Yesterday, Japan announced that due to concerns for safety they had suspended their whale hunt, as of February 10th. The Sea Shepherds claim that the Japanese are bluffing. Perhaps Watson and his band of bumbling vigilante pirates are concerned over their “reality” TV … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Recently the New York Times on its “Answers to Readers’ Questions About New York” blog was asked, “Can you tell me anything about a Hudson River pirate named Sadie the Goat?” Sadie’s tale is worth retelling, whether or not she ever … Continue reading
According to a study published in the February issue of BioScience, 85% percent of the world’s native oyster reefs have been destroyed. Oyster Apocalypse? Truth About Bivalve Obliteration Three-quarters of the wild oysters left in the world, the study says, now … Continue reading
Last November we posted about a plan by Finnish authorities to allow one or several modern breweries to replicate the recipe of beer found in a Baltic Sea shipwreck dated between 1800 to 1830. In addition to cases of champagne, the … Continue reading
Last week we posted about the approval granted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to allow Bruce Power to ship 1,600 tonnes of radioactive waste, in the form of 16 decommissioned nuclear reactors, across the Great Lakes, though the St. … Continue reading
Update: The Seaport Museum “temporarily” laid-off another twelve staff members on Monday afternoon. More bad news from the South Street Seaport. Last week the Seaport Museum laid off the captain of the schooner Pioneer, as well a marine educator … Continue reading
The tank barge Waldhof which capsized a month ago in the Rhine River near Lorelei Rock was finally raised today after its cargo of sulfuric acid was allowed to slowly drain off. Two sailors where lost in the capsize. One of … Continue reading
If by some chance you choose not celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, or you have simply reached the limit of how many hearts and flowers you can tolerate, feel free to celebrate today as the Battle of Cape St. Vincent‘s Day. … Continue reading
Are they islands of love on the storm-tossed seas of life? Sadly, they probably are not, but they do look like Valentine’s Day hearts. … Continue reading
Happy Valentines Day! Yesterday, the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine held a sailor’s valentine workshop. (See our previous post.) Sailors’ valentines were traditionally octagonal wooden boxes with a glass front, with intricate symmetrical designs inside, often made of shells … Continue reading
One of the wonderful and maddening things about the internet is that we all make so many virtual acquaintances; many who become good friends, and yet who we have met only through the ether of web pages and email. It was, … Continue reading
Here is a recent watercolor by Hans Breeman showing the MV Rotte owned by NV Houtvaart Rotterdam. The vessel is shown in Hongkong on charter to K-Line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, Tokyo). Hans Breeman is a Dutch maritime painter who focuses on … Continue reading
Last November, we posted about the sale by tender, through an internet site, of the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible. The highest bidder was a Turkish scrapper. HMS Invincible sold to Turkish ship recyclers Leyal Ship Recycling, which is based near Izmir, … Continue reading
In response to our post, Sail this summer on the Picton Castle, Greg Winter commented, “Or try the same in the beautiful South Pacific, on the brigantine Soren Larsen. Sails out of Auckland New Zealand to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, … Continue reading
The wreck of the whale ship Two Brothers, which sank 188 years ago on French Frigate Shoals, 600 miles northwest of Honolulu, was recently located by divers. The captain of the whale ship was George Pollard Jr., whose previous ship, … Continue reading
Record crowds, possibly exceeding 100,000, are expected at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival which begins today and runs through Monday at Hobart’s historic Sullivan’s Cove docks. The four-day festival which brings together the biggest collection of wooden boats in … Continue reading
Rear Admiral Peter Branson, who died recently at age 86, had an illustrious career in the Royal Navy. His career almost ended before it began. Branson was twice torpedoed while he was still under training, on one occasion surviving five days adrift in … Continue reading
The Carnival Splendor, which was crippled by an engine room fire on November 8th, leaving it drifting for days off the coast of Mexico with nearly 4,500 crew members and passengers aboard, is expected to sail from San Francisco on Friday … Continue reading
Ocean rowing has got to be one of the most physically demanding of all sports. In addition to the physical labor of fighting the wind and seas, salt water sores and chafing are reported to be a big problem. … Continue reading
On Monday, the six British rowers of Team Hallin have set a new world record for rowing the Atlantic Ocean. The five men and one woman landed in Barbados after completing the 3,000 mile course from Tenerife in 31days and 23hours … Continue reading