We recently posted about Gunboat’s new G4 carbon-fiber catamaran which can fly on foils. (It can also capsize dramatically.) As high tech and leading edge as the G4 may be, it is not the first cruising foiling multihull. Forty five … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean continues to grow more grave. Last week, we posted about the drowning of 400 migrants in an overloaded ship which capsized not long after leaving port in Libya bound for Italy. On Sunday, a larger ship … Continue reading
Within a few hours after the replica French frigate l’Hermione set sail on her maiden voyage to the United States, friends stopped by our house on the west side of the Hudson River for drinks and brought an unexpected gift. … Continue reading
Today the replica frigate l’Hermione will sail from its mooring off the small island of Aix on the west of France, and navigate up the Charente river to the historic naval town of Rochefort, before setting out across the Atlantic to … Continue reading
The Newtown Creek was recently sold at auction. At 324′ long and 49.6′ wide, she is a lovely coastal tanker that traversed New York harbor’s waters for close to a half century. For a vessel of her size and type, I always found … Continue reading
Last May we posted about the donation of the schooner 64’5″ Fiddler’s Dream to the Kitsap Maritime Heritage Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to celebrate the Puget Sound’s maritime heritage through exhibition, education, and helping people of all ages and abilities to … Continue reading
I was invited onto the Mark Forrest Show on BBC radio to discuss the history and importance of sea shanties. A quick five minute interview. To hear more of the program, click here. … Continue reading
An estimated 400 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean when their boat capsized, 24 hours after leaving Libya. Approximately 145 people were rescued. Italian authorities say that around 8,500 migrants had been rescued at sea between Friday and Monday alone. Nearly 3,500 migrants … Continue reading
In December we posted about a new 40′ carbon-fiber racing/cruising catamaran from Gunboat, the G4, that with the optional J foils could fly like an America’s Cup racer. Here now is a video of the G4 being put through the … Continue reading
In my new novel, The Shantyman, the clipper ship Alhambra nearly collides with a massive ice island. From Chapter Nine: In the forenoon watch came the cry, “Ice, dead ahead.” It was my watch below, but I jumped up with the rest … Continue reading
What should a ghost ship be made of? Why not water, wind and light? That is precisely what the designers at the Romanian Art collective Visual Skin used to create the Flying Dutchman, a glowing ghost ship anchored in front … Continue reading
Given the recent discussion about where a derelict might drift in the Atlantic, here is an interesting news item from the Pacific. Four years after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami which hit Japan and washed an estimated 5 … Continue reading
The hospital ship USNS Comfort recently deployed on a five month mission to Central and South America and the Caribbean. The ship will call on eleven nations in support of Continuing Promise 2015. The ship sailed with a new captain, the third, … Continue reading
Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority of Washington State, owns and operates two tall ships, Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain. In the past five years they have introduced over 42,000 school children to tall ship sailing and program up and down the entire … Continue reading
One of the more interesting questions about Louis Jordan’s ordeal is “why didn’t he drift farther north on the Gulf Stream?” Jordan was dismasted in his Alberg 35 sailboat, named Angel, somewhere off the North Carolina coast in January and … Continue reading
A fire broke out today on the 23 year old Russian Oscar class K-266 Orel nuclear submarine in a drydock in the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk on the White Sea. Reportedly, a welding torch set insulation on fire. The shipyard has … Continue reading
These days just about anything with a mast or two is called a “tall ship.” Some are and many are not. One ship that definitely qualifies is Rhode Island’s Oliver Hazard Perry. A dedicated team of riggers has just about … Continue reading
This would be funny, if it weren’t sad. Last week the German container ship, Houston Express, picked up Louis Jordan, who had been drifting off Cape Hatteras for a reported 66 days in his dis-masted Alberg 35 sailboat, Angel. The … Continue reading
In 1780, the French frigate, l’Hermione carried the Marquis de Lafayette to America with the news of French support for the American revolution. In the next month or so, the newly completed replica frigate l’Hermione will recreate that historic voyage. … Continue reading
In case you missed the lunar eclipse early this morning, visible from 2AM to 6:30AM Pacific time, here is the four hour eclipse in one minute,courtesy of the Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory. Thanks to Phil Leon for passing it along. … Continue reading