USCG Cutter Tamaroa, ex-USS Zuni, to be Reefed off NJ Coast

Posted on by October 25, 2016

tamoroaThe historic USCG CutterTamaroa will soon be sunk as an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean 25 miles south of Cape May Point, New Jersey.  The old ship has had a remarkable history.  Built in 1943 as USS Zuni, the 205-foot fleet ocean/salvage tug and one of seventy Cherokee-class fleet tugs saw service in World War II in campaigns in the Marianas, the Philippines, and at Iwo Jima.  After the war, she was transferred to the US Coast Guard and renamed Tamaroa.  

USCGC Tamaroa had a 48 year long career in US Coast Guard, serving on safety patrols, in drug interdiction and fisheries protection. She was the first Coast Guard Cutter to arrive at the sinking passenger liner Andrea Doria after the collision with the the Swedish liner Stockholm 1956. Tamaroa may be best known for rescuing the crew of the yacht Satori, as well as the crew of a downed Air National Guard helicopter during the “Perfect Storm” of 1991,
described in Sebastian Junger’s book, The Perfect Storm.

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Legacy of “Blackfish” — The Last Generation of Orcas at SeaWorld

Posted on by October 24, 2016
orcalastgen

Photo: SeaWorld

In just three years since the release of the documentary, Blackfish, the world of captive orcs in the United States has undergone dramatic change. The 2013 documentary focused specifically on the death of an orca trainer, Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by an orca named Tillikum at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010. The documentary was also a broad indictment of the industry of breeding and training orcas to perform for public performances in large marine-parks.

The effect of the documentary was immediate and stunning. Despite a public relations campaign to counter the documentary, attendance and revenues at the company’s marine parks began to drop, in what became known as the “Blackfish Effect.”  SeaWorld reported a 4th quarter loss of $25.4 million blamed on lower park attendance the year following the release of Blackfish. By December 2014, about a year and a half after the film’s theatrical premiere, the stock price of SeaWorld had declined by 60 percent.

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Duyfken Replica Commemorates Dirk Hartog’s Voyage 400 Years Ago

Posted on by October 23, 2016

In 1606, Captain Willem Janszoon, in command of the Dutch ship Duyfken, became the first European to discover Australia. Now a replica of the Duyfken has completed a voyage to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Dutchman Dirk Hartog and his crew, the first Europeans to land on Western Australian. Hartog came ashore on an island just north of Shark Bay on October 25, 1616.  Here is a short video about the Duyfken‘s commemorative voyage.

Duyfken 2016 Dirk Hartog Commemorative Voyage and Exhibition

SSV Oliver Hazard Perry Seeking Crew

Posted on by October 22, 2016

ohplogo1The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is looking for crew for their December-April season in Florida, Bahamas, and Bermuda.  From their announcement of their website:

After a successful first season underway, we are excited to continue our year round operations with a voyage south to Florida, Bahamas and Bermuda. This summer 160 students embarked on our programs, making our total count for trainees embarking on OHPRI programs to almost 600. We were warmly welcomes into 20 harbors and ports in New England and enjoyed many great days of sailing.

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Trafalgar Day Repost: Conrad on Nelson at Trafalgar

Posted on by October 21, 2016

Joseph Conrad

A repost from 2010 in honor of Trafalgar Day, commemorating Nelson’s great victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets on this day in 1805.  I have always been struck that of all the commentary I have read on the famous battle, Joseph Conrad is the only writer I am aware of to have asked one simple question — what if the wind had changed? How would a wind shift have altered the history which we all take for granted?

The final essay in Joseph Conrad’s wonderful, if somewhat odd book, The Mirror of the Sea,  is entitled “The Heroic Age.” It starts out rather disappointingly as a paean to Nelson. There is nothing wrong with praising Nelson, except that everyone does it, so another bit of hagiography doesn’t necessarily add  anything new.

Then, well into the essay,  Conrad does something rather remarkable.  He wonders what would have happened if the wind had shifted on that morning of the 21st of October.
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Washburn, the Saga of the Wandering, Wayward & Pregnant Manatee

Posted on by October 20, 2016

washburnWhat an 800 pound West Indian manatee was doing hanging around Washburn Island, near Falmouth, MA at the end of September is unclear, and the manatee wasn’t talking. The waters near Cape Cod in Autumn are not a good place for a manatee to find itself. Manatees do not do well in water below 68 degrees F and in September in Massachusetts, the water temperatures were dropping fast. Fortunately, fisherman had been spotting the aquatic mammal since mid-August and notified the folks at the International Fund for Animal Welfare. IFAW developed a rescue plan, marshaled the three boats that they would need and got the necessary permits to capture and transport the manatee. Manatees are an endangered species so approvals were required. On September 22, they netted the 8 foot long, 800 pound manatee off Washburn Island and brought the mammal to the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic Connecticut to rest and recuperate until transportation to warmer waters could be arranged.

Nicknamed Washburn, for the island near where it was netted, the manatee proved to be a female and also to be four to five months pregnant. One of the reasons that manatees are endangered is their low reproduction rate — breeding and berthing one calf only once every two years — so, to save a pregnant manatee was particularly gratifying to all involved in the rescue.

This week, the US Coast Guard, in partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, flew Washburn back to Florida. Researchers are watching her (and her unborn calf) at SeaWorld in Orlando, while the wildlife agency decides when and where to release Washburn.

Massive rescue effort to save a pregnant manatee

German Sub UB-85 — Of Submarines and Sea Monsters

Posted on by October 19, 2016
Multibeam View of the Wreck of UB85, Image: Scottish Power

Multibeam View of the Wreck of UB85, Image: Scottish Power

Engineers laying subsea power cables off Stranraer, Scotland have discovered the wreck of a World War I German UBIII-Class submarine, which may be either the UB-85 or the UB-82, both of which were sunk in the area. The possibility that the submarine may be the UB-85 has set the media and the internet abuzz, because according to legend, the UB-85 was sunk after being attacked by a sea monster. Some have even identified the creatures as the Loch Ness monster, or at least its salt-water cousin. International Business Times led with the headline “Did Nessie help win the war? German U-boat ‘sunk by sea monster’ discovered off Scottish coast.”

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Sailing Yacht A — One of the Biggest & Definitely the Ugliest

Posted on by October 18, 2016

sya2bRussian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko’s new sail-assisted motor-yacht, named simply, Sailing Yacht A, is undergoing sea trials. The $450 million yacht has a number of superlatives attached to it. At 12,700 tonnes, it is the largest sailing yacht in the world by gross tonnage. At 469 feet, she is the longest sailing yacht in existence. Its 300 foot tall carbon fiber masts are the largest composite freestanding structures in the world. And while not a superlative exactly, the yacht — a slab sided, eight decked, angular monstrosity — does qualify as the ugliest sailing vessel in the world. Continue reading →

USS Mason, Yemen, Missiles and the “Fog of War”

Posted on by October 17, 2016

ussmasonClausewitz wrote of the “fog of war.” Recent events in the Gulf of Yemen and the Red Sea are a good example of what he meant.  The USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, may have been attacked on Saturday, October 8th, off the coast of Yemen by anti-ship cruise missiles for the third time in a week. The ship was not hit.  In response to the possible attacks, the destroyer USS Nitze (DDG-94) fired Tomahawk missiles at three Houthi radar sites believed to have been used help target the anti-ship missiles. The Tomahawk strikes raised concerns that the US might be getting drawn into the Yemeni civil war. One critical question remains unanswered, however, — did the attacks actually take place?

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Looking in the Eye of the Greenland Shark, Oldest Living Vertebrate

Posted on by December 14, 2019
greenlandshark1

Photo: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program

In 2014, we posted about Joel Abrahamsson, from Gothenburg, Sweden, who set a record for kayak fishing by catching a 15′ long 1,247 pound Greenland shark while fishing from a kayak near the island of Andoria, in Norway.  We noted that the fish, which was released, was believed to be over 200 years old. It turns out that the shark could have been much older. Scientists now believe that the Greenland shark is the longest living vertebrate in the world with a lifespan of up to 400 years.

How does one determine the age of a Greenland shark? Continue reading →

Harvey Gamage in Cuban Waters

Posted on by October 15, 2016

The last time we posted about the schooner Harvey Gamage, was in 2014, when she and several other vessels were due to be sold at auction following the failure of the Ocean Classroom Foundation. She was subsequently purchased by Phineas Sprague and refit at his Portland Yacht Services in Portland, ME. Harvey Gamage was built in 1973 in the Harvey Gamage yard of South Bristol, ME and is a gaff-rigged wooden schooner with a sparred length of 131 feet. She is now managed by Ocean Passages which operates programs between Maine and Cuba. Here is a wonderful video of the schooner in Cuban waters.

A Tall Ship in Cuban Waters from Harvey Gamage on Vimeo.

Australia on the Move — Adjusting the Charts to Agree with GPS

Posted on by October 14, 2016

australia-globeAustralia is, literally, on the move.  A year ago, we posted about how the Prime Meridian, the arbitrary line in Greenwich, UK, marking 0 degrees of longitude, had to be adjusted by slightly over 100 meters after the discrepancy was noted by GPS. While the position of the Prime Meridian marker is interesting and yet of no real practical consequence, on the other side of the world the maps of an entire continent are now continually in need of adjustment. Chances are that any map or chart you may have of Australia has its position at least slightly wrong.

All the world’s continent are moving due to plate tectonics, also known as continental drift. The continent also has a slight clockwise rotation. Whereas North America drifts at around one inch per year, Australia is moving at the relatively breakneck speed of 2.7 inches northward per year.

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San Francisco Capsize Echoes Past Tragedy — Kandi Won & Khaleesi

Posted on by October 13, 2016
Khaleesi, with over 20 people visible on deck

Khaleesi, with 20 people visible on deck

Originally posted by gCaptain. Reposted with permission.

Last Saturday, the 30 passengers aboard Khaleesi, a Silverton 34 power boat, were watching the Navy Blue Angels over San Francisco Bay as part of Fleet Week.  On the way back to the dock,  Khaleesi capsized and sank. Miraculously, no one died, although two children were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.  (Initial reports, incorrectly described the boat as a recreational sailboat.)  Sadly, this incident sounds far too familiar.

This is not the first time that an overloaded Silverton 34 has capsized. Four years ago, under remarkably similar conditions, another Silverton capsized and sank with tragic results.

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Clipper Ship City of Adelaide — A Short Documentary

Posted on by October 12, 2016

The City of Adelaide is the world’s oldest surviving clipper ship and one of only three remaining composite clipper ships. She was built in 1864, in Sunderland, England by William Pile, Hay and Co. for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia. Between 1864 and 1887 the ship made 23 annual return voyages from London and Plymouth to Adelaide, South Australia. After a long and varied career the City of Adelaide has returned to her namesake city. A short documentary by Tasha Trebeck.

Clipper Ship City of Adelaide

Delta King, the Delta Queen’s Shorebound Sister

Posted on by October 9, 2016
Photo: J.Smith

Delta King — Photo: J.Smith

We recently posted that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the 1926 built sternwheel steamboat Delta Queen as one of America’s 11-Most Endangered Historic Places.  In researching the post, I learned several new things. The first was that the “Delta” in Delta Queen, which I had always assumed was referring to the Mississippi River Delta, was in fact, the San Joaquin River Delta.  The other thing I learned is that, in addition to the Delta Queen, there is also a Delta King, now a dockside restaurant, bar, theater and hotel in Old Sacramento, CA.

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San Fran Capsize — 30 People in a 34′ Boat

Posted on by October 12, 2016

sanfranrescueUPDATE: The initial reports of the capsize identified the boat which capsized as a sailboat.  Even the Coast Guard’s website said that the boat named Khaleesi was a 34-foot sailboat.  As initial reports often are, these reports were not accurate. The boat is not being reported to be a Silverton 34′ cabin cruiser.  Thanks to Greg Davids for his eyewitness account in the comments section below.

On Saturday, a 34′ recreational sailboat powerboat with 30 people aboard capsized in San Francisco Bay near Pier 45. All aboard were rescued but eight were injured, with at least one, a child, in critical condition. It could have been much, much worse.

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LCS USS Montgomery Woes Continue — Hull Crack, a Tug and a Hurricane

Posted on by October 8, 2016

montgomery2When Hurricane Matthew approached, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Montgomery and several other Navy ships were ordered out of port in Mayport, FL. Unfortunately, in the process of leaving port, the USS Montgomery took a hard knock from a tug, which cracked the hull and bent five hull stringers. The crew was able to control the flooding. This, however, was not the first of the LCS’s troubles.

At the end of September we posted, “Recently, the USS Montgomery, an Independence Class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), established a new record. The ship broke down, suffering two unrelated engine failures only three days after being commissioned.” The USS Montgomery was able to limp into Mayport, Florida for repairs.

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Navy Amphibious Transport, Aircraft Carrier, & Hospital Ship in Relief Mission to Haiti

Posted on by October 8, 2016
USS Mesa Verde

USS Mesa Verde

The US Navy is sending a flotilla of ships to help the relief effort in the Haiti, devestated by Hurricane Matthew, the first Category 4 storm to hit the island nation in over 50 years. USS Mesa Verde, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock,  is steaming toward Haiti. The ship is carrying three heavy-lift helicopters, a landing craft, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms.

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Steamboat Delta Queen on the Endangered List

Posted on by February 7, 2017

dqsmThe National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the sternwheel river steamboat Delta Queen as one of America’s 11-Most Endangered Historic Places.  The Delta Queen, built in 1926, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.  She has been tied to the dock since 2008, a victim of bankruptcy, regulations, and Congressional inaction.  A new owner is attempting to put the riverboat back into overnight service but is waiting on a waiver from Congress.

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Death on the Historic Ketch Amicitia Caused by Bad Mast Repair?

Posted on by October 6, 2016

amicitiaGermany’s Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation has released a preliminary report suggesting that a mast repair on the ketch Amicita may have been the cause of a fatal accident in which three male passengers were struck and killed by falling rigging on August 21th.

The ketch Amicita was built in 1889 and worked as a sailing cargo carrier. In the 90s, she was converted for passenger service. A German family of twelve had chartered the ketch with the captain and his wife, for a family vacation on the Wadden sea.  On a Sunday in the early afternoon, on the last day of their vacation, the main mast broke. The falling mast and rigging killed three men aged 19, 43 and 48.

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