More Than 275 Artifacts Recovered from Franklin Expedition’s HMS Erebus

A team of researchers conducted 56 dives over 11 days in September on the wreck of the HMS Erebus from the 1845 Franklin Expedition near Gjoa Haven recovering more than 275 additional artifacts from the historic shipwreck. The newly retrieved artifacts … Continue reading

Greenland’s Glaciers Melting 100 Times Faster Than Estimated

A disturbing report from Phys.org. Greenland’s glaciers are melting 100 times faster than previously calculated, according to a new model that takes into account the unique interaction between ice and water at the island’s fjords.  Published in the journal Geophysical … Continue reading

Sting — Christmas At Sea (Live from Durham Cathedral)

We hope everyone is having a joyous holiday season.  Here is a repost of a beautiful version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “Christmas at Sea,” performed by Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better known as Sting. Sting – Christmas At Sea … Continue reading

Over the Holidays & in the New Year, May St. Nicholas Hold the Tiller

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

Repost on the Winter Solstice — Shortest Day & Longest Shadows, or No Shadow At All

Happy Winter Solstice to all! In the northern hemisphere, today is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun is at its southernmost point of travel, over the imaginary circle on the globe we refer to … Continue reading

Mystic Seaport Celebrates 50th Anniversary of the Opening of the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard

The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard at the Mystic Seaport Museum, the first shipyard built specifically for preservation in the United States, and possibly the world, marking a … Continue reading

Emirates Team New Zealand Breaks Wind-Powered Land Speed Record

Emirates Team New Zealand, famous for winning the America’s Cup, has broken the wind-powered land speed record. Its land yacht Horonuku reached 138.2 miles per hour (222.4 km/h) in 25.3 mph winds on the dry basin of Lake Gairdner in … Continue reading

Update: Atrevida II Rescue & the High Cost of Sailing Unprepared

We recently posted about the rescue of two sailors and a dog from a 30′ sailboat, Atrevida II, off Cape Hatteras by the tanker Silver Muna. While the initial Coast Guard report was accurate, it was also incomplete. The initial … Continue reading

Young Sperm Whale Dies After Washing Up on Rockaway Beach in NYC

A sperm whale, estimated to be a female between three and five-years-old, died after washing up on Rockaway Beach in New York City on Tuesday. PIX11 reports that the Parks Department was told about the approximately 30-foot sperm whale near … Continue reading

Tanker Silver Muna Picks Up Overdue Sailors Off Delaware Coast

On Sunday, the US Coast Guard Fifth District command center in Virginia was notified that the Atrevida II, a 30’ Catalina sloop, on a passage from Cape May, N.J. to Marathon, FL, was overdue. Onboard were Kevin Hyde, 65, and … Continue reading

SS Central America — Ship of Gold & the $114,000 Pants

On September 12, 1857, the 289-foot-long sidewheel steamer SS Central America sank in a hurricane off the US East Coast. When she sank, 425 of her 578 passengers and crew were drowned and 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold from … Continue reading

Pandemic Flashback — Bounding Main’s T-Rex Quintet Singing “Strike the Bell”

We are two years late in posting this. Nevertheless, it seems like a worthwhile bit of silliness for a Friday afternoon.  Back in 2020, a deadly virus was running rampant across the globe. Performance venues and even rehearsals were shut … Continue reading

Coast Guard: Distracted Pilot on Cell Phone Prior to Grounding of Container Ship Ever Forward in Chesapeake

Last March, we posted about the grounding of the container ship Ever Forward near Baltimore in the Chesapeake Bay. The ship failed to make a turn in the Craighill channel and ran hard aground on a mud flat, where it … Continue reading

Remembering the Halifax Explosion of 1917 & the Boston Christmas Tree

One hundred and five years ago today, on the morning of December 6, 1917, the French freighter SS Mont-Blanc and the SS Imo, a Norwegian ship chartered to carry relief supplies to Belgium, collided in the Narrows, a strait connecting … Continue reading

Lt. Cmdr. Amber Cowan — First Woman XO on US Navy Submarine

A decade after women were allowed to serve in the US Navy’s Silent Service, Lt. Cmdr. Amber Cowan has become the first woman to serve as executive officer on a submarine. Lt. Cmdr. Cowan, who joined the Navy in 2010, … Continue reading

Passenger Dies on Antarctic Cruise After Viking Polaris is Hit by Rogue Wave

Viking Cruises announced that their expedition cruise ship Viking Polaris was struck by a “rogue wave” in a storm off Antarctica on November 29 at 22:40 local time. The ship was sailing towards Ushuaia, Argentina. One passenger was killed by … Continue reading

Against All Odds, Cruise Passenger Survives 20 Hours in the Gulf of Mexico After Going Overboard From Carnival Valor

When we posted about a man who had been rescued in the Gulf of Mexico by the US Coast Guard after apparently falling off the cruise ship Carnival Valor, we were convinced that there was more to the story. It … Continue reading