Last week the Navy relieved the commanding officers – Commander Jay Wylie of the guided missle destroyer, USS Momsen; Commander Etta Jones of the amphibious transport dock ship, USS Ponce; and Captain Donald Hornbeck in command of Destroyer Squadron 1. … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
The notorious pirate Captain William Kidd was executed three hundred and ten years ago this month, yet is far from forgotten. A new exhibit is opening on May 20th at the Museum of London Dockyards – Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story. … Continue reading
A well done video providing an interesting perspective on sail training. Coast Guard Tall Ship “Eagle” [iframe: width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/gA84Z2kFYdc?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen] … Continue reading
Last week we posted that the Ohio River may be too high to allow the running of the Great Steamboat Race on May 4th. The river has just kept rising. Tonight the Army Corps of Engineers will blow up … Continue reading
US naval special forces commandos are called SEALs, referring to their ability to operate at SEa, in the Air and on Land. Yesterday Navy SEALs were called upon to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden who was hiding in … Continue reading
May 2nd is International Scurvy Awareness Day! The festivities appear to be sponsored by a group calling itself Lime Strong. I am not sure whether this is an individual or a marketing arm for lime growers. Whichever it may be, we are happy … Continue reading
In early January we posted about Holland America Lines’ MS Veendam hitting a Southern Ocean storm, encountering waves of over 30 meters and winds of 70 knots. At the time there was no reported to the ship or injuries to passengers or crew. … Continue reading
The first of May is traditionally called May Day and is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. The English have been known to break out in fits of Morris Dancing around May Day. In many countries May … Continue reading
Divers from Deep Blue Marine have located a wreck site off the Dominican Republic believed to date back to the 1500s and have uncovered a treasure of silver coins and jade figurines. ‘We’ve just scratched the surface’: Divers find ‘oldest shipwreck in … Continue reading
The US Coast Guard has updated its regulations, increasing the average weight per passenger for stability and loading calculations of tour and charter boats from 160 pounds to 185 pounds. Lard ahoy! Coast Guard estimates average weight of cruise passengers has gone up by … Continue reading
An update to a story that we have been following. The 50′ schooner Le Papillon came ashore on a beach on Fire Island, northeast of New York harbor, at the beginning of April. Just as it looked like the schooner would be … Continue reading
Beginning today and running for two weekends, April 29 – May , and May 7-8, the Liverpool Sea Shanty Festival will return boisterous songs to the docks on the Merseyside. Singers from New York and the Netherlands will be joining in. Sounds of the … Continue reading
In January we posted that the Hudson River Park Trust was seeking proposals to dock historic vessels on the newly refurbished Pier 25 in the Hudson River off Tribecca. Earlier this month the the Hudson River Park Trust announced … Continue reading
The Greek-owned 75,000 tonne bulk carrier, MV Oliva, ran aground on March 16th on Nightingale Island, a 4 square kilometer island in the Tristan da Cuhna archipelago in the South Atlantic. The resulting oil spill threatened nearly half of the world population … Continue reading
A group in Beaufort, SC is bidding on acquiring the Cruiser Olympia. Beaufort group bids on century-old ship A Beaufort organization is bidding to become the next home of the ship Commodore George Dewey used as his flagship at the Battle of … Continue reading
On April 28, 1947, a six-man expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Callao, Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. Heyerdahl’s book, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, … Continue reading
Hailing from Florida, I am a huge fan of brown pelicans. I was therefore very pleased to hear that after several years where brown pelicans on the West Coast of the US have been mysteriously dying off, this year the flocks of pelicans … Continue reading
I am always amazed by how well darkness, cold and a lack of oxygen can preserve a wooden ship wreck. Thanks to Badewanne, a non-profit group of divers that has been documenting shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland for more … Continue reading
Last August, we posted about the collision of the containership MSC Chitra and the bulk carrier Khalijia 3 which resulting in the sinking of the Chitra with a significant oil spill, a loss of cargo containers and the blockage of the port of Mumbai for five … Continue reading
The Ohio River may just be too high to allow the running of the Great Steamboat Race on May 4th, between the Belle of Louisville and the Belle of Cincinnati on May 4. If the river doesn’t fall, officials are … Continue reading