On Wednesday I raised the question – is history just a sea story? I found in researching my novel, Hell Around the Horn, that two memoirs written about the voyage of the British windjammer, British Isles, on which the novel … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
In June, we posted about the Safe Affordable Ferry Design Competition, sponsored by the World Ferry Safety Association, in which student teams from six maritime universities competed to develop a ferry design for a 500 passenger ferry for Bangladesh. Recently the … Continue reading
I would like to thank all the readers and supporters of the Old Salt Blog. Today is the fifth anniversary of the very first post, five years ago. So happy birthday to us all. Since September 19th, 2008, the blog … Continue reading
What is history? What is fiction? These seem to be straightforward questions. The conventional answer would be that history is what happened and fiction are the stories that we make up. In writing my recent novel I was faced with … Continue reading
My novel Hell around the Horn is set on a British windjammer on a voyage around Cape Horn in the particularly brutal winter of 1905. I wanted to write the novel, in part, because the windjammers have been largely forgotten … Continue reading
This was the most perilous phase of the salvage of the wrecked cruise ship, Costa Concordia. The parbuckle rolling of the ship upright was where everything could go wrong. The biggest concern was that the stress would break the already damaged … Continue reading
From Tuesday, September 17 through Saturday, September 21st, we will participating in “Weigh Anchor,” a nautical blog hop organized by the wonderful Helen Hollick. She has brought together twenty three writers of nautical fiction and non-fiction to post about their … Continue reading
Updated: 15:30 – The number of dead has risen to at least twelve. One shooter is dead and one may be still at large. Updated 13:02 – The Washington Post is reporting that as many as three gunmen opened fire … Continue reading
At first it looked like the 34th America’s Cup races would be a route. Emirates Team New Zealand was simply out-sailing the defender, Oracle Team USA. Not only was the crew making fewer mistakes but the Kiwi’s boat seemed noticeably … Continue reading
Watch live: Costa Concordia salvage operation – video … Continue reading
The parbuckling of the cruise ship Costa Concordia is proceeding as intended after a three hour delay due to a thunderstorm. If all goes well, the process should take 10 hours to roll the ship upright from its current position, … Continue reading
In brisk winds on Saturday, Emirates Team New Zealand’s hopes of winning the America’s Cup nearly came to an end when they came perilously close to capsizing during a tack in Race 8 of the Americas’ Cup races in San … Continue reading
Tomorrow, if all goes well, a small army of engineers, technicians and mariners will attempt to roll the stricken cruise ship, Costa Concordia, upright from where she sank on the island of Giglio on January 13, 2012. Once upright the … Continue reading
Scout is on its way to Spain! It is a twelve foot long autonomous robotic boat designed to cross the Atlantic Ocean, relying only on pre-programmed commands and information that it can collect about its environment through sensors. Built by a … Continue reading
The Emirates Team New Zealand challengers continue their winning streak against the defending Oracle Team USA, winning races 6 and 7. The Kiwis need only three more races to win the best of nine series to win the America’s Cup. … Continue reading
At the end of July, we posted about the sinking of the Dutch sail training ship, Astrid, a 136′ (41.65 M) brig, which ran aground on rocks on the western mouth of Oysterhaven, on the Irish coast, near Cork. She was recently … Continue reading
A very interesting opportunity posted on the Tall Ship Challenge Official Blog: Looking for more sea time and experience? Picton Castle is looking for apprentices to join them in the Pacific. For the cost of room and board, you can … Continue reading
On Tuesday the Emirates Team New Zealand beat the defending Oracle Team USA in the fifth race of the America’s Cup finals with a victory of 1 minute, 5 seconds on San Francisco Bay. This is the fourth Kiwi victory. … Continue reading
The first annual Connecticut Schooner Festival begins this today! Five days of fun in Mystic and New London, September 11 – September 15. Click here to learn more. … Continue reading
Of all the things worth remembering on 9/11, one incredible event is often overlooked. After the attack, all the bridges, tunnels and rail lines in and out of New York City were shut down. Somewhere between 300,000 and one million people … Continue reading