Toshiba Tall Ships Festival at Dana Point

The Ocean Institute is celebrating its 29th year hosting the Toshiba Tall Ships Festival at Dana Point, CA.  The festival kicks off with a tall ships parade at sunset tomorrow, September 6th with festivities continuing through the weekend.  Participating ships include … Continue reading

Australian Salt Water Crocodiles – Kayaker Trapped on Remote Island & Swimmer Who Wasn’t As Lucky

Saltwater crocodiles are close enough to living, breathing, terrifying sea monsters. Capable of growing to over 20 feet long and weighing a tonne, they are the the largest of all living reptiles and the largest riparian predator in the world.  Saltwater … Continue reading

Gloucester Schooner Festival and Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta 2013

Another year and I still did not manage to get up to Gloucester for the Schooner Festival and Race. Oh well. Maybe next year I’ll drag my catboat up for the catboat races.  Congratulations to all the captains and crews … Continue reading

Labor Day Festivities – Festival of Sail in San Diego and 21st Annual Great North River Tug Boat Race and Competition in New York

Great activities on the water, on both coasts, this Labor Day weekend. In San Diego, the annual Festival of Sail began yesterday with a Parade of Sail and continues through Monday with lots of great activities. as described by San Diego … Continue reading

Dick Newick – Revolutionary Multihull Designer

Dick Newick, the brilliant multihull designer, has died at 87.  His designs, particularly his trimarans,  revolutionized the world of multihull sailing.  His designs are remarkably graceful, simple, light and astonishingly fast.  In a very real sense, the history of multihull … Continue reading

29th Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival – Labor Day Weekend August 30 to September 1, 2013

The 29th Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival, in all its glory, is being held again over Labor Day weekend with waterfront tours, public lobster bakes, fireworks, and of course, many lovely schooners. Sunday begins with a parade of sail before the … Continue reading

Shanghai Roasts the “Rubber Duck”

In June, we posted about the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s traveling 16.5 metre-tall “Rubber Duck,” which has visited 13 cities in nine different countries.  It last visited Hong Kong harbor and is now reported to be on its way to Pittsburgh.  In … Continue reading

Wreck of Steamer Robert J. Walker, Sunk in 1860, Identified Off New Jersey Coast

In 1970, fisherman discovered a shipwreck in about 85 feet of water, ten miles off the Absecon Inlet on the New Jersey coast.   For more than 40 years, divers have visited the unidentified wreck.  Now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration … Continue reading

“We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours” – Commemorating the Battle of Lake Erie 2013

Oliver Hazard Perry‘s message to his superiors was brief: “We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.”  Perry’s victory at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, was one … Continue reading

Composite Clipper City of Adelaide Soon on her Way to Australia, or Not

The two headlines in the BBC are from the same day and posted only an hour apart. The first reads “World’s oldest clipper ship transported to Australia.” The second – “City of Adelaide clipper ship export ban sought.”   Both … Continue reading