue reading
My wife and I were moving our boat last weekend from her summer mooring in Oyster Bay to winter layup in Cheesequake Creek in Raritan Bay and passed Stepping Stones Light as we rushed to catch a favorable current through Hell Gate. Even … Continue reading
The 200′ long three-masted square-rigger SSV Oliver Hazard Perry was departing from a local dockside festival on Sunday evening when she lost power while maneuvering in very close quarters in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. The steel ship drifted into four boats. No one … Continue reading
The first autonomous container ship, the 120 TEU feeder vessel, MV Yara Birkeland, will be launched in 2018. The ship will also be battery-powered and emissions-free. After a period of testing with a crew, the ship is expected to go … Continue reading
In March of 2018, the barque Picton Castle will set off on its seventh world voyage — an epic year-long voyage under sail. Berths are available for trainees for the full year-long voyage or for individual voyage legs. Beginning in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada, Picton … Continue reading
As one who is very fond of oyster-flavored oysters, I am not sure that a raspberry, ginger, shallot or muscat flavored oyster is necessarily a good idea. Nevertheless, French oyster farmer Joffrey Dubault, 29, is working to bring these flavored oysters to the world. … Continue reading
I had kind of lost track of the replica Revolutionary War sloop Providence. In January 2015, she was blown off her jackstands by blizzard winds while on the hard in Newport, RI, incurring significant damage to her hull and rigging. … Continue reading