Sir Ernest Shackleton died 100 years ago yesterday, on January 5, 1922, of a heart attack on South Georgia on an expedition to map the still uncharted coastal regions of Antarctica. He was only 47 when he died. Now, two … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
In January of last year, we posted that the operator of the ex-Cunard Queen Mary filed for bankruptcy. The converted ship is owned by the City of Long Beach and has been managed by Eagle Hospitality, ex-Urban Commons, since 2016. Now, … Continue reading
When the USS Gerald R. Ford was delivered in 2017, it was still years away from deployment as an aircraft carrier. Most of the 11 Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWE) didn’t work. The electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting … Continue reading
Late last week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its COVID-19 travel health notice level for cruise ships to its highest warning level and said people should avoid traveling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status, … Continue reading
Congratulations to Murdoch McGregor, who was named Sailor of the Year 2021 at the British Yachting Awards. At the age of 82, Murdoch McGregor completed a 1,900-mile trip around the UK in June. The 80-day-long solo voyage in his 23-foot … Continue reading
Happy New Year to all! Here is a poem by Cicely Fox Smith, from Full Sail: More Sea Songs and Ballads, sung as a ballad by Larry Kaplan. New Year by Cicely Fox Smith … Continue reading
Tonight, many will watch in person, online, or on television, as a jeweled ball drops in Times Square in New York City at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year, 2022. In past years, the crowd in … Continue reading
We recently posted about how on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, over 1,000 military families have been forced from their homes and suffered illness by drinking water apparently contaminated by petroleum from a leaking, World War II … Continue reading
Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) updated its color-coded list of ships that tracks where passengers or crew have tested positive for Covid-19. The list is updated multiple times a week. The agency currently identifies 86 ships where the … Continue reading
Kites may be returning to provide wind-assisted propulsion to commercial ships. In January of next year, the 5,200 dwt Ro/Ro Ville de Bordeaux, chartered by Airbus and operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, will begin testing a 500-square-meter half-size demonstration version … Continue reading
Seventeen years ago, Hurricane Ivan destroyed an oil-production platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The wells associated with the platform have been leaking ever since and may be one of the largest and longest-running offshore spills in US history. Now, … Continue reading
An interesting article from the New York Times — In 2019, a team of researchers confirmed that a wooden wreck resting in the murky waters of the Mobile River in Alabama was the schooner Clotilda, the last known ship to … Continue reading
Home for Christmas — Old Style, a poem by Cicely Fox Smith, performed by Daniel Kelly from his Ukulele Christmas Singalong 2021. Home for Christmas – Old Style – Ukulele Christmas Singalong … Continue reading
An updated holiday season repost. Saint Nicholas, long associated with Christmas and gift-giving, is also the patron saint of ships and sailors. The St. Nicholas Center notes: “Many ports, most notably in Greece, have icons of Nicholas, surrounded by ex-votos … Continue reading
Last week, just before the start of the third race in the SailGP Australian Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Ben Ainslie’s Great Britain Team collided with Nathan Outteridge’s Japan Team. The crew onboard the British F50 were focussing on closing … Continue reading