Tomorrow, September 15, a Maritime Ghost Conference will be held on the Steam Ferry Berkeley at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The conference is sponsored by the San Diego Ghost and Paranormal Group and is also a fundraiser for the Maritime Museum. In … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
I have been a fan of Sailor Twain for some time. Sailor Twain, or The Mermaid in the Hudson is a webcomic by Mark Siegel. He has been posting pages online every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the tale unfolding in … Continue reading
In April, we posted about a scathing review of the Cutty Sark restoration by Andrew Gilligan, the Telegraph‘s London Editor. He referred to the restoration as “a clucking, Grade A … turkey.” I have not seen the ship but I share many of Gilligan’s concerns. (I will be visiting the … Continue reading
Last year around this time, we posted about Harold Hackett of Prince Edward Island, who since 1996 has cast 4,800 bottles containing messages into the sea and has received 3,100 responses. Harold may hold the record for the most bottle … Continue reading
On Saturday, a passenger and a crew member on the schooner Bill of Rights were wounded by bird shot apparently fired from the topsail schooner Amazing Grace during a mock sea battle at the Tobisha Tall Ship Festival at Dana Point, … Continue reading
One year and one day after the Battle of Lake Erie, an American squadron, under the command of Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough, defeated the Royal Navy on Lake Champlain in a bloody battle at Plattsburgh Bay. The Battle of Plattsburgh turned back an invasion … Continue reading
The best known naval battles of the War of 1812 were single ship duels between US Navy frigates and ships of the Royal Navy. Nevertheless, the two most important American naval victories of the War of 1812 were fought in fresh water, hundreds of miles from the ocean. … Continue reading
Shackleton Epic Expeditions has announced the availability of 10 berths on T/S Pelican when it serves as a support vessel for the upcoming re-enactment of an epic lifeboat voyage undertaken by Ernest Shackleton and five sailors in 1916. The Pelican is a … Continue reading
Good news. On Friday, we posted that the captain of the U.S. flag heavy lift ship, MV Ocean Atlas, had been arrested in Maracaibo, Venezuela after three rifles were found aboard the ship. The rifles had reportedly been listed in the ship’s manifest. Reports are … Continue reading
The 4,380 TEU container ship Amsterdam Bridge caught fire on a voyage between Mumbai to Colombo. The ship returned to Mumbai and is now at an outer anchorage. Recent reports suggests that the fire is contained if not necessarily completely extinguished. VesselTracker.com is reporting that Coast Guard officials suspect that … Continue reading
From the “Muppets Treasure Island” 1996. Sailing For Adventure (1996) Thanks to Cynthia Drew for daring me to post it. … Continue reading
Snorkelers and divers swimming south of Isla Mujeres and off Punta Nizuc off Cancun will now find themselves in a monumental underwater sculpture garden of life-sized human statues rising up from the sandy bottom in crystal tropical clear waters. The 450 … Continue reading
The plan for a new artificial reef was wonderful, and beautifully executed until the very last minute. Artist Chris Wojcik had constructed a 47-foot-long, 25,000-pound concrete sculpture of a horseshoe crab, which was welded to two barges and was to be sunk … Continue reading
Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, best known for navigating the Sea of Tranquility, began his career as a Navy aviator. Armstrong, who died on August 25, at the age of 82, will be buried at sea as per his … Continue reading
On August 29, the multipurpose US flag cargo ship, M/V Ocean Atlas, arrived in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Not long after, the ship was detained by Venezuelan security forces and was repeatedly searched by agents from Interpol and the Venezuelan drug enforcement agency, reportedly based on a tip that … Continue reading
Sad news. Dr. Edmund ‘Ned’ Cabot, 69, a retired surgeon and a lifelong sailor, drowned on Saturday off the coast of Newfoundland when his sloop Cielita was knocked down by a “rogue wave” and he was lost overboard. Edmund ‘Ned’ Cabot, Boston … Continue reading
The first reports spoke of a “mystery shipwreck” uncovered by Hurricane Isaac on an Alabama beach about six miles from Fort Morgan. It turns out the wooden vessel is not so mysterious after all. Local historians identified her as the 150 feet … Continue reading
The sea ice in the Arctic has melted to a record low this year. Yachts are not voyaging where once only large icebreakers could travel. Recently, the three man crew of the Belzebub II, a 1976 built Hallberg-Rassy Monsun 31 sloop, … Continue reading
The 20th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition was again a great success. For full and complete coverage check out Will’s Tugster blog. Great photographs and commentary. For those in the area who still haven’t had your fill of tugboats, you may want to head … Continue reading
Recently a number of newspapers have run an Associated Press article titled, “New York’s new environmental ‘hero’ – the oyster.” The article describes how researchers are reseeding oysters in New York harbor Each oyster can filter about 50 gallons of water a … Continue reading