Windjammer Peking Needs a New Home – South Street Deal with Hamburg Falls Through

Posted on by October 13, 2012

Photo: DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

The Peking, a steel-hulled four-masted barque built in 1911, which has been a largely neglected fixture at New York’s South Street Seaport for almost the last 40 years, is now in desperate need of a new home.

The South Street Seaport Museum thought that they had an agreement with the city of Hamburg to take the grand old ship. That deal apparently fell through and the future of the old ship is again in doubt.  Susan Henshaw Jones, president of the South Street Seaport Museum, said she will hear proposals from anyone with a berth for the old ship. “The ultimate alternative, which is to scrap her, it’s unthinkable,” she said.

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Hell Around the Horn – the History (and Fiction) Behind the Novel

Posted on by October 12, 2012

In writing historical fiction, researching the history can be challenging. When researching my novel, Hell Around the Horn, I discovered that the three primary sources for the history behind the novel, two memoirs and the Official Ship’s Log, disagreed with each other in significant details and events. There is no agreement between the three accounts as to even how many died on the voyage, for example.  I had to ask myself where the history ended and the fiction began and how that mattered in writing my own fictional account of the deadly voyage of a British windjammer around Cape Horn in the disastrous winter of 1905.

Next Tuesday, I will be speaking at the New York’s Shiplore and Modelmaker’s Club on “Hell Around the Horn – the History (and Fiction) Behind the Novel,”  at 7:30  p.m. at 79 Walker Street, 5th floor in Manhattan. Please stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

What is Italian for “Chutzpah”? Schettino Sues to Get His Job Back

Posted on by October 12, 2012

Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, who steered his ship into a reef off the island of Giglio and then delayed the order to evacuate the sinking ship, resulting in or contributing to the deaths of 32 passengers and crew, was fired by Costa Cruise Lines in July.  Captain Schettino faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning the ship.

Schettino is now suing Costa. He wants his job back, with back pay, of course. Does anyone know the Italian word for “chutzpah”?

Costa Concordia Shipwreck Captain Sues To Win Back Job

Derek Hutchinson – Legendary Sea Kayaker, Designer and Author

Posted on by October 12, 2012

The Sea Kayaker Magazine blog is reporting that Derek Hutchinson, often referred to as the father of sea kayaking, died on Wednesday at the age of 79. Hutchinson literally wrote the book on sea kayaking, even before it was universally called sea kayaking. The first addition in 1976 was called “Sea Canoeing.”   Hutchinson’s The Complete Book of Sea Kayaking is now in its fifth edition and is joined by a small bookshelf of works on expedition kayaking and Eskimo rolling also penned by Hutchinson.

Hutchinson also designed kayaks and paddles. His kayaks were often designed with lower back decks to make them easier to perform an Eskimo roll, to right the kayak if it capsizes.  Beyond writing and design, Derek Hutchinson was a paddler. He completed the first crossing of the North Sea in a kayak in 1970 and would later paddle in the Aleutian Islands and other areas around the globe.

Last September, Eric Soares wrote a profile of Derek Hutchinson in the Tsunami Rangers blog. In it he wrote:

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Congratulations to Richard Bailey – Official Captain of SSV Oliver Hazard Perry

Posted on by October 11, 2012

Congratulations to Richard Bailey who has been appointed captain of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, which, when commissioned next summer, will be among the largest and most sophisticated school ships built in America in recent decades.  The Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island organization has made an excellent choice. Captain Bailey, who has been part of the project from the onset, has also commanded more than six tall ships since 1972, including the HMS Rose (now the HMS Surprise.)

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Sea Songs in New York – Sailing to Staten Island: The Immigrant Experience, and Other Events

Posted on by October 11, 2012

This will be a great couple of weeks around New York harbor for lovers of the music of the sea.  “Sailing to Staten Island: The Immigrant Experience” is a free concert Saturday night at the Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor in Staten Island with a fantastic line up of singers, songwriters and musicians.  The concert will feature famed Liverpool maritime singer & songwriter, Hughie Jones; All-Ireland sean-nos singer, Jim MacFarland; influential interpreter of nautical song & lore, Frank Woerner; singer & actor, in the role of William Main Doerflinger, Frank Hendricks; noted Staten Island singer & songwriter, Bob Wright; transatlantic singer & instrumentalist, Bob Conroy; singer of American ballads, Bill Grau; and singer,songwriter & sailor, Jan Christensen.  The concert will be held at the Noble Maritime Collection, Snug Harbor Cultural, Building D, 1000 Richmond Terrace Staten Island, New York 10301 at 7:30 PM on Saturday October 13th, 2012.

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50′ Fin Whale Found Dead in Boston Harbor

Posted on by October 10, 2012

As we have posted about previously, the greatest threat to many species of endangered whales is from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing nets. The dead 50′ fin whale that drifted into Boston harbor recently is a reminder of this.  Researchers are not sure how the whale died but extensive bruising suggests that the whale may have become wrapped in some sort of line or cable. A ship strike has also not been ruled out as a possible cause of death. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing the news along.

Schooner Silva Takes Unexpected Cruise in Halifax Harbor

Posted on by October 9, 2012

Video surveillance footage on the dock shows a group of people boarding the 130′ three masted schooner Silva in Halifax harbor at about 1:30 am, early Monday morning. They raised one sail and untied all but one mooring line.  Around 5am, the remaining line parted and the schooner set out across the harbor on an unplanned cruise. By around 6am, the drifting schooner was sighted and towed back to her berth with minor rail and gangway damage. No other damge to other vessels was reported. The police are investigating the incident.

Tall Ship Silva set adrift by pranksters

Sea Education Association Brigantine Robert C. Seamans on Pacific ‘Garbage Patch’ Cruise

Posted on by October 9, 2012

SSV Robert C. Seamans

The brigantine Robert C. Seamans, owned and operated by Sea Education Association (SEA) is off on a 37 day  Plastics at SEA: North Pacific Expedition 2012 into the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” to examine the effects of plastic debris, including debris generated by the 2011 Japanese tsunami, in the ocean ecosystem.

“This expedition will be one of the first to unravel the impact that plastic pollution is having on our ocean’s ecosystem. SEA has over 25 years of experience sampling marine debris and, using this knowledge, we will further investigate the health of our marine ecosystem,” said Emelia DeForce, the expedition’s chief scientist. “Those onboard will have a productive and eye-opening experience with long lasting effects. We will extend this experience to the public at large through our outreach program that will take place during and after the expedition, with the goal to raise awareness of the impact that this long-lived pollutant is having in our oceans.”

Sea Education Association tall ship departs on major marine debris research cruise

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Update: Honk Kong Ferry Sinking – the Two Minute Tragedy : Why Did the Lammna IV Sink So Fast?

Posted on by October 9, 2012

Update:  The death toll from the ferry collision has risen to 39 after a nine year old girl, Tsui Hoi-ying, who had been of life support in a Hong Kong hospital, is reported to have died.

It only took about two minutes for the ferry Lammna IV to sink in Hong Kong harbor off Victoria after being struck by another ferry boat around 8pm October 1st.  Of the more than 120 passengers on the Lammna IV, 38 are believed to have drowned. It was the worst harbor accident in Hong Kong in more than 40 years.

How could the ferry have sunk so fast?  Currently, there are far more questions than answers.  The Lammina IV was built of fiberglass by Cheoy Lee Shipyard in 2003. The other ferry, the Hong Kong ferry The Smooth Sea, is built of aluminum. Both vessels were believed to be traveling at close to their full speed of 15-20 knots at the time of the collision. Two water tight bulkheads are believed to have ruptured in the collision, rapidly flooding the stern of the ferry causing it to sink rapidly with its bow pointed skyward.  There is some question as to whether the watertight doors in these bulkheads were open which would have accelerated the rate of the flooding.

Why the Lamma IV sank so quickly

Seven officers and crew from both ferry boats have been arrested.   The investigation into the tragic accident is expected to take six months.

Thanks to Christina Sun and Phil Leon for contributing to the post.

Figureheads – Galveston’s Tall Ship Elissa, the Living Figurehead and the Yellow Rose

Posted on by April 23, 2014

Elissa Figurehead
Yesterday we posted about Nannie Dee, the erotic yet frightening witch figurehead on the composite clipper Cutty Sark.   The figurehead on Galveston’s tall ship, the 1887 barque Eliisa, is quite different.

When the ship was restored in the early 1980s, she was lacking a figurehead.   Eli Kuslansky, a sculptor and woodcarver was hired.  Two different women were used as the model.  From Kurt Voss’ Galveston’s the Elissa:: The Tall Ship of Texas, “As a tribute to the generous support of the Moody Foundation, the face of the sculpture was styled in the likeness of a young Mary Moody Northen.”   The life model for the rest of the figurehead was a part-time rigger and cadet at Texas A&M Maritime Academy, Amy McAllister.

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Figureheads – Nannie Dee and the Cutty Sark

Posted on by October 7, 2012

Photo: R. Spilman

The figurehead on the Cutty Sark is dramatic – a woman, all in white, wearing a flowing robe which leaves her upper body uncovered.  He face is fixed in a scowl or grimace and she is reaching out with one arm, the hand holding, oddly, a large tuft of hair.  She is the witch, Nannie Dee, from Robert Burn’s poem, Tam o’Shanter.  The figurehead itself tells the story of why the grand old ship is named Cutty Sark.

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Pamela Talese and the Open Studio Tour at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Posted on by October 5, 2012

The Baltic Sea by Pamela Talese

For close to two hundred years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a center for shipbuilding. These days the sprawling site is home to a museum as well as a wide range of light industry. It is also host to quite a few artist’s studios.  This weekend, October 6-7, there will be an Open Studio Tour at dozens of artists’ studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard from 12-5pm.  One of these artists, Pamela Talese, who is also one of our favorite artists of maritime themes in New York City, was recently featured in a profile in the Wall Street Journal.

Artist Finds Safe Harbor in Brooklyn

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Harbor Week at Narratively|NYC

Posted on by October 5, 2012

Narratively|NYC is a new web magazine with a focus, as the name implies, on narrative journalism involving New York City. For the past week, Narratively|NYC has run new features each day on New York harbor. Worth checking out.  Thanks to Carolina Salguero at Portside New York for pointing it out.

US Hedge Fund Billionaire Seizes Argentine Navy Tall Ship Libertad in Ghana Over Debt Dispute

Posted on by October 4, 2012

The Argentine Navy training ship Libertad and her crew of over 200, docked in port of Tema, Ghana, were seized by a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd., a subsidiary of Elliot Capital Management, a hedge fund run by the US billionaire Paul Singer.  Argentina’s Foreign Ministry accused the Ghanaian court of violating rules of diplomatic immunity.

The conflict is over a more than a decade long legal battle between Argentina and hold-out creditors. In 2001 and 2002 Argentina defaulted on more than $100bn of debt, the biggest default in history. About 94% of these loans were restructured in 2005 and 2010, returning creditors roughly 30 cents on their dollar. Elliot Capital was among the 6% who did not participate in the restructuring and continued with legal action against Argentina.

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Bombs in the Gulf’s Offshore Oilfields

Posted on by October 4, 2012

55-gallon drums of chemical weapons near the mouth of the Mississippi River found by Texas A&M University researchers. Photo:Texas A&M University

We have previously posted about unexploded bombs from World War II being exposed by drought along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers in Germany, about similar bombs being found in the port of Marseille and about World War II phosphorus munitions burning two beachcombers at a seaside resort in the north of the island of Usedom on the German Baltic coast.  Now, as offshore drilling returns to the Gulf of Mexico following the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, Texas A&M oceanographer William Bryant warns that the thousands of tons of bombs, ordnance and chemical weapons, including mustard gas, dumped by the US military in the Gulf after World War II, could pose a serious risk to new drilling.

World War II bombs, mustard gas in Gulf of Mexico need to be checked, experts warn

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Cutty Sark – the Good, Bad & the Ugly

Posted on by March 18, 2013

A ship partialy in a bottle, Click for larger image

After a multi-year, £50 million restoration, interrupted by a near catastrophic fire, the composite clipper ship, Cutty Sark, reopened last April.  Not everyone was impressed. Andrew Gilligan, the Telegraph‘s London Editor, called the restoration “a clucking, Grade A, … turkey.”  In September, the British architectural trade journal, Building Design, awarded the restoration of the historic tea clipper the 2012 Carbuncle Cup for the worst new building design in Britain. The Victorian Society’s new director Chris Costelloe has opined that it’s a pity that commercial motives were placed above heritage interests.”  Ouch.

While attending the Historical Novel Society 2012 conference in London last week, I spent a few hours crawling through the venerable ship.  There is indeed both good news and bad.  The bad is primarily related to what happens when the party planners and corporate events schedulers overrule the naval architects and ship restorers.  Nevertheless, there are areas where, Andrew Gilligan’s complaints notwithstanding, the ship presentation seems much improved over the previous incarnation.

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Hong Kong Ferry Collision Kills at Least 36

Posted on by October 2, 2012

Photo: Kin Cheung/Associated Press

At least 36 people drowned when a ferry carrying more than 120 collided with another vessel and sank last night around 8:30 pm local time near Lamma island off Hong Kong.   The ferry was taking staff and family members of the Hongkong Electric Company to watch fireworks in the city’s Victoria Harbour to celebrate China’s National Day and mid-autumn festival.

36 Confirmed Dead in Hong Kong Ferry Collision

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Knots on Mars! Hard to Improve on a Clove Hitch and a Reef Knot

Posted on by October 2, 2012

Square knots and clove hitches on wire bundles on the Mars Rover Curiosity

There is a wonderful discussion on the International Guild of Knot Tyers Forum titled “Knots on Mars! (and a few thoughts on NASA’s knots)” by Dfred.   I had never given much thought as to  how cable bundles on satellites and space craft are secured. The answer is some very old sailor’s knots.  Dfred writes:

While a few of the folks here are no doubt aware, it might surprise most people to learn that knots tied in cords and thin ribbons have probably traveled on every interplanetary mission ever flown. If human civilization ends tomorrow, interplanetary landers, orbiters, and deep space probes will preserve evidence of both the oldest and newest of human technologies for millions of years.

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The Human Cost of Piracy: Crew of MV Iceburg 1 – 29 Months in Captivity, A Grim New Record

Posted on by October 1, 2012

On March 29, 2010, the Panamanian-flagged ro/ro MV Iceburg 1 was hijacked by pirates about 10 nautical miles off the port of Aden, Yemen. Her crew of 24, of which 22 are believed to have survived, have been held hostage for 29 months.  The ship’s owner Dubai-based Azal Shipping & Cargo has been accused of effectively abandoning the ship and her crew.  One of the crew members, Wagdi Akram, committed suicide on October 27, 2010 by jumping overboard.  The ship’s chief engineer is believed to have been killed by the pirates in March or June of 2011.

Abandoned at sea – the forgotten hostages of the Somali pirates

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