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.

Continue reading →

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:


Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.”

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

El Faro Tragedy — Investigation Continues on Shore and at Sea

Posted on by February 16, 2016

elfarowrecksternThere are still almost as many questions as answers as to why the US flag ro/ro El Faro sank in Hurricane Joaquin last October with the loss of the 33 aboard. Today, the United States Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation begins a formal investigation into the tragedy. The first hearing is being held in Jacksonville, FL, the port from which El Faro sailed on her final fatal voyage.

The current hearing will last through Friday and according to the Coast Guard press release will “focus on the pre-accident historical events relating to the loss, the regulatory compliance record of the EL FARO, crewmember duties and qualifications, past operations of the vessel and the Coast Guard’s Search and Rescue operations. During a later hearing session (date to be determined) the accident voyage, including cargo loading, weather conditions and navigation will be examined in detail. The National Transportation Safety Board, which conducted its own investigation, will fully participate in the Marine Board of Investigation hearings.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSM) also recently announced that the search for El Faro‘s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), the so-called “black box,” will resume next April and last about two weeks. Continue reading →

British Women Rowing, Records & Rescues

Posted on by February 15, 2016
rowlikeagirl

Photo: Ben Duffey

Recently, four British women competing in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge set a new record  as the youngest and fastest all-female crew of four to row across the Atlantic Ocean.  Gee Purdy, 23, Bella Collins, 23, Lauren Morton, 26, and Olivia Bolesworth, 27, in the “Row Like A Girl” team,” rowed 2,793 nautical miles in 40 days. The previous record, also set in the Talisker race in 2012, was 45 days.  “Row Like A Girl” came in second overall behind “Ocean Reunion”, a British team of four; Angus Collis, Gus Barton, Joe Barnett, Jack Mayhew; which also set a new record of 37 days.  Both “Ocean Reunion” and  “Row Like A Girl” broke the previous overall record of 41 days. Ten teams in the Talisker Race are still at sea.

Another British four woman rowing team attempting to cross the Atlantic has not faired as well. Continue reading →