We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Here is a slightly different take on Jingle Bells by members of the US Navy band. Dueling Jingle BellsHere’s one of our favorites from this year’s holiday concerts, with a bit … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
To celebrate The Shantyman being chosen as one of the Best Indie Books of 2105 by Kirkus Reviews, we are having an impromptu promotion. Here is how it works — today and tomorrow, The Shantyman will be available in Kindle … Continue reading
Past attempts to claim the Jules Verne Trophy, awarded to the fastest sailboat to circumnavigate the globe, have been solitary affairs — a single sailboat attempting to break the previous record time. That changed on November 22, when two veteran … Continue reading
Back in the early 200s, the US Navy began a program to build a new class of Littoral Combat Ships, LCS, which were intended to be fast, agile and, at least by US Navy standards, relatively inexpensive, which could operate … Continue reading
I am extremely pleased to announce that my novel “The Shantyman” has been selected as one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie Books for 2015. From the review: With eloquent accuracy, Spilman’s novel captures the life of a 19th-century sailor…. Spilman’s colorful, … Continue reading
What should a sailor carry with him or her when clambering around a boat or sailing ship? A rigging knife and marlinspike are common. Some prefer a sheath knife, whereas I am happy with a folding knife and marlinspike that … Continue reading
A new IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association) 60 design by Guillaume Verdier and VPLP Design has raised the question whether the design will be a the future of ocean racing or whether it is a foil too far. In addition … Continue reading
The nuclear submarine USS Georgia is now in drydock at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. The Georgia was returning after a long international deployment when it ran into buoy No. 23, located at the entrance to the channel leading to the boat’s … Continue reading
In May, we posted that Star Clippers is building the world’s largest square-rigged passenger ship, a near-replica of the five-masted barque France II commissioned in 1911. Last week, the keel of the as of yet unnamed ship was laid in the Brodosplit … Continue reading
The tanker Navigator Europa, moored outside the Targa LPG export terminal, caught fire today, shutting down a section of the Houston Ship Channel. The tanker is reported to be carrying ethylene, a chemical used in making plastic. The cause of the fire … Continue reading
The Beacon Sloop Club is raising money to restore the Hudson River ferry sloop, Woody Guthrie. G Since 1978, the sloop Woody Guthrie has given thousands of people their first experience on a sailboat and their first experience of the beauties … Continue reading
Today I saw the movie, “In the Heart of the Sea,” directed by Ron Howard and somewhat loosely based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. How was it? The movie was … Continue reading
Today in theaters in the US, the movie “In the Heart of the Sea” opens. It is based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s book, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. (I will be reviewing the movie tomorrow.) … Continue reading
This week, the beach in Melbourne, Florida was suddenly covered with thousands of yellow and red cans and freeze-dried bricks of Cafe Bustelo brand espresso coffee. Yesterday, packages of Ramen noodles started washing ashore at nearby Port St.Lucie. In Fort … Continue reading
I recently came across a sea story, that, like the best sea stories, has been retold enough times so that the details tend to wander from one version to the other. This much appears to be true. Thirty-five years ago, … Continue reading