SAIL Amsterdam 2010, which starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend, will feature roughly 600 ships berthing in and around the harbor, ranging from traditional tall ships to historical replicas, to traditional coasting craft, as well as modern yachts and naval vessels. Twenty Class … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
The E Ship 1 arrived in Dublin last week with a cargo of wind turbines manufactured by Enercon. What was striking was the ship itself, with four tall pillars rising vertically from the ship, two forward and two aft. The … Continue reading
Earlier this month we posted about Philadelphia’s tall ship, the barquentine Gazela, returning to sea after suffering rudder damage several years ago. After participating in a Portuguese festival in New Bedford, MA the Gazela will be visiting PortSide New York,starting this Thursday August 19th to Monday the 23rd. She will be … Continue reading
A week ago we posted about the increasing popularity of Stand-Up-Paddling (SUP) also known as paddle-boarding. The sport was new to us, but obviously we have been behind the times, at least when it comes to stand-up paddling. Last … Continue reading
In 1994, US Courts gave salvage rights to the RMS Titanic, 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the North Atlantic, to RMS Titanic Inc, a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc, but explicitly did not grant ownership of the wreck or the … Continue reading
In 1905, the three masted schooner yacht Atlantic sailed 3006 miles in twelve days, four hours, one minute and nine seconds; winning the Kaiser’s Cup from New York to the Lizard and setting the record for the fastest transatlantic passage … Continue reading
After a service life of almost 40 years, the Soviet light cruiser Murmansk was decommissioned and sold for scrap. On Christmas Eve in 1994, the ship was under tow to India when the tug lost control of the ship in a storm. … Continue reading
The Russian Oscar-II class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Kursk sank ten years ago yesterday with a loss of all aboard. One hundred and sixteen crew members and two weapons experts died in what is believed to have been the explosion of a faulty torpedo. At 154m … Continue reading
Last Saturday we posted about a one hundred square mile ice island that broke off from the Petermann glacier in Greenland. Experts from the Canadian government, with the aid of NASA , the European Space agency and numerous other academic institutions, are … Continue reading
The containership MSC Chitra and the bulk carrier Khalijia 3 collided near Mumbai, India on Saturday, resulting in the sinking of the MSC Chitra, a significant oil spill and the loss of at least 200 containers in the ship channel which … Continue reading
For years the schooner Hindu has been a favorite in Provincetown, MA. The classic schooner is credited in helping to establish the summer whale watching trade in the port. Sadly, after several years of battles between her investors over the … Continue reading
The just released, A Battle Won by S. Thomas Russell, is classic nautical fiction – vivid, fast paced and full of drama, both on sea and land. Master and Commander Charles Hayden is a gifted naval commander with extremely bad … Continue reading
The fate of the oldest composite clipper ship in the world, the City of Adelaide, has yet to b determined. In the mean time, former TV host and science educator, Dr. Rob Morrison, has designed a simple paper pattern that … Continue reading
A recent Coast Guard report on boating safety noted: “Nearly 75 percent of the 736 people who died in boating accidents in 2009 drowned, and 84 percent of those victims reportedly were not wearing a life jacket,” said Rear Adm. Kevin … Continue reading
This is a busy week for maritime festivals in the US. In Grand Haven, Michigan, the Michigan Pirate Festival 2010 kicked off yesterday with a very Hollywood version of pirates and piracy. So aargh and shivery m’ timbers. If only … Continue reading
In 2004, at least 170 people died when a tsunami hit the fishing village of Poompuhar, in India on the Bay of Bengal. According to legend, this was not the first time. As described in ancient Tamil texts and by Ptolemy and … Continue reading
Folk music legend Joan Baez and special guest Roger McGuinn will kick off the first of the “Summer Concert Series at the Queen Mary” this Friday, August 13th, as part of the summer-long 2010 Long Beach Sea Festival. This will … Continue reading
About a year ago, I saw what appeared to be a man standing up in the middle of the Hudson River. That is about all I could see. He appeared to making a sweeping motion with his hands and arms … Continue reading
Ten years ago today, the Confederate Navy submarine H.L. Hunley was raised from the bottom of Charleston harbor in South Carolina, where it sank in 1864. The Hunley was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat. … Continue reading
Enormous Ice Block Breaks Off Greenland Glacier A 100-square-mile block of ice 600 feet thick has calved off one of the largest ocean-bordering glaciers in Greenland. The Arctic hasn’t lost a chunk of ice that big since 1962. “In the … Continue reading