Weather buoy — Null Island
Yesterday, we posted about a ship which allegedly crossed the International Date Line and the equator at exactly the right time. Today, we will look at the other side of the globe, where the Prime Meridian crosses the equator, to the crowded, yet wholly fictional, or perhaps more accurately, entirely virtual, Null Island, at latitude and longitude 0,0. An updated repost from several years ago.
Several years ago, a website for the Republic of Null Island appeared on the internet. It read, in part “Welcome to Null Island! The Republic of Null Island is one of the smallest and least-visited nations on Earth. Situated where the Prime Meridian crosses the Equator, Null Island sits 1600 kilometres off the western coast of Africa.” The website goes on to describe the geography, the people and the history of this “least-visited nation.” Sadly, the website and apparently also the republic have now vanished.
In fact, Null Island, at a latitude and longitude of 0,0, does not exist. Or does it? Continue reading
Here is a wonderful sea story which appears to be more or less true. 
Sometimes the events of the day seem downright surreal. Yesterday, I read about the US Coast Guard cutter Campbell which 
Recently, teams of 
On Wednesday, 71-year-old French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin set off to cross the Atlantic in an unlikely craft — a barrel. He departed from El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, west of Morocco, in a barrel-shaped capsule with the intention of drifting, carried by the winds and currents, across the Atlantic Ocean. He hopes to arrive in the Caribbean in about three months. The barrel in which he is drifting is 10 feet long and 6 feet 8 inches wide, built of epoxy and plywood and ballasted with concrete.
Approximately 42,000 active-duty military members of the Coast Guard remain on duty during the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, but they will work without pay until further notice, according to a statement from a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
Call it a miracle, serendipity, or just good luck, but two stranded Costa Rican fishermen were rescued by the Royal Caribbean cruise ship 
We recently visited 
Recently, the 
I will admit to being dependent on GPS. I rely on it for both maps and apps on my phone as well as the chartplotters on several tablets on my boat. Nevertheless, until recently I knew nothing of 
Around six years ago, the media went slightly crazy when a fresh-faced 17-year-old Dutch engineering student, Boyan Slat, claimed to have designed a means for using currents to clean plastic from the oceans. He was 
Five years ago, 
Sixty-seven-year-old Igor Zaretskiy was in last place in the Golden Globe Race. His mast was seriously damaged, even after jury-rigged repairs. He had lost a hatch, exposing his cabin the elements, and his hull was so fouled that his boat, Esmerelda, was crawling along, at times at just over a knot.