The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine documents the rich and deep maritime history of the region and the town that was famous for its ship captains. The museum has a wonderful set of on-line, searchable, photography collections documenting the area’s ships, … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
The Pacific Ocean is indeed the world’s largest ocean. It is hard to grasp just how many fisherman from the myriad of islands in the Pacific become lost, are carried away by a storm, break down or run out of … Continue reading
The presumed death toll remains at 32 in the sinking of the Costa Concordia. Today divers located eight more bodies, bringing the number of known dead to 25 while the number of missing and presumed dead dropped to 7. Only … Continue reading
Within the next day or so, two Spanish Air Force C-130 transport planes will land at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base to load 17 tons of gold and silver coins and other artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Spanish Navy’s Nuestra … Continue reading
Video shot by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), roughly a month after the ship ran aground, shows that the Costa Concordia is not sitting evenly on the bottom. Instead, the 950′ long ship is perched perilously on two rocky outcroppings at the bow … Continue reading
An inflatable fishing boat has survived an attack by a 7 meter long great white shark off Strandfontein, South Africa. The fisherman were fishing for smooth hound sharks, which great whites consider to be very tasty. As reported by IOL … Continue reading
PortSide New York is one of the absolutely best waterfront educational organizations in New York harbor. Centered around the historic coastal tanker Mary A.Whalen, PortSide has sponsored a wide range of great programs ranging from activities for kids and adults, to hosting … Continue reading
In the United States, today is celebrated as Washington’s Birthday, also widely known as Presidents Day. On this the official day of celebration of his birthday, it seems worthwhile to look back on General George Washington’s navy of 1775 and … Continue reading
Two very interesting projects involving commercial sail from the Traditional Sail Professionals Linked-in Group. In Brittany, Avel Marine‘s Project Grand Largue is designing and testing auxiliary sailing rigs for existing fishing vessels. The design features a bipod mast and easily handled sails. The rig has … Continue reading
These are busy days in ocean rowing. The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge has finishing up and the Bouvet Guyane Solo Atlantic Rowing Race 2012 is well underway. There have been races across the Indian Ocean and races are scheduled for the Pacific. It … Continue reading
The schooner Ernestina, Ex. Effie M.Morrissey, was built in 1894 for the Gloucester fishing fleet. Under Captain Bob Bartlett she sailed to within 600 miles of the North Pole, and later brought immigrants to the U.S. under the power of … Continue reading
Three stories this weekend of oil spills, a successful oil transfer and opportunities lost in mitigating a spill. Two barges collided on the Mississippi River on Friday upriver from New Orleans. A roughly 3,500 barrel capacity double hulled tank barge suffered damage … Continue reading
Looking slightly like a miniature Costa Concordia, the 60.2 meter (197′) French yacht Yogi rolled and sank after reporting a ‘mechanical failure’ in high seas and Force 8 winds on Friday. The yacht sank between the islands of Skyros and Psara, 19 nautical miles … Continue reading
Canadian Submarine HMCS Corner Brook ran aground during manoeuvres off Vancouver Island in June 2011. Two sailors were slightly injured. The Canadian navy never described the extent of the damage or released a photograph of the damage to the sub. The sub has now just … Continue reading
We have previously posted about the CBC’s “Land and Sea,” a program which for thirty years has been focussed on stories from people who live off the land and the sea on the Canadian Atlantic. In December, they featured a wonderful documentary on Nova … Continue reading
Armed guards, reported to be Italian naval personnel, on the tanker, Enrica Lexie, fired on and killed two Tamil Nadu fishermen off Kochi on Wednesday, believing the fishermen to be pirates. Indian authorities said the Italian guards fired without warning in violation … Continue reading
Pirate attacks are escalating in the Gulf of Guinea, with tragic consequences. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre posted on its website that eight armed pirates boarded a drifting bulk carrier, awaiting berthing instructions, on Monday in the Gulf of Guinea, 110 … Continue reading
A quick look at two quirky structures that look like a boat and a ship left high and dry. What appears to be a modest houseboat is perched above the Purcell Room of Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre … Continue reading
The ketch Irene, built in 1907 to carry bricks and tiles, has set sail with a cargo of Devon ale for Brittany and Spanish olive oil for Brazil, on what will be, if all goes well, a five month voyage which will also carry … Continue reading
The Guardian reports that, “Russian scientists have confirmed they have drilled through more than 2.3 miles of ice to reach Lake Vostok, a 16,000 sq km (6,200 sq mile) body of water that has been isolated from the rest of … Continue reading