Father’s Day is celebrated in the United States on Sunday, June 16th. Here are a few selected Father’s Day sails which most salty dads are likely to enjoy: New York Harbor – Schooner Shearwater, Father’s Day weekend – “Fathers will be … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
From more than 650 underwater images submitted, Kyle McBurnie’s photo of a harbor seal in a kelp forest at Cortes Bank was chosen as “Best Overall” photograph in the the 2013 Annual Underwater Photography Contest hosted by the University of … Continue reading
What a difference a blackout and overflowing toilets can make. In September of last year the headline in the L.A. Times was “Cruise industry rebounding from ship accident, woes in Europe.” The subtitle read, “Cruise reservations seem to be rising, … Continue reading
Thousands thronged Hong Kong’s Victoria harbor waterfront to say goodbye to a beloved four-story inflatable yellow duck. (See our recent post, Spreading Joy Around the World,” aka “Rubber Duck” – Inflated, Deflated, Revived & Censored) The huge inflatable duck, which is named … Continue reading
A group of 16 Russian scientists, monitoring climate change in the Arctic, encountered more than they had planned on. They had to be rescued when the ice beneath their station began to crack due to unusually warm weather. The Russian nuclear … Continue reading
The news stories are depressingly familiar. A ferry, often in a developing nation, sinks along the coast or in a river and the lives of hundred are lost. In regions where ferries are the most necessary, they are often the … Continue reading
Yesterday, we posted about a report by the WWF on shipping accident “hotspots” around the world. The report noted that often these regions of increased risk of ship sinking or collision also coincided with environmentally sensitive areas. Fortunately the shipping … Continue reading
Happy World Oceans Day! The World Wildlife Federation has released a study to coincide with World Oceans Day, documenting dangerous “hotspots” around the globe for accidents involving ships. Sadly many of these “hotspots” also coincide with some of the most ecologically … Continue reading
For those near New York harbor next Monday, I will be giving a presentation on “The Future of Commercial Sail” at the monthly New York City Shiplore meeting on Monday, June 10th at 7:30 PM at 79 Walker Street, 5th … Continue reading
McBook Press‘ wonderful publication Quarterdeck, has a fascinating interview with Joan Druett in their June 2013 edition. We are reposting it here with permission. Award-winning author Joan Druett sailed back into nautical fiction in 2005 with the launch of A … Continue reading
I was under the impression that the State of Michigan had serious problems – a $2 billion budget shortfall, its largest city in dire economic straits, schools closing for lack of funding, that sort of thing. Things must be better … Continue reading
In early May, a five story high inflatable rubber duck was set adrift in Hong Kong harbor. The duck was sponsored by the Harbour City shopping mall. Created by the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, it was named “Spreading Joy Around the … Continue reading
Typically, modern offshore wind turbines come in only one size and shape – really big, rising up from the ocean floor. The University of Maine, with support from the Department of Energy, has just launched a new test design, the first … Continue reading
Recently, we celebrated the saving of the wonderful Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Now a story about “mermaids” that is a bit disturbing. There were two news stories that at first glance had little in common, other than a distant nautical … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful story of Justin Beckerman, an 18-year-old high school student in New Jersey, who is in the final testing phase of designing and manufacturing a fully-operational one-man submarine. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing the story along. … Continue reading
The Mermaid Parade is Saved! Last week, we posted about a Kickstarter Fundraiser to save the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. The parade, which has been held yearly since 1983, was nearly shut down by Superstorm Storm, which did over $400,000 … Continue reading
The carrack Mary Rose was King Henry VIII’s flagship. After thirty three years of service, it sank in the Solent on July 19, 1545. Out of 500 sailors, 35 survived. The wreck was located in 1971 and the ship was … Continue reading
In most cases, no one ever manages to find the carcass of a dead sea serpent or lake monster washed up on a beach. The one big, literal and figurative, exception are the”globsters,” massive carcasses which have been washing shore … Continue reading
At around 2:50 AM Monday night a fire broke out on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Grandeur of the Seas, which had been bound for Coco Cay, Bahamas. The ship was rerouted to Freeport, Bahamas where the 2,224 passengers and 796 … Continue reading
The new S-80 class submarines under construction for the Spanish Navy are high-tech wonders with an “air-independent-propulsion” system which allows the non-nuclear submarines to operate independently of the surface by using bio-ethanol engines and fuel cells. It was announced recently, … Continue reading