Here is some glorious drone footage of the Sailing School Vessel (SSV) Oliver Hazard Perry transiting the Cape Cod Canal. At 207 feet long, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is the largest civilian Sailing School Vessel in the United States … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Congratulations to Captain Belinda Bennett, the first black female captain of a cruise ship. Captain Bennett has sailed for Windstar Cruise Lines for 14 years and is now in command of the MSY Wind Star, operating in the Caribbean in winter … Continue reading
Last week, the Ellen, the world’s largest all-electric ferry, completed its maiden voyage in Denmark. From a press release by Leclanché, the provider of the batteries to power the ferry: The world’s largest all-electric ferry, named Eferry Ellen, made its … Continue reading
If you haven’t been in Times Square in New York City within the past few decades, it has been transformed into a realm of light and video with every available building and wall covered with electronic billboards advertising products and … Continue reading
Apparently, Monday was World Photography Day. In its honor, a bit belatedly, here is a photo of Brunel’s revolutionary ship, SS Great Britain, taken in 1844. Not only is it believed to be the first photograph of the Great Britain, but … Continue reading
On or around August 20th, 1619, four hundred years ago today, the privateer White Lion made landfall at Point Comfort, Virginia. Short on supplies, the privateer’s crew was eager to sell its cargo for food. The cargo for sale was “20, … Continue reading
The Okjökull glacier, northeast of Reykjavik, was known simply as Ok to Icelanders. (In Icelandic, jökull means glacier.) In 1890, Ok’s ice covered 16sq km (6.2 square miles) but by 2012 it measured just 0.7sq km, according to a report … Continue reading
Sad news reported by ClassicSailboats.org. The 114-year-old sailing yacht Iolaire was lost off Ibiza in late July. She ran ashore after an uncontrolled jibe and sank. The crew escaped without injury. Iolaire, previously owned for over half a century by … Continue reading
Neoline, a French designer and operator of cargo sailing ships, is partnering with car manufacturer Groupe Renault, heavy equipment builder Manitou, and boat builder Groupe Beneteau, to build two 136-meter ro-ros, each with 4,200 square meters of sail area and … Continue reading
Today is “National Rum Day” in the United States. Why? Why not? In observation of the day, it seems worthwhile to consider the role of rum at sea. Before there was rum, there was water. The problem with water was … Continue reading
On Wednesday, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, set sail from Plymouth, England on a racing yacht bound for New York. She is traveling to participate in United Nations climate talks in September, and she refuses to fly because aviation … Continue reading
Forty years ago today, on the third day of the 605-mile Fastnet Race, an unexpectedly strong storm struck the fleet with tragic results. The fleet of 303 sailing yachts had set off on August 11,1979 in clear weather with calm … Continue reading
In March of 2018, we posted about a pilot project led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) to develop autonomous barges, referred to as “roboats”, to carry cargo and passengers … Continue reading
The National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) announced 10 individuals in its 2019 class of inductees. It is an eclectic mix. The recipients include Sailmaker Robbie Doyle; Olympic Gold Medalist Buddy Friedrichs; sailing’s first-ever Women’s Olympic Gold Medalist Allison Jolly; … Continue reading
Great news! The Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg will sail again thanks to support from the shipping agency Greencarrier Group, which has announced that it will take the full operational and financial responsibility for the ship for the next two years. … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful short video from 1993, which visits Bivalve and Shellpile, the last of New Jersey’s oystering communities, near Port Norris, where the Maurice River meets the Delaware Bay. The oystering industry was once highly profitable. Port Norris … Continue reading
Around six years ago, Vermont farmer Eric Andrus had an idea. Why not build a sailing barge to carry non-perishable produce down Lake Champlain to the Hudson and onward to markets along the river and on to New York City? … Continue reading
For Throw Back Thursday (TBT) and in belated honor of yesterday’s National Lighthouse Day, here is a repost from several years ago about Hamilton’s lighthouse. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, marking the shoals which have become known as the “graveyard of … Continue reading
If you are in New York City this evening, head over to Pier 25 on the Hudson River to the historic lighthouse tender the ex-USCGC Lilac for a free concert in honor of National Lighthouse Day. The concert, from 6:00 … Continue reading
The 27th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race, sponsored by the Working Harbor Committee, will be held on the Hudson River near Pier 84 starting at 11 a.m. on September 1st. Watch from shore or get onboard the Spectator Boat … Continue reading