120 Year Old Sail Training Vessel, Leader, Dismasted off Portland Bill

Posted on by September 6, 2011

The 120 year old ketch, Leader, was dismasted yesterday in force seven winds off Portland Bill, Dorset; losing her main mast, boom, sails and associated rigging.   An RNLI lifeboat was called to assist and successfully towed the Leader and her 16 crew to safety in Weymouth.  Aside from reports of seasickness, no one was injured.

Leader is operated by the Trinity Sailing Trust as a sail training vessel for young people.  She was built on the Dart river in the A.W.Gibbs boatyard at Galmpton in 1892 and is one of the last working sailing trawlers still afloat.

Drama on the high seas as crew of 120ft yacht are rescued after losing mast and rigging
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Waterford Tugboat Roundup Canceled

Posted on by September 6, 2011

Ironically, the further inland from where Hurricane Irene made landfall in Brooklyn, the more damage and disruption the storm caused.  While the 19th Annual Great North River Tug Boat Race and Competition  went off without a hitch, the annual Waterford Tugboat Roundup scheduled for Sept. 9-11 at the Waterford Harbor on the Erie Canal has been cancelled due to storm damage from Tropical Storm Irene.

Waterford Tugboat Roundup canceled 
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Gloucester Schooner Festival 2011

Posted on by September 5, 2011

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

Gloucester Schooner Festival 2011

Great North River Tug Boat Race 2011

Posted on by September 4, 2011

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 Return to Wales

Posted on by September 3, 2011

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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Down-Rigging HMS Victory

Posted on by September 2, 2011

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.

Victory is mine: Where Napoleon failed, our man in the rigging helps tear apart Nelson’s mighty flagship

Timelapse footage of HMS Victory Mast Removal

Eight Foot Long Whale Tooth Stolen From Museum in Norway

Posted on by September 2, 2011

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.

Whale Tooth 8 Feet Long Stolen From Norway Museum

San Diego Festival of Sail September 2 – 5th

Posted on by September 1, 2011

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 2011 Great North River Tugboat Race and Competition this Sunday on the Hudson

Posted on by September 1, 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

Barque Picton Castle Announces New Atlantic Voyage

Posted on by September 1, 2011

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

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Weird News – The Floating Feet of the Salish Sea

Posted on by September 1, 2011

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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Juna, the Beluga – Internet Mariachi Sensation & Irene Survivor at the Mystic Aquarium

Posted on by April 13, 2020

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.

Mariachi Band Serenades a Beluga Whale


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Trio of Navy Ships off East Coast to Assist After Hurricane Irene

Posted on by August 30, 2011

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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Surveying the Site of the “Battle of May Island” for New Windfarm

Posted on by August 30, 2011

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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East Coast Lobster Fisheries – the Best of Times and the Worst of Times

Posted on by August 27, 2011

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.

Lobster ban urged for south of Cape
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