We recently posted about OpSail 2012 and Boston’s weeklong celebration of the USS Constitution and the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The USS Constitution, nicknamed “Old Ironsides” after British round shot bounced off her oak planks, is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. In honor of the grand old ship, here is a wonderful newsreel from the 1950s about USS Constitution.
Extremely disturbing news coming out of Italy regarding the Costa Concordia, which ran aground and sank off the island of Giglio on January 13, 2012 with the deaths of at least 30 passengers. If the reports prove to be true, the ship was sailing with open watertight doors, doors which were required to be closed prior to sailing, when she ran aground. There are also reports that the ship’s so called “black box” had not been functioning for days prior to the collision, that this was not the first time that the black box had failed and that the company was aware that the device required repair.
About a year ago, we posted Towing Icebergs – an Idea Whose Time is Still Coming?, where we pointed out that the latest proposal to tow icebergs from the Arctic or Antarctic to supply fresh water, was similar to plans that dated from the late 1970s. We should have gone much father back. Alexis Madrigal, writing in the Atlantic Monthly, describes the various schemes and dreams of moving bergs at least through 1825. Most of these schemes were failures, but not all. My favorite was an apparently successful venture towing small icebergs from southern Chile to Valparaiso to provide refrigeration to local breweries. “Sometimes the icebergs were supplied with sails to utilize the prevailing winds.” Thanks to Phil Leon for pointing out the article.
The Many Failures and Few Successes of Zany Iceberg Towing Schemes
Mississippi lawyer John Arthur Eaves is supposed to be good at his job and is, by reputation, a pretty smart fellow. He recently filed a law suit claiming that the Costa Concordia was “defectively designed,” a ” floating coffin,” had a “propensity … to roll and list” and was dangerous “because of the maze-effect within the vessel…” I am not a lawyer, but as a naval architect, I can say with a fair degree of confidence that Mr. Eaves does not know the first thing about ship stability.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has taken the bold step of announcing that “no evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.” In other words, mermaids aren’t real! Something is fishy here. On the other hand, the government has also denied the existence of space aliens, yet how else can one explain Donald Trump?
All joking aside, why did NOAA, a government agency with presumably better things to do, find it necessary to make such an announcement?
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Arthur Sewall, a shipbuilder, shipowner and industrialist from Bath Maine, is quoted near the turn of the 20th century, saying, “As long as the wind blows and water flows there will be sailing ships built and business to keep them busy.” Is the great age of commercial sail now just part of history, or are we merely passing through a short-lived era of fossil fuels, which will be brought to a close by scarcity and concerns about pollution and climate change?
This question was brought to mind by a series of articles last month (see also here and here) about the sailing ship design being developed by B9 Shipping. In many respects the information in the articles is not new. We posted about the B9 Project in October of 2010. Nevertheless, new publicity for the modern sailing ship design is all for the good.
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A fascinating short film dating from 1935. From the notes: This film is tricky to describe: is it a boat study, a film-poem, an experiment, a picture postcard? One thing is certain: it’s a rare colour snapshot of the Thames and London in the 1930s – and it looks quite magical.
For those in trouble at sea, technology has dramatically increased the chances of survival. Satellite phones, GPS transducers, EPIRBs and the like have made it possible to call for help across the vastness of the world’s oceans. Some things haven’t changed however. When help arrives, chances are, it will be a merchant seafarer who comes to the rescue.
This Wednesday, when a distress call went out from a boat overloaded with asylum seekers bound for Australia’s Christmas Island, the first vessel on the scene was the Bison Express, a cattle carrier. Within a few hours, two other merchant vessels also arrived. Four of the refugees died, but 134 were saved by the crews of the merchant ships.
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We posted yesterday about Sailing for Couch Potatoes, or how to watch the America’s Cup Races without leaving your couch. NBC, for example, is broadcasting the America’s Cup World Series Finale on Sunday.
The New York Times this morning featured an article describing briefly how the Cup Races are receiving the “television treatment” including the electronic placement of racing information, including starting lines and way points, live on the televised image of the race itself. This is similar to how the line of scrimmage and first-down line magically appear on the televised field during football games. Indeed, Stan Honey, who developed the technology for football, has been hired by the America’s Cup organization.
Ville D’Aquarius
The story began around 3AM Wednesday morning, when a US Coast Guard boarding team, conducting a random sweep on the container ship Ville D’Aquarius, near Sandy Hook, just outside New York harbor, heard a knocking sound which appeared to be coming from somewhere in the ship’s containerized cargo. The Ville D’Aquarius is a 1996 built CMA-CGM container ship with a 2,807 TEU capacity. When she was boarded she was reported to have had aboard 2,039 containers.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Fannie Wilks reported that the officers tapped in a container area of the ship. “They heard tapping back and it continued for six hours, but it became weaker and weaker, the sound, until it went away,” Wilks said. The tapping began to fade, she said, as the boat came into the Port of Newark. “That’s when the tapping finally went away, and they didn’t hear anything back,” she said. Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said, “They heard sounds that were consistent with people being inside a container.”
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Another in the series from Seafarers UK in observation of Seafarers Awareness Week. If world trade is going to continue to grow, we will more well trained seafarers. Seafarers UK is a major supporter of Sea Cadets.
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Back in the old days, the America’s Cup was sailed in 12 Meter yachts in the often misty light air of Rhode Island Sound. It was a competition more suited to still photography than video. How times have changed. Now elimination matches are being sailed in AC 45s in the East Passage, directly off Newport, Rhode Island. Click here for the program. And if you cannot make it to Newport for the races that start today, you can watch the action from the comfort of your couch. NBC will be broadcasting the finale of the series at 14.30 EDT on Sunday, July 1st. In California, Comcast Sports will also boradcast live racing each day, as well as a full replay at 2100 PDT. Globally, the coverage is available on more than 35 networks including Mediaset in Italy, Canal+ in France, SkySports in the UK, Supersport in South Africa, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, OSN across the Middle-East, Fox Sports in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand. Live webcasts will also available on the internet. Would someone please pass the potato chips?
AMERICA’S CUP WORLD SERIES FINALE COMES TO NBC
America’s Cup World Series 2011-2012: Television and Internet Schedule
When I was coming of age, many thought that the future of speed on the water would be in motor-powered hydrofoils. While there are still a few hydrofoil ferries in operation, the idea really never caught on. Now, however, hydrofoils have appeared from a different quarter, powered not by engines, but by the wind.
Last week, a photograph hit the net of the Oracle America’s Cup AC45 “flying” on foils in San Francisco Bay. “L” shaped daggerboard foils and a “T” foil on the rubber were added to the racing catamaran and “voila,” she could fly. Exactly how the foils are controlled is still unclear but the photos released by Oracle Team USA definately show the boat flying on the “L” shaped foils, or ‘flying like “L“‘ as the caption on their Facebook page describes it.
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PT-728
Last April, we posted that PT-728, a World War II Patrol Torpedo boat, was listed as for sale in the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. The vintage PT boat has now been purchased by the newly opened Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton Ohio. She recently passed through Cleveland on her way to her new berth. PT-728 will be one of two PT boats at the new museum. The new museum has also acquired PT-724, which has been converted to a private yacht. The museum intends to restore the boat to its World War II configuration. Thanks to Phil Leon for passing along the news.
Seafarers UK has put together a series of videos describing their mission and why it matters. Here a widow of a fisherman describes the roll of Seafarers UK in her family’s recovery following their loss.
Seafarers UK Fisherman’s Widow
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Photo taken by the MV Bison after arriving at the asylum-seeker boat before it capsized, June 27, 2012.
A boat loaded with asylum seekers has capsized in Indonesian waters about 107 nautical miles north of Australia’s Christmas Island. The boat is reported to have had 150 passengers and crew aboard. CNN is reporting that 136 have been rescued by two merchants ships. This is the second boat overloaded with asylum seekers to have capsized and sunk within a week in the waters north of Christmas Island.
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For anyone who loves wooden boats, Mystic Seaport is the place to be this weekend. Starting Friday and running through the weekend, the 21st Annual WoodenBoat Show will feature a fleet of beautiful wooden boats of all shapes and sizes as well as a wide range of activities, including Family BoatBuilding, where families get together to build boats from kits during the show. There will also be wooden boat and ship building demonstrations, films, and an “I Built It Myself” showcase and contest. The event is hosted by Mystic Seaport and produced and presented by Wooden Boat magazine. Click here to download the boatshow directory. And if you aren’t a lover of wooden boats, a visit to Mystic this weekend just might change that.
Beginning this Saturday, Boston Harbor will once again be filled with tall masts and square sails. OpSail Boston 2012 is celebrating the USS Constitution and the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The USS Constitution, nicknamed “Old Ironsides” after British round shot bounced off her oak planks, is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. Named by President George Washington, she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships during the War of 1812.
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We posted recently about the attempts to repair hull leaks in the BattleshipTexas, the oldest remaining dreadnought battleship and only one of six surviving ships to have served in both World War I and World War II. The ship has been on exhibit at the San Jacinto Battlefield State Historic Site since 1948. Last Thursday, the ship was pumped out and a patch installed over a 2 in inch hole in the ship. The ship was floating on her lines with no leaks until Saturday night when new leaks, from another area of the ship’s hull, again began flooding the old dreadnought. The museum ship, which had reopened Saturday, has now been shut down to visitors indefinitely.
USS Texas springs more leaks; 1,500 gallons per minute leaking
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In concert with IMO’s “Day of the Seafarer,” the good folks at Seafarers UK are sponsoring Seafarers Awareness Week, starting today and running through the July 1. Seafarers UK is a leading charity for seafarers in need and gives grants of £2.5 million annually to more than 70 charities that help seafarers, their families and dependants, across the Merchant Navy, Fishing Fleets, Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
Seafarer’s UK has put together series of short videos in observance of the week, which we will be reposting. In the video below, piracy survivor, Chirag Bahri tells his story.
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