We recently posted about Ross Edgley, who became the first person to swim around Great Britain. He is not, however, the only long-distance swimmer to have been on an epic voyage. Last June, we posted about Ben Lecomte who began … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
For several years, autumn and winter winds have carried a ghost fleet of derelict boats to the coast of northern Japan. Many of the boats were empty, although some carried corpses. This year has set a new record — 89 … Continue reading
Last November, we posted about a concept design for an America’s Cup racer, a 75′ foiling monohull, without a keel. The concept AC75 was presented as a 3D animation. About a year later, the New York Yacht Club’s half sized … Continue reading
Overnight, the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad slipped beneath the waters of Hjeltefjord near Bergen, Norway. Last Thursday, the frigate was intentionally grounded to prevent it from sinking after it collided with the tanker Sola TS. Despite efforts to stabilize the … Continue reading
This is an odd story, set in the icy Siberian waters near Murmansk, Russia. Apparently, Russia’s largest floating drydock sank from underneath Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, doing some damage to the carrier above the waterline as the dock … Continue reading
On July 19th, 2018, a duck boat capsized and sank in high winds during a storm on Table Rock Lake, near Branson, MO. Seventeen passengers and crew lost their lives. Now, a federal grand jury has charged the captain of the duck … Continue reading
How is it possible that the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad collided with the Aframax tanker Sola TS in a fjord near a major oil terminal? The frigate is much smaller, significantly faster and far more maneuverable than the 113,00 DWT … Continue reading
The Norwegian navy frigate, KNM Helge Ingstad, was returning from NATO exercises when it was in a collision with a Maltese flag, Aframax tanker, Sola TS, in the Hjeltefjord near Bergen, Norway. The tanker was not seriously damaged while the frigate suffered major flooding and … Continue reading
French sailor Armel Le Cléac’h capsized in the Atlantic, 340 miles northeast of the Azores, while sailing the maxi-tri Banque Populaire IX in the Route du Rhum — Destination Guadeloupe single-handed race. The boat appears to have capsized after the structural failure of … Continue reading
On May 14, 2017, Lewis Bennett was sailing with his wife, Isabella Hellman, from Cuba to Florida on their 37′ catamaran, Surf into Summer. Sometime during the night, Hellman disappeared and the boat sank. Bennett was subsequently charged with second-degree murder in the death … Continue reading
Save-the-Falls of Clyde International has made a dramatic announcement on their Facebook page suggesting that transport has been arranged to carry the four-masted, full-rigged, iron ship from Hawaii back to the Clyde River in Scotland, where it was built in 1878. … Continue reading
As a naval architect in commercial shipping for several decades, I will admit to that I really do not understand the way the US Navy designs and builds ships. In the world of commercial shipping, the process is to design … Continue reading
Adventurer Ross Edgley, 33, has become the first person to swim the 1,780-miles around Great Britain. Setting out from Kent on June 1st, Edgley swam up to 12 hours per day, sleeping at night on his support boat. He did … Continue reading
Earlier this year, we posted about Baltimore’s “Mr. Trash Wheel,” a water-wheel and solar powered conveyor system which lifts drifting trash from the water of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Mr. Trash Wheel has been so successful that three other similar trash wheels have … Continue reading
When the cruise/ferry Excellent docked in Barcelona, her arrival was less than, shall we say, excellent. Yesterday, at around 8AM, local time, the 663′ long ship was caught in high winds. While waiting for additional tugs, the ship was blown … Continue reading
A new study published in the journal Nature suggests that over the last quarter-century, the oceans have been retaining 60% more heat than scientists had previously thought. If so, the Earth could be set to warm even faster than predicted. The … Continue reading
If you are in the neighborhood, consider joining us when I give a presentation about my novel, Hell Around the Horn, at the National Maritime Historical Society Seminar Series this Saturday at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, 185 Kings Ferry Road, Montrose, … Continue reading
A new bronze statue, pedestal, and plaque have been erected at New York’s Battery Park, memorializing the six crew of the harbor tug Maria 120 who mysteriously vanished during the New York City blackout of 1977. Some believe that the … Continue reading
Sad news from the Little Brig Trust, which operates two very small tall-ships. The Gosport based charity has announced that after a review of operations, that it did not have the capacity to continue into 2019, and so are putting … Continue reading
Italian boatbuilders Fincantieri and Dutch firm Van Geest Designs have developed a design of a 106 meter “Superyacht,” named Mirage, which would effectively become invisible at sea. The design features specially mirrored glass which is intended to reflect the image of the … Continue reading