The SS Badger is a 410-foot long coal-fired passenger and vehicle ferry operating in Lake Michigan on a four hour shuttle service between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She began sailing in 1953 and is the last coal-fired passenger vessel … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Here is a wonderful story from Cruising World’s Editor’s Log about the very strange voyage of the 31-foot cruising sailboat, Bela Bartok. Derk Wolmuth was sailing Bela Bartok in last summer’s Singlehanded TransPac race between San Francisco and Kaua’i, Hawaii … Continue reading
An unexpected rescue in the salvage of the Costa Concordia. Scientists discovered rare pinna nobilis mussels at the wreck site and are relocating them so that they are not destroyed by the salvage work. Thanks to Phil Leon for pointing … Continue reading
No one aboard the Titanic took a photograph of the iceberg that sank the famous ship in 1912, but two sailors made sketches of the berg, which had a distinctly elliptical shape. It so happens that two days before, what … Continue reading
At the end of last September, the New York Times quoted un-named “Chinese and other military experts” regarding the Liaoning, the first Chinese aircraft carrier to go into service, that “China does not have planes capable of landing on the carrier and so far … Continue reading
Vincent Riou was forced to retire from the Vendee Globe over the weekend after his boat, PRG, struck a drifting steel buoy, off the coast of South America. Riou had been in third place in the race and was considered a favorite. Riou came in first in … Continue reading
Just six days after Paul Larsen in the Vestas Sailrocket 2 broke the world speed record in Walvis Bay, Namibia, subject to confirmation by WSSRC, he has now sailed a 500 meter course at an average speed of 65.42 knots! This is close … Continue reading
When thinking of sailing speed records, the first vessels that come to mind are Alain Thébault’s hydrofoil trimaran, l’Hydroptere or the aptly named VESTAS Sailrocket 2. Both are highly engineered high tech craft which have been under developement for years. … Continue reading
Scientists from Australia have just returned from a voyage of un-discovery. They have proven that Sandy Island, which appears on many nautical charts and on Google Earth and Google Maps, does no exist. The island which is depicted on Google Earth as a dark oval, … Continue reading
In the United States, today is celebrated as Thanksgiving, commermorating a 1621 feast of thanks-giving at the Plymouth colony in present-day Massachusetts. The year before in November of 1620 the ship Mayflower had carried a group of just over 100 English and Dutch Separatists, known as Pilgrims, across the … Continue reading
The six boats leading in the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race have all crossed the equator and are heading for the Southern Ocean. The leaders are, respectively – Armel Le Cléac´h, François Gabart, Bernard Stamm, Vincent Riou, Jean-Pierre Dick, and Alex Thomson. Meanwhile, Zbigniew Gutikowski, … Continue reading
HMS Astute, the first of seven new submarines, was delivered two years late, was well over budget and thus far is not yet in service, despite being delivered in 2009. Her career has been marked by elements of both comedy and tragedy. In … Continue reading
Update: On Sunday, the VESTAS Sailrocket 2 set a new speed record for 500M of 59.38 knots and a new one nautical mile record of an average of 55.32 knots. Both records are subject to confirmed by the WSSRC. The … Continue reading
A week ago last Sunday, 20 boats sailed by 20 sailors set off in the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race. Now only 15 remain in the race. Jérémie Beyou dropped out yesterday after the hydraulic ram on his articulating keel broke on his Open 60 class boat, Maître CoQ. Of the … Continue reading
John Fitzhugh Millar is a historian, author, tall ship captain and the force behind the construction of the replica HMS Rose. Here are his reminiscences of the HMS Bounty. Reposted with permission of the author. BOUNTY Reminiscences by John Fitzhugh … Continue reading
Like most of the historic vessels in and around New York harbor, the tanker Mary A. Whalen survived Superstorm Sandy Sandy better than her shore based neighbors. The tanker, which weathered Sandy at the inshore end of Pier 9B in … Continue reading
The last image of HMS Bounty was brutal – sinking off Cape Hatteras with broken spars, most of the crew in lifeboats and the captain and one crew member missing. Here are a few photos from another time, way back … Continue reading
Last Wednesday, we posted about the wreck of a wooden ship uncovered by Superstorm Sandy beneath the dunes of Fire Island, east of Davis Park. The remains are thought to be the Bessie A. White, more than 90 years old, said Paula Valentine, public affairs specialist for … Continue reading
After only a week into the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race, four of the twenty original sailors have dropped out due to casualties or gear failure. The latest include Louis Burton, who was in a collision with a fishing boat off Portugal, and Samantha Davies whose boat suffered … Continue reading
Update 2: Current reports say that eleven were injured, four critically. Two workers are still missing. An oil and gas rig in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 nautical miles southeast of Grand Isle, La., was hit by an explosion … Continue reading