A report from a few years ago. A story well worth retelling. Today the Christmas Ship is Chicago’s largest all-volunteer charitable support program for inner-city youth and their families at Christmas time. At the turn of the twentieth century, the “Christmas Tree … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Call it a miracle, serendipity, or just good luck, but two stranded Costa Rican fishermen were rescued by the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Empress of the Seas after the ship was rerouted because of a storm. If the ship had continued on … Continue reading
We recently visited St. Augustine, FL. Founded in 1567, it is the oldest continually occupied city in the United States and is replete with a fascinating history and a plethora of sites and museums worth visiting. This post, however, is not about … Continue reading
On Saturday, a tsunami in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait killed at least 222 and injured 843. The huge wave hit without warning at night destroying hundreds of homes and buildings, sweeping away cars and uprooting trees. Officials say more than 160 people were killed in … Continue reading
Recently, the BBC posted a video about Santa Cruz del Islote, a tiny island on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, which it described as the “world’s most densely populated island.” With five hundred people living on an island the size of a soccer … Continue reading
I will admit to being dependent on GPS. I rely on it for both maps and apps on my phone as well as the chartplotters on several tablets on my boat. Nevertheless, until recently I knew nothing of Gladys West, a … Continue reading
Around six years ago, the media went slightly crazy when a fresh-faced 17-year-old Dutch engineering student, Boyan Slat, claimed to have designed a means for using currents to clean plastic from the oceans. He was covered in the major press … Continue reading
Five years ago, Leonard Glenn Francis, aka “Fat Leonard”, was arrested by the US Navy as the center of a major procurement scandal and what has been described as the worst national-security breach of its kind to hit the Navy since the … Continue reading
Sixty-seven-year-old Igor Zaretskiy was in last place in the Golden Globe Race. His mast was seriously damaged, even after jury-rigged repairs. He had lost a hatch, exposing his cabin the elements, and his hull was so fouled that his boat, Esmerelda, … Continue reading
Judie Johnson was swimming alone at Hahei Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand when she saw a huge shape appear from underwater. Initially, she thought that it was a dolphin but the black and white coloration made it … Continue reading
A sailboat drifted ashore on a Southbroom beach on the KwaZulu-Natal lower south coast of South Africa on Saturday. The body of a French sailor was found aboard. The yacht, originally from Papua New Guinea, had left Port Elizabeth a … Continue reading
OceanGate, a privately owned manned submersible and survey company, recently tested its newest submersible, Titan, at depths of 13,000 feet underwater in the Abacos. Next year, the company plans to use the sub to perform 3D laser surveys of RMS Titanic. For $105,129 … Continue reading
Last week we posted about the rescue of Golden Globe racer Susie Goodall, whose boat pitchpoled and was dismasted in the Southern Ocean. Goodall was the eleventh of the original eighteen sailors in the race to either withdraw or require rescue. … Continue reading
On November 8, just after 4 AM, the Norwegian navy frigate, KNM Helge Ingstad, collided with the Maltese flag, Aframax tanker, Sola TS, near the Sture terminal in the Hjeltefjord near Bergen, Norway. The night was clear. Local traffic control and the tanker both communicated with the … Continue reading
The Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey, and HMS Severn had been scheduled to be decommissioned. Now, however, the three River Class patrol vessels, which support the Fishery Protection Squadron, have been given extended lives, potentially … Continue reading
Sadly, it apparently wasn’t a relationship meant to last. Earlier this year, Amanda Sparrow Large, 46, from Loth, Ireland was married to a Haitian pirate named Jack. Jack and Ms. Large were married by a shaman priest in a boat off the … Continue reading
Researchers believe that wreckage found off the coast of Filey in Yorkshire is from the American warship USS Bonhomme Richard. The ship, under the command of John Paul Jones, fought a four-hour battle with HMS Serapis off nearby Flamborough Head in … Continue reading
Sultana Education Foundation‘s Downrigging Weekend Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival has evolved into one of the largest annual Tall Ship gatherings on the East Coast. Here is some lovely drone footage by Shore Studios from the 18th Sultana Downrigging … Continue reading
After spending two days in heavy seas, snap-rolling in her dismasted, leaking, sailboat, Golden Globe racer Susie Goodall was rescued by the Hong Kong-flagged geared cargo ship, MVTian Fu, in the Southern Ocean approximately 2,000 miles west of Cape Horn. Unable to … Continue reading
On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the iconic USS Arizona Memorial remains closed to the public. As we posted last June, the memorial close indefinitely after structural cracks in the memorial dock were reported in early May. The National Park Service (NPS) … Continue reading