Genetic analysis of modern descendants shows that sailors from the Pacific Islands arrived in the Americas long before Europeans arrived. The question is how long? A recent study suggests Polynesians and Native Americans made contact some 800 years ago, well … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Some sailors along Spain’s Galician coast must be saying “we’re gonna need a bigger boat.” There have been reports of up to 30 attacks by orcas directed at sailboats on the northwestern coast of Spain and Portugal. Now, the Spanish … Continue reading
The Danish Ministry of Defense has confirmed that the Russian Navy corvette, Kazanets, collided with the refrigerated cargo vessel, Ice Rose, in dense fog, near the Øresund Bridge, which spans the entrance to the Baltic. The Russian ship, a Parchim-class … Continue reading
Around 270 pilot whales have become stranded on a sandbar on the remote western coast of Tasmania. Rescuers in Australia say that at least a third of the whales have died and that more are dying. The BBC reports that … Continue reading
Here is the story of a very lucky kayaker saved by unexpected rescuers on Lake George. It seems a kayaker got into trouble and was rescued by a group of priests out for an afternoon excursion on a floating Tiki … Continue reading
This seems like a suitable post for a Sunday in 2020. On a morning in February 1948, a local beachcomber was walking the beautiful white sand beach in Clearwater, FL, and was shocked to find large three-toed footprints in the … Continue reading
Another 2020 story. Despite being dubbed killer whales, orcas in the wild have a long history of not attacking humans and rarely attacking boats. [Edited — see note at the end of the post.] (The situation with orcas in captivity … Continue reading
Congratulations to Lia Ditton, who has set a new women’s world record for rowing solo from San Francisco to Hawaii. The 40-year-old Briton made landfall on September 12, completing the passage in 86 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes, and 56 … Continue reading
Earlier this month, we posted about the virtual return of the San Francisco Maritime Association’s Hyde Street Pier Sea Chantey Sing series beginning this Saturday on September 19, 2020. Click here for details. For even more maritime music, on Sunday, … Continue reading
On September 16, 1620, four hundred years ago today, the merchant ship Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers. The mix of religious separatists and entrepreneurs referred to today as Pilgrims would establish … Continue reading
Last February we posted “The Doomsday Glacier — the Thwaites Glacier Melting From Below,” about the flow of warmer water that is melting the massive West Antarctic glacier from below. Thwaites is referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier” because it’s … Continue reading
Over the weekend, the container ship, CMA CGM Brazil, docked at the marine terminal in Port Elizabeth, NJ, part of the Port of New York and New Jersey on Newark Bay. At 15,148 TEU, it is said to be the … Continue reading
In the summer of 2018, a female orca whale became of a symbol of the perilous state of the Southern Resident orca pods of the Pacific Northwest. The whale, designated J35 by researchers, had given birth to a calf that … Continue reading
A Swedish consortium that includes Wallenius Marine has designed Oceanbird, a five-masted sailing car carrier, that could have a huge impact on the development of modern commercial sail. The design is intended to be finished in 2021 with potential delivery … Continue reading
The events of 9/11 are still more clear in my memory than I would like. The dry, clear morning. The call from my wife from the mezzanine of the World Trade Center after the first plane hit the North Tower. … Continue reading
In all her former glory, the restored Flying P Liner Peking has returned to her home port of Hamburg. Four years ago, we posted about the Peking‘s departure from New York’s South Street Seaport. During the summer of 2017, she … Continue reading
One hundred and twenty years ago yesterday, on September 8, 1900, the city of Galveston Texas was struck by what today would be classified as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 145 mph and a storm surge of 14 … Continue reading
In early August, the Maltese government asked the tanker, Maersk Etienne, to help a nearby boat in distress. The crew of the tanker found an overcrowded, wooden fishing boat carrying 27 African migrants — including a pregnant woman and a … Continue reading
The QAnon conspiracy nuts seem to be growing in number, so it seems to be a good time to look at an older conspiracy picked up by the current QAnon crowd. The conspiracy theory claims that J.P. Morgan sank the … Continue reading
Due to Covid-19, the Navy’s Captain Mike Desmond has inadvertently set an, as of yet, unofficial record for continuous-time deployed at sea. When the pandemic broke out, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group canceled port calls in Europe and … Continue reading