Floating mats of Sargassum seaweed in the center of the North Atlantic were first reported by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. These mats, although abundant, have, until recently, been limited and scattered. In recent years that has changed dramatically. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
If you are near New York harbor on Saturday, July 13th, stop by the South Street Seaport, Piers 16 and 17, from 10AM to 4PM, to help celebrate City of Water Day 2019. In its 12th year, City of Water … Continue reading
Recently, we posted about the MSC Gayane, the container ship seized on Monday by US Customs following a $1.3 billion cocaine bust last month in Philadelphia. We said that the ship was not owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) but by … Continue reading
On July 5, in a very close race, the schooner Mary Day won the 43rd Annual Great Schooner Race. Fourteen schooners sailed in Penobscot Bay from Gilkey Harbor in Islesboro to the finish line at the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse in the … Continue reading
Yesterday, US Customs seized the 9,962 TEU container ship MSC Gayane. The MSC Gayane was the ship on which 18,000 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated $1.3 billion, was seized by Federal agents while at the dock in the Port … Continue reading
The financial crisis that threatened to shut down the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) has been averted. The sailing charity says that its emergency fundraising appeal raised more than £1m in five days. The charity had warned that if it did … Continue reading
The yeast from a 220-year-old bottle of beer found in a shipwreck off the coast of Tasmania has been used to brew what is being described as the “world’s oldest surviving beer.” This is similar to the claims made for … Continue reading
Looking for a private island getaway within a reasonable commuting distance of New York City? Columbia (ex-Little Pea) and Pea Island are for sale. The two islands are in the western end of Long Island Sound and 10-minutes by boat … Continue reading
If you are around New York harbor on Sunday, there is a wonderful opportunity to hear and join in singing sea chanteys as they were meant to be sung, onboard a windjammer. The chantey sing will aboard the restored 1885 … Continue reading
Happy 4th of July to all. Here is lightly updated repost appropriate for the day. On July 4th, Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776. Joseph Hewes was one of the lesser-known signatories … Continue reading
On July 2, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that a fire had broken out on a research submarine killing 14 sailors while the ship was operating in Russia’s territorial waters in the Barents Sea. Russian authorities declined to further identify the … Continue reading
Japan has withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission, and the Japanese whaling fleet has abandoned their so-called “research whaling” to resume commercial whaling for the first time in 31 years. That is the bad news. There is another way to … Continue reading
The emergency appeal from the Jubilee Sailing Trust dated June 28th, could not be more dire. Our objective is to urgently raise £1m (one million pounds) of unrestricted funds by Friday July 5th 2019 … If we are unable to reach this target, then it … Continue reading
After completing his 10th circumnavigation of the globe under sail in December of 2017 at the age of 77, legendary West Australian sailor Jon Sanders said that he was done. He said that the 10th trip around would be his … Continue reading
Last November, the Norwegian navy frigate, KNM Helge Ingstad, was returning from NATO exercises when it mistook the Maltese flag, Aframax tanker, Sola TS, for an object onshore in the Hjeltefjord near Bergen, Norway. The subsequent collision did minor damage to the … Continue reading
Maiden, a new documentary by Alex Holmes, which opens today, tells the story of the first all-female team to race against all odds in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989-1990. Tracy Edwards, an experienced British sailor in her … Continue reading
Anyone who thinks that a Southern border wall will stop cocaine trafficking into this country has not been paying at attention to the news. Cocaine seizures from container ships have been setting records in ports along the East Coast for … Continue reading
Carnival Corporation is the world’s largest cruise line, operating over 100 ships across nine brands. Back in 1972, however, it owned only one ship, the TSS Mardi Gras, of 27,000 GRT and carrying roughly 1,000 passengers. Now, Carnival is building … Continue reading
On Friday afternoon, I headed over to North Cove in Lower Manhattan to watch the New York races of Sail GP. Sail GP is a global racing circuit of cutting edge one-design 15-meter-long foiling catamarans. The boats themselves are repurposed … Continue reading
The sailing auxiliary cargo ship Kwai arrived in Hawaii recently. The ship usually sails a regular route carrying cargo and passengers between Hawaii and the islands of Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tabuaeran (Fanning) and Teraina, (Washington Island) as well as the … Continue reading