Gentleman Captain by J.D. Davies – A Review

Posted on by December 19, 2013

Lord Macaulay wrote “There were gentlemen and there were seamen in the navy of Charles the Second. But the seamen were not gentlemen; and the gentlemen were not seaman.”

Twenty one year old Matthew Quinton, captain of the Happy Restoration, is from an old and respected family and is brother to an earl. He is very much a gentlemen. As his ship breaks apart on the rocks of Kinsale harbor, he is also painfully aware that he is no seaman. If he survives the loss of his first command, he is determined to learn the ways of the sea. So begins J.D. Davies’ excellent novel, Gentleman Captain.
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The Fyddeye Guide to America’s Maritime History – Book Trailer

Posted on by June 12, 2011

Joe Follansbee has put together a really fun book trailer for his excellent guide book  to historic ships, sites and museums.    We reviewed the guide last March and liked it a lot. Read our review here.

The Fyddeye Guide to America’s Maritime History

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Update: Wubbo Ockles Ecolution Sailing Again

Posted on by June 10, 2011

Last December, we posted about the sinking of Dutch scientist, Dr. Wubbo Ockles’  high tech yacht Ecolution in Groningen.  The yacht was believed to have been sunk by vandals.  No arrests have been.  This week, the repaired Ecolution successfully  completed sea trials.  The Ecolution is designed with advanced power power systems to  generate  energy from water, wind and the sun.

Test voyage success for space-age yacht

MV AMET Majesty – a Cruise Ship, a Training Ship or Both?

Posted on by June 17, 2011

Earlier this week, Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan officiated at a gathering on board the MV AMET Majesty, India’s first cruise liner.   The ship is also a training ship.  The acronym AMET  stands for “Academy of Maritime Education and Training.”  AMET University is operating the ship as both a cruise ship for 1,150 passengers and a training ship for 90 nautical cadets and 120 engineering cadets.   How this hybrid operation will function remains to be seen, but one has to admire the evident enthusiasm. The cruise marketing site promises “a total royal treat on a seven star category cruise liner.”    I have never seen a crusie ship rating higher than five stars, so seven stars sounds very impressive.

Vasan flags off first Indian cruise ship

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the article along.

On the Trail of the Pirate Blackbeard and the Queen Anne’s Revenge

Posted on by November 14, 2017

The wreck of the pirate Blackbeard‘s Queen Anne’s Revenge, which sank in 1718, was believed to be discovered in 1996.   After 15 years of excavation, the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina Maritime Museum announced today that they had confirmed that the ship wreck is absolutely Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.

It’s official: Ship found off N.C. coast was Blackbeard’s
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Victor Mooney will make 4th Attempt at a Trans-Atlantic Row

Posted on by June 11, 2011

Last February we posted about Victor Mooney’s third attempt to row alone across the Atlantic.   While Mooney, 45 of Forest Hills, New York, has attempted the voyage three times, he has not come close to succeeding thus far.  His first attempt in 2006 lasted only three hours before the boat he was rowing sprang a leak and sank.  His second attempt, in 2007, lasted fifteen days before his  desalinator  broke and he needed to be rescued.   His third attempt ended when after one day at sea his boat cracked and sank. He drifted in a life raft for 14 days before being picked up by a passing ship.  Now Mooney is planning a fourth attempt in December of 2011.

I am reminded of the fallacy of the old saying about the importance of getting right back up on a horse after you have fallen off.  Sometimes when you fall off a horse, it is good to ask yourself if you ever had any business being on the horse in the first place.

Weekend Maritime Festival Wrap-up

Posted on by June 10, 2011

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, there is no shortage of maritime festivals.   In addition to Delaware ‘Bay Day,’ which we posted about earlier today, the following cities and ports are having festivals this weekend:

The Mackinaw Maritime Festival in Mackinaw City, Michigan

10th Annual Cape Cod Maritime Festival at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum in Hyannis MA

Lake Champlain Maritime Festival on the Lake Champlain Waterfront, Burlington, Vermont

1st Annual Taste of Juneau Food and Music Festival (not strictly maritime, but pretty close)

Riverdale RiverFest at the College of Mount St. Vincent in Riverdale, NY

 

 

And Then There were None – HMCS Corner Brook Accident Leaves Canada without Operational Subs

Posted on by June 12, 2011

Canada’s hunter killer submarine, HMCS Corner Brook, limped back to base last weekend after running aground during a  training exercise in the waters of Nootka Sound off the central east coast of Vancouver Island.  The accident leaves Canada without an operational submarine.  Canada’s other three are also out of service.  Oops.

Accident leaves Canada without operational submarines
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19th Annual Delaware Bay Day – June 11th

Posted on by June 10, 2011

The good folks at the Bayshore Discovery Project say that “Delaware ‘Bay Day’ is the largest FREE festival in the tri-state region.”   I have no way of knowing whether that is literally true, but nevertheless it sounds like great fun.   ‘Bay Day’ will commence tomorrow, Saturday June 11th, in the historic New Jersey fishing villages of Bivalve and Port Norris, beginning with a parade in Port Norris at 11 AM and finishing up with the NJ Championship Oyster Shucking Contest, at 6PM.  In between there will be lots of music, food, games and activities for all ages.

Delaware ‘Bay Day’

 

“History Helping History” in the Rebuilding the Whaler Charles W. Morgan

Posted on by June 10, 2011

Photo: Steve Haines for The Boston Globe

Rebuilding a historic ship has got to be part craftsmanship, part engineering, and part treasure hunt.    In the case of the oldest surviving sailing whale ship, the Charles W. Morgan at Mystic, CT, one of the challenges has been finding good quality shipbuilding timber.   In August of 2009, we posted about a literal windfall of live oak trees knocked down by Hurricane Ike in Galveston, TX which yielded over around 175 tons of timber for the rebuilding of the Morgan.

Now several years later, with supplies again running low, a new stock of shipbuilding timber has been discovered in the Charleston Navy Yard in Boston, MA.   Construction crews working on a new Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital facility discovered an underground supply of 140 live oak and white oak timbers in what had once been a timber basin for the Navy Yard. The timbers had been preserved by the mud for nearly a century. The timbers, set aside for future wooden ship construction or repair but long forgotten, will go to the rebuilding the Morgan, which the Seaport Museum hopes to launch in 2013.

Lucky find in Charlestown saves whaler’s restoration
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Postal Service Honors U.S. Merchant Marine with New Stamps

Posted on by June 10, 2011

The US Postal Service is issuing a set of four stamps honoring the US Merchant Marine throughout its history.  The four stamps feature a clipper ship modeled after the Sovereign of the Seas, launched in 1852; an auxiliary steamship, based on the ships of the Collins Line; a World War II Liberty Ship; and a container ship, based on Matson Line’s R.J. Pfeiffer.   Illustrator Dennis Lyall of Norwalk, Connecticut, created the stamps under the art direction of Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia.   These are not the first stamps honoring the U.S. merchant marine.   See also Merchant Marine Stamp of 1946, Steamship Stamp of 1944, and First Day Covers.

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing the news along.

 

Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet

Posted on by June 9, 2011

Photographer Scott Haefner and a few of his friends snuck aboard ships in the Suisan Bay Reserve Fleet near San Francisco, CA and photographed and documented the rusting fleet.  Fascinating images.  The Mail Online ran an article today about his work.  For more images, see Haefner’s site: Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet
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Sisters Under Sail Founder, Dawn Santamaria, awarded Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award

Posted on by June 8, 2011

On a hazy summer’s morning I happened to see the topsail schooner Unicorn leave the gas dock at Liberty Landing marina on the Hudson River.   The Unicorn is a particularly lovely topsail schooner converted from a  North Sea fishing vessel.  As I admired the well balanced and robust lines of the Unicorn, I noticed that everyone aboard appeared to be female.  I didn’t know then that Dawn Santamaria, one of the owners of the Unicorn, had founded “Sisters Under Sail,”  a program to introduce girls to tall ship sailing.  Last Saturday, Dawn Santamaria, was honored with the 2011 Leadership In Women’s Sailing Award at the National Women’s Sailing Association Conference, in Marblehead, MA.  Congratulations to Ms. Santamaria.   See also our post from last August, “Sisters Under Sail” – Schooner Unicorn at Tall Ships Chicago .

Sisters Under Sail Founder, Dawn Santamaria, is awarded Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award by the National Women’s Sailing Association!

Divers of the Lost Ark?

Posted on by June 8, 2011

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Invincible was sold to Turkish scrappers last February. Now bids are open for the sale of  HMS Ark Royal. While scrapping seems a likely outcome the tender allows that “alternatively the vessel may be purchased for re-use/refurbishment for non-warlike purposes.”   Now Shiptalk has word that  a Devon based diver is bidding to sink the ship as an artificial reef off Torbay  to promote sea life and provide a dive site for recreational divers.

In addition to the bid to sink the ship, “plan[s] to use the Ark Royal as a floating commercial helipad in London. Other proposals include turning it into a school, a nightclub or a base for security personnel during the Olympics.”

All bids are due by 1000 BST on June 13th.

Lost Ark