While here in New York harbor, we were cheering on tug boats racing along belching black smoke, the good folks in Gloucester, Massachusetts were celebrating classic schooners. The tug boat race was great fun, but I do so love schooners and the schooners at Gloucester put on quite a show. Video courtesy of GoodMorningGloucester.com
The Hudson River as it enters New York harbor is still an unhealthy shade of brown from all the runoff from Hurricane Irene. Nevertheless it was a fine day to be on the river, especially to watch the 19th Annual Great North River Tug Boat Race. A short video of the race.
Great North River Tug Boat Race 2011
For photographs taken from shore check out Will’s tugster blog.
Fin whales have been called the “the greyhounds of the sea” because they are fast and sleek. grwoing to almost 90 feet, they are the second longest animal on the planet but only the the sixth heaviest. Though they are baleen whales, from a distance they can be mistaken for dolphins due to their scimitar shaped dorsal fins. The great fin whales have now returning to the Irish Sea off Wales and the Sea Trust is keeping an eye out for them. Sea Trust is the marine arm of the Wildlife Trust, South & West Wales.
Giant fin whales making their annual trip to Welsh waters
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Recent surveys have indicated that Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, was leaking, suffering from rot and being pulled apart by her own weight. Now, as the first part of a major restoration project, the ship is being down-rigged. Twenty six miles of rigging will be removed. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the news along.
Was the stolen 8' long "whale tooth" a narwhal tusk?
The thief is described as a man, 40 to 50 years old, dressed in black leather, wearing a dark coat, carrying an 8 foot long whale tooth. The man was also reportedly walking a white dog. He allegedly stole the tooth from a museum in Stavanger, Norway. The tooth is said to be more than 100 years old and is valued at around $9,300.
The story, as it has been reported, raises more questions than it answers. Exactly how does one walks out of a museum with an eight foot long whale’s tooth without being noticed? What variety of whale has an eight foot long tooth? Sperm whales, the largest of the toothed whales, typically have teeth around 7 inches long. Was the stolen “whale tooth” a narwhal tusk, perhaps? Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing the article along.
This like a great weekend to be in San Diego. OK, an especially great weekend as the Port of San Diego and the Maritime Museum of San Diego are hosting a four day Festival of Sail. Music food, sailing, mock gun battles, a parade of tall and historic ships. Even the Pacific Voyagers will be joining in.
Festival of Sail 2011 will be Friday September 2nd thru Monday the 5th, 2011
The 19th Annual Great North River Tugboat Race and Competition sponsored by the Working Harbor Committee is scheduled to run this Sunday, September 4th, in the Hudson River off Pier 84 at the foot of West 44th Street. The Parade of Tugs starts at 10:00 AM while the race starts at 10:30. The race will be followed by Nose to Nose Pushing and Line-Toss Contests. It is a great event. if you are near New York harbor this weekend, it is definitely worth stopping by. See our previous post: 2011 Great North River Tugboat Race and Competition. For more information see also: 19th Annual Running of the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition
After five circumnavigations, Captain Daniel Moreland and the Barque Picton Castle will be changing their course for this year’s voyage focusing primarily on the Atlantic visiting ports in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the Spanish Main.
World Voyaging Tall Ship Picton Castle Announces New Voyage Around the Atlantic
Running shoe that contained a mystery foot
A human foot wearing a running shoe washed ashore in British Columbia recently. It is the eleventh foot to have washed up on the coast of the Salish Sea, the coastal waterways surrounding southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound, since 2007. Eight feet have washed up around Vancouver and three feet have come ashore in Washington state.
Foot Washes Ashore in Canada, the 11th Since 2007
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I love the odd confluence of elements in this story. It seems a young couple, Kim & Kevin, decided to get married at Mystic Aquarium, in Mystic,Connecticut. They decided that the service would be held directly in front of the beluga tank. For music, they chose a marachi band, “Los Trovadores de America.” It seems that a beluga named Juna became very interested in the mariachi band and/or their music and began to move along with the music. Someone caught it on video (of course), put it up on Youtube. Juna being serenaded by the mariachi band has become an internet sensation getting almost 1.8 million views.
Three US Navy amphibious assault and transport ships; the USS Wasp, the USS San Antonio, and the USS New York; are just offshore of New York harbor as of this morning to provide assistance, if needed, to the states of New York, Connecticut or New Jersey after Hurricane Irene. If no assistance is required the deployment will serve as a training mission.
Navy Warships Stationed Along East Coast To Help After Irene
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K4, one of the submarines sunk in the Isle of May debacle. Photograph: The Royal Navy Submarine Museum
There was no actual battle at the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth off Scotland. Nevertheless, on the night of January 31st and the morning of February 1st, 1918, 270 sailors of the Royal Navy lost their lives off the Isle of May in five collisions between eight different vessels. Two submarines sank and three more subs and a destroyer escort were damaged. No enemy vessels were involved. The ships involved in the collisions were among 40 naval vessels which left Rosyth, Scotland for exercises in the North Sea. The accidents were kept secret and many of the details of the incident were not revealed until the 1990s. A memorial cairn was finally erected 84 years later, in 2002 at Anstruther harbor opposite the Isle of May.
Now the site of the accidents is being surveyed by divers to ensure that a planned offshore wind farm does not disturb the wreckage.
Divers survey Scottish graveyard of first world war submarine disaster
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These are strange days in the lobster fisheries. Depending on where you are on the US East Coast, lobster fishing either is in trouble or is booming. Even where thing are going well, there are serious concerns about the future.
Earlier this year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission proposed a five year ban on commercial and recreational lobster fishing from Cape Cod to Virginia, due to depleted lobster stocks.
For the third year of a three year program, Parks Canada archaeologists have failed in their attempt at finding the wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. This year they searched an area west of King William Island, where Sir John Franklin and his expedition became stranded in ice.
Hurricane Irene has swept past, not as bad as she could have been, but bad enough, nevertheless. Downgraded to a tropical storm by 9AM this morning, she still caused significant flooding on the East coast, hitting Philadelphia particularly hard. The city, situated between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, saw the rivers rise to 15 feet above normal levels. In New York, the tide at the Battery was the sixth highest ever recorded at 9.5′. There was considerable local flooding on both sides of the Hudson. An estimated $4.5 million people are without power, at least 18 have died and property damage is estimated to approach $7 billion. Even in the Catskill Mountains, the town of Margarettville was flooded when the Eastern Branch of the Delaware rampaged through the center of town..
Here is a informal and incomplete roundup of how some of our favorite vessels, from New York harbor to Maine, weathered the storm, gathered from the news and social media sites.
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Given the arrival of Hurricane Irene to the East Coast of the US, it seems worthwhile to take a look back at the Hurricane of 1938, also known as the Long Island Express, the Yankee Clipper and the Great New England Hurricane. It was the first major hurricane to hit New England since 1869. The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.77 billion in 2011). Thanks to Jersey City Frankie for pointing out this documentary about the storm. By WGBH for PBS.
Watch the full episode. See more American Experience.
Hurricane Irene made landfall on around 8 a.m. this morning, near Cape Lookout, North Carolina. Below is a video of a pier at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina collapsing in the storm.
With Hurricane Irene slamming into North Carolina and bearing down on New York harbor, this seems quite timely. Here is an article for anyone who may forget how fundamentally the sea effects us all. A new study suggests that “El Nino,” the periodic warming of a large patch of the Pacific, doubles the risk of civil wars in 90 tropical countries.
Almost exactly a year ago, we posted about the “Top 5 Hurricane Vulnerable & Overdue Cities.” Number 2 on the list was New York City. After Sunday, New York harbor may still be vulnerable but we will no longer be overdue. Hurricane Irene is coming to call.
By 9 AM this morning Capt. Linda Fagan, Coast Guard Captain of the Port declared Hurricane Port Condition “Whiskey” for the Port of New York and New Jersey, indicating that gale force winds were expected within 72 hours. By 4 PM., this afternoon, Capt. Fagan increased the port condition to X-Ray, indicating expected gale force winds within 48 hours.” All vessels in the harbor over 500 GRT have to either depart expeditiously or submit their plans to stay moored to the Coast Guard for approval.
The last major hurricane to hit New York harbor directly was in 1821.
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A new trailer for William C. Hammond’s Cutler family Chronicles.
The Cutler Family Chronicals Trailer
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The Cutler Family Chronicles is a projected seven-book series profiling the best of American duty, honor and courage during the Age of Fighting Sail. Years covered in the series are 1774 to 1815, from the American Revolution to the Second Barbary War. All seven novels have as a backdrop the creation of the U.S. Navy and the emergence of the United States on the world stage.