Have you ever wanted to live in an aquarium? I have friends who have been flooded recently, who may feel that they do and I strongly suspect that they do not recommend it. Here is an alternative which looks a lot … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Ten years ago today, amidst the smoke, flames, and debris from the collapsed World Trade Center towers, an armada of tugs, ferries, launches and virtually every other craft available in New York harbor steamed toward the docks and seawalls of … Continue reading
It is an all too common story, an overloaded and poorly maintained ferry in an impoverished nation capsizes, drowning many of its passengers. It happens so often it that it is often not reported beyond the local press. This morning at three AM … Continue reading
If Malcom McLean was the father of containerization, then Keith Tantlinger, who died recently at the age of 92, was the father of the shipping container. Tantlinger’s container designs spurred the containerization revolution that forever changed both shipping and world trade. The idea of “containerizing” … Continue reading
What does it take to get a sailboat with an 80′ tall mast beneath a bridge with a 65′ vertical clearance? It takes balls. Boat balls, which is to say, two heavy bags each filled with a ton of water, … Continue reading
For those of a non-piratical bent there is still a lot going on this weekend. The Yonkers Riverfest 2011 will be held tomorrow just a bit up the river from New York City. The schooner A.J. Meerwald will be offering … Continue reading
The good folks in Eastport, Maine have seen fit to once again hold their annual Eastport Pirate Festival this weekend, featuring lots of fun activities including a lobster boat race. (Who knew pirates had lobster boats?) The Treasure Coast … Continue reading
On this day in 1754, William Bligh was born. Following the famous mutiny on HMS Bounty, his name would become synonymous with harsh discipline bordering on tyranny. The mutiny on the Bounty would be only one of four mutinies that Bligh would live … Continue reading
The news that the battleship USS Iowa has found a new home brings to mind the story of the battleship and the destroyer USS William D Porter, nicknamed the “Willie D.” The USS Iowa served in World War II as … Continue reading
The USS Iowa will soon have a new home. The Port of Los Angeles has won the bidding to support the battleship, beating out Vallejo which had also been actively bidding for the ship. Los Angeles Wins USS Iowa Bid … Continue reading
The Seaport Museum of New York, better known as the South Street Seaport Museum, will be taken over by the Museum of the City of New York with starting funds of $2 million in the form of a grant from the … Continue reading
A 23 year old woman reportedly fell overboard into the North Sea just after 8.30pm on Monday night from the Princess Seaways DFDS ferry bound from from Newcastle to Ijmuiden. The woman was reportedly lighting a cigarette at the rail … Continue reading
Last February we posted that Somali pirates had hijacked a Danish sailboat with four adults and three children aboard. Yesterday, the Danish Foreign Ministry announced seven Danish citizens, including a family with three children had been released. It has been reported that the pirates were … Continue reading
Oh well. I guess there is nothing surprising about this news report. It seems that David Copp, a tourist visiting Ilfracombe Harbour, west of Bristol, in the UK, complained to the harbor-master that the fish being landed on the quayside had a “disgusting smell.” Nor, … Continue reading
The MT Phoenix, which has been hard aground and leaking oil on a South African beach, is finally free. This Saturday, two salvage tugs, Smit Amanda and Smit Siyanda, under the direction of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), successfully towed the ship … Continue reading
The 120 year old ketch, Leader, was dismasted yesterday in force seven winds off Portland Bill, Dorset; losing her main mast, boom, sails and associated rigging. An RNLI lifeboat was called to assist and successfully towed the Leader and her 16 … Continue reading
Ironically, the further inland from where Hurricane Irene made landfall in Brooklyn, the more damage and disruption the storm caused. While the 19th Annual Great North River Tug Boat Race and Competition went off without a hitch, the annual Waterford Tugboat Roundup scheduled … Continue reading
While here in New York harbor, we were cheering on tug boats racing along belching black smoke, the good folks in Gloucester, Massachusetts were celebrating classic schooners. The tug boat race was great fun, but I do so love schooners and the schooners at … Continue reading
The Hudson River as it enters New York harbor is still an unhealthy shade of brown from all the runoff from Hurricane Irene. Nevertheless it was a fine day to be on the river, especially to watch the 19th Annual Great North River Tug … Continue reading
Fin whales have been called the “the greyhounds of the sea” because they are fast and sleek. grwoing to almost 90 feet, they are the second longest animal on the planet but only the the sixth heaviest. Though they are baleen whales, … Continue reading