Ships at a Distance

Posted on by January 7, 2014

zora-neale-hurstons-123rd-birthday-5830801295933440-hpToday is the 123rd anniversary of Zora Neale Hurston‘s birthday. She is being honored by Google with a graphic on the main search page. Hurston is considered to be one of the pre-eminent African-America writers of the 20th century. She did not really write about ships or the sea. Nevertheless, the opening lines from her best known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God is a favorite of mine.

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.

When the Harbor Froze in New York

Posted on by April 23, 2014
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Strolling on New York’s East River 1867

Much of the US is suffering under a “polar vortex,” which has plunged temperatures into single digits and wind chills well into negative numbers. Here on the west bank of the Hudson River the temperature is around 4 F with a wind chill of negative 14 degrees F.   Fortunately, the forecast is for more seasonable weather in a few days.  So as we huddle in the cold, it seems worthwhile to look back at even colder winters where the east River, the Hudson and much of New York harbor simply froze.

Despite tidal currents that can run up to four knots, New York’s East River has frozen at least a dozen times between 1780 and 1888. The East River isn’t actually a river. It is a tidal strait tidal strait connecting Upper New York Bay to Long Island Sound. Nevertheless, it froze often enough so that after the particularly hard winter of 1866-1867,there was a public outcry that lead ultimately to the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Never Tailgate a Cutter — Mesabi Miner Runs into Cutter Hollyhock

Posted on by January 7, 2014

hollyhockOn Sunday, the USCG Cutter Hollyhock was conducting an ice escort for six Great Lakes ore boats.in Northern Lake Michigan.  The Hollyhock is a 225 feet long, Juniper Class Seagoing Buoy Tender displacing 2.000 long tons.  Following close behind, perhaps too close as it turns out, was Interlake’s Mesabi Miner, a 1,000 foot long, 60,000 dwt bulk carrier.

As reported by the Times Herald :  The Hollyhock was breaking ice, cutting a line west, and hit a hard spot in the ice, said Keith Showalter, operations specialist first class for the USCG Sector Sault Ste. Marie. The 1,004-foot Mesabi Miner was astern of the Hollyhock and hit the Hollyhock’s stern.  Showalter said the Hollyhock sustained significant damage to its stern and fantail. The Mesabi Miner sustained damage to its bow.

Fortunately, no one was injured and no pollution was reported.  The Hollyhock proceeded to St. Ignace, Mich to undergo a damage assessment. Thanks to Mike Cox for passing the news along.

Saildrone Sails the Pacific

Posted on by January 6, 2014

saildroneWe have recently posted about Slocum gliders, autonomous underwater vehicles, capable of extended voyages and used by oceanographers to map ocean conditions.  Saildrone, a company in California, has recently launched a 19′ long by 7′ wide autonomous  trimaran sailing drone capable of carrying an oceanographic sensor payload of 220 pounds.  On October 1st,  Saildrone-1 set off from San Francisco and arrived 34 days later in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Since then Saildrone-1 has successfully sailed over 100 days at sea in the Pacific covering 5873 miles at an average speed of 2.5 knots. The designers and builders of Saildrone suggest that their drone will prove to be far less expensive than traditional research ships. They believe it will be useful for buoy replacement, shark tracking and the study of ocean acidification.  It looks like an interesting design. My only concern is collision avoidance, if many of these autonomous drones are sent to sea.

Saildrone

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USCGC Polar Star Heading to Rescue Ice-bound Ships

Posted on by January 5, 2014

Polar_Star_2The USCGC Polar Star is on its way to attempt to break free two ice-bound ship off Antarctica.   So far, three icebreakers have attempted to free the the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck in Antarctic ice south of Tasmania since Christmas Eve.  The Chinese ice breaker,  Xue Long or Snow Dragon, has now become stuck in the ice as well, after successfully evacuating the passengers from the cruise ship by helicopter to the Australian icebreaker,  Aurora Australis.  The Polar Star sailed from Sydney on Saturday and is expected to arrive at the stricken ships, which are roughly 1,500 miles south of Hobart, around January 12th.

Will the Polar Star succeed where the other icebreakers failed?   If she succeeds, it will come down to one word – horsepower.   Continue reading →

A Speck in the Sea — the Deadly Business of Commercial Fishing

Posted on by January 5, 2014
Fishing_Deaths

Click on the graphic for a larger image.

The New York Times has a wonderful account of the rescue of John Aldridge, a commercial fisherman who fell off a lobsterboat in the middle of the night last July, over forty miles off Montauk, Long Island, NY. Aldridge spent 12 hours in the water using his boots flotation.  The article by Paul Tough is well worth reading. It is available on-line : A Speck in the Sea.

Mario Vittone, of gCaptain, gives his take on the article in: Trying Very Hard To Die: The Preventable Disease in Commercial Fishing.  As might be inferred by the title, the tone is acerbic, but Vittone does make good points. Too many commercial fisherman die needlessly in a working culture that has traditionally lacked a due focus on safety.

Commercial fishing is dangerous. As noted by the Center for Public Integrity: Commercial fishing is the deadliest vocation in the United States.Four years running, from 2007 to 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked commercial fishing as the most dangerous occupation in the United States. From 2000 to 2010, the industry’s death rate was 31 times greater than the national workplace average. 

According to the CDC of 545 commercial fishermen who died while fishing in the U.S.:

  • More than half of all fatalities (279, 51%) occurred after a vessel disaster
  • Another 170 (31%) fatalities occurred when a fisherman fell overboard
  • Another 56 (10%) fatalities resulted from an injury onboard
  • The remaining 40 (7%) fatalities occurred while diving or from onshore injuries

Thanks to Rebekah Harris for contributing to the post.

A Sad Pilgrimage to the New York Boat Show

Posted on by January 4, 2014

boatshowEvery year I go to the New York Boat Show. In recent years, it has been a sad pilgrimage. Where once a wide range of boat types were represented, for the past decade or so most of the boats on the floor have been cookie cutter power boats. This year there were literally no sail boats in the show at all, with the exception of a couple of nice day-sailers and kayaks at the Hobie booth and a Sunfish at the Dory Shop.

Sadder still was the paucity of marine vendors. Many of the usual suspects were missing. West Marine and Defender Industries apparently didn’t think it worth showing up. A bad economy, poor priced show space or the growth of on-line shopping. Whatever the reason, I could find essentially nothing that I wanted to buy, which was a first.

Aurora Australis Standing By As Snow Dragon May Now Be Stuck in Ice

Posted on by January 3, 2014

The Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis, currently carrying passengers rescued from a stricken Antarctic expedition cruise ship, has been told to stand by to assist the Chinese icebreaker, Snow Dragon, as necessary. The icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, notified rescue authorities that its crew was concerned about “their ability to move through heavy ice in the area”, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Friday afternoon.

Second Antarctic rescue Aurora Australis on standby to free icebreaker

The Defecating Dog as Compass

Posted on by January 3, 2014

north-defecateI am surprised that the Vikings didn’t discover this first.  The Vikings did, after all, develop a sun compass for use on sunny days and used sunstones to find the direction of the sun when it was overcast.  One might have though that they would have perfected the defecating dog compass, as well.

Recently, researchers have documented that when dogs defecate they usually align their bodies along the magnetic north-south axis, not unlike the needle of a magnetic compass.

Dogs align themselves with Earth’s magnetic field when it comes time to poop

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Passengers Airlifted from Icebound MV Akademik Shokalskiy

Posted on by January 2, 2014

All 52 passengers have been airlifted from the MV Akademik Shokalskiy by a helicopter from the Chinese Icebreaker Xue Long or Snow Dragon.  The passengers were ferried to the Australian ice breaker Aurora Australis.  Both icebreakers had attempted, but failed, to break through the ice, which has trapped the expedition cruise ship off Antarctica south of Tasmania since Christmas Eve.  The 22 Russian crew members will stay aboard the the MV Akademik Shokalskiy to await a shifting in the ice to allow the ship to depart for open water.  The ship has been restocked with provisions by the Chinese helicopter which ferried out the passengers.

Chinese arrival at the Shokalskiy

Giant Yellow Duck Explodes in Taiwan

Posted on by May 27, 2014

Disturbing video of the Giant Yellow Duck exploding shortly before a New Year’s Day celebration in the northern Taiwan port city of Keeling. it is unclear what caused the duck to explode though some are speculating that it was attacked by eagles. The duck has had a difficult tine in its visit to Taiwan. While it attracted 4 million visitors in its month stay in Kaohsiung, it needed to be deflated and taken ashore when Typhoon Usagi hit the island.

We have followed the travels of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman‘s inflatable sculpture “Spreading Joy Around the World,” better known simply as the Giant Yellow Duck. In June, we posted about its visit to Hong Kong, and in September its arrival in Pittsburgh.  The almost 60 foot tall inflatable sculpture inspired by a bath toy has traveled to 13 cities in nine countries on its journey around the world. Thanks to Kevin Boatman Foster for pointing out the recent explosion on Facebook.

Giant yellow rubber duck explodes

Happy New Year — New Moons & Super Moons!

Posted on by January 1, 2014

new-moonHappy New Year! The New Year 2014 begins with both a new moon and a supermoon. The month also ends with a both a new moon and and a supermoon on the 30th. A supermoon is the term applied when the moon is at perigee, the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit. A supermoon during a full moon will cause the moon to appear up to 16% bigger than usual. A supermoon during a new moon will, of course, not appear larger, as the moon is in the shadow of the earth during a new moon and is not visible at all. Tides are usually higher during a supermoon.

According to Earth Sky: “..The year 2014 will have five supermoons: two January new moons, and the full moons of July, August and September. The full moon on August 10, 2014, is the closest supermoon of the year (356,896 kilometers or 221,765 miles).

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Cape Wind Beats the Deadline — Signs Deal for Offshore Wind Turbines

Posted on by December 31, 2013

WindmillsIn the list of the world’s 25 largest operating offshore wind farms, 11 are based off the United Kingdom. Denmark has five; China three; Belgium and the Netherlands each have two, while Germany and Sweden each have one.  Don’t look for the United States in the list, because the US has no offshore wind farms, despite having one of the longest and windiest coast lines in the world.

With luck, that may begin to change before too long.  Cape Wind, a project to build an offshore wind farm offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, recently signed a deal with Siemens for 130 3.6-megawatt wind turbines. Siemens is also reported to be likely to take $100 million equity stake in the project.

As important as the deal itself, was the date that the contract was signed.  If Cape Wind had failed to show that they had made a substantial start on the project by December 31, 2013, they would have lost a U.S. investment tax credit that would cover 30 percent of its estimated $2.6 billion in construction costs.

Siemens Puts Weight Behind US Offshore Wind

MV Akademik Shokalskiy Still Stuck — Third Icebreaker, Aurora Australis, Turns Back

Posted on by December 30, 2013
Aurora Australis berthed in Hobart. French icebreaker L'Astrolabe at right.

Aurora Australis berthed in Hobart. French icebreaker L’Astrolabe at right.

We posted recently about the Chinese icebreaker,  Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, which came within about 6 miles of the expedition cruise ship, MV Akademik Shokalskiy, before being forced to turn back. MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped in pack ice off Antarctica south of Tasmania since before Christmas.  Now, the third icebreaker to attempt to assist the stricken ship, Aurora Australis, was stopped by ice and poor weather roughly 10 nautical miles away.  News.com.au reports: “30-knot winds and driving snow has forced the rescue icebreaker to turn back.

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