Jeanne Socrates is a 76-year-old grandmother of three, originally from Ealing, West London. She didn’t start sailing until she was 50 but nevertheless has circumnavigated the globe under sail three times in S/V Nereida, a Najad 380. She currently holds the record as … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
I am very excited by a new series, “Disasters at Sea” that will be premiering on the Smithsonian Channel this Sunday, January 13th. The series is produced by Exploration Production Inc. in association with Smithsonian Networks and Discovery Channel (Canada). The … Continue reading
The effort to save the Falls of Clyde has suffered at least a temporary setback. Last November, we posted about an announcement by the Save the Falls of Clyde — International, a group endeavoring to move the Falls of Clyde, the last surviving iron-hulled, … Continue reading
On Thursday, a fire broke out in one cargo container on the Yantian Express, a 7,510 TEU container ship, about 1,500 kilometers southeast of Halifax. The fire spread to adjacent containers. The firefighting tug, Smit Nicobar, arrived Friday evening but weather conditions limited what the tug’s crew could … Continue reading
MSC Zoe is one of the largest container ships in the world with a capacity of over 19,000 twenty foot containers. Nevertheless, when Storm Zeetje pounded northern Germany with gale force winds late on Tuesday night, 277 containers were washed … Continue reading
On New Year’s Eve 1918, over 200 men crowded the dock at the port of Kyle of Lochalsh waiting to the board the HMY Iolaire, a 190′ long iron-hulled yacht requisitioned by the Admiralty. Most of the men were Royal Navy Reservists. … Continue reading
In 2010, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland was attempting to become the youngest person to sail around the world, non-stop singlehanded. It didn’t go well. Sunderland’s boat, Wild Eyes, an Open 40 class racer, capsized and was dismasted in a remote region … Continue reading
Around 1,800 nautical miles northwest of Oahu, the car carrier Sincerity Ace is adrift and on fire. Sixteen of her Philippine crew have been rescued, while four are feared dead and one remains missing. The fire broke on on Monday on the Panamanian … Continue reading
Yesterday, we posted about a ship which allegedly crossed the International Date Line and the equator at exactly the right time. Today, we will look at the other side of the globe, where the Prime Meridian crosses the equator, to the crowded, yet … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful sea story which appears to be more or less true. RMS Warrimoo was an Australian/New Zealand passenger ship, launched in 1892. The ship is best remembered for crossing the intersection of the international dateline and the equator at precisely the turn of … Continue reading
Sometimes the events of the day seem downright surreal. Yesterday, I read about the US Coast Guard cutter Campbell which returned to the Portsmouth Naval Base from a three month Pacific patrol in which it seized more than 11,000 pounds … Continue reading
Recently, teams of Navy specialists have successfully removed 230,000 gallons of fuel, or close to 800 tons, still aboard the Prinz Eugen when it sank at Kwajalein, 72 years ago. The bottom of the lagoon at the Kwajalein Atoll is … Continue reading
On Wednesday, 71-year-old French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin set off to cross the Atlantic in an unlikely craft — a barrel. He departed from El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, west of Morocco, in a barrel-shaped capsule with the intention of drifting, … Continue reading
Approximately 42,000 active-duty military members of the Coast Guard remain on duty during the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, but they will work without pay until further notice, according to a statement from a Coast Guard spokeswoman. “Unless legislation … Continue reading
A report from a few years ago. A story well worth retelling. Today the Christmas Ship is Chicago’s largest all-volunteer charitable support program for inner-city youth and their families at Christmas time. At the turn of the twentieth century, the “Christmas Tree … Continue reading