Happy Kamehameha Day! In the state of Hawaii, June 11th is celebrated as Kamehameha Day, honoring Kamehameha the Great, the king who unified the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810. The holiday was established in 1871 by King Kamehameha V, Kamehameha’s great grandson. … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Starting this Wednesday, June 13th, Baltimore, MD will host its “Star-Spangled Sailabration,” a week long festival with 18 tall ships and 22 naval vessels, marking the start of Maryland’s three year commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812. In addition to the parade … Continue reading
These are busy time for the World War II vintage Iowa Class battleships. The USS Iowa arrived yesterday in the Port of Los Angeles to tie up alongside her new permanent home, Berth 87, in San Pedro, California, where she will become … Continue reading
The recent transit of Venus, the passing of the shadow of the planet Venus across the face of the sun, brought to mind the voyage of Captain Cook in HMS Endeavour in 1768-1771. Now, archaeologists in Rhode Island believe they may have … Continue reading
Tropical cyclone Marwar ended attempts by two solo British rowers to row across the Pacific this week. Sarah Outen, 27, was attempting to traverse the globe using only human power, by either rowing, kayaking or cycling. She began her … Continue reading
The Liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery, with a cargo of high explosives, was wrecked off the Nore in the Thames Estuary in 1944. Shortly after the wreck, an attempt was made to remove her cargo but the ship broke apart with … Continue reading
A recent ruling by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, determined that orca trainers must either remain at a greater distance from the orcas, stand behind a physical barrier or use other devices to keep them safer during performances. This ruling … Continue reading
Tomorrow, a truly impressive fleet of tall and naval ships will be proceeding in a “Sea and Air Parade of Sail.” The parade will pass through the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at Cape Henry, through Thimble Shoals Channel … Continue reading
We have posted last March about the replica of the French light frigate l’ Hermione, which has been under construction since 1997 at the historic dockyard in Rochefort, France. The original l’ Hermione carried the 23 year old the Marquis de Lafayette back to America in … Continue reading
A 66 feet long, 165 tonne, starfish and barnacle encrusted, steel and concrete floating dock has washed up on Agate beach, south-west of Portland, Oregon. A plaque on the dock identifies it as coming from the port of Misawa in northern … Continue reading
There is a new threat to our nautical heritage and our nation’s defense! In 2007, the composite tea clipper Cutty Sark, built in 1869, was ravaged by fire. An investigation revealed the culprit – an industrial vacuum cleaner. Now, it appears … Continue reading
The Normandy landings, on June 6, 1944, was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops and 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships. Normandy Invasion D-Day Landings, 6 June 1944 … Continue reading
MSC’s newest passenger ship, the MSC Davina, recently called at the Venice lagoon setting off a storm of protests. The protesters think that such a large ship creates too much pollution and could damage the fragile environment of the lagoon. The MSC Davina is 139,400 GT, … Continue reading
After damaging a wingtip that extended beyond the side of the barge when the Space Shuttle Enterprise was moved from Kennedy Airport on Sunday, today the shuttle was moved to a larger barge for its last and shorter leg of … Continue reading
The Space Shuttle Enterprise has not had an easy time in New York. When it was barged last Sunday between Kennedy Airport and Bayonne, New Jersey, prior to its final move to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, it suffered minor damage to one wingtip when the barge … Continue reading
Patrick O’Brian is a well known name in nautical fiction. Now another Patrick O’Brien, with a different spelling of his last name and an American, rather than an Englishman pretending to be Irish, is making a name for himself as a marine artist. Here … Continue reading
On June 5th and 6th, depending on where you are in the world, there will be the last transit of Venus, where the planet Venus visibly passes between the earth and the Sun, until the year 2017. The previous transit of Venus … Continue reading
The Space Shuttle Enterprise was built as a prototype. As such it never flew in space. That is not to say, however, that it hasn’t traveled. In April, we caught it on video taking a ride on a NASA 747 up … Continue reading
An estimated million spectators lined the Thames to watch what has been described as the largest river pageant in history to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who, at 86, is England’s oldest reigning monarch. Over 1,000 … Continue reading
Gareth Glover, the skipper of the yacht New York, was good enough to sit down yesterday and provide a glimpse of sailing in the Clipper Round the World Race. Clipper Round the World Race – Interview with Skipper Gareth Glover [iframe: width=”580″ … Continue reading