Captain Frederick Bouchard
This year the East Coast tug and barge operator, Bouchard Transportation Company, turned 100 years old. The company’s origin, however, dates back to 1916, and to Captain Frederick Bouchard’s heroism during the worst attack on New York harbor prior to 9/11.
At around 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 30, 1916, New York harbor exploded. German saboteurs blew up high explosives at the Black Tom terminal in Jersey City. Black Tom was one of the largest munitions terminals in the country, storing and shipping millions of tons of ammunition and high explosives to the French and the British, who were in the second year of what was then called the “Great War” against Germany and its allies.
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?
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 
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 
Two monster storms are bearing down on vulnerable coastlines on opposite sides of the globe. In the Atlantic, 
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.
This weekend I enjoyed watching the 
Testing has begun
Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI), the non-profit organization behind Rhode Island’s Official Tall Ship 
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.
Tomorrow, September 4th, a memorial service honoring the life of 
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