So you want to learn to sail a square-rigger? Here is one of the best visual explanations of the basics that I have come across, courtesy of the full-rigged ship Sørlandet. Part 1 looks at the sails & rigging. How to sail a … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
Her French competitors refer to her as La Petite Anglaise. Tomorrow, when the twenty boats in Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race set off from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, Samantha Davies will be the only woman in the race. When she sails tomorrow, she will be waving goodbye … Continue reading
The United States Coast Guard Notice to Mariners reads simply – Old Orchard Shoals Light STRUCT DEST. The Old Orchard Shoals Light was built in 1893 in New York’s outer harbor off Staten Island near Great Kills Beach. The 51-foot tall cast … Continue reading
A guest post by Stephen Phelps: Today is the 70th anniversary of the WW II invasion of North Africa, which began with the assault and landing in the port of Safi by USS Bernadou, a WW I-vintage destroyer that had … Continue reading
Mitik is the name given to a 234-pound 15-week-old orphaned walrus rescued from the open ocean off Alaska in early October. The walrus calf was transported aboard a FedEx cargo jet, accompanied by a veterinarian and a handler, and delivered to … Continue reading
Just over a week ago, we here in New York and New Jersey were hit by a “superstorm,” the convergence of Hurricane Sandy and a Noreaster. Now just as power is being restored to many areas and damage to washed … Continue reading
This Saturday November 10, 2012, from 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m,, the Mystic Seaport Museum is celebrating the 71st anniversary of the arrival in Mystic of the whale ship Charles W. Morgan. The Morgan was launched in 1841 and is … Continue reading
Spade-toothed beaked whales (Mesoplodon traversii) are so rare that they had never been seen alive. Until recently, the only evidence of their existence were portions of three skulls found in 1872 and in the 1950s in New Zealand and in 1986 … Continue reading
The crew of the HMS Bounty was interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning. Note: the video of the ship sailing in high seas was shot when the Bounty sailed from Maine to Puerto Rico in 2010. Unfortunately your browser does … Continue reading
Wonderful footage from National Geographic of the HMS Bounty’s maiden voyage in 1960 by photographer Luis Marden. … Continue reading
Robin Beth Schaer an American poet and sailor who served as a deckhand aboard the HMS Bounty has a written, Falling Overboard, a beautifully evocative essay which she describes as “My love letter and my farewell for my ship Bounty and her captain, lost in the … Continue reading
There are no real super-heroes, but as far am I am concerned the closest human beings that come to that designation are the search and rescue teams of the United States Coast Guard. From the rescue swimmers, who dive into … Continue reading
The super-storm Sandy swept in from the Atlantic on Monday night, leaving millions without power, destroying thousands of homes, killing scores and dramatically rearranging the landscape of the Jersey shore. Many New York subways went underwater. Fuel supplies are extremely … Continue reading
In response to our post, Bon Voyage to the Barque Picton Castle – Bound for the South Pacific, Diego commented, “Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,” which is the first line of the chorus of the old sailor’s song, Farewell … Continue reading
The sail training ship, the barque Piction Castle, sailed from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia this morning, bound for Grenada, then through the Panama Canal on a voyage to the South Pacific. To follow the Picton Castle on her voyage click here. The Picton Castle, captained by … Continue reading