Sail the Morgan 2014 is hosting a week-long celebration of the arrival of the last American wooden whaleship, the Charles W. Morgan, in Mystic, Connecticut. The celebration running from “October 28 to November 5 will feature a restaurant week, shopping … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Over the next several weeks, we will be reviewing a series of books about what life was like in Nelson’s navy. The first is Jack Tar: Life in Nelson’s Navy by Roy & Leslie Adkins, subtitled “the extraordinary lives of ordinary seamen … Continue reading
Herman Melville’s Moby Dick was not a commercial success when published in 1851. Nevertheless, the story of the great white whale remains powerful and timeless, for good or ill. Last December, we posted about the straight to DVD movie, 2010: Moby Dick, a “re-imagined” telling … Continue reading
We have posted previously about the world’s fasted sailboat, the hydrofoil trimaran, Hydroptère, which in November 2009, sailed for one nautical mile at speed of 50.17 knots in Hyères, France. He also has achieved a sustained speed of 52.86 knots … Continue reading
I was surprised to read that archaeologists had recently discovered only the second Roman port in Britain. Prior to the discovery in excavations near the Roman fortress of Caerleon, just north of Newport, south Wales, the only other Roman port known to have … Continue reading
Thanks to Maritime Great Britain for reminding us that today is indeed Trafalgar Day, commemorating Nelson’s victory over the French and Spanish fleets and his tragic death at the Battle of Trafalgar on this day in 1805. They also reminded us that on this day in … Continue reading
Where did our oceans come from? Why is over 70% the earth’s surface covered by water? The answer may be in the dirty celestial snow balls we call comets. Scientists believe that the earth was originally dry and hot. Comets … Continue reading
Some traditions should be honored. I would certainly include rum drinking in that list. Tomorrow the Schooner Fame of Salem, Massachusetts is hosting a Rum and Revolution Cruise, departing from Pickering Wharf Marina, in Salem at 4:00 PM. After all, “rum and sailors … Continue reading
I have kayaked with killer whales. It was many years ago and the memories are still vivid. I can only imagine how awe inspiring it must be to kayak next to a blue whale, the largest creature ever to live on the … Continue reading
Archaeologists from the University of Manchester have excavated the first known Viking ship burial on mainland Britain, believed to be roughly a 1,0000 years old. The boat burial site was found near Ockle on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, Scotland. Archaeologist Dr Hannah Cobb said the “artefacts and preservation make … Continue reading
This week Sable Island became the Canada’s newest national park. Almost three hundred kilometers out into the Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia, it is a scimitar shaped sandbar which seems to have no business being there at all. … Continue reading
Usually downrigging a schooner involves lots of coiling, carrying, hauling, the breaking down of shackles and turnbuckles, and depending on the rig, attempting to free up the top mast so that it can be lowered gently to the deck, rather than dropping it like an unguided … Continue reading
Recently the BBC published an article, Nigeria’s coast ‘threatened by shipwrecks’, focused on the 100 rusty shipwrecks which line Nigeria’s 853km (530-mile) coast. The ships are causing coastal erosion and pollution. Nigeria is not the only country on the West coast of Africa with “graveyard of … Continue reading
Last Friday, 39 schooners set off from Baltimore, Maryland sailing 127 miles down the Chesapeake to Portsmouth, Virginia in the 22nd Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. This year the first schooner to cross Thimble Shoal with an elapsed time … Continue reading
The current recommended response on a merchant ship on being boarded by pirates is to radio a distress call, disable the ship’s engines and to retreat into a “citadel,” a safe locked-down space aboard the ship and await either rescue or until … Continue reading