Joseph Hewes – First “Secretary of the Navy” and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Posted on by May 12, 2022

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 to the Declaration. He was born in New Jersey, prospered as a merchant in Philadelphia and then moved to North Carolina. He represented North Carolina in the Continental Congress and in 1776 was appointed the chairman of the naval committee.

Americans have had a  tendency throughout our history to glorify the “founding fathers,” often rewriting history in the process.  Rather than viewing the founders as complex individuals with virtues and vices, they are often mythologized as all-purpose role models.  Joseph Hewes is either beneficiary or victim, depending on how you look at it, of this sort of mythologizing.
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Fire on Russian Spy Sub AS-12 “Losharik” Kills 14

Posted on by July 3, 2019

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 submarine, but various Russian sources have identified the sub as the AS-12 (also known as the Losharik), a nuclear-powered unarmed vessel capable of deep sea missions. The fire is believed to have broken out on Monday.  The fire was extinguished and the submarine was reported to have been towed to the port of Severomorsk, home of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet’s headquarters.

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Japan Returns to Commercial Whaling, More or Less

Posted on by July 2, 2019

Japan has withdrawn from the International Whaling Commission, and the Japanese whaling fleet has abandoned their so-called “research whaling” to resume commercial whaling for the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 look at the story, whoever. Japan has withdrawn from Antarctic whaling, is limiting new commercial whaling to Japanese territorial waters and is reducing the number of whales killed by 30 – 75%, depending on how you do the math.

Previously, Japan had allowed roughly 900 whales to be taken in “research whaling.” They often came in with far fewer whales. The last season of research whaling yielded 333 whales.  The new commercial whaling quotas will allow 227 whales to be killed. So, while the resumption of commercial whaling is not good news, the Japanese will be killing fewer whales in a more restricted area, reflecting the continued decline in Japanese whaling overall. 

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Crisis at the Jubilee Sailing Trust, Emergency Appeal Hopes to Prevent Shutdown

Posted on by July 1, 2019

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 is likely the JST’s activities will cease immediately …

The Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) is a registered charity that owns and operates the tall ships Lord Nelson and Tenacious, the only two tall ships in the world designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side as equals.

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West Australian Jon Sanders at 79 Planning 11th Circumnavigation

Posted on by June 28, 2019

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 last. 

A year and a half later, he is telling the West Australian a different story. At 79, he is getting ready for his 11th circumnavigation on his 34-foot Perie Banou II. 

“I told a lie, but I didn’t know I was going to tell a lie. I’m back here, I’m bored, I know I can do it, I know how to do it, I’ve got nothing else to do. What’ll I do, stay home? Just because I said it?”

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Update: Norwegian Frigate Helge Ingstad Too Expensive to Repair

Posted on by June 29, 2019

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 tanker but sank the frigate.  It now appears that frigate will be too expensive to repair and may be scrapped. Continue reading →

Documentary: Maiden — First All-Female Team to Race Around-the-World

Posted on by June 28, 2019

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 20s attempted to find a position as crew on the yacht racing in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race but was only able to secure a position as a cook. In that race, there were only five women among the 200 sailors competing.  Edwards decided to enter in 1989 race with an entirely female crew. First, she needed a boat She mortgaged her house in order to buy a used racing sailboat in serious need of work. She recruited a female crew to both work on the boat and to sail in the race.  Despite predictions that they would not finish the first leg, the boat named Maiden and captained by Edwards, won two out of six individual legs of the race and placed second in its division overall. 

I haven’t yet gotten the chance to see the film but look forward to it. It is currently rated at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here is the trailer.

Maiden

Who Needs a Wall? East Coast Port Cocaine Container Busts Setting Records

Posted on by June 27, 2019

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 the last several months. Most recently, a shipping container full of beach chairs discharged in Baltimore was found to contain 333 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $10 million, a record seizure for the port.

The Baltimore bust was dwarfed by the 15.5 tonnes of cocaine, worth roughly $1 billion, seized last week by Federal authorities aboard the MSC Gayane in the Port of Philadelphia. This seizure was also a record for the port and was one of the largest drug seizures in US history.

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Carnival’s New Mardi Gras Will Be Powered by LNG

Posted on by June 26, 2019

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 a new Mardi Gras of 180,000 GT and capable of carrying 5,200 passengers. When delivered it will be the largest cruise ship in the Carnival fleet. The new Mardi Gras will be distinctive for more than just its size. In addition to being the only cruise ship with an onboard roller coaster, it will also be powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). 

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New York Sail GP, 50 Knots on the Hudson

Posted on by June 25, 2019

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 and upgraded versions of America’s Cup racers from Bermuda on 2017. The six teams are drawn from around the world. On Friday, only five would make the race as the British team got caught by a gust, capsized and broke the top section of their wing mast. (I am sure there is a Brexit joke in there somewhere, but I will leave it alone.)

I planned on shooting video of the foiling cats, advertised to reach speeds of 50 knots, but found that by the time the races were supposed to start, around 5:15 PM, I would be shooting directly into the sun and would likely get great shots of blurry boats in the glare. I went across the river where the light was more favorable, but the Sail GP boats were farther away and often blocked from view by the frenetic Hudson River traffic. Long story short, I got some not-terrible video of the races but realize that the official video is so much better. Their helicopter/pursuit boat/action-cam footage with added computer graphics is really quite good. Here is a recap of what transpired on Frida and beneath the page break, a similar recap of the races on Saturday.

New York SailGP // Day One Catch Up
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Cargo Ship Kwai Collects 40 Tons of Ghost Nets from Pacific Garbage Patch

Posted on by June 24, 2019

Photo: Roy Hollowell

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 Northern Cook Islands of Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Manihiki, Nassau, and Pukapuka.  The most recent voyage was different, however, and the cargo most unusual. On her arrival in Honolulu, the Kwai unloaded more than 40 tons of “ghost nets” collected from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Ghost nets are abandoned fishing gear which continues to drift catching and killing thousands of marine animals.

A study last year published in Nature suggests that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing “exponentially” and now spans roughly 617,763 square miles (1.6 million square km), or about three times the size of France.  Remarkably, roughly half of the floating debris in the garbage patch is abandoned fishing nets and related cordage.

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Alaskan Sails 8′ Walker Bay Dinghy Across the Bering Sea

Posted on by June 27, 2019

I have been looking for a rigid dinghy for my sailboat. I have an inflatable but I like to row and inflatable dinghies just don’t row well, or sometimes at all. One of the dinghies that has caught my eye is the Walker Bay 8 or possibly the 10. It is plastic and relatively inexpensive, looks like a dinghy and apparently both rows and sails reasonably well.  There is also a kit to add inflatable tubes, effectively turning the Walker Bay into a RIB (rigid inflatable boat.) 

Recently I stumbled across the story of John Martin III, an Alaskan who wanted to be reunited with his wife and son. Lacking money and a passport, he decided to sail across the Bering Sea from Alaska to China to reestablish contact with his family. He chose a Walker Bay 8 dinghy with the RIB tube kit and set off down the Yukon River and sailed out into the Bering Sea. The Anchorage Daily News reported that he sailed in July in the 8′ long boat equipped with little more than a bucket of salmon bellies, a jug of grape juice and water, pilot bread and a compass.

The good and almost amazing news is that he didn’t die. Continue reading →

Rebuilding the Tall Ship Providence

Posted on by June 22, 2019

Here is a wonderful short video by Ryan Smith featuring some really breathtaking drone footage of the rebuilding and rerigging of the Tall Ship Providence. The 1976 built replica of the Continental Navy sloop of the same name, was blown off her jack stands while on shore in Newport, Rhode Island during a blizzard in 2015.  This summer, her restoration was completed and she was rerigged in Wiscasset, Maine. Providence is now on her way to her new home in Alexandria, VA.

Tall Ship Providence is rebuilt!

The Bizarre Smuggling Scheme on MSC Gayane

Posted on by June 20, 2019

On Monday, 15.5 tonnes of cocaine worth roughly $1 billion was seized by Federal authorities aboard the MSC Gayane in the Port of Philadelphia. The drugs were found in seven shipping containers. It was one of the largest drug seizures in US history. How the drugs came to be aboard the 9,962 TEU container ship is a bizarre and almost unbelievable story, involving the ship’s crew loading drugs at sea from more than two dozen small boats, operated by smugglers wearing ski masks. 

Officials are not sure that they have found all the cocaine aboard the ship. Officials told CBS News there could be 30 tons more on board.

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