The Rise of the Mountain of Fire and the Birth of the Only Elephant in Iceland

Posted on by August 27, 2018

On the 21st of January, 1973, the island of Heimaey, four nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland, began to tremble. On the 23rd, a large fissure opened up on the eastern side of the island, barely a kilometer away from the center of the town of Heimaey. Volcanic ash began to fall over most of the island and lava began to flow toward the town.

Fortunately, the fishing fleet was in the harbor and most of the population left successfully by the island by boat. Remarkably, within 6 hours close to 5,300 islanders were evacuated to the mainland. A small contingent stayed behind to perform essential duties and monitor the situation. Only one person was killed by the eruption.

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Close Encounters of the Cetacean Kind off the Jersey Shore

Posted on by August 26, 2018

There have been several recent encounters between boats and whales. Fortunately, neither whale nor humans appear to have been injured. The most serious took place off the Jersey Shore.

Two fishermen in a 20-foot boat were fishing approximately one mile off of Deal, Monmouth County when they had a close encounter with a whale. Jonathan Swingle, the boat’s captain, told ABC 6 News what happened: “So, we’re talking a 30 to 40-foot whale, gotta weigh more than 20 tons. 

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Remembering Hilary Lister — Quadriplegic Solo Sailor, Dies at 46

Posted on by August 24, 2018

Hilary Lister has died at the age of 46. She was a quadriplegic from Kent, England who found escape and freedom in solo sailing. In doing so, she set many sailing records and serves as an inspiration to us all.

Lister was able-bodied until she was 15, when she was struck down by a degenerative disease, reflex sympathetic dystrophy. By the age of 19, she had lost the use of her legs and by 27 was a quadriplegic. In addition to paralysis, she was left in near constant pain. Lost in the tedium and pain of paralysis, she considered suicide. Then she discovered sailing. 

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As Hurricane Lane Approaches, Why Hurricanes Are So Rare in Hawaii

Posted on by August 23, 2018

The good news is that Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane. The bad news is that it is still heading straight for the Hawaiian islands.  The storm’s outer bands have been pounding parts of Hawaii’s Big Island with rain Thursday morning, triggering landslides and threatening serious flooding. The hurricane is the first major cyclone to make landfall in the state in 26 years when Hurricane Iniki caused around $3.1 billion of damage and six deaths. Like Hurricane Lane, Iniki was also a Category 4 hurricane and was the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. state of Hawaii in recorded history.

Why are hurricanes so rare in Hawaii? Continue reading →

Carrier Ale, the Queen’s Head Pub and the HMS Queen Elizabeth,

Posted on by August 22, 2018

Carrier Ale

A quick two-question quiz — First question: What do US aircraft carriers have that the newest British carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, lacks?  The answer is aircraft. The UK’s new aircraft carrier will be conducting flight trials with two borrowed US planes. Its own planes have begun to be delivered as of last June but are not expected to be deployed on the ship until 2019.

Second Question — What does the HMS Queen Elizabeth have which all US carriers lack? A proper English pub, of course. The pub, known as the Queen’s Head, was christened recently aboard the Queen Elizabeth and will be available to officers and senior enlisted during the ship’s maiden transit of the Atlantic. 

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Claims of Vast Treasure on Dmitrii Donskoi Wreck a Likely Cryptocurrency Scam

Posted on by August 21, 2018

In July we posted about the discovery of the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, off South Korea. The salvors claimed that the ship may contain 200 tons of gold, which would they said may be worth around $133.4 billion (£102bn) in today’s prices. It now appears that, while the wreck of the Russian cruiser is real enough, the claims of treasure may be part of an elaborate cryptocurrency scam.

The salvage was being backed by the Shinil Group, which apparently also has ties to a new Singapore based cryptocurrency venture, Shinil Gold Coins.

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A Monday Morning Sea Story — Woman Falls off Sailboat, Husband Doesn’t Notice

Posted on by August 20, 2018

Pell Bridge Near Newport

Hope your Monday is going well. If not, you are still probably having a better time than one sailing couple had in Narragansett Bay last Friday and Saturday. A husband and wife were sailing their 38-foot sailboat Alegria from Newport, RI to East Greenwich on Friday. At some point on Friday, the wife fell overboard. The husband was apparently unaware she was missing.

How, where, and why this happened is unclear. The Providence Journal quotes 2nd Class Petty Officer Sam Van Lent from U.S. Coast Guard Station Castle Hill, saying, “The story’s a little cloudy.”

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HMS Queen Elizabeth Sails for US For First Flight Trials

Posted on by August 19, 2018

The HMS Queen Elizabeth set sail yesterday from Portsmouth Naval Base bound for the United States. The 65,000-tonne carrier, the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, will embark two US F-35B test aircraft to begin the first flight trials.

The BBC reports that they are expected to carry out 500 landings and take-offs during the carrier’s 11 weeks at sea.

Capt Jerry Kyd, the carrier’s commanding officer, added: “Crossing a major ocean with 1,500 sailors, aircrew and marines embarked and the specter of the first F-35B Lightning landing on the deck in September is very exciting for us all.

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Three More Retired Navy Personnel Charged in Fat Leonard Scandal

Posted on by August 18, 2018

Fat Leonard

Two retired U.S. Navy chief petty officers and one retired captain were charged with bribery and fraud in the multi-year “Fat Leonard” criminal investigation, which has been described as the worst corruption scandal in Navy history.

Leonard Glenn Francis, who at 6’3″ tall and weighing 350 pounds is known as “Fat Leonard,” is the owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a logistics and support firm. He pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption charges related to his dealings with the US Navy in 2015 and has been cooperating with investigators ever since.

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From Beneath the Toxic Black Mayonnaise of the Gowanus, the SS Gay

Posted on by August 17, 2018

Remains of the SS Gy

The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is one of the most polluted waterways in the nation. When I went to work for Moore McCormack many, many years ago, their New York terminal was on 23rd Street on the Gowanus. I recall the canal as fetid and vile, a sort of milky green mass, often with a multihued sheen shimmering on the surface. Nothing significantly changed over the intervening decades. Now, however, the first stages of a clean-up have finally begun. The EPA has started dredging the stinking waterway in a $506 million federal Superfund cleanup. 

The bottom of the canal is covered in a ten-foot thick toxic layer of what is described as “black mayonnaise,” a noxious mix of tar, sewage, a variety of chemicals and heavy metals mixed with rotted organic matter and anything else that has had the misfortune to sink in the canal over the past century or so.

In the dredging, a variety of artifacts have emerged from beneath the stinking sludge. The largest and most emblematic so far may be the wreck of a 63-foot long vessel with a storied history.

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Stern of Destroyer USS Abner Read, Sunk in WWII, Found Off Aleutians

Posted on by August 16, 2018

Stern of the USS Abner Read after striking a mine

On Aug. 18, 1943,  the destroyer USS Abner Read was on anti-submarine patrol near Kiska Island, in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. The Japanese had just recently evacuated the island but had left behind a minefield. At 1:50 a.m.,  the destroyer struck a mine, which tore off its stern, sending at least 70 sailors to their deaths. 46 more were wounded.

Last month, a NOAA-funded team of Project Recover scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the University of Delaware located the 70-foot stern section of the destroyer USS Abner Read in 290 feet of water. 

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WWII Submarine USS Ling Vandalized — Plaques Stolen, Sub Flooded

Posted on by August 15, 2018

Photo: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Sometime between last Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, vandals broke into the USS Ling, a World War II-era Balao-class submarine, which has been a museum ship in the Hackensack River since 1973. The vandals stole four bronze plaques, dedicated to the sailors lost in the 52 United States submarines sunk during World War II. The vandals also cut through locks to open hatches on the 312-foot long, 2,500-ton submarine, flooding the inner hull of the vessel. The plaques are valued at $10,000. 

NorthJersey.com quotes Les Altschuler, vice president of the Submarine Memorial Association, which is responsible for maintaining the vessel. “Locks were cut. Somebody had to know what they were doing to flood the submarine. We didn’t have enough rain to flood the boat — somebody opened the hatches.”

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Remembering Bert Rogers, Executive Director of Tall Ships America

Posted on by August 14, 2018

We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Bert Rogers, the long-time Executive Director of Tall Ships America, who died of a heart attack. Our condolences to his family and all those who cared for him.

Bert’s seafaring career began in 1978 when he joined the brigantine Romance on which he sailed for almost three years and circumnavigated the globe. He would go on to serve as bos’n, rigger, mate, and captain aboard many future sailing school vessels including Regina Maris, Sea Cloud, Elizabeth II, Mayflower II, Lindo/Alexandria and the Spirit of Massachusetts. 

In October of 2017, Captain Bert Rogers received the National Maritime Historical Society’s Distinguished Service Award. The video below, narrated by Captain Rogers, touches on his career and his vision for the tall ships community.

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The Collapse of Venezuela & the New Pirates of the Caribbean

Posted on by August 14, 2018

Graphic: OBP

The southern Caribbean has seen a significant increase in piracy of late, at least partially related to the economic and political turmoil in nearby Venezuela. Commerical ships, local fishermen and visiting yachts have all fallen prey to attacks from pirates. Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a project of the non-profit One Earth Future, reports that piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Caribbean and Latin America in 2017 rose to 71 incidents, as compared to 27 in 2016, an increase of 163%. 

According to OBP, of the 71 attacks, 42 were directed against yachts, 16 against tankers and bulk carriers, 3 against fishing vessels and 7 toward other cargo vessels. 63 of the attacks were while vessels were at anchor in territorial waters. Anchorages in Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Colombia and St. Lucia have been regional hotspots for pirate attacks.

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US Border Patrol Boats Harrass Canadian Lobster Boats in the “Gray Zone”

Posted on by August 12, 2018

Machias Seal Island

This summer, Canadian lobstermen are complaining of being harassed by US Border Patrol agents in speedboats as they fish in waters claimed by both Canada and the US off Machias Seal Island. 

Since around 1733, the US and Canada have agreed to disagree over the ownership of Machias Seal Island, a treeless 20-acre island 10 miles off the coast of Maine, and the surrounding 277-square-mile waters known as the “gray zone.” A lighthouse built and maintained by Canadians on the island in 1832 is still operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. Ownership of the island has long been contested, but the United States didn’t formally assert its claim to the island until 1971.

A long-term compromise over fishing rights has been worked out in which each country imposes its fishing rules on its own vessels. Lobstering around Machias Seal Island attracts both US and Canadian lobster boats.  

While there has been tension between lobstermen in the past, the sudden arrival of the Border Patrol is something new. Continue reading →

Sea Nomads, the Bajau, May Be Genetically Adapted for Diving

Posted on by August 11, 2018

The Bajau people of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia have lived for centuries at sea as hunter-gatherer nomads. They can spend up to five hours a day underwater, diving for fish, octopus and other seafood. The Bajau do not use any sort of diving gear but simply hold their breaths. Some claim that some Bajau divers can swim underwater for as long as 13 minutes at depths over 200 feet. How is this possible? 

Now, scientists think that they may have found the answer. The Bajau appear to have developed very large spleens, roughly 50 percent larger than average. Spleens? Yes, spleens. 
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Repost: The Battle of Stonington, CT 1814 — Rocket’s Red Glare, Bombs Bursting in Air

Posted on by August 10, 2018

Two hundred and four years ago this week, in a three day battle, the militia at Stonington, CT drove off a four ship Royal Navy flotilla during the War of 1812.  Here is lightly edited repost about the battle from July 11, 2012.

Stonington, Connecticut, is a small village on the extreme eastern coast of the state.  In the center of the village, two 18 pound cannon are on display in the fittingly named Cannon Square.  On their tampions, blocking the ends of the cannon’s muzzles, is the date 1814, when the two cannons, manned by local militia, almost miraculously drove off a British force of four Royal Navy ships under the command of Captain Sir Thomas Hardy, Nelson’s flag captain on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.  The battle may not have been of any great strategic importance, but was one of a series of American victories in the last days of the War of 1812.

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Navy Supply Officer “Kaz” Prince Pleads Guilty in $2.7 Million Procurement Scam

Posted on by August 9, 2018

Lieutenant Randolph M. Prince, known as “Kaz,” had a pretty slick arrangement. “Kaz” was a supply officer in Virginia Beach, VA. Through friends, he set up sham companies which would be awarded government contracts by Prince. He would generate all the necessary paperwork and certify that contracts had been completed. Then Prince and his associates would share the money when the sham companies were paid by the government. 

Or at least it was a slick arrangement while it lasted. On Monday, the US Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia announced that Randolph M. Prince pleaded guilty to his role in defrauding the government of $2.7 million and to lying on his federal income tax return.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 3rd and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Red Tide & Green Water — Florida’s Algae Disaster

Posted on by August 8, 2018

Florida is being clobbered by a double algae disaster, a virtual algae apocalypse. Red tide, caused by karenia brevis algae is decimating sea life in the Gulf’s salt waters, while blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, is poisoning South Florida’s inland fresh water and coastal bays. The municipalities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers are being hit by both the red tide and the blue-green algal bloom at the same time.

The Miami Herald reports that the South Florida coast has become “a red tide slaughterhouse this summer.”  

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Bryce Carlson Shatters North Atlantic Rowing Record

Posted on by August 7, 2018

Photo: Peter Moseley/Bryce Carlson Adventures, via Reuters

Congratulations to Bryce Carlson who shattered the record for rowing solo, unsupported, from west-to-east across the North Atlantic. He completed the roughly 2,000-mile row from St. John’s, Newfoundland to St. Mary’s Harbor, in the Isles of Scilly in just 38 days, 6 hours and 49 minutes. The previous record on the same route was set by Laval St Germain in 2016 with a time of 53 days 8 hours 26 minutes. Carlson also became the first American to complete that feat.

In the media reports of his record-breaking row, Bryce Carlson is described as a high school biology teacher from Cincinnati. He teaches at a private school where he also is also a track and field coach. The article about him in the New York Times mentions that he is an ultramarathon runner. The Times refers to him as Mr. Carlson, even though he earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Emory University. Was it an oversight on the reporter’s part or does Carlson prefer not to use the honorific of Doctor?

Beyond the challenges of being a high school teacher and coach, Bryce Carlson has an intriguing backstory. An excerpt from his bio when he gave a TED talk at Purdue University in 2016 fills in some of the blanks:

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