Russian billionaire oligarch Oleg Burlakov recently spent around $200 million to purchase the Black Pearl, a new sailing yacht built by Oceanco Yachts. The yacht has three free-standing DynaRig masts and is strongly reminiscent of the three-masted Dynarig Maltese Falcon, launched in 1990. The … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Red Hook WaterStories delves into the rich and varied past and present of the waterfront of the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. If you haven’t discovered the site, a project of PortSide New York, be sure to check it out. Here … Continue reading
As a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, Norman Baker dreamed of adventure. And he didn’t just dream. At the age of 13, he won a contest where the first prize was flying lessons. He became an avid pilot and at the age … Continue reading
Nine nations; the United States, Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, China; and the European Union have agreed to ban commercial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean for at least the next 16 years. The goal of the pact … Continue reading
We are several months late in posting about Tallinn Maritime Days from last July. The port of Tallinn, on the Gulf of Finland, is the capital and largest city of Estonia and hosted 50 sailing ships in this summer’s Tallships … Continue reading
An American diving in a tour group off Costa Rico’s Cocos Island was attacked and killed yesterday by a tiger shark. The name of the victim has not been released and the circumstances of the attack are not known. The … Continue reading
I am a big fan of strip kayaks in general and the designs of Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks in particular. Given that our family already owns five kayaks, it has become harder for me to argue that I really need … Continue reading
MV Doulos once held the title of the oldest operating passenger liner. Now 103 years old, the historic ship may be close to beginning a new life as a shoreside hotel in the resort town of Bintan, Indonesia. When the refurbished ship … Continue reading
A derelict wooden boat washed ashore on Monday on Miyazawa beach in the northwest of Japan’s main island Honshu. The boat’s only cargo was eight skeletons. Evidence suggests that the boat and the bones came from North Korea. This boat is … Continue reading
In 1793, Captain James Colnett of the merchant ship Rattler placed a barrel a short distance from a bay on the island of Floreana in the Galapagos archipelago. Captain Colnett was a British Naval officer, an explorer, and a maritime … Continue reading
In 1775, George Gauld, a surveyor for the British Admiralty, charted the waters off the coast of the British colony of West Florida. Recently, Loren McClenachan, historical ecologist and professor of environmental studies at Colby College, has compared Gauld’s charts of the coral … Continue reading
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it is time to start decorating for Christmas with lights, trees, and wreathes. At the Mystic Seaport Museum, 170 wreaths are being constructed or decorated over a period of 18 days to provide decorations … Continue reading
The news of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan, missing since a week ago last Wednesday, has been uniformly grim. A report on Tuesday of a “heat stain” picked up by a US search place has come to naught. More … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving for those on this side of the pond and below the 49th parallel. (The Canadians celebrated the holiday in October.) Here is repost of a story I think is well worth retelling. In the United States, Thanksgiving only … Continue reading
A US Navy plane may have located the position of the Argentine Navy submarine ARA San Juan which has been missing since last Wednesday. Sensors aboard the plane detected a ‘heat stain’ at 230 ft below the surface, roughly 185 miles … Continue reading