Jeanne Socrates, a 70 year old British grandmother, has rounded the Cape of Good Hope on her sailboat, Nereida, in her attempt to become the oldest non-stop solo circumnavigator. She left Victoria, British Columbia in October and successfully rounded Cape Horn in January. … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
A large round hole in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, 80 kilometers west of the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals, may have been made by a fragment of the meteor which exploded in a massive fireball above the region … Continue reading
On Monday, April 8 at 8:00 PM at the New York Academy of Medicine, Rosanne Cash is singing at a benefit concert to help save the schooner Lettie G. Howard. Rosanne Cash is a gifted, Grammy award winning singer/songwriter and … Continue reading
UPDATE: The Soldini Maserati team set a new New York to San Francisco sailing record of 47 days, 2 hours and 33 minutes, breaking the previous record by ten days. Sometime Saturday, the Soldini team sailing the 70′ Maserati is expected … Continue reading
In October 2009, we posted “Rich Men’s Toys – Battleships, Helipads & Submarines,” about several mega-yachts, including the world’s largest, Roman Abramovich’s 557 feet (170 meters) M/Y Eclipse. The yacht arrived in New York harbor this week and is now tied up … Continue reading
Today is third day of hearings by the US Coast Guard on the sinking of the HMS Bounty on October 29, 2012, with loss of crew member Claudene Christian and Captain Robin Walbridge. The hearings will continue in Portsmouth VA through … Continue reading
There is virtually no place on earth beyond its reach. No, not the US Navy. Starbucks. The coffee seller is now even opening a store on a navy warship, the amphibious assault ship, USS Boxer. The “Starboxer” is the first … Continue reading
There is a fire in one of two engine rooms on a cruise ship. The fire is extinguished but the damage has been done. The cruise ship blacks out – losing power and most electricity. The ship is adrift in the ocean. There is so hot … Continue reading
Conditions aboard the Carnival Triumph are reported to be growing increasingly grim. Since the ship was disabled by an engine room fire on Sunday off the coast of Mexico with over 4,000 passengers and crew aboard, there has no hot food, … Continue reading
Congratulations to Matt Rutherford who was recently awarded the Ocean Cruising Club’s Jester Medal, for an outstanding contribution to the art of single-handed sailing. In April of last year, Matt completed a record breaking 309 day, more than 27,000 mile, … Continue reading
An engine room fire has knocked out the propulsion and the primary electrical system on the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula. Emergency generators are providing limited power to the passenger areas. The ship … Continue reading
Five crew members on the cruise ship Thomson Majesty are reported to have died and three others were injured after a lifeboat fell 65 feet into the water during a safety drill at the port of Santa Cruz in La Palma, in Spain’s … Continue reading
Today is Samuel Plimsoll‘s birthday. Born on February 10, 1824, Plimsoll, a British politician and social reformer fought for reasonable loading of cargo ships, which lead the adoption of the first modern loadline, which became known as the Plimsoll mark or Line. In … Continue reading
The Kindle Edition of Hell Around the Horn will be free today through Monday, February 9 – 11th. Click here to download a copy. This is the second and last Kindle free promotion for the book. For those who have asked for … Continue reading
A fascinating video about the legacy of shipbuilders of Essex, Massachussets being carried on by the Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum. Thanks to Peter Lane for pointing it out. See also our previous posts, The Shipbuilders of Essex and Launching the Schooner … Continue reading
Remember when ships were built from the keel up and launched by sliding down the building ways into the water with a satisfying splash? OK, maybe I am showing my age. These days ships are built like LEGOs, massive LEGOs, … Continue reading
A powerful magnitude 8.0 earthquake off the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific triggered a tsunami of up to 5 feet high, damaging several villages and leaving several people missing, presumed dead. Five villages on Santa Cruz and neighboring islands were reported to have … Continue reading
Perhaps the old adage, “be careful what you wish for” should be “be careful what you fish for.” That was the lesson learned recently by a group of marlin fisherman off the coast of Panama after their intended catch capsized … Continue reading
In late January we posted about the “Shackleton Epic Expedition,” led by Australian Tim Jarvis, shoving off from Elephant Island in the lifeboat Alexandra Shackleton, in an attempt to reenact the incredible 1916 voyage of Ernest Shackleton and his six man … Continue reading
The high-tech canting keels on the Vendée Globe Open 60 racing sailboats continue to be problematic, at best. On Sunday, Javier Sanso’s boat, Acciona, capsized, when his keel broke off. Sanso was rescued today. Also today, Jean-Pierre Dick crossed the finish line despite having lost his … Continue reading