This morning’s CBS Sunday Morning news program had an intriguing featuring the octopus, in particular, and cephalopods, in general. Both unworldly and highly intelligent they are as close to alien life forms as one can find on the planet. CBS’s … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
One of the better ways to tell if a model works at predicting the future is to run it in reverse to see how well it predicts the past. Climate change models so far have had their limitations. Most current … Continue reading
In addition to more than 24 people who have died in the terrible Australian bushfires, an incredible number of animals have also perished. Estimates of wildlife deaths range from millions to a billion animals. More than 25.5 million acres of … Continue reading
The Winter 2020 edition of Quarterdeck, hosted by McBooks, is out. If you like nautical fiction, the quarterly e-journal edited by George Jepson is a treasure. The Winter 2020 edition features an interview with Alaric Bond and a review of … Continue reading
Good ideas are rarely new. Container ships revolutionized liner shipping in the 1960s and 70s. Nevertheless, the idea of carrying cargo in easily handled standardized containers goes back at least 2,000 years. I was reminded of this when reading about … Continue reading
Shortly after winning the Sydney Hobart Race for the third time, the maxi-yacht Comanche has been sold by its current owners, Jim Cooney and his wife Samantha Grant, to Russian interests. Perhaps, oddly enough, the transaction brought to mind the … Continue reading
A fun video for a Monday. A timelapse video of the 11-hour transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic on the Ocean Princess in just under 7 minutes. Shot by Steve Noble on February 28th, 2016. Panama Canal – Full … Continue reading
An interesting new technology, involving special fibers that change color when they are under strain, is allowing scientists to analyze the efficiency of knots. The technology is described in a recent paper by a team lead Vishal P. Patil in … Continue reading
Just before the New Year, 21-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide Coast Guard red navigation buoy #8 washed up out of the fog in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. — its light still blinking — nearly 200 miles away from its mooring at the entrance … Continue reading
The Australian Navy landing ship HMAS Choules, supported by the training ship, MV Sycamore, evacuated 1,000 tourists and residents stranded by bushfires in Mallacoota, Australia. ABC News Australia reports that about 4,000 people, including some 3,000 tourists, have been stranded … Continue reading
As we have previously posted, the restored Liberty ship, John W. Brown, was at risk of becoming homeless when its five-year agreement for berthing at Rukert Terminals’ Pier C in Canton, Maryland expired last September. Now, if all goes well, … Continue reading
Last night in New York City, over one million people watched a jeweled ball drop in Time Square at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year. Over a billion people are believed to have watched the festivities … Continue reading
Sandy Hook harbor pilots guide merchant ships in and out of New York harbor, all year round, day and night, in all weather. They are highly skilled professionals who routinely make a very difficult job look easy. It easy to … Continue reading
Six men have become the first to row unassisted across Drake’s passage, between South America and Antarctica. The effort was led by adventurer Colin O’Brady. In just under 13 days, they rowed more than 700 miles in a 29-foot boat … Continue reading
The temperatures in Australia have been hotter than ever recorded in history. Wildfires are raging, filling the air of several cities, including Sydney, with acrid smoke. Drought is choking a significant portion of the country. As bad as things are … Continue reading
The five 100′ long maxi yachts dominated the 75th sailing of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, each finishing the 630 nautical mile race within the same two-hour window. Commanche took line honors finishing the race in 1 day, 18 … Continue reading
When Category 4 Hurricane Harvey devastated coastal Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, the US Coast Guard was there to assist in the rescue. Harvey was the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the United States and is tied as … Continue reading
Yahoo recently reported that a group of divers happened upon a gruesome sight in the Cayman Islands — hundreds of decomposing sharks and other sea creatures tangled up in a floating “ghost net.” Dominick Martin-Mayes, a 27-year-old fisherman and diving … Continue reading
Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate the holiday. Here is a short video of the rigging crew of Matt Otto, Nick Canzellarini and Alex Peacock at Mystic Seaport Museum installing one of the many mast-top Christmas trees atop the … Continue reading
Like so many coastal cities, Stockholm has grown larger and its harbor smaller over time as landfill and buildings have replaced waterways and docks. The Local reports that over the past year, work has been going on in the Kungsträdgården … Continue reading