We, residents of a blue marble of which 71% is covered by water, have long assumed that the rest of our solar system was relatively dry. It may be time to change that opinion. Yesterday, NASA announced strong evidence of liquid water on Mars. “Mars is not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past,” said Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters, in a press conference on Monday. Mars apparently has seasonal rivers of flowing briny water. Mars was once at least partially covered in water. “If we go back 3 billion years and take a look at Mars, Mars was a very different planet. It had what we believe was a huge ocean, perhaps as large as two-thirds of the northern hemisphere,” said Green. “But something happened. Mars suffered a major climate change and lost its surface water.”
For several years, we have followed Shell Oil’s expensive, dangerous and almost farcical attempts to drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea in the Alaska’s Arctic. Shell has faced protests, multiple groundings, technical failures, and citations for safety and pollution violations. Worst of all, while Shell has spent an estimated $7 billion to get to this point, oil prices have plummeted to under $50 per barrel. Most estimates of the break even price of Arctic oil is well above $100 per barrel, that is if they find oil, which so far Shell hasn’t, at least in any quantity. Today, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it would stop exploration off the coast of Alaska “for the foreseeable future.”
For the last five years we have followed the construction of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships which were built in France under contract to Russia. If the wind named Mistral is said to “drive men and horses mad,” these ships may be a nautical analogue. When they were ordered by the Russians in 2010, France’s NATO allies were openly critical fo providing the ships to Russia. As reportd by the Economist: The Mistral is a mighty, 199-metre-long vessel that carries tanks and helicopters, and can conduct and manage amphibious landings. Kaarel Kaas, of the International Centre for Defence Studies, a think-tank in Tallinn, says that such ships would “transform the power balance” on Russia’s borders.
Following Russia’s annexation Crimea and support of separatists in the Ukraine, France refused to deliver the ships to ships to Russia. After tense negotiations, the French refunded $1 billion to the Russians. Now the two ships have been sold to Egypt, with “significant” financing from Saudi Arabia, for 950 million euro ($US 1.06 billion.)
T
he QE2 may now be a dead ship. The MS Queen Elizabeth 2 was purchased back in 2008 for conversion to a luxury hotel in Dubai, but a worldwide recession ended those plans. Since then there are have been a variety of reports, including a more modest hotel conversion in Dubai, a luxury hotel conversation in Asia and even a scheme to bring the ship the the Thames River in London. Nothing came to fruition and last December we posted of the “Queen Elizabeth 2 Rotting Away in Dubai.”
Now reports from Dubai say that the once proud Cunard flagship is “a floating wreck” which has been moved from her berth in Dubai Drydocks World to a holding berth in Port Rashid. It appears that the Queen Elizabeth 2 is officially dead, along with all plans for her restoration and move to an unnamed city in Asia, according to a source at Drydocks World. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the news along.
On Sunday, September 27th, sailors, as well as landsmen and women who happen to be looking up, will see a total lunar eclipse where the moon will turn a coppery red as it passes through the shadow of the earth. Lunar eclipses are often called “blood moons.” Because the moon is also at this closest point to earth, the moon will also appear to be just slightly larger than normal, often referred to as a “super moon.” This will be the first “Super-Blood” moon since 1982. The next lunar eclipse and super moon together will not happen again until 2033.
The partial lunar eclipse is set to begin at 9:07 p.m. ET and will be visible to most people in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, according to EarthSky.org. (For a map of where the eclipse will be visible, click here.) The total lunar eclipse begins at 11:11 p.m. ET.
If you can’t get outside, NASA’s live stream will begin at 8 pm EDT from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and will also feature a live look from the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
The ocean sunfish or mola is found in most of the world’s oceans and is not unusual in Boston waters. Nevertheless, seeing one was obviously a shock to Michael Bergin and his friend Jason “Jay” Foster who came across one while fishing in Boston harbor. Bergin starts yelling, using colorful (Not Safe for Work) language, to express his amazement at what he identifies variously as a sea turtle, a baby whale, a flounder, a tuna and “Moby Dick.” The video is oddly amusing and has gone viral with roughly a million views so far. The Boston Globe suggests that Bergin is “basking like a sunfish in Internet fame.”
We recently posted about PortSide NewYork’s Norwegian Water Stories & a Night of Bluegrass, an event being held tomorrow, Thursday, September 24, 2015 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM at Atelier Roquette, 63 Commerce Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY 11231. The event is now free. (Those who have purchased tickets will be given refunds.) As we posted previously, PortSide NewYork and the historic tanker Mary A. Whalen are hosting the NYC premier of the Norwegian bluegrass band, the Paradise Mountain Boys, as well as a multimedia presentation of Norwegian WaterStories. Sounds like a great. evening if you are in the area. Click here to learn more.
Sailing Ship A on trials
In August we wrote about Dream Symphony, which, for a brief period, looked as if it would be the largest sailing sailing in the world at 463 feet (141m) long. Now a slightly larger sailing yacht at 147 meters has emerged from the Nobiskrug yard in Northern Germany. The yacht, built for Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, has three of the tallest freestanding carbon-fiber masts ever built, each over 100 meters tall and weighing 50 tonnes each. When completed sometime this year, the yacht will have 8 decks and will feature a glass underwater observation area. The cost of the new yacht is estimated to be more than $400 million.
While the vessel may be the largest sailing yacht ever built, it is by no means the most attractive and may just possibly have the worst name. While under construction the code name used was White Pearl. It appears that the actual name will be Sailing Yacht A. Melnichenko’s current 394 foot long motor yacht was originally named simply A, but is now designated Motor Yacht A. The name is said to be from the initials of its owner Andrey and his wife Aleksandra.
Myint Naing, a Burmese man, recently made it home 22 years after being taken aboard a Thai fishing trawler, where he worked as little more than a slave. In the last six months an estimated 2,000 enslaved fishermen have been freed from captivity from Thai-Indonesian fishing ventures.
The trawlers fished for low value fish, often called “trash fish” that are used as feed stock for aquaculture, such as pond-raised shrimp. The trash fish are also used in pet foods.
As reported by the New York Times: Every year, thousands of migrant workers like Myint are tricked or sold into the seafood industry’s gritty underworld. It’s a brutal trade that has operated for decades as an open secret in Southeast Asia’s waters, where unscrupulous companies rely on slaves to supply fish to major supermarkets and stores worldwide.
However your Monday may be going, this over one minute video can’t but help make it better.
Beautiful Orcas and Humpback Whales Breach in Front on The Explore Camera – Live Camera Highlight
To see more go to Explore.org.
This is one of those great “only in New York” events. Next Thursday, PortSide NewYork and the historic tanker Mary A. Whalen are hosting the NYC premier of the Norwegian bluegrass band, the Paradise Mountain Boys, as well as a multimedia presentation of Norwegian WaterStories.
JPK 10.80 Photo: Jean-Marie Liot
JPK Composites, a boat builder from Brittany, is helping to redefine performance cruising sailboats. In 2013, the father and son team of Pascal and Alexis Loison won the biannual Fastnet Race on corrected time, sailing their 33′ Night and Day, a JPK 10.10 double-handed in a fleet of of 336 starters in the 611-mile race. It was the first time in 88 years that the race had been won by a double-handed crew. They were not, however, the only JPK 10.10s in the race. Crews sailing JPK 10.10s also placed second, eight, ninth, tenth and eleventh.
The coastal cargo ketch Nordlys is making ready to sail. She is either the newest sailing cargo venture or the oldest sailing cargo ship depending on how you look at it. Built in 1873 in the Isle of Wight, this 141 year old fishing ketch is the oldest sailing cargo ship in the world, while also being the newest addition to the Fairtransport sailing cargo fleet. Nordlys – meaning “Northern Lights,” will move up to 30 tonnes of cargo around Europe, the UK and Scandinavia.
In the summer of 1995, a group of lovers of the music of the sea got together on the deck of the windjammer Peking at the South Street Seaport Museum on the East River in New York to sing sea shanties. Now 20 years later, many of the same singers along with a whole new crew will be celebrating the anniversary of that shanty sing this Sunday between 2PM and 5PM at their new home at the the Noble Maritime Collection at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island. If you are anywhere near New York harbor, it should be a special afternoon. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, but will be there in spirit. From the Noble Maritime press release:
Sponsored by the Folk Music Society of New York, whose members organize monthly sessions at the Noble Maritime Collection, the singing begins at 2 PM and continues until 5 PM. The museum is open by donation, and visitors are welcome to come and listen or sing along with the group.
Liverpudlian Hughie Jones, founder of the group The Spinners, will join the session this month. He was present at the first sea chantey session held aboard the Peking at South Street Seaport Museum in the summer of 1995.
For several years we have followed; virtually, if not literally; the travels of Migaloo, an albino humpback whale that has migrated off Australia’s Queensland’s coast since at least 1991. In August we posted about a new young albino humpback which some are calling “son of Migaloo.” Migaloo is an aboriginal term meaning “white fellow.”
Now, an albino dolphin, nicknamed “Pinky,” has been attracting attention in Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana. Scientists believe that Pinky is an albino because of her distinctive red eyes and blood vessels, which show through her pale skin. First spotted in 2007 in the Calcasieu River by charter boat captain Erik Rue, Pinky has been seen mating this year and there is speculation that she may be pregnant. If, so the odds that her offspring will be also be albino are quite slim.
While not being nearly as well known as Migaloo, Pinky does have her own Facebook page.
For the past fifteen years, the three masted barquentine motorsailer Peacemaker has been owned by the Twelve Tribes, a religious community, often referred to as a cult. The 158′ Class A “tall ship” served as floating ambassador for the fundamentalist group, which has 50 or so communities in North and South America, Europe, and Australia. Peacemaker is now for sale for around $3 million. (Please, do not contact us. We have no involvement in the vessel. )
Originally named Avany, the ship was built by the Maccarini shipyard in southern Brazil using traditional methods and tropical ironwood, and was launched in 1989. In 2000, the ship was purchased by the Twelve Tribes and rigged as a barquentine. The refit vessel set sail for the first time in the spring of 2007, under the name Peacemaker.
Coronet 1885
The broker for Northrop and Johnson, the group handling the sale, is based in Newport, Rhode Island. Also in Newport, the classic 131-foot schooner Coronet is now being restored at the International Yacht Restoration School, IYRS. Coronet also has a long history of ownership by a religious cult.
I recently watched Maidentrip, a wonderful, award winning documentary by Jillian Schlesinger about 14 year old Laura Dekker‘s almost two year solo circumnavigation on her Jeaneau Gin Fizz ketch, Guppy. It is a fascinating tale about young sailor’s coming of age as she sails around the world alone. The trailer:
Maidentrip Official Trailer – Laura Dekker – Dir. Jillian Schlesinger
I have a definite love-hate relationship with Portuguese Man o’ War. They are beautiful, delicate, exotic and extremely painful. I still remember being stung twice as a child over a half century ago. What I only came to understand recently is that Portuguese Man o’ War are really strange. Portuguese Man o’ War are not jellyfish. They are a members of the very weird siphonophore class of marine animals that does not quite manage to fit into the scientific categories for either individual animals or a colony of animals living together, like, for example, coral.
When Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy bought the 52ft yawl Dorade in 2010, they decided to attempt to repeat all of the races the S&S designed yacht had won in the 1930s, including the Transpac, Rolex Fastnet and the Transatlantic Race. The campaign was initially referred to as “Matt’s Crazy Idea,” but subsequently dubbed, the “Return to Blue Water” campaign. They have now reached their goal with the sailing of the 2015 Fastnet. They have also demonstrated that the 85 year old classic can still win races and break records.
This morning was overcast and threatening rain on the West bank of the Hudson River. Fourteen years ago, on September 11, 2001, it was a sunny, clear day. A Nor’westerly wind was blowing and the air was cool and crisp. That morning, I got a frantic call from my wife who had left for work not too long before. Something terrible had happened in the World Trade Center. She had been on the mezzanine of One World Trade Center when the first plane hit. I left our house and walked literally around the corner to see an ugly black plume of smoke streaming almost horizontally from the North Tower. A few minutes later, while walking with neighbors toward the waterfront, I saw the second plane hit the South tower followed by a billowing orange plume of flame erupting from the opposite side of the building an instant later.
The events of 9/11 are still more clear in my memory than I would like. There was part of that day, however, that is not only worth remembering but is worth celebrating — the amazing, virtually miraculous spontaneous maritime evacuation of somewhere between 300,000 and one million people who were trapped in lower Manhattan on the afternoon of September 11, 2001. It truly was an American Dunkirk. I was a beneficiary of the incredible evacuation, as my wife made it home safely early that afternoon from across the river. It seems appropriate to repost the video below that captures the madness, wonder, determination and commonplace heroism of that Tuesday in September, fourteen years ago today.