Floating Gold by Margaret Muir – a Review

Posted on by January 20, 2012

Margaret Muir’s novel, Floating Gold, was recently released in paperback.  A great read, we never though that it got the attention that it deserved. Here is a repost of our review from May of 2010:

Margaret Muir’s new novel, Floating Gold, is a wonderful blend of classic Georgian naval fiction, a mystery/thriller and a grand treasure hunt.   A rousing tale, well told.

Captain Oliver Quintrell is on the beach, both literally and figuratively.  Recently released from Greenwich Hospital after recovering from injuries related to a “direct contact with a four pound cannon ball,” he finds himself without a commission in a world briefly at peace following the signing of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. He is therefore pleased to be given the command HMS Elusive, a frigate on a secret mission with sealed orders bound for an island near the bottom of the world.  Along the way they encounter storms, calm, murder, and sabotage until they finally arrive at the island, which itself may be the greatest threat of all to survival of the ship and crew.  Hidden on the island is a vast, yet mysterious treasure that Captain Quintrell, his officers and crew must find and carry back to England.

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Costa Concordia – One Week Later, What Do We Know? Not Very Much!

Posted on by January 21, 2012

One week ago, the Costa Concordia grounded off the island of Giglio.    Eleven passengers or crew are confirmed dead. Twenty four people are missing.  The ship itself has sunk in shallow water having rolled 80 degrees on its side.  What else do we know?   Several basic questions remain unanswered.

Where precisely did the Costa Concordia run aground and on what?  No one really knows.  From the charts there do not seem to be any hazards where the first grounding is supposed to have taken place.  The captain steered the ship into shallower water where she currently lies.   From Lloyd’s List:
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Gianni Scerni, President of RINA, Resigns – Was Critical of Costa Management in Newspaper Interview

Posted on by January 20, 2012

Shortly after Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi blamed the grounding of the Costa Concordia on an ”inexplicable” error by the captain, Gianni Scerni, the president of RINA, sat down for an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Secolo XIX.  RINA, Registro Italiano Navale, is the Italian classification society that issued the certificate of seaworthiness and the Safety Management System (SMS) certification for the Costa Concordia.  The resulting article, titled Ma l’armatore non poteva non sapere (But the owner could not find out) is critical of Costa management and questions the claim that Costa was unaware of the practice of its ships presenting a “salute” or “bow” in the form of a close passage by island of Giglio.   Within hours of its publication, Gianni Scerni announced his resignation as the president of RINA.   He disputed the accuracy of some of the comments in the interview but decided to resign from RINA nevertheless.

Odd Notes on the Costa Concordia – Singers, Violinists and Theme Music from the Titanic

Posted on by January 20, 2012

According to survivors’ reports, the band on the deck of the Titanic continued to play after the last boat departed as the ship sank beneath waters of the icy North Atlantic.  Coincidentally, a singer aboard the Costa Concordia, Amelia Leon says that she is related to a ship’s violinist who died when the Titanic sank.

Sadly, a violinist on the Costa Concordia is also among the dead. Sandor Feher, a Hungarian violinist  who worked on the ship, reportedly returned to his cabin to retrieve his violin and never made it back on deck.

Finally, passengers have reported that at the moment that the Costa Concordia hit the rocks the music playing in the ship’s dining room was Celine Dion singing My Heart Will Go On, which was the theme music for James Cameron’s movie, Titanic.

‘Titanic’ Theme Song
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The Shipbuilders of Essex

Posted on by January 20, 2012

Here is a wonderful 20 minute film made in 1947 about, as the tile suggests, shipbuilding in Essex, Massachusetts.  It has the slightly corny Hollywood production values of its time but does a good job at showing the construction of a fishing boat from the laying of the keel to the launching.  Notice the characteristic Essex side launch, which hasn’t changed much since at least 1947.  See our previous post of the launch of the pinky  schooner Ardelle. Thanks to the SAIL Ardelle Facebook page for pointing out the video.

The Shipbuilders of Essex

[iframe: width=”480″ height=”360″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Di46QJPOKI” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]

Three Italian Captains – the Costa Concordia and the Andrea Doria

Posted on by January 19, 2012

Andrea Doria 1956

Reuters reports that Italy is enthralled by the tale of the “two captains,”  while on CNN another Italian captain, from another ship and another time, is remembered – In Andrea Doria wreck, a captain who shone.

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San Diego Big Bay Whale Days and Whale Festival

Posted on by January 19, 2012

Every year, around 26,000 gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) make the 10,000 mile journey from their feeding grounds in the Arctic Sea south to their breeding groups in the lagoons of Baja.  (For an interesting view of the migration see Whale migration seen from the air)   Around this time of year, large numbers of gray whales pass right by San Diego, which is a fine excuse for a party. This Saturday, San Diego is celebrating the 4th Annual Big Bay Whale Days and Whale Festival with food, music, crafts and exhibits from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.at the Port Pavilion on the Broadway Pier.  Thanks to Brad Holderman for pointing out the festival on Facebook.

Festival salutes gray whale 

The Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ready by March for Transport to Australia

Posted on by January 15, 2012

Last October, we posted about the shipping cradle that had been fabricated in Australia and shipped to Scotland which will be used to transport the oldest composite clipper ship, the City of Adelaide,  back to her namesake city in South Australia.  The first two containers containing sections of the shipping cradle have now arrived in Irvine, Scotland. The last three containers, each carrying 15 to 20 tonnes of cradle parts, are due in late February.  Once the cradle is reassembled under the ship, the 150-year-old clipper and cradle will be moved onto a barge for transfer onto an ocean-going ship for the voyage to Port Adelaide, Australia.  The current target date is the end of March, if all goes well.

The City of Adelaide was built in 1864 by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, and was launched on  May 7, 1864. The ship was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Carrick between 1923 and 1948 and, after decommissioning, was known as Carrick until 2001. At a conference convened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 2001, the ship’s name reverted to City of Adelaide.

Carrick ready for the off

Lloyd’s List Intelligence Plots of Costa Concordia’s Previous Close Call

Posted on by January 18, 2012

Lloyd’s List Intelligence has published its AIS plots of the course of the Costa Concordia on January 13th, when she ran aground and sank, and her course on August 14th when she came within 230 meters of the shore of the island of Giglio and passed extremely close to where she ran aground last Friday.  Click on the graphic or here for a larger plot.

Costa Concordia in previous close call

Costa Concordia: Exclusive Lloyd’s List video analysis

Not the First Time – Costa Concordia Took the Same Route Near Giglo in the Past

Posted on by January 18, 2012

MSNBC is quoting Adam Smallman, editor of Lloyd’s List, as saying that the Costa Concordia took close to the same route in August, based on satellite tracking, as it took when it ran aground last Friday night. He also is quoted as saying that the course was “authorized by the company and the coast guard.”

“Our assessment of the route this vessel took (in August) is it must have come perilously close, and I mean possibly within touching distance of the rock that it hit this time … which the company is saying wholly unauthorized in terms of its proximity to the island,” Smallman said.

Lloyd’s List also notes: No cruise ship apart from Costa Concordia has come into close proximity with Giglio in the last six months, according to an analysis of Automatic Identification System data by Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

This isn’t so much new information as confirmation of what we posted yesterday. See The Costa Concordia’s Fatal Salute – “Inexplicable Error” or “Nice Tradition”?
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Coverage of the Costa Concordia Tragedy – Unfortunate Juxtapositions

Posted on by January 18, 2012

As the tragedy of the Costa Concordia plays out, newspapers still need to sell ads.  Recently some of the juxtapositions have been, well, unfortunate. (Click on any of the thumbnails below for a larger image.)

Italy’s Il Gazzettino featured a story about the Costa Concordia on the front page while displaying a full page ad for a cruise on the back of the tabloid paper  — “WIN a cruise for the best day of your life.”

A close runner-up is the front page of a the Belfast Telegraph with a banner across the top reading “Win A Dream Holiday!” in large red type, immediately above a photo of the nearly capsized Costa Concordia and the headline in a smaller typeface, “Hunt for survivors goes on as death toll rises on stricken liner.”  
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HMB Endeavour Transit of Venus 2012

Posted on by January 18, 2012

HMB Endeavour is embarking on a special cruise to observe the transit of Venus – a very rare astronomical event when the planet Venus moves across the sun on June 6th 2012.  The next transit of Venus will take place on  December 2117! The ship will be sailing in the wake of Captain James Cook’s whose first voyage to the South Pacific aboard HMS Endeavour observed the 1769 transit of Venus.

A special on-line raffle will be held to select the 35 paying crew for the 13 day return trip to Lord Howe Island.  Those interested in joining the voyage should submit a ballot in the raffle, which starts at 9 am AEDT on Wednesday 18 January 2012 on the HMB Endeavour website and closes at midnight AEDT on Friday 10 February 2012. 35 entries will be drawn randomly on 20 February 2012. Successful entrants will be notified within five business days after the draw. To learn more, go to – Transit of Venus.

Update: Costa Concordia – Body Count Rises to 11, 24 Still Missing, Shocking Recording of Coast Guard Ordering Captain Back to Ship

Posted on by January 17, 2012

Divers searching the wreck of the Costa Concordia have found five more bodies in the submerged section of the ship.  All were wearing life jackets and are believed to be passengers.  The number of missing, which had been as low as 11, has been revised upward to 24.

A shocking audio recording has emerged in which the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, was heard making excuses as the Italian Coast Guard repeatedly ordered him to return to oversee his ship’s evacuation.  Corriere della Sera put the tape, which it said was recorded by the Coast Guard, on its website.  A transcript of the recording translated into English is posted here.

The Coast Guard commander to “Get back on the ship.”

The First Circumnavigation of Canada’s Ellesmere Island – Important Arctic Life Lessons

Posted on by January 17, 2012

Photo: Jon Turk

There is a wonderful article in today’s New York Times about Jon Turk and Erik Boomer, who recently became the first to circumnavigate Canada’s Ellesmere Island, roughly 1,000 miles north of the Arctic Circle.  Jon Turk, 65, is an author, scientist and veteran adventurer while Erik Boomer is a 26-year-old photographer and whitewater kayaker. Over 104 days, the pair trudged, skied and paddled the rugged and ice-bound 1,500-mile perimeter of the island.  In total, they paddled around 650 miles. Turk and Boomer have been nominated for National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year 2012 award.

Odd Couple’s Amazing Trek: 1,500 Arctic Miles by Kayak
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The Costa Concordia’s Fatal Salute – “Inexplicable Error” or “Nice Tradition”?

Posted on by January 17, 2012

The Costa Concordia “Saluting” Giglio Last August

In a recent press conference, Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi blamed the grounding of the Costa Concordia on an “inexplicable” error by the captain.  Mr Foschi said: “This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a manoeuvre by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorised and unknown to Costa.”  He went on to say that the captain had sailed close to land to “show the ship to the port” and to “make a salute“.

It is unusual for a corporation to assign blame to one of its own personnel so quickly after a casualty and before the formal investigation has even begun.  The company appears to wish to characterize Captain Francesco Schettino’s actions as those of one man acting “inexplicably.”  But were his actions “inexplicable” or were they part on a what amounted to an ongoing tradition of Costa ships sailing perilously close to the island of Giglio to deliver a “salute”?

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A New Brigantine for San Francisco?

Posted on by January 17, 2012

Alan Olson, a Sausalito boat builder and founder of the educational sailing nonprofit Call of the Sea,  has some ambitious plans.  He wants to build a new 140-foot wood long brigantine to be used as a sail training ship for the San Francisco Bay area and he would like to see it completely to coincide with the San Francisco America’s Cup during the summer of 2013.  His new project has been named, Educational Tall Ship for San Francisco Bay.

Sailing in Marin: Sausalito boat builder out to construct tall ship by America’s Cup
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Update: Costa Concordia – Why Did the Ship Roll and is She Slipping into Deeper Water?

Posted on by January 16, 2012

One of the more alarming aspects of the sinking of the Costa Concordia was the dramatic roll that the ship took after the grounding.  She is now sitting with a list of roughly 80 degrees with almost half of the ship flooded.  Passenger ships have been designed to avoid listing when damaged since at least the Lusitania in 1915, when longitudinal bulkheads which allowed flooding only on one side of the ship, accelerated the capsize and sinking.  The Costa Concordia however is in a different situation. She is resting on a rock ledge.  Once the ship was no longer floating but supported on rocks, she lost stability and rolled on the uneven bottom.

There is now concern that in deteriorating weather, the ship might slip off the ledge into deeper water.  Rescue efforts on the ship were suspended indefinitely today when divers heard noises suggesting movement.  Thus far, the recorded movements of the ship have been small but if the ship does sink in deeper water the environmental impact from the leaking of the ship’s fuel tanks could be significant.  The Dutch salvage company, Smit Tak, has been contracted to pump fuel from the ship and begin salvage operations.

Cruise disaster: Costa Concordia slipping into the sea
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Korean Tanker Doola No. 3 Explodes, 5 dead, 6 missing

Posted on by January 16, 2012

Doola No. 3 Photo: Yonhap

On Sunday, the 6535 dwt  South Korean tanker, Doola No. 3, exploded in the Yellow Sea near the port of Incheon.  Of the crew of 16, 5 are confirmed dead while 6 are missing.  The explosion ripped the tanker in half.  The ship was traveling in ballast after discharging a cargo of gasoline.  The Doola No. 3 typically transports diesel fuel.  The cause is still undermined but an ignition of gasoline fumes is suspected to have caused the explosion.

Doola 3
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USCG Icebreaking Cutter Healy – A Fleet of One

Posted on by January 16, 2012

USCGC Healy - the US Icebreaker Fleet

The United States has something like eleven aircraft carriers, fifty nine destroyers, thirty frigates, seventy nine submarines, thirty amphibious assault ships as well as numerous minesweepers patrol craft and supply ships.  The navy’s battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined.   Quite a few ships.  In a perfect world we would never use any of them, though we are obviously far from a perfect world.

So how many operational icebreakers does the US have? We have an Arctic coast, after all.  As events of the last week or two have shown, we have a need for ice breaking.   The answer is –  one. The US has only one medium icebreaker – the USCG Healy.  The Coast Guard has two other aging heavy icebreakers, the Polar Sea and the Polar Star, but neither are in service. The Polar Sea broke down in 2010 and the Coast Guard has decommissioned her, while the Polar Star is being refit and may be available by 2013.

Icebreaker POLAR SEA sidelined by engine troubles

AS an update on the mission to provide emergency fuel to icebound Nome, Alaska, in which the USCG Cutter Healy escorted the Russian tanker through the ice, the transfer of fuel is expected to start today. It is unclear how long the transfer will take.  For safety, the transfer will only take place during the daylight which in Nome is currently 5 hours per day.

Tanker carrying fuel arrives at iced-in Alaska city

Update: Costa Concordia – Three More Bodies Found, Death Toll Rises to Six (Updated 1/16/12)

Posted on by January 16, 2012

The Italian Coast Guard announced that the bodies of two elderly people were found in a flooded restaurant and the body of one passenger was located in a passageway on the Costa Concordia, raising the confirmed deaths from the grounding and sinking of the ship to six. There are still 15 passengers or crew missing following the casualty.

Costa Concordia: Death Toll Rises to Six