Fleet : the Complete Collection by Andrew D. Thaler, a Review by Joe Follansbee

Posted on by January 29, 2014

fleet_coverA review by Joe Follansbee of Andrew D. Thaler’s Fleet: The Complete Collection, a fascinating, post-apocalyptic tale of survival in a nautical world.

Review: ‘Fleet’ revives sci-fi’s nautical tradition, By Joe Follansbee

Science fiction’s nautical tradition goes back to the genre’s origins. In 1870, French writer Jules Verne predicted the nuclear submarine in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and he created one of the great megalomaniac characters in literature, Captain Nemo. My own love of sci-fi was sparked in part by the 1960s TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which featured the research vessel Seaview and its resourceful crew. In recent years, however, the ocean has fallen out of fashion as a sci-fi platform. The 1995 Waterworld, the most expensive movie ever made up to that time, killed Hollywood’s interest in the watery parts of the world for years. And few of today’s science fiction writers regard the sea as a place for storytelling.

Andrew D. Thaler’s work Fleet may signal a change. Continue reading →

Pete Seeger, the Hudson River and the Sloop Clearwater

Posted on by January 28, 2014
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Pete Seeger singing on the Clearwater

Pete Seeger died last night at the age of 94.  Seeger was a folk singer and song writer, as well as an activist who thought that song just might change the world.  It is hard to believe that he has died.  In his latter years, he developed a sort of craggy but cheerful, timelessness, not unlike the Palisades along the Hudson River that he so loved.   Arlo Guthrie, who was with Seeger shortly before he died, commented that Pete has “passed away but he hasn’t gone.”

Seeger will long be remembered for his music but he will also be known for his love of the Hudson River. In the 1960s, Pete and his wife Toshi started an organization whose goal was to bring people back down to the Hudson River, which had become heavily polluted with industrial waste.  They decided to “build a boat to save the river.”  In 1969 the organization launched a replica of a Hudson River sloop, the once ubiquitous sailing cargo vessels that had plied the river a century before. They named the sloop, Clearwater, and began sailing up and down the river giving concerts and talking about the environment.   Continue reading →

Norovirus on RCCL Explorer of the Seas — Worse than Cannibal Rats

Posted on by January 27, 2014

explorer2My next door neighbors left last Tuesday for a 10 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ship Explorer of the Seas.  I saw them shortly before they departed.  We were both shoveling snow from our front sidewalks.  The Explorer of the Seas would be sailing from New York in a winter snow storm and my neighbor commented that at the very least it would be “a memorable trip.” It turns out that this voyage will be memorable for reasons other than weather.  It is now being reported that close to 600 of the more than 3,000 passengers have been sickened by a norovirus aboard the ship.  The cruise schedule was modified and now has been shortened.  The ship is on her way back to a berth in Bayonne in New York harbor.  I only hope my neighbors were among the roughly 80% of the passengers not made ill by the virus.

Continue reading →

Humanitarian Vessel Vega Needs a Mast!

Posted on by January 30, 2014

The Vega desperately needs a mizzen mast. Specifically, they are looking for a fir or spruce to shape the 10m x 26cm mast and a shipping company able to transport the wood from either Brisbane, Australia, or Vancouver, Canada, to Singapore.  If they cannot find a replacement mast by April, their 2014 humanitarian mission, delivering medical and school supplies to over 50,000 people in remote island communities, may be at risk.

154886_10153750773035603_622155822_nTheir website and Facebook page refer to the craft as the “Historic Vessel Vega,”  which is appropriate given that the ketch was built in 1892 in Norway and has had a long illustrious and varied career. In recent years, however, it would be more appropriate to refer to her as the “Humanitarian Vessel Vega,” as under the command of Captain Shane Granger and his crew, the Vega has been delivering critically needed supplies to villages in very remote parts of Eastern Indonesia and East Timor.  In 2011, Captain Granger and the Vega’s crew were honored with the Asia Pacific Laureate Foundation annual award for Social Services in recognition of “Humanitarian Services to Isolated Island Communities.”

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“Gasparilla Pirate Fest” and the Fictitious Pirate, Jose Gaspar

Posted on by January 25, 2014

gasparillaToday, Tampa, Florida will be “invaded” by pirates. Every year about this time, Tampa celebrates the Gasparilla Pirate Fest notionally in honor of Jose Gaspar, reputed to be the “Last Buccaneer.” It is described as “a swashbuckling good time” involving silly costumes, parade floats and heavy drinking. This has been going on in Tampa since around 1904, when some of the city’s elite formed the ‘Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla’  and staged a mock invasion by Jose Gaspar and his crew.

Who was Jose Gaspar? He is claimed to be a pirate who is said to have raided the west coast of Florida during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  In fact, he is entirely fictional.  There is no historical record of his existence and the first stories of his exploits did not appear until the 20th century.  At least no one is claiming that he sailed with a ship full of cannibal rats, not yet anyway.

A Quarter of Shark & Ray Species on the Verge of Extinction

Posted on by January 25, 2014

tiger-sharkA recent study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published in the journal eLife suggests that of more than a thousand species of sharks and rays in the world, one in four species are at the brink of extinction. Overfishing is the greatest threat to these species. Demand for shark fin soup is a major cause of the depletion of both sharks but also some species of rays.  It has been estimated that over 11,000 sharks are killed per hour for their fins. For a truly astonishing graphic representation of what that means click here.

The progress in protecting sharks and rays is decidedly mixed.  The good news is that limits were put on shark and ray fishing last year in Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Bangkok.  New Zealand also recent;y banned shark finning.   The very bad news is that a massive trade deal now being negotiated, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is reported to undo the Bankok limits.  Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.

One in Four Shark and Ray Species at Brink of Extinction

The Ghost Ship, the Irish Coast Guard, Chris Reynolds and Uri Geller

Posted on by January 24, 2014

I may owe Chris Reynolds an apology.  In a reply to a comment about our post, Lyubov Orlova, Ghost Ship Crewed by Cannibal Rats Drifting Toward the UK — Phony Hysteria on a Slow News Day?, I suggested that Reynolds, Director, Irish Coast Guard, “appears to one of those helping to fuel the hysteria, not that the media needs much help.” That was probably unfair as we later received a comment from Chris Reynolds, as follows:

actually I never said I thought it was still afloat since the EPIRBs went off but the fact is no one cant prove it sunk. the ship had a number of EPIRBS in lifeboats we are told so the signals are only an indication. However professionally speaking its demise is pretty certain. the rats thing came from an Icelandic April Fools prank and some creative journalism. There ya go. Be careful believing what you read.

PS We are not annoyed at Canada as this is such a rare event.

Continue reading →

British Maritime & Coast Guard Agency Statement on the “Ghost Ship” Lyubov Orlova

Posted on by January 24, 2014

Lyubov-Orlova-_2799136bThe Twitterverse has gone crazy (crazier?) over reports of the Ghost Ship Swarming With Cannibal Rats Bound for Britain. Dozens of newspaper websites have feaverishly picked up the story.  In all the foolishness, I was reminded of Evelyn Waugh’s satirical novel “Scoop” in which an unlikely journalist “scooped” the competition by reporting on fictitious battles in a civil war in an obscure African country. The story of the “Ghost Ship” Lyubov Orlova  is a bit like that — there appears to be no there there. All indications are that the ship sank many months ago and, even if didn’t, there aren’t likely to be many surviving rats on the ship, in the unlikely event that the ship is still afloat.  In all the hub-bub, the British Maritime & Coast Guard Agency (MCA) saw fit to release a statement:

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has received no sightings of the former Soviet cruise ship ‘Lyubov Orlova’ since April last year and there is no evidence to suggest it is still afloat. 

Any ‘ghost’ ship entering European waters is highly likely to be reported due to the large number of vessels passing through the area. We would then act accordingly.

Clipper Ship City of Adelaide — Close to Home but Short on Cash

Posted on by January 24, 2014
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Photo: Sheldon Pettit

The world’s oldest surviving clipper ship, City of Adelaide, has arrived in Port Hedland, Western Australia. She has been carried from Scotlandon the deck of the heavy-lift ship MV Palanpur, with intermediate stops to load and discharge other cargo.  MV Palanpur is in Port Hedland discharging six trains loaded in Norfolk.  If all goes well, City of Adelaide will arrive in its namesake city in just less than a week.  In the mean time, the City of Adelaide Preservation Trust is continuing to raise money to bring the 1864-built ship back to Adelaide, to prepare a site and to preserve the ship.  Thus far, they have raised $156,000 of their $750,000 fundraising target.  Click here to help support the historic ship. 

City of Adelaide Preservation Trust calls for more donations as the clipper hits Port Hedland in Western Australia

Continue reading →

Lyubov Orlova, Ghost Ship Crewed by Cannibal Rats Drifting Toward the UK — Phony Hysteria on a Slow News Day?

Posted on by January 23, 2014
MV Lyubov Orlowa

MV Lyubov Orlowa

A story has exploded across the UK press about the Lyubov Orlova, a cruise ship which broke free from its tow in a winter storm and was abandoned in the Atlantic in February of last year.  What evidence exists suggests that the ship sank in the mid-Atlantic in March.  Nevertheless, in the past 24 hours more than a half-dozen newspapers in the UK and the commonwealth have published stories with lurid headlines like that of the Independent, which screams “Ghost ship ‘crewed by cannibal rats heading to Britain.”  Similar stories have been published by the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Metro, the Mirror, This is Cornwall, News.com.au and the International Business Times. Even the German Web.de gets into the act with its article, “Geisterschiff: Treibt das “Rattenschiff” auf Großbritannien zu?”

This makes such a wonderful story because, while all evidence suggests that the the ship sank last year, there is no absolute proof that it did. Also, all rats are cannibals and it is likely that there rats aboard the ship when it was towed out of Newfoundland.  So, viola, the lost and probably sunken ship becomes the “Ghost Ship Crewed by Cannibal Rats Drifting Toward the UK.”  Except that it probably isn’t drifting anywhere, and if it were the rats aboard may have already eaten each other, so that if the ship is afloat, there may only be one fat rat left, if it doesn’t starve first.

Continue reading →

Cindy Vallar’s Review of Joan Druett’s Judas Island and the Promise of Gold Trilogy

Posted on by January 22, 2014

Last June, we reviewed Joan Druett’s Judas Island, the first book her Promise of Gold Series. Here is an excerpt from a recent review by Cindy Vallar from her wonderful Pirates and Privateers blog. Captain Jahaziel “Jake” Dexter believes a pirate’s old sea journal contains the map to the lost treasure of Panama. Back in 1670 the Spaniards feared that Henry Morgan intended to steal their gold, so they loaded it onto a ship with a group of nuns. The ship and all aboard were never heard from again. Nearly two centuries later, Jake and his crew arrive at Judas Island in hopes of retrieving that gold. While his men dig on the spooky island, Jake remains aboard his brig, waiting for his mate to return. Charlie has rowed over to a ship to broker a deal for whale oil, which they will sell in Valparaiso, Chile for a tidy profit. What Charlie returns with, however, is a passenger – and a female one to boot. Read the rest of the review on the Pirates and Privateers blog.

Book Review Wednesday — New From V.E. Ulett, Blackwell’s Paradise

Posted on by January 22, 2014

paradise_front_small2When I started this blog, I had intended it to be, at least in part, a book blog of works about ships and the sea.  Of late, however, I have been completely negligent in posting reviews.  I will attempt to get back on track.  V.E. Ulett’s recent novel,  Blackwell’s Paradise,  a sequel to her excellent Captain Blackwell’s Prize, seems like a great place to start.

We wrote in our review of her first book, that Captain Blackwell’s Prize falls equally well in the categories of nautical adventure and historical romance. It is the sort of novel that readers of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian can enjoy along with fans of Jane Austen and Daphne du Maurier.   Ulett continues this balance between adventure and romance in Blackwell’s Paradise, with Captain James Blackwell and his wife, Mercedes, beginning on a Royal Navy frigate sailing on a mission to the Pacific and continuing somewhat unexpectedly on the Hawaiian islands.  In parallel stories, Ulett captures the wild life among battling Hawaiian kingdoms, as well as that of the early settlement of Honolulu, where fur traders, whalers and the naval ships of several nations, all compete for trade. Blackwell and Mercedes are well drawn and fascinating characters on both the familiar surroundings of a Royal Navy ship and the more exotic environs of the Sandwich Islands. Great fun. Highly recommended.  Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other on-line retailers.

Day of the Dolphin : Part 1 — Dolphins Steal the Show At Surfing Competition

Posted on by January 21, 2014

The two posts today present a jarring juxtaposition.  On the West Coast of the United States, dolphins steal the show at a surfing competition while in Japan fishermen are beginning the yearly slaughter of dolphins at Taiji Cove.  The beauty of the first only reinforces the horror of the second.  Tellingly, the dolphins playing in the surf appears to be getting more media coverage than the slaughter.

Over the weekend, a pod of dolphins joined in at a surfing competition in Santa Barabara, California. An estimated dozen or more dolphins rode the waves along with surfers at the 2014 Rincon Classic.

Dolphins Surfing In Santa Barbara: Dolphins steal the show at Santa Barbara surf competition

Day of the Dolphin : Part 2 — Dolphin Slaughter Begins in Japan’s Taiji Cove

Posted on by January 21, 2014
Tragedy at Taiji, photo from a past slaughter

Tragedy at Taiji, photo from a past slaughter

Despite domestic and international protest, the annual mass slaughter of bottlenose dolphins is underway in a cove near the Japanese village of  Taiji.  In 2010, The Cove, a documentary about the yearly slaughter, won the Academy Award last night for best feature documentary.  Since then, the level of protest around the world has risen dramatically, but the slaughter continues.

Annual Japanese Dolphin Slaughter Begins in Taiji Cove

Both US and British ambassadors have condemned the “drive killings”, where fishermen lead hundreds of the mammals to a cove in Taiji, in the western Wakayama prefecture, to select some to sell to marine parks. The rest are either released or killed for meat.

Continue reading →

Sailor Roger Pratt Killed in St. Lucia

Posted on by January 20, 2014
Roger & Margaret Pratt, Photo:Mirror

Roger & Margaret Pratt Photo: Mirror

Terrible news from St. Lucia.  Roger Pratt, 62, was killed while defending his wife from intruders on their Premier 41 sailboat, Magnetic Attraction, near the town of Vieux Fort on the island nation of St. Lucia in the eastern Caribbean.  The Daily Mail is reporting that Pratt was beaten and stabbed several times by the men who boarded the sail boat late Friday night.  Margaret Pratt was also injured in the attack. The BBC reports:

He said that officers heard that three armed men had boarded the boat, named the Magnetic Attraction, and attacked the couple before fleeing.

“Margaret went in search of her husband and found him floating in the nearby waters. Roger was retrieved and transported to St Jude Hospital via ambulance along with his wife. He was pronounced dead on arrival while Margaret was treated and discharged.”

Continue reading →