You may recall the Norwegian comedy team Ylvis from their viral hit, “What Does the Fox Say?,” which was viewed more than a half billion times on Youtube. One of their more recent music videos, released in September, is on … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
Christopher Swain, an environmental activist, spent about an hour swimming in New York’s Gowanus Canal earlier this week on Earth Day. He said he made his swim as a “call for an accelerated cleanup of the Canal.” The Gowanus Canal … Continue reading
Half Moon, a replica of Henry Hudson’s ship, looks very small sitting on the deck of the heavy-lift ship Traveler, which is carrying the ship to its new berth at the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, in the Netherlands. As heavy lift ships go, … Continue reading
The cruise ship Carnival Spirit docked this morning in Sydney Australia after being held offshore for a day due to high winds and seas which closed the port. The ship had been on a 12 day cruise. A serious storm … Continue reading
This beautiful visualization of the winds blowing across the face of the earth and the sea from Windyty seems like an appropriate post for Earth Day. Click and drag the chart around to see the winds on any part of … Continue reading
We recently posted about Gunboat’s new G4 carbon-fiber catamaran which can fly on foils. (It can also capsize dramatically.) As high tech and leading edge as the G4 may be, it is not the first cruising foiling multihull. Forty five … Continue reading
The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean continues to grow more grave. Last week, we posted about the drowning of 400 migrants in an overloaded ship which capsized not long after leaving port in Libya bound for Italy. On Sunday, a larger ship … Continue reading
Within a few hours after the replica French frigate l’Hermione set sail on her maiden voyage to the United States, friends stopped by our house on the west side of the Hudson River for drinks and brought an unexpected gift. … Continue reading
Today the replica frigate l’Hermione will sail from its mooring off the small island of Aix on the west of France, and navigate up the Charente river to the historic naval town of Rochefort, before setting out across the Atlantic to … Continue reading
The Newtown Creek was recently sold at auction. At 324′ long and 49.6′ wide, she is a lovely coastal tanker that traversed New York harbor’s waters for close to a half century. For a vessel of her size and type, I always found … Continue reading
Last May we posted about the donation of the schooner 64’5″ Fiddler’s Dream to the Kitsap Maritime Heritage Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to celebrate the Puget Sound’s maritime heritage through exhibition, education, and helping people of all ages and abilities to … Continue reading
I was invited onto the Mark Forrest Show on BBC radio to discuss the history and importance of sea shanties. A quick five minute interview. To hear more of the program, click here. … Continue reading
An estimated 400 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean when their boat capsized, 24 hours after leaving Libya. Approximately 145 people were rescued. Italian authorities say that around 8,500 migrants had been rescued at sea between Friday and Monday alone. Nearly 3,500 migrants … Continue reading
In December we posted about a new 40′ carbon-fiber racing/cruising catamaran from Gunboat, the G4, that with the optional J foils could fly like an America’s Cup racer. Here now is a video of the G4 being put through the … Continue reading
In my new novel, The Shantyman, the clipper ship Alhambra nearly collides with a massive ice island. From Chapter Nine: In the forenoon watch came the cry, “Ice, dead ahead.” It was my watch below, but I jumped up with the rest … Continue reading