After a three year bidding process to attempt to find a new home for the historic cruiser Olympia, the Independence Seaport Museum has announced that it will keep the ship after all. Four groups originally bid on taking over the ship but … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Yesterday was April 1st, often known as April Fool’s Day. (Our post on a dramatic man overboard rescue was definitively not a spoof.) Yesterday “Visit St Pete-Clearwater” issued a press release about a recent sighting of the legendary “Manaphin” in … Continue reading
Andrew Taylor, 46, from London, a crew member on Derry~Londonderry~Doire yacht, racing in the Clipper Round the World Race, went overboard in the Pacific at 23.43 UTC Sunday night in rough weather. He was sighted again at 00.55 UTC before … Continue reading
Great news. The UN’s highest court has ruled against Japanese Antarctic whaling. The Japanese have notionally supported the commercial whaling moratorium adopted in 1982 but have exploited a loophole which allows for whaling for “scientific research.” As we posted last June, the the … Continue reading
Hobart “Hobie” Alter died of cancer in Palm Desert, California on March 29th, 2014 at the age of 80. In 1958, he revolutionized surfboard design by developing the foam-and-fiberglass surfboard. In the 1960s, he introduced multi-hull sailing to the mass market … Continue reading
All terrestrial life came from the sea, but how did life develop in the ocean? Professor Tim Lenton of the University of Exeter, who led a new study, said: “There had been enough oxygen in ocean surface waters for over 1.5 … Continue reading
Sarah Kirby went on a five night Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Destiny to celebrate her 30th birthday in October of 2012. Partying with friends, she became very intoxicated. Just after midnight, she went back to her stateroom and stepped out on … Continue reading
Back in 2011, we posted about Kick’em Jenny, which in addition to being the name of a rockabilly singer as well as a Dutch Celtic Symfo-Folk group, is an active underwater volcano in the Lesser Antilles about 5 miles north of … Continue reading
The April Smithsonian Magazine features photos of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry and an article titled “Building a War of 1812 Warship.” One can only imagine what Oliver Hazard Perry would have thought of the new ship that bears his name. … Continue reading
Lights, camera, mock aircraft carrier. We posted the other day about a strange mock Nimitz aircraft carrier apparently under construction in an Iranian shipyard. The Iranian-owned Al-Alam News Network is reporting that the mock-up is being built for a film … Continue reading
It appears that the British satellite firm, Inmarsat, combined high tech analysis with very basic navigation to estimate the flight path of MH370, after all other other searchers had failed to find the plane. The Prime Minister of Malaysia announced … Continue reading
On March 24, 1989, the 210,000 dwt crude oil tanker Exxon Valdez sailed from Valdez Marine Terminal and entered Alaska’s Prince William Sound. At 12:04 am, the single hulled ship ran aground on Bligh Reef, resulting in the largest oil spill in … Continue reading
Sylvia Earle is an American marine biologist, explorer, author, and lecturer. In her illustrious career she has earned many honors, including being named by Time Magazine as as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998. She is National Geographic’s explorer-in-residence, as well … Continue reading
Iran appears to be be building a non-functioning mock-up of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. The mock-up appears to be more of a barge, is not nuclear powered, doesn’t really look all that much like the Nimitz and is only about 2/3 the … Continue reading
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has published a remarkable and potentially dangerous interactive map of 1,200 years of shipwrecks in Scottish waters. The map is part of an effort to enhance the maritime record … Continue reading
We recently posted about three killer lighthouses. It turns out that lighthouse keepers had more to worry about than simply storms and terrible conditions. In the 19th century, lighthouse keepers had a high frequency of madness and suicide. Many assumed that … Continue reading
According to the historic coating specialists, Michael Crick-Smith and Ian Crick-Smith, the current black and orange-yellow color scheme of Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory is “an early 20th century invention of what an 18th century warship looked like.” Based on their study … Continue reading
I recently booked a berth on the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry on a passage next September from Newport to Bermuda under the command of Captain Richard Bailey. I find it hard to believe that it was so long ago, but nevertheless, … Continue reading
This morning, the press was abuzz with reports that last Monday, in the Mediterranean off Cyprus, US Navy SEALS boarded and took control of an oil tanker, Morning Glory, which had recently loaded a cargo of Libyan oil in the … Continue reading
Here is a good video to start the week. Kite foiling is an amazing new niche in the world of sailing. To be fair, kite boarders have sticking foils on the the bottom of their boards for years. Now, however, … Continue reading