We recently posted about crewing opportunities for the auxiliary-sail trading vessel Tiare Taporo operating from the Cook Islands. The Tiare Taporo is, however, not the only commercial sailing vessel serving the Cook islands. The SV Kwai will soon be departing on its 45th voyage from Hawaii calling on the islands of Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tabuaeran (Fanning) and Teraina, (Washington Island) as well as the Northern Cook Islands of Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Manihiki, Nassau, and Pukapuka.
The SV Kwai is 43 meters (140 ft), with a beam of 7 meters (23 ft), draws 3 meters (10 ft), has a tonnage of 179 RT and is ketch rigged. While equipped with a main engine and generator, the goal is to operate under sail 90% of the time. SV Kwai has been carrying cargo and passengers between Hawaii and the Line and Cook Islands since 2006.
Sometime in the 1990s, two different species of 
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Today, the New York Times featured an article titled — “
Captain Reinhard Hardegen
For many years, scientists had thought that great white sharks traveled north and south along the Pacific coast of America, feeding in waters close to shore. Then researchers at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station began tagging white sharks with satellite tracking tags. Rather than staying along the coast, great whites were traveling a thousand miles out into the Pacific in the winter and spring and congregating in an area which the researchers nicknamed the “
Ever dream of sailing the Pacific on an inter-island trading ship? Well, the Auxiliary-Sail Trading Vessel Tiare Taporo, based in the Cook Islands is looking for crew. This sounds like a fascinating opportunity for the right individuals. From a notice by 
The 
In 1614, Dutch sailor 
Manta Point is a popular dive spot off the southernmost shore of Nusa Penida Island, near Bali, Indonesia. Divers are attracted by the large number of manta rays which congregate there. On March 3rd, a British diver, Rich Horner, found far more than mantas at Manta Point. He found himself swimming in a sea of plastic garbage. His video of swimming through the mass of debris and trash has gone viral. It is disturbing to watch. The video is the bad news. The good news or perhaps the less bad news is that the video doesn’t tell the whole story. 
The deaths of 17 sailors in the separate collisions with merchant ships of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain has raised fundamental questions about the seamanship of US naval officers on the two ships, and by implication, the fleet as a whole. A three-month internal review conducted by senior U.S. surface fleet leaders of the seamanship and ship handling skills of new deck officers has yielded deeply concerning results.