Schooner Amistad Returns to Mystic for Repairs after Rigging Failure

Posted on by June 8, 2010

After suffering what was described as “serious rigging failure” in heavy seas off the Florida coast last week, the schooner Amistad has returned to Mystic, CT for repairs.   She is expected to “be there for some time.”  The Amistad was built at Mystic Seaport between 1998 and 2000.   The Amistad was scheduled to participate in the 2010 Great Lakes United Tall Ships Challenge but has withdrawn due to the extent of the repairs required.     The Amistad will be replaced in the event by the Dutch barque Europa.

Tall Ship Amistad cancels Great Lakes tour, replaced by Europa at Tall Ship Celebration


Pirate Fighting Dolphins?

Posted on by May 28, 2010

A wonderful, if odd, account reported by Robert Mackey in the NY Time Lede blog:

China Reports Dolphins Foiled Pirate Attack

According to a report from China’s official news agency Xinhua, “thousands of dolphins” recently prevented an attack on Chinese merchant ships by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Xinhua’s Web site published the photograph above, and three others, which first appeared on the Web site of China Radio International on Monday.
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Fleet Week New York – “the Super Bowl of Fleet Weeks”

Posted on by May 27, 2010

New York’s Fleet Week 2010 is underway.  “This is the Super Bowl of Fleet Weeks,” said Michael Salerno, the Navy’s director of Fleet Week, a reference to the many Fleet Weeks that take part around the country, the first of which originated in San Diego in 1935 and is now in its 23rd iteration in New York. The celebrations will continue through Memorial Day.   An estimated 3,000 members of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will participate.  Will at the Tugster blog has photos of yesterday’s parade of ships.

New York Fleet Week 2010

Floating Gold by Margaret Muir – a Review

Posted on by May 27, 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. It is due to be released in the United States on May 31.  It is currently available in the UK.

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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Commander Dilip Donde – First Indian Solo Circumnavigator

Posted on by May 26, 2010

The teenagers have been getting more press, but Zach, Mike, Jessica and Abby are not the only intrepid solo circumnavigators out there.  On Saturday,  Commander Dilip Donde sailed into Mumbai,  completing the first recorded solo circumnavigation by an Indian.

Navy commander first Indian to circumnavigate globe solo
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DUNKIRK: THE FORGOTTEN HEROES

Posted on by May 25, 2010

A few days ago we posted about the “Little Ships of Dunkirk” returning to Ramsgate to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the evacuation.  This Friday there is what looks to be a very interesting documentary, Dunkirk: The Forgotten Heros,  focusing on escape of the British Expeditionary Force including the capture of 40,000 soldiers which was kept a secret by the British government for propaganda reasons.   It will be broadcast on the Yesterday channel in the UK.  With luck it may make it across the pond at some point.

DUNKIRK: THE FORGOTTEN HEROES
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Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard

Posted on by May 25, 2010

I haven’t seen it yet but Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard by Tom Dunlop,  looks fascinating.

From the publisher:   Schooner takes you through the construction of Rebecca of Vineyard Haven, a sixty-foot wooden schooner designed and built by one of the few boatyards in the United States devoted exclusively to the design, construction and repair of traditional wooden boats. At the time Rebecca was constructed, she was the largest sailing vessel built on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard since the election of Abraham Lincoln and the only boat of her type being built anywhere in the world.
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Spy Cruising?

Posted on by May 25, 2010

I am not entirely sure why I find this funny, but I do. Perhaps it is because it seems like it all should be secret.  Nevertheless, there appears to be an affinity cruise for everyone so why not a “SpyCruise?”  I wonder if a cloak and dagger is required in the dining room?

SpyCruise® A National Security Educational Lecture/Seminar Series
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HMS Bounty and Privateer Lynx in Portsmouth, NH

Posted on by May 23, 2010

HMS BOUNTY

HMS Bounty and the Privateer Lynx will be in Portsmouth, NH for the annual Tall Ships Portsmouth Festival on Memorial Day weekend from May 29-31. It sounds like a great event.  The local paper reports all the details, which is all well and good. What is a shame but probably unavoidable  is the description of  HMS Bounty as a “”classic pirate ship?”   While any ship could be used for piracy, the Bounty was a converted collier, for goodness sakes, seaworthy but slow.  The Lynx would make a far better pirate ship but that  might trigger the old “pirate vs privateer” discussion which is another topic all together. Oh well.  Shiver me timbers and all that.

Tall ships bring swashbuckling weekend to Portsmouth for Memorial Day, May 29-31
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Operation Dynamo – the Little Ships Return to Ramsgate for 70th anniversary

Posted on by May 22, 2010

This Wednesday the surviving “Little Ships” of the Dunkirk evacuation will rendezvous in Ramsgate to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the famous World War II evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo.

Little Ships gather in Ramsgate for 70th anniversary of Dunkirk evacuations
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HSM Bounty in Bath, Maine this Weekend

Posted on by May 22, 2010

HMS Bounty open to public in Maine

The HMS Bounty tall ship is open to the public during its stop in Maine.   The three-masted, 120-foot ship is open for tours Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.  The vessel arrived at the museum on Thursday and was also open to the public on Friday.

The ship is a full-scale reproduction of the British merchant ship that gained notoriety for a maritime mutiny more than 200 years ago. The mutiny was the basis of the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” starring Marlon Brando.  The ship used in the movie was bought in 2001 by the HMS Bounty Organization, which is dedicated to keeping the ship sailing.

From Bath, it will sail to Portsmouth, N.H., for a tall ship festival next weekend.

Just Before Fleet Week, President of Intrepid Museum Resigns Suddenly

Posted on by May 21, 2010

Bill White, the longtime president of the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum, resigned abruptly on Wednesday morning.   No clear reason was given for his resignation which comes just one week before New York Fleet Week, in which the museum is a key player.   The Intrepid Air and Space Museum is also in the middle of bidding for the right to display a space shuttle at the museum.   White, at the helm of the legendary museum since 1992, is under investigation in a pay-to-play pension scandal under former Controller Alan Hevesi.

President of Intrepid Museum Quits

Kalmar Nyckel to Star in “The Ship That Changed the World”

Posted on by May 21, 2010

The Kalmar Nyckel will be featured in an upcoming documentary, “The Ship That Changed the World.”

Delaware’s sailing star – Kalmar Nyckel the ‘wow factor’ in new documentary

F ilm director Malcolm Dixelius knew he had found his “star” when he traveled from near Stockholm to Delaware two years ago to scout the Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the Dutch-built sailing ship that preceded him here by about 370 years.
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Windmills in New York Harbor – Isaac Edge’s Windmill 1815-1839

Posted on by May 20, 2010

Edge's Windmill

Yesterday we posted about a proposed wind farm on New York harbor between Jersey City and Bayonne.  These will not be the first windmills on the harbor, of course.  In 1815 Isaac Edge finished a windmill on the banks of the Hudson River in Jersey City.   From Jersey City and its Historic Sites by Harriet Phillips Eaton, published in 1899:

EDGE’S WINDMILL

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North Korean Torpedo Sank Patrol Ship – “There is No Other Plausible Explanation”

Posted on by May 20, 2010

Now that a South Korean investigation has concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the South Korean Corvette Cheonan killing 46 sailors, the real question becomes, how to respond?

Torpedo accusation raises Korean security stakes
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Wind Farm in New York Harbor?

Posted on by May 19, 2010

Port Authority Plans to Build Wind Farm

The Port Authority is planning on creating a wind farm on one of its shipping piers in New Jersey. The five windmills would help power the port’s cargo operations.

A private company would build and maintain five 288-foot-high wind turbines. They’d be located on the New Jersey side of Upper New York Bay, about halfway between the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island. The windmills, about the height of a 30-story building, would be visible from Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn waterfront. Officials say the location shouldn’t be controversial because the area’s already industrial. Taken together, the turbines should generate electricity equivalent to the amount needed by 2,000 homes.

Thanks to Bowsprite for passing this along.

The Making of Privateer Lynx

Posted on by May 19, 2010

The schooner Lynx, a replica of a War of 1812 privateer,  is sailing on the US East coast these days on her way to the Great Lakes to celebrate the upcoming War of 1812 Bicentennial.   J. Dennis Robinson will give an informal talk about the Privateer Lynx at the Discover Portsmouth Center and Piscataqua Maritime Commission at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.   (A limited number of spaces are available for guest crew. Click here to learn more.)

Robinson shares story behind Privateer Lynx
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