Former Liberty Ship Converted to Nuclear Power Plant to be Scrapped

Posted on by September 20, 2018

Photo: Erhard Koehler, 2014.

Did you know that in the 1960s the US Army converted a World War II Liberty ship to a floating nuclear power plant? Neither did I. And as it is now heading for the scrap yard, will soon be no more.

In the early 60s, the US Army installed a 10 MW nuclear power plant in the World War II Liberty ship, SS Charles H. Cugle. The Liberty ship, renamed Sturgis, became a nuclear plant on a barge, designed to be towed where needed to provide electrical power. The Sturgis was deployed in Gatun Lake, between the Gatun Locks and the Chagris dam spillway in Panama to provide power to supplement the Gatun Hydroelectric Station, during a serious drought. Tellingly, the Sturgis was also assisted by a 20 MW conventional diesel-electric power plant on a barge, the Andrew J. Weber.

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Eric Jay Dolin’s Black Flags, Blue Waters, the Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates – A Review

Posted on by September 21, 2018

What is it about the pirates of the so-called “Golden Age” that holds our attention over the centuries? The period has been romanticized and fictionalized in books, British musicals, Hollywood movies, and cable TV shows. Where do the legend and lore end and the history begin?

In Eric Jay Dolin’s latest book, Black Flags, Blue Waters – the Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates, he cuts through the historical hyperbole and tells the still fascinating tale of these maritime brigands operating from the late 1600s through the early 1700s. In his account, he also shifts the focus away from strictly the Caribbean to the British North American colonies, which helps to put much of what can often seem to be merely fanciful tales into a historical context.

The “Golden Age of Piracy” was not a single period in history but rather three short and distinct outbreaks of oceanic banditry. Dolin explains the social and economic basis for each, from the buccaneers of Tortuga and Jamaica of the 17th century, to the so-called “Pirate Round” of the 1690s, to the decades following the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century, from whence sprang most of the well known pirates we remember today.

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Catching Plastic with a Giant Boom — Will it Work?

Posted on by September 15, 2018

About five years ago, a 19-year-old Dutch engineering student, Boyan Slat, made a big splash, at least on the internet, when he unveiled his design of refuse collecting booms, which he claimed would clean the oceans of plastics within five years. He described an anchored network of floating booms and platforms which would skim plastics and other refuse being carried along any of the five ocean gyres.

Now, Slat and his non-profit Ocean Cleanup are deploying a 600-meter-long prototype boom system to test the concept. The NY Times reports that the boom will be towed to a site where it will undergo two weeks of testing. If everything goes as planned, the boom will then be brought to the garbage patch, nearly 1,400 miles offshore, where it is expected to arrive by mid-October.  

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Will Hurricane Florence Force North Carolina to Face Rising Sea Levels?

Posted on by September 13, 2018

In 2010, a North Carolina state commission report predicted that sea levels on the state’s coast could rise as much as 39 inches by the year 2100, flooding billions of dollars’ worth of real estate and crippling much of the state’s economy. Instead of taking action to mitigate the damage, the state legislature passed laws in 2012 saying that the new predictions could not be used for public planning. Only historical data could be used, seriously underestimating the effects of climate change. The politicians effectively chose to support development rather than science. In the meantime, the population on the North Carolina coast is growing rapidly, increasing by half in the last two decades. 

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Monster Storms East and West — Hurricane Florence and Typhoon Mangkhut

Posted on by September 13, 2018

Two monster storms are bearing down on vulnerable coastlines on opposite sides of the globe. In the Atlantic,  Hurricane Florence, now a Category 2 storm, is sending lashing winds, powerful rains and the threat of major flooding as it approaches the coast of the Carolinas. In the Pacific, Super Typhoon Mangkhut is still gathering strength as it nears the northern Philippines. With winds of 180 mph, Mangkhut is equivalent to a Category 5 Hurricane. It is expected to make landfall on Luzon island Saturday.

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Irish Fishermen Net 10,000 Year Old Great Elk Skull and Antlers

Posted on by September 11, 2018

Two Northern Irish fishermen were fishing for pollan, a whitefish native to Ireland, in Lough Neagh. Instead, fishermen Raymond McElroy and Charlie Coyle netted the antlers and skull of a Great Elk, a species which disappeared from Ireland 10,500 to 11,000 years ago. The nearly intact skull, with its antlers still attached, measures 6 feet across. Four years ago, a lower jaw bone of a Great Elk was pulled from Lough Neagh in almost the same spot, which may suggest that it belonged to the same deer as this skull and antlers.

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Tugs, Ferries and 9/11 — BOATLIFT, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience

Posted on by September 11, 2018

This weekend I enjoyed watching the Great North River Tug Race. Now, a few days later, we have arrived again at the anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. As horrible as that Tuesday morning in September indeed was and as raw as the memories still are, I prefer to focus on the near miracle of that afternoon, when the mariners of New York harbor on tugs, ferries and a range of other craft evacuated an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people trapped in Lower Manhattan by water. It has been called the largest rescue by sea in history and is often compared to Dunkirk. The scope of the rescue is still too often overlooked or forgotten and as a result, it is easy to overlook the importance of tugs and ferries to the resilience of the harbor.

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Alex Thomson — What Does It Take to Sail Around the World Solo

Posted on by September 10, 2018

More than 4,000 people have climbed Mount Everest. More than 600 people have been in outer space. Yet fewer than 100 people have sailed solo non-stop around the world.

What does it take to race around the globe alone? Skill, obviously. Physical strength, absolutely. Mental stamina, however, may be the most difficult part of the voyage. In the video below Alex Thomson describes the techniques he uses to stay focused in racing around the world in the Vendee Globe. Fascinating and useful even for those of who do not race at 40 knots across the Southern Ocean. 

What It Takes To Sail Around The World Solo

Remembering Alex Storm, Canadian Treasure Hunter

Posted on by September 8, 2018

Alex Storm, right, with his son Jason Storm, Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO – Jason Storm

Alex Storm, a Canadian treasure hunter who discovered two valuable 18th-century shipwrecks off the shores of Nova Scotia, died last month at the age of 80.  

In 1965, Storm and two associates discovered the wreck of Le Chameau, a French Navy ship which went down off the Fortress of Louisbourg in a storm in 1725 with the loss of more than 300 lives. The ship, bound for Quebec, then still part of French Canada, was also carrying money to pay for the French garrisons and other colonial expenses. Storm and his group recovered 7,861 silver coins and 878 gold Louis d’or from the wreck site. The discovery was the largest find in Canadian history.

In 1968, Storm located the remains of HMS Feversham, a British warship, part of a fleet sent to attack Quebec, which was shipwrecked in 1711, with the loss of 102 lives.

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Rotor Sail Testing Begins on Product Tanker Maersk Pelican

Posted on by February 5, 2019

Testing has begun on the recently installed rotor sails on the MV Maersk Pelican. The two large cylinders installed on the deck of the 110,000 DWT Long Range 2 product tanker may not look much like sails but may represent the future of sail assist technology in commercial shipping. The 30 meter tall and 5 meter in diameter rotors, the world’s largest, are a modern version of the Flettner rotor developed in the 1920s. When the rotors are spun in a wind, they develop lift which can be used to propel a ship or to reduce the fuel consumed by the main engines. The rotor sails on the Maersk Pelican are expected to reduce fuel consumption by 7 to 10% on average.

The rotor sails were provided by Norsepower Oy Ltd.,  working with project partners Maersk Tankers, Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) and Shell Shipping & Maritime.

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Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry Pausing for a Reset

Posted on by September 6, 2018

Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island  (OHPRI), the non-profit organization behind Rhode Island’s Official Tall Ship SSVOliver Hazard Perry, has announced a pause in operations to rethink its strategy for the ship’s financial sustainability.  

The 200-foot three-masted sailing school vessel, which was seven years and $12 million in the making when she embarked on her maiden sail in 2015, will not journey south next Spring as it has done the past two years but instead remain in Rhode Island at a soon-to-be-announced location.

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26th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition This Sunday

Posted on by September 5, 2018

Photo: Will Van Dorp

If you are near New York harbor this Sunday, swing by Manhattan’s Pier 84 (at W. 44th St.) on the Hudson River to catch the 26th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race and Competition, sponsored by the Working Harbor Committee. More than 15 tugboats are expected to participate. The festivities begin with a Parade of Tugs, near Pier 84, followed by a race, which runs from W. 70th St to Pier 84.  Following the race, there will be nose-to-nose tug pushing contests, and a line-throwing competition by tugboat crew members. There will also be a Popeye-inspired spinach-eating contest, a tattoo tournament, and an awards ceremony.

There are two ways to see the race — watch from around Pier 84, or watch the race, up close and personal from a Circle Line Spectator Boat. Pick up the Spectator Boat from Pier 83, West 43rd Street and Hudson River Park. Boarding begins at 10:15am. The trip lasts will be onboard from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $12 for children 3-12. Click here to buy tickets or to learn more.

The Big Oyster in the Big Apple — the Biggest Oyster in 100 Years

Posted on by September 4, 2018

Photo: The River Project

A diver repairing Pier 40 on the Hudson River in Manhattan recently pried loose a large oyster. At 8.66 inches long and weighing in at close to two pounds, it is believed to be the largest oyster found in New York Harbor in around 100 years.

Oysters once filled New York harbor. When Henry Hudson arrived in 1609, there were some 350 square miles of oyster reefs in the New York waters, containing nearly half of the world’s oyster population. In the 19th century, New Yorkers ate roughly a million oysters every day. Oysters shells were used to pave roads and crushed into a paste for building mortar. 

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On Labor Day — When Sailors Struck the Topsails in 1768

Posted on by September 3, 2018

Happy Labor Day! While many nations celebrate workers on May 1st or May Day, US and Canada both celebrate workers rights in early September. It seems a good time to look at the nautical origin of the word “strike,” referring to workers withholding their labor to demand better wages or conditions.

The first use of the word “strike” as a labor protest dates to April of 1768 when sailors in the Port of Sunderland in Great Britain announced that they would strike the topsails of merchant ships to prevent them from sailing unless wages were increased. The ship owners agreed to their demands. In May, sailors on ships in the Thames followed their example and struck their topsails. The sailors petitioned Parliament and the Lord Mayor for a wage increase. By May 11, fourteen thousand sailors, dock workers, water-men, and coal-heavers marched on Westminster. Soon, all trade on the Thames had been brought to a standstill.

Ironically, the new use of the word strike reversed its previous meaning. In battle, when a ship struck, it was an act of surrender. When the sailors struck, it was an act of defiance. The word strike soon spread to describe any work stoppage.

Memorial Service for Tall Ships America’s Bert Rogers

Posted on by September 3, 2018

Tomorrow, September 4th, a memorial service honoring the life of Bert Rogers will be held at 2PM on the North lawn at Fort Adams in Newport, RI.  Bert Rogers was the long-time Executive Director of Tall Ships America and an icon in the sail training community. He died of a heart attack last month. For more information click here.

Microscopic Mushroom Textures to Keep Barnacles Off of Ship Hulls

Posted on by September 3, 2018

A microscopic image of the mushroom-shaped silicone surface used in the experiment. Photo: Lars Heepe

For most of history, the only way to keep ship and boat hulls from fouling with barnacles was to put some sort of material toxic to marine growth on vessel hulls. Copper sheathing was one of the first effective, albeit costly, forms of antifouling. Copper and other sheathing worked well on wooden ships but caused galvanic corrosion of iron and steel vessels. The development of antifouling paint in the 20th century was a big step forward, although environmental concerns have been raised in recent decades over the toxicity of the coatings.

Scientists have recently been experimenting with textured coatings which make it difficult for barnacle larvae to attach themselves to the hull surface. The New York Times reports:  

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Hundreds of Seals Dying Along the New England Coast

Posted on by September 1, 2018

While many have been focused on the massive die-offs of fish and sea life off the South Florida coastline triggered by a combined outbreak of red tide and blue-green algae, all is not well along the New England coast either. An unusually large number of seals have been dying this summer.

Close to 600 harbor and gray seals have died along the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts since July. The unexpectedly high death rate has caused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare a pinniped unusual mortality event (UME) along the Northeast Coast.

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Invasive Species Riding Plastic Rafts Across Oceans

Posted on by August 31, 2018

Japanese marine sea slugs photo: John Chapman

Another good news-bad news story. The good news is that the fears of radiation spreading across the Pacific from the Fukushima meltdown following the Japanese tsunami of 2011, have been wildly overstated.  Yes, trace elements of radiation traceable to Fukushima have been recorded in Pacific fish, but they are barely above the level of naturally occurring background radiation. Or, as one analysis, described it, “turns out bananas are more radioactive than fish.”

The bad news is that the debris and trash propelled across the Pacific by force of the tsunami have acted as rafts for a wide range of invasive species, mostly invertebrates like mussels, sea anemones and crabs, which have been washing ashore on North American beaches for last seven years. The really bad news is that scientists are observing that many of these species are surviving and may, over time, pose a threat to indigenous plants and animals on the North American Pacific coast.

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Another Sailboat Hits Moored Museum Ship, USS Midway

Posted on by August 30, 2018

The aircraft carrier USS Midway is about a 1,000′ long, 130′ wide and around 55′ high. It has been a stationary museum ship since 2004. Put plainly, Midway is really, really big and doesn’t move. It should be a fairly easy object to avoid, and yet for the second time in only three years, a sailboat has succeeded in running into it.  In both cases, the sailboats attempted to take a shortcut across the carrier’s bow and misjudged the height and extent of the ship’s safety nets.  

This time, the sailboat was dismasted in the process. In 2015, a passing sailboat got the tip of its mast entangled in the carrier’s flight deck safety nets, damaging the nets but leaving the sailboat’s mast standing. 

The good news is that these two allisions are the only such incidents since the Midway became a museum ship fourteen years ago.

Boat crashed to the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum in San Diego