Podcast: “Captain Blackwell’s Prize” by V.E. Ulett

Posted on by March 7, 2016

blackwellprizecoverThe Fictional Café is publishing three audio excerpts from V.E. Ulett’s Captain Blackwell’s Prize as a podcast.  The first went up last Friday and the will continue for the next two Fridays, followed by an interview with the author on the fourth and last Friday of March.  Definitely worth a listen.  Click here to go to the podcast.

In our review of Captain Blackwell’s Prize, we wrote:  What makes Captain Blackwell’s Prize so entertaining is that it falls equally well in the categories of nautical adventure and historical romance. It is the sort of novel that readers of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian can enjoy along with fans of Jane Austen and Daphne du Maurier. … A fun and fascinating read. Highly recommended.

Captain Blackwell’s Prize is available in print, as an e-book and an audio book.

Podcast: “Captain Blackwell’s Prize” by V.E. Ulett

NOAA Finds “Ghostlike” Octopod Off Hawaii

Posted on by March 6, 2016

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have spotted a translucent white octopod at a depth of 4,300 meters while collecting geological samples with a remote-operated vehicle on Necker Ridge in the Hawaiian Archipelago.  Described as a “remarkable little octopod,” the creature which apparently lacks pigment cells, unlike most cephalopods, is believed to be a previously unknown species.

Ghostlike Octopus Found Lurking Deep Below the Sea

Saga of the Bluenose II Continues — Schooner’s New Rudder to Cost Another Million

Posted on by March 6, 2016

bluenoseiicbcFor the last few years, we have followed the sad saga of the “rebuilding” of the schooner Bluenose II.  The latest development involves the replacement of the existing steel rudder and steering system at an estimated additional cost of $1 million Canadian.  The project, which began in 2009, is many years behind schedule and significantly over budget. The original cost has grown from $14 million to a projected $25 million.

While the project is referred to as rebuilding or repair, it is, in fact, the construction of a new schooner. The old schooner was largely put through a wood chipper and a new schooner was built with new keel, frames and planking as well as more modern scantlings. The previous Bluenose II was a replica built in 1963 by the Oland Brewery, which was given to the province of Nova Scotia in 1971.  The original Bluenose was a fishing and racing schooner built in 1921 famous for winning a series of fishing schooner races in the 1920s and 1930s.

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Warning: Rogue Wave Ahead — Predicting the Ship Killing Waves

Posted on by March 5, 2016
Image: MIT News

Image: MIT News

Originally posted on gCaptain by Rick Spilman, on March 3, 2016. Reposted with permission.

Rogue waves are real sea monsters. Rising many times higher than surrounding waves, they have the power to sink ships and to cripple offshore platforms. Recently, engineers from MIT have developed a new means of predicting the formation of rogue waves, which may give mariners a two to three-minute warning before one of the monster wave hits.

Whether or not the new application proves to be practical, our understanding of rogue waves has undergone a remarkable and rapid evolution over the last twenty years – from a widespread denial that rogue waves even existed to a growing understanding of how to cope with these infrequent but all too often deadly waves.

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Update: German Sailor on Drifting Yacht Dead for Only a Week

Posted on by March 3, 2016
Manfred Fritz Bajorat

Manfred Fritz Bajorat

Day before yesterday, we posted about the body of Manfred Fritz Bajorat, 59, a German sailor, who had been found adrift on his yacht off the Philippines. The body was a dusty grey in color and the sailor was widely reported to have been “mummified.” We were not quite as convinced, so we referred to the remains as “at least partially mummified in the heat and salt air.” Even that proved to be an exaggeration. Likewise early reports said that the sailor has not been seen in seven years. Another report said that the sailor had posted on Facebook a year ago. So how long ago did Bajorat die and what killed him? An autopsy has revealed that Bajorat had only been dead for about a week when his body was found and that he had died of a heart attack. Click here for a photograph of the corpse. (May be disturbing to some.) Thanks for Alaric Bond for contributing to the post.

Scott Kelly, Starship Sailor Returns Home Taller After a Year in Space

Posted on by March 2, 2016
Mark & Scott Kelley

Mark & Scott Kelley

For several years now we have been posting about Scott and Mark Kelly, the identical twins who both graduated from merchant marine academies and served in the Navy.  Each became astronauts and both have traveled in space. Recently, Scott Kelly returned from an epic one-year mission aboard the International Space Station, the longest any American astronaut has ever spent in space.

Mark Kelly, now retired,  also playing a key role in the mission. As the only identical twins to serve as astronauts, Mark is now acting a control against which to compare the physiological changes that may have taken place in his twin brother Scott during his year in space.

One change in his brother was immediately noticeable. During his year in zero gravity, Scott Kelly has grown two inches taller than his twin brother Mark. Scott reports that overall he “feels pretty good. ” He will now begin what may be a year-long project to monitor his health.

Corpse of German Sailor Found on Drifting Yacht

Posted on by March 1, 2016

sunmagic44Two fisherman came across a macabre scene on a dismasted derelict sailboat, drifting 40 miles off the coast of Barobo in Surigao del Sur in the Philippines. A figure, the color of dry plaster, was slumped over the chart table with one hand appearing to reach for the radio handset. It was the decomposing body of a German sailor, which had at least partially mummified in the heat and salt air. Documents suggest that the body was that of Manfred Fritz Bajorat, 59, who had been reportedly sailing his yacht SAYO, a Jeanneau Sun Magic 44, for the past two decades. The cause of death and when the sailor died is unknown, but a spokesman from the Barobo police station said that there is no evidence of foul play. While it has been widely reported that Bajorat was missing for seven years, another other report says that he contacted friends on Facebook a year ago. Click here for more photos.  Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.

New Masts for the 1895 Lumber Schooner C.A.Thayer

Posted on by February 29, 2016

cathayerLast week, the 1895 lumber schooner C.A. Thayer, the last surviving West Coast lumber schooner, returned to her berth at San Francisco Maritime‘s Hyde Street Pier, after having three masts and a bowsprit installed by the Bay Ship and Yacht Company of Alameda. Her previous masts were removed over twenty years ago. C.A.Thayer was also drydocked and painted during her time in the yard. She also received new booms and gaffs. (Thanks to Doug Faunt for the update.)

Over the next sixth months riggers at the Maritime National Historic Park will complete rigging the schooner to carry a new set of sails, now being cut and sewn by a San Diego sailmaker. “The idea is to have a completely authentic 1895 lumber schooner capable for sailing,” said Jeff Morris, the National Park’s Historic Ships Manager.

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Lessons Learned? Anthem of the Seas Cruise Cut Short to Avoid Storm

Posted on by February 28, 2016

cruiseshipreturnsHas Royal Caribbean Lines learned its lesson? Just days after a passenger filed a lawsuit against RCL for knowingly sending the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas into a winter storm off Hatteras in early February, the cruise line cut short cut short the latest cruise on Anthem of the Seas to avoid a storm brewing off Cape Hatteras on the US East Coast.  RCL tweeted yesterday:


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Ex-USCG Cutter Lilac on $9.99 With Dave Evans

Posted on by February 27, 2016

lilacvents$9.99 with Dave Evans is a weekly program which explores fun things to do and see in New York City for under ten bucks. Recently, he stopped by the ex-USCG Cutter Lilac at Pier 25 in Manhattan on the Hudson River. Lilac, built in 1933, is America’s only steam-powered lighthouse tender. She once carried supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys for the U.S. Lighthouse Service and the U.S. Coast Guard. Decommissioned in 1972, USCGC Lilac is now a museum ship owned by the non-profit Lilac Preservation Project. Lilac is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is eligible to become a National Historic Landmark.

Historic Cutter Lilac on $9.99 with Dave Evans, Season 10: Ep. 8 – Get Educated

Update: Battle over the Pocket Battleship Graf Spee’s Nazi Eagle

Posted on by February 26, 2016

nazieagleWhat has been referred to as the Second Battle of the River Platte, may be coming to an end. In 2010, we posted about a legal battle over the salvaging of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee which was scuttled in the River Plate in 1939. The center of the conflict is a four-ton bronze eagle holding a Nazi swastika in its talons, which was once mounted on the stern of the ship. For over a decade, there has been a three-way legal battle between the Uruguayan businessman who salvaged the eagle, the Uruguayan government, and the government of Germany, which has been concerned that the eagle and swastika will fall into the hands of Nazi sympathizers. Recently, the Uruguayan Supreme Court has ruled that the Uruguayan state was the eagle’s rightful owner, but it also decided that the private salvage company should get 50% of the profits if the eagle was sold. The Uruguayan government has not announced its plans for the eagle, which has been stored for the last decade in a climate-controlled warehouse guarded by the Uruguayan navy.

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Coast Guard Rescues Fishermen Off New York’s Rockaway Inlet

Posted on by February 25, 2016

fishingboatrockawayThose of us around New York harbor have been watching a dramatic rescue unfold this morning. Around 2 AM, the 76-foot scallop fishing vessel Carolina Queen III, with 7 aboard, ran aground off Rockaway beach near the East Rockaway Inlet, in high winds and seas.  A 25 foot US Coast Guard rescue boat with a crew of five attempted to reach the fishing vessel but capsized in the 10 to 12-foot waves. All of the Coast Guard were wearing protective clothing and made it to the beach uninjured.  All seven of the crew aboard the Carolina Queen III were subsequently rescued by basket by a Coast Guard helicopter.

Climate Change & the Sea — Rising Sea Levels & Continued Denial

Posted on by February 24, 2016

manhattanfloodedRecent studies suggest that sea levels are now rising at the fastest rate in the last 28 centuries. According to two reports, increased flooding in coastal communities in America can be traced directly to increased the production of greenhouse gases from human activity. The report authors say that the problem will grow far worse in coming decades. Nevertheless, the governments of some states most impacted by the rising waters are opting to deny that the problem even exists.

As reported by the New York Times: “I think we need a new way to think about most coastal flooding,” said Benjamin H. Strauss, the primary author of one of two related studies released on Monday. “It’s not the tide. It’s not the wind. It’s us. That’s true for most of the coastal floods we now experience.”

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SS Badger, Last Great Lakes Coal-Fired Passenger-Car Ferry, Designated National Historic Landmark

Posted on by February 23, 2016

ssbadgerThe Department of the Interior recently announced that the SS Badger; the last coal-fired, passenger car ferry operating on the Great Lakes; has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. From the news release: The designation recognizes the Badger’s exceptional value and quality in illustrating an aspect of American transportation technology in the mid-twentieth century.

This is the culmination of a major reversal of fortune for the almost 63-year-old 410-foot long coal-fired passenger-car ferry, which only a few years ago was called “the filthiest ship on the Great Lakes.”  Continue reading →

The Hanging of Captain Nathaniel Gordon of the Slave Ship Erie — February 21, 1862

Posted on by February 10, 2021
Hanging of Slave Trader Gordon

Hanging of Slave Trader Gordon

On February 21, 1862, Nathaniel Gordon, captain of the slave ship, Erie, was executed by hanging in New York City. Under the Piracy Law of 1820, slave trading was considered to be an act of piracy punishable by death. He was the only slave-trader ever to be tried, convicted, and executed in American history.  Captain Gordan, originally from Portland, Maine was 36.  In a detestable trade, Captain Gordan was among the worst. When he was apprehended by the USS Mohican 50 miles off the Congo in 1860, the Erie, a ship of 500 tons, had 897 Africans crammed aboard. Of these, 563 were children. Captain Gordan preferred children because they were smaller and were less able to attempt to take over the ship.

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BAP Unión, Peru’s New Navy Sail Training Ship Commissioned

Posted on by February 20, 2016

In December of 2012, we posted about the keel laying for the Peruvian Navy’s sail training ship at the Marine Industrial Services (SIMA) shipyard in Callao. Last month, the new four-masted barque, BAP (Buque Armada Peruana) Unión was commissioned. The ship will set approximately 4,324 m2 of sail and has a complement of 250 officers and trainees. The BAP Unión is the largest sail training ship in Latin America.

VISTA AÉREA – AFIRMADO DEL PABELLÓN B.A.P. UNIÓN

Seal Waving From Ice Patch in the Hudson River

Posted on by February 19, 2016

hudsonsealSome folks think that those around New York City are unfriendly, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Here is a short video of a seal resting on a patch of ice in the Hudson River waving at Megan Viscovich and her co-workers who spotted the seal from their office overlooking the river in Edgewater, NJ. As reported by 4 New York: “It was a young seal and seemed to be full of life, looked like it was waving and flapping its rear fins,” she said in an email. Viscovich said the Edgewater Fire Department and an NYPD harbor unit responded. The NYPD said its divers worked with Edgewater firefighters to help the seal get back into the river.

A seal waves from an ice patch on the Hudson River

El Faro Investigation — Questions About the Deadly Course

Posted on by February 18, 2016

elfaroringWhy did Captain Michael Davidson set a course that brought his ship, El Faro, into the path of Hurricane Joaquin last October with tragic results? That question, for which we many never have a fully satisfactory answer, has been at the core of the initial investigation being held at US Coast Guard hearings in Jacksonville, Florida which began on Tuesday.

Several officials from TOTE Services, the ship owner and operator, were questioned at the hearing. Vice President of Commercial Maritime Operations Philip Morrell reiterated that the captain made the final decision as to ship routing. Captain Davidson had sent an email the day before encountering the hurricane, requesting a course change on the way back to Jacksonville from Puerto Rico. Morrell responded to questions about the email by saying that captain did not require permission and that the email was sent as a courtesy to the home office. TOTE President Phil Greene was questioned on Wednesday and said much the same thing, albeit not so directly.

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Setting Sail into a Violent Storm — Really RCL? A Question of Credibility

Posted on by February 18, 2016

anthem5A few days after the Anthem of the Seas was forced to return to port after being caught in 120 knot winds off Cape Hatteras, Bill Baumgartner, Royal Caribbean’s senior vice president of Global Marine Operations, told The Jersey Journal  that predictions of the storm had forecast wind speeds of 55 to 65 knots, or around 63 to 74 miles per hour, which “these ships are made to withstand without any significant issue.”

I read that sentence several times. That is apparently what he said. A senior executive at Royal Caribbean appears to suggest that the company knowingly sent one of their ships with 4,500 passengers into a violent winter storm with possible hurricane force winds.

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