A fascinating and sobering video about diving on the fleet of ships destroyed by 23 nuclear detonations by the United States between 1946 and 1958 in seven test sites on and near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Better a court martial than a funeral. On June 8th, Gas Turbine Systems Technician (Mechanical) 3rd Class Peter Mims was reported missing on the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh, and presumed to have fallen overboard. His disappearance triggered a a massive, 50-hour … Continue reading
A year ago we posted, Invasive Lionfish for Sale at Whole Foods – If You Can’t Beat ’em, Eat ’em, about a new approach to combating lionfish which have been spreading rapidly along the southeast coast of the U.S., the Caribbean, … Continue reading
Researchers are holding a news conference today to announce the discovery of the wreck of the USRC/USCGC McCulloch, a cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and later the US Coast Guard. Delivered in 1897, just before the start of the … Continue reading
We have been following the progress of Star Clipper‘s new ship, the Flying Clipper, since her announcement in May 2015, through her keel laying at the Brodosplit Shipyard in Split, Croatia, in December of that year. On Saturday the Flying Clipper was … Continue reading
Sailors competing in the Royal Western Yacht Club’s Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) and the Twohanded Transatlantic Race (TwoSTAR) were battered by a North Atlantic storm with 60 knot winds and 45′ seas, 900 miles miles east of Newfoundland. One … Continue reading
New York Harbor is the busiest port on the east coast of the United States. Here is a fascinating video about the challenges and dangers of the being on the water where cargo ships, tugs and barges, ferries, sailboats, power … Continue reading
US Navy archaeologists have retrieved a cannon which they believe came from USS Revenge, a schooner commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry in 1811. The schooner struck a reef and sank off Watch Hill in Westerly, RI in 1811. Navy divers … Continue reading
This is only slightly nautical, but I find it interesting, nevertheless. China has opened a floating solar power farm. Unlike offshore wind power, the facility is not at sea. The 40-megawatt solar power plant is floating over what was once an … Continue reading
In 1614, the Onrust, captained by Dutch merchant explorer Adriaen Block, was the first European vessel to explore the Connecticut River. This summer, a replica of Block’s ship is returning to the river in a collaboration between the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, … Continue reading
If you are around New York harbor on Thursday, June 8th, from 6 — 7:45 PM, stop by the historic USCG Cutter Lilac at Pier 25 on the Hudson River to celebrate World Oceans Day. The Lilac Preservation Project is hosting … Continue reading
One last post (at least for the immediate future) on the historic schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, which is now being restored in Boothbay, Maine. Launched in February, 1894, she had a very successful almost thirty year fishing career, before becoming an Arctic exploration ship and then … Continue reading
Yesterday, we posted about the restoration of the historic schooner Ernestina, ex-Effie M. Morrissey. Here is a documentary, narrated by the polar explorer, Captain Bob Bartlett, describing a voyage to Greenland in the schooner he refers to as his “Little Morrisey.” … Continue reading
The restoration of the historic schooner Ernestina-Morrissey is a quiet success story. The schooner, launched in 1894, is being rebuilt in the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. Arriving at the yard in April 2014, she is expected to be redelivered in 2019. The schooner, the official … Continue reading
Henderson Island is an uninhabited island in the south Pacific Ocean, the largest of the four islands of the Pitcairn Island group and a part of the South Pacific British Overseas Territory. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO describes … Continue reading
A recent post on the Combi Lift company blog says that the windjammer Peking, long a resident of New York’s South Street Seaport, will travel back to its original homeport of Hamburg Germany carried by the heavy lift ship Combi Dock … Continue reading
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse marking the shoals which have become known as the “graveyard of ships,” is often referred to as Hamilton’s lighthouse. (The current lighthouse is the second built at the site.) The story goes that when the teen-aged Alexander … Continue reading
They usually make it look so easy. The United States Navy Parachute Team “Leap Frogs,” a highly trained group of SEAL parachutists, regularly perform at airshows, sporting events and other celebrations. Last Sunday, during Fleet Week in New York, something went tragically … Continue reading
On Memorial Day, an updated repost from six years ago about the last mission of the USS Olympia in 1921, when she carried an American unknown soldier killed during World War I from a cemetery in France back to the Washington to be in … Continue reading
Here is a fascinating new video from Mystic Seaport Museum describing the restoration of Mayflower II at the seaport’s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard. Mayflower II is a reproduction of the original Mayflower built from 1955-1957. Restoration Continues: Mayflower II … Continue reading