America’s Cup Racing – the Reason that the Crews Wear Crash Helmets

Posted on by August 28, 2012

I have a distinct recollection a photo of Thomas Lipton on one of his Americas Cup challengers sipping a cup of the tea on which his fortune was based.  I can’t find the photograph, so perhaps I shouldn’t trust my memory.  Nevertheless, it is safe to say that America’s Cup racing has changed.  These days the sailors don’t sip tea from porcelain cups; they wear crash helmets. Last Friday, Russell Coutts, skipper of the Oracle boat demonstrated why the helmets are a good idea when he tried, unsuccessfully, to squeeze between the Race Committee boat and another racer at a speed of around 20 knots.  Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing along the video.

America’s Cup – Jimmy on Russell’s Crash Out

http://youtu.be/6fbFT1JWw7Y

 

Alaric Bond on C.S. Forester – An Unlikely Sea Daddy

Posted on by August 27, 2012

Today is C.S. Forester’s birthday.  (Thanks to Margaret Muir, who pointed it our on Facebook. Otherwise, I would have missed it.) Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, who wrote under the pen name of Cecil Scott “C.S.” Forester was born on August 27, 1899.  While Forester wrote over fifty books, he will probably always be best remembered for his creation of Horatio Hornblower, the Georgian naval officer who rose from midshipman to admiral over a dozen novels and short stories.

Alaric Bond, author of the Fighting Sail series of novels, wrote an article for the June 2012 issue of Reflections, the C S Forester Society  magazine, on the influence C.S. Forester had on his writing. The article is reproduced below with his permission.

An Unlikely Sea Daddy

For me it all started with a slightly gruff and remote frigate captain. He was a man who lived his life bitterly aware of his own inadequacies, and in constant fear that one of his real, or imagined, weaknesses would expose him as the fraud he supposed himself to be. It was a wonderfully complex, yet understandable character and the fact that he shared a world that I then considered Nelson’s was an added bonus, although if Hornblower had appeared in any other time or genre he would probably have been almost as compelling.

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J. Steven Dews’ ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ Expected to Fetch over £100,000 at Bonhams Auction

Posted on by August 27, 2012

The old saying goes that success is the best revenge.  John Stevens Dews failed his ‘A’ level art. (For the non-British, including myself, the ‘A’ level is a public examination in a subject taken for the General Certificate of Education (GCE), usually at the age of 17-18.)   Perhaps the examiners should be examined. Dews, who was told as a youth that fame usually comes only after an artist has died, is now one of Britain’s most sought-after living marine artists.  Dews painting, “The Battle of Trafalgar – H.M.S. Victory breaking the enemy line and raking the stern of the French flagship as she goes through” is the star of the September 26th Marine auction at Bonhams in London.  The painting is expected to fetch between £100,000 – 150,000, or €130,000 – 190,000 or US$ 160,000 – 240,000.  Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the news.

Battle of Trafalgar masterpiece by artist who failed “A level” art for sale at Bonhams

Little Leon, 16′ Small-Tall Ship

Posted on by August 26, 2012

Leon of 1880 (left), Little Leon (right)

When I first saw the photo, I thought that the Little Leon was sailed by giants. The ship looked properly to scale, while the crew seemed disproportionately large.  It turns out that Little Leon is a 16′ long brigantine modeled after the Leon, a 120′ Norwegian brigantine built in 1880.  Little Leon will be sailing in the Old City Seaport Festival on the Delaware River in Philadelphia sponsored by the Independence Seaport Museum from October 5-7th.  For fans of other “small ships” see our post from 2010: “Small Ships Under the Tower Bridge“

Little Leon: Sailing a 16-foot model of a square-rigged ship

High Drama on the Sail to Dublin – Teens Battle 60 Knot Winds & Black Diamond of Durham Saves Singlehander

Posted on by August 25, 2012

Photo: Frank Miller/The Irish Times

The Dublin Tall Ship Festival is well underway this weekend in Ireland, with 40 tall ships and at least a dozen accompanying vessels.  A million vistitors are expected to throng the docks.  There was already considerable drama prior to the arrival of the ships and boats in Dublin.  Teen crew on the three masted 30 meter schooner, Kapitan Borchardt, battled 60 knots winds in a storm which snapped one of the ship’s booms.  No one was reported injured and the ship arrived safely in Dublin.  Ecuadorean navy’s tall ship, Guayas, also reported ripped sails.

Teens battle 110kph winds as Tall Ship damaged in storm

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Good, if Highly Confusing News, About the Galveston’s Tall Ship Elissa

Posted on by August 24, 2012

There were several recent news accounts related to the Galveston’s 1877 iron barque Elissa which frankly made us shake our heads and ask,” where did they come up with this stuff?”  The extremely good news is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded the state of Texas $1.4-million for repairs to Elissa for  damage in hurricane Ike.
   Exactly why and how she was damaged is the confusing part.  The explanations vary widely and none appear to be correct from all that we have seen.

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Pride of Baltimore II Visiting New York’s North Cove

Posted on by August 24, 2012

Photo: Lynn Digennaro

The Pride of Baltimore II is visiting New York, calling in Manhattan’s North Cove on the Hudson River.  She should be arriving around mid-day today and will be staying through Sunday.  Daysails and dockside tours will be available.  (See the schedule after the page break.)

War of 1812 Privateer Pride of Baltimore II Returns to New York Harbor August 24 to 26

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Hell Around the Horn, a Novel by Rick Spilman

Posted on by August 23, 2012

I am pleased to announce that my novel, Hell Around the Horn, is now available on Amazon around the world. The print edition will be out shortly. About the novel:

In 1905, a young ship’s captain and his family set sail on the windjammer, Lady Rebecca, from Cardiff, Wales with a cargo of coal bound for Chile, by way of Cape Horn. Before they reach the Southern Ocean, the cargo catches fire, the mate threatens mutiny and one of the crew may be going mad. The greatest challenge, however, will prove to be surviving the vicious westerly winds and mountainous seas of the worst Cape Horn winter in memory. Told from the perspective of the Captain, his wife, a first year apprentice and an American sailor before the mast, Hell Around the Horn is a story of survival and the human spirit in the last days of the great age of sail.

Praise for Hell Around the Horn:

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Update: Fires at Sea – MSC Flaminia Finally Allowed To Come Home & Chamarel Salvage Underway

Posted on by August 22, 2012

Updates to two sets of recent posts:  After considerable delay the container ship  MSC Flaminia is being allowed into a port of refuge.  Authorities have granted permission for the German flagged ship to be towed into German waters. Following a safety inspection the ship will be allowed to dock in a German port.   MSC Flaminia suffered an explosion and fire on July 15th while in the mid-Atlantic. One crew member was killed and another is missing and presumed dead.  After the fire was brought under control and the ship taken under tow, European maritime authorities have benn slow in granting approval for the ship to enter territorial waters.

Stricken Container Ship to Shelter in German Waters

On August 8th, a fire broke out on the France Telecom-Orange cable laying ship, Chamarel, in the Atlantic Ocean off Namibia’s Skeleton Coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The crew of 56 abandoned ship after attempts at firefighting failed to control the blaze. France Telecom-Orange has announced that the salvage of the ship is now underway.  Chamarel is currently agound on sand banks 30 km from Henties Bay in Namibia.

Namibia: France Telecom-Orange – Salvage Operation Underway – Risk of Pollution Under Control

10 Tons of French Wine to Copenhagen by Sail – Delivered to Noma “the World’s Best Restaurant”

Posted on by August 22, 2012

Commercial sail has not yet returned, but there are interesting niche players who are doing what they can to change that. The sailing brigantine Tres Hombres recently carried 10 tons of French wine from Brest to Copenhagen for delivery to Noma, which has been rated as the “World’s Best Restaurant” for the past seven years by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.   The 10 tons of wine include wines from 13 French biodynamic winemakers. The shipment by sail is estimated to have saved close to 5 tons of CO2 emissions.  The shipment was arranged by TransOceanic Wind Transport

World’s best restaurant chooses wines shipped by sail
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The Wreck of the SS Terra Nova Discovered – An Appreciation of a Remarkable Ship

Posted on by August 21, 2012

Last week it was announced that the wreck of SS Terra Nova, the ship that had carried Robert Scott on his ill-fated quest to be the first to reach the South Pole, had been located off Greenland. In July, the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s flagship, the R/V Falkor, discovered the ship while testing testing its mutibeam mapping echosounders. The identify of the ship was confirmed by towed high definition video cameras. (See video at the end of the post.)

The media reports of the finding have focused on Robert Scott, which is not surprising as this year is the centenary of the death of Scott and the others on his expedition. Nevertheless, carrying Scott and his expedition to Antarctica was a very small part of the nearly 60 year career of the SS Terra Nova.

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Update: Diana Nyad Ends Her Attempt to Swim Between Havanna & Key West

Posted on by August 21, 2012

This morning Diana Nyad ended her fourth attempt, her third this year, to swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida after being buffeted by squalls and stung by jellyfish. She had been in the water for roughly 60 hours and had completeled about half of the 103 miles crossing.

Nyad quits swim after storm, jellyfish stings

Timbers from Jane Austen’s Brother’s Ship, HMS Namur, Found under Floorboards at Chatham Historic Dockyard

Posted on by August 20, 2012

I am very fond of William Faulkner’s maxim, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.”  What brought this to mind was recent news from the Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent. Back in 1995, parts of a ship’s framing was found beneath six layers of floorboards in the wheelwright’s workshop.  After more than a decade of investigation the frames have now been identified as belonging to HMS Namur, a 90-gun second rate ship of the line, built at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1756. She served the Royal Navy in various capacities until she was broken up in 1833.  The frames were identified by builder’s marks.  HMS Namur  took part in nine fleet actions – often as the flagship – in three campaigns.  The discovery of the timbers from the Namur is described on the dockyard website as “the single most important warship discovery in Northern Europe since that of the MARY ROSE”

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Red Hook Maritime Art & Artifacts for Sale at PortSide NY Fundraiser, Thursday 8/23/12

Posted on by August 19, 2012

If you are anywhere near New York harbor this Thursday, Redhook is the place to be. PortSide NY is vacating its pop-up office/gallery and is selling a fascinating range of art and artifacts. Paintings, photographs and illustrations by contemporary artists including Jonathan Atkin, Dennis Doyle, Jim Ebersole, Frank Hanavan, Bill Murphy, Naima Rauam, Christina Sun, and PortSide’s Director Carolina Salguero will be for sale, as will an intriguing range of artifacts and memorabilia from the famed Todd Shipyard, which started in Red Hook. Other items for sale are from Cowhey Brothers Marine Hardware, RMC Canvas & Rope (two Red Hook businesses which closed in 2005), The Beard Stores, and historic Red Hook break-bulk pier operations. A barrel full of late 20th century ship plans are also available. The sale runs through August 30th and kicks off with a reception from 6-9, Thursday on August 23rd, 145 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231. Click here to learn more.

Red Hook Maritime Artifacts for Sale-PortSide fundraiser 8/23/12

 

Diana Nyad Making Fourth Attempt at Cuba to Florida Swim

Posted on by August 19, 2012

Starting a day earlier than planned, Diana Nyad, 62, began her fourth attempt yesterday afternoon to swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West Florida, a distance of 103 miles across open ocean.  Nyad swam 21.7 statute miles in her first 18 hours. The total swim is expected to take 60 hours.

Nyad progressing in historic swim attempt: ‘No stopping her now’

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Imperial Shag – Deep Diving Cormorant “Superbird”

Posted on by August 18, 2012

I am a big fan of cormorants. The ones I am most familiar with are the double crested cormorants common in North America.  The imperial shag cormorant, the double crested cormorants’ larger South American and Antarctic cousin, has been causing quite a stir of late. Scientists in Argentina recently attached a lipstick-size video camera to an imperial cormorant’s back and recorded footage of the bird diving 150 feet (46 meters) to the seafloor to catch a fish. No one thought that cormorants could dive that deep.  Some researchers are now calling the imperial shag – “superbirds.”

Cormorant’s Amazing Deep Dive Video Footage

On Guerriere Day, USS Constitution Sails Again, Briefly

Posted on by August 18, 2012

USS Constitution battling HMS Guerriere

On August 19, 1812, the 44-gun USS Constitution met the 38 gun HMS Guerriere in single ship combat off the coast of Nova Scotia.  During the battle the Constitution earned her nickname “Old Ironsides” when the British 18 pound shot was seen to bounce off her oak planks. In the 35 minute battle, HMS Guerriere was defeated.  Guerriere was the first of five British warships that USS Constitution would capture or destroy during the war of 1812.

Tomorrow, on Guerriere Day, the 200th anniversary of the victory over HMS Guerriere, the two hundred and fifteen year old USS Constitution will set sail for the first time since 1997. It will be only the second time that the ship has sailed on her own in the last 131 years.  Her time under sail will not be very  long.   According to the US Navy press release “at approximately 11:30 a.m., the crew will set up to four sails and make toward open water for about 10 minutes.”

USS Constitution to Sail for First Time since 1997

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Bulk Carrier Ocean Breeze Driven Ashore in San Antonio, Chile in High Winds and Seas

Posted on by August 17, 2012

The bulk carrier Ocean Breeze came shore on Llolleo Beach, near the port of San Antonio, Chile yesterday in high winds and seas.  In a dramatic rescue, all 24 crew members were airlifted off the ship by Chilean Navy helicopters.   No serious injuries were reported, though the captain and one crew member remain in a hospital in San Antonio being treated for hypertension and hypothermia. The Ocean Breeze is 52,000 DWT and is carrying a cargo of grain. The ship is reported to be approximately 300 yards offshore.  Thanks to David for passing along the news.

Ocean storm causes cargo ship to run aground on Chilean beach

http://youtu.be/f_8vCKP2i6w

Stranded ship is buffeted by waves off Chilean coast

Freeze-Dried Shipwreck – Preserving La Salle’s La Belle

Posted on by July 19, 2014

Photo: AP Photo/Texas A&M University

When the Swedish warship Vasa was raised from the seabed in 1961, to prevent her her waterlogged timbers from shrinking and cracking, the hull was sprayed, inside and out, continuously with polyethylene glycol for 17 years, followed by 9 years of slow drying.  The British carrack Mary Rose has undergone a similar treatment.

Now, archaeologists at the Texas A&M University Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation are trying a new approach in preserving La Belle, a French ship built in 1684, which sank two years later in a storm on Matagorda Bay, about midway between Galveston and Corpus Christi, Texas.  Rather than using the lengthy and costly process of displacing the water in the ship’s timbers with polyethylene glycol, the Texas researchers will attempt to freeze-dry the hull.  La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle’s four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico.

French shipwreck to be rebuilt after freeze drying process Continue reading →