This looks like a great symposium, next weekend at the Maine Maritime Museum at Bath, Maine. I have also heard great things about the fish-house punch served a the evening reception. 38th Annual Walker Maritime History Symposium, April 10, 2010 … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Sunset Planet Alert The solar system’s innermost planets are about to put on a beautiful show. This week, Mercury is emerging from the glare of the sun and making a beeline for Venus. By week’s end, the two planets will … Continue reading
Happy April 1st, which in many countries is also called April Fools’ Day. It therefore seems only fitting to look back on the Great Gold from Sea Water Hoax. In October of 1897, at the height of the Alaskan Gold … Continue reading
Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli perhaps bear equal blame for a litigious and incredibly costly America’s Cup race which turned more on technology and court rulings than on sailing. Now Ellison is singing a different tune, saying ”We’d like … Continue reading
Farrell Lines was a grand old US steamship company. It had an office in downtown Manhattan full of ship models and paintings of ships. Behind the receptionist, as you came in the door, there was a world map with chains … Continue reading
Disturbing news from Patagonia: Riddle of the dead whales MORE than 300 southern right whales, most of them young calves, have been found dead in the past five years in the waters off Argentina’s Patagonian coast, one of their most … Continue reading
We are a week late in noting this but Franck Cammas and and his nine-men crew onboard their 105 ft trimaran, Groupama 3, have won the Jules Verne trophy by setting a new round the world sailing record of 48 days, 7 hours, … Continue reading
Paul Janse van Rensburg’s sailboat, Tafadzwa, was found drifting near the Chatham Islands in the Pacific east of New Zealand. A search of the boat found van Rensburg’s dog alive and the boat’s life raft still aboard. No sign was found … Continue reading
Forty six crew members are reported missing from the South Korean Cruiser Cheonan which sank late Friday. South Korean officials are all but ruling out direct North Korean involvement in the sinking. Fifty eight of the crew were rescued. … Continue reading
An update from Sail-World. Abby Sunderland is close to rounding Cape Horn, while malfunctioning autopilots may threaten her circumnavigation attempt. Teen sailor Abby Sunderland to round Cape Horn Tuesday 16-year-old Californian sailor Abby Sunderland, following Jessica Watson in her attempt to be … Continue reading
The HMAS Adelaide is still afloat, as much due to court action as to Archimedes Law. The HMAS Adelaide was the lead ship of the Adelaide class of guided missile frigates built for the Royal Australian Navy, not to be confused with … Continue reading
Dennis M. Powers’ Tales of the Seven Seas: The Escapades of Captain Dynamite Johnny O’Brien recounts the story of a larger than life sailor who rose from being a bullied sixteen year old ship’s boy sailing before the mast to become … Continue reading
Report: South Korean navy ship sinks A South Korean navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea late Friday, and the navy shot at an unidentified ship toward the north, according to reports quoting South Korean government officials. … Continue reading
One hundred and seventy one years after the slave ship Amistad sailed from Havana carrying a cargo of captives from Sierra Leone, the replica of the Amistad arrived in Havannah harbor yesterday. The captives on the original slave ship seized control of the vessel and sailed the … Continue reading
Molly Shakespear Rimington died at age 93 at the end of January but her obituary only appeared in the Telegraph this week. She was a fascinating individual. The daughter of Brigadier Talbot Shakespear, she joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service, WRNS, … Continue reading
OK, I admit it. I am posting this because I like the title of the article. Cheap Fokkers Peru has bought, real cheap, two Dutch maritime reconnaissance aircraft (Fokker 60s). These are slightly longer and heavier versions of the twin … Continue reading
Private security guards shot and killed a Somali pirate during an attack on the the MV Almezaan off the coast of East Africa. This is believed to be the first killing of a pirate by armed private contractors. The … Continue reading
Scientists watch whale’s birth near Navy training range Scientists surveying the area near a planned Navy training range said Tuesday they witnessed an endangered right whale giving birth off the Northeast Florida coast. It was only the second time … Continue reading
There is a certain irony that a sailing ship would have to be taken out of service because its engine did not meet current emission standards, but such was the case with the Lady Washington, the Official Ship of the State of Washington. … Continue reading
A deficiency of vitamin C from green leafy vegetables caused the dreaded sailor’s sickness scurvy. A vertical garden installed on the Plastiki, which sailed this week on its 3-month voyage across the Pacific, may provide fresh greens for the six person crew while at … Continue reading