In the Antarctic winter of 1916, Ernest Shackleton and a crew of five sailed in a decked over lifeboat from Elephant Island to South Georgia. They were on a desperate rescue mission across 800 miles of the roughest ocean in … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Only on rare occasional does one find a boat that would be significantly improved if run hard aground. Here is one example, however. Many large yachts have hot tubs onboard. This 16′ boat, however, is simply a floating hot tub with a … Continue reading
The minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground on a reef at the Tubbataha marine park in the Sula Sea last Thursday. The ship is still there. So far there has been no reported leaks of fuel leaks though the Navy has confirmed … Continue reading
Happy Bounty Day! On Pitcairn Island, Bounty Day is celebrated yearly on January 23, in commemoration of the burning of the HMS Bounty by the mutineers in 1790. The sail training ship Picton Castle arrived just in time to partake in the celebrations. … Continue reading
This Friday, January 25th, from 8 to 10PM, a waterfront tradition will be returning to Brooklyn. The first of planned monthly shanty sings will be held at the Brooklyn Lyceum. All lovers of the music of the sea are welcome. This Friday’s session is … Continue reading
The three masted iron barque Elissa, built in 1877, will be returning to her pier this Saturday at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston after completing a $3 million repair and replacement of hull plating. Congratulations to Jamie White and all the staff, … Continue reading
In February 2001, we posted about the problem that the US Navy has been having with the “synthetic marijuana” often referred to as “spice.” Since then the Navy has discharged over 200 sailors for use of the “spice.” Earlier this month, … Continue reading
Recent winter storms have washed ashore four large, barrel-shaped pieces of lard onto the beach at St.Cyrus nature reserve in Scotland. They are believed to be from the wreck of a merchant vessel that was bombed in WW II. Therese Alampo, St … Continue reading
It is a cold winter’s morning here on the western shore of New York Harbor. On such a morning, it is great to just sit back and get lost in images of a crystal clear ocean teaming with sea life. … Continue reading
In 2005, when the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, ran aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea, the captain claimed that the reef was incorrectly plotted on his charts. As reported by the UK’s Guardian in November 1, 2005: Red Constantino of Greenpeace Southeast Asia blamed the incident on a … Continue reading
We should probably add a new category to the blog, something along the lines of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” This post would certainly fit. The Norwegian Seafood Council has sponsored Human Sushi, a series of dances to interpret sushi … Continue reading
Four years ago, the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was sold to financial interests in Dubai who planned on converting her to a luxury hotel. Unfortunately, the arrival of the ship coincided with a credit crunch and near financial melt-down in the emirate. Last July, … Continue reading
The minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground early this morning on a reef in the Philippines’ Tubbataha National Marine Park. The park is a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, 640 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Manila. USS Guardian is an … Continue reading
New Scientist TV has a fascinating video of what it refers to as a “disco clam.” Oddly they don’t provide the scientific name for the clam. My guess is that it isn’t “disco.” Video captures disco clams producing strobe light show The disco … Continue reading
When I first visited New York’s South Street Seaport in the early 70s, it was a fairly lonely place. There was no shopping mall on Pier 17 and the high-end chain-stores like Guess, Abecrombe and Fitch and Brookstone had not yet been … Continue reading
The Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand and Siemens are developing the world’s first electrically powered car ferry. Starting in 2015, the 80-meter ferry will will operate across the Sognefjord between the towns of Lavik and Oppedal. The ferry will have the capacity … Continue reading
Workers from New York’s Central Park Conservancy were removing rust from a cannon originally from the British 28 gun frigate HMS Hussar, which sank in New York’s East River in 1780. After removing a concrete plug from the mouth of the cannon, … Continue reading
If the reporting is accurate, this doesn’t seem like the argument that Carnival should be making. Passengers ‘blamed’ for Concordia damages Costa Cruises parent company Carnival is said to have blamed passengers, at least in part, for the damages they … Continue reading
Something things just don’t go as planned. The tug, Christos 22, was towing the decommissioned former German Naval training ship, MV Emsstrom, from Germany to Turkey. On Sunday night, the tug slowed to check a problem with the tow off Hope’s Nose near Torbay, … Continue reading
A recent article in the Alaska Dispatch celebrated the recent population rebound of bowhead whales off Alaska’s North Slope. The bowheads had been hunted to near extinction. A whale count in 1978 estimated that only 1,200 bowhead whales remained in the region. … Continue reading