Astrolabe c.16th -17th century
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC has been hosting an intriguing exhibit: Lost at Sea – The Ocean in the English Imagination, 1550-1750. Unfortunately the exhibit itself is almost over, running only through September 4th. Nevertheless, for those of us who cannot make it to Washington, the exhibit website itself is fascinating.
The NY Times recently published a review of the exhibit:
The Sea and the English Who Tried to Master It.
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Recent studies by researchers at Penn State have suggested that Northern Right Whales increase the volumes of their calls to counteract increases in environmental noise, such as propeller noise from ships. This is the first time that an ability to modulate call volume to adjust to environmental noise has been documented in baleen whales.
Lone whales shout to overcome noise pollution
Just like people in a bar or other noisy location, North American right whales increase the volume of their calls as environmental noise increases; and just like humans, at a certain point, it may become too costly to continue to shout, according to marine and acoustic scientists.
Interesting news from various sources on the first large tanker to transit Russia’s Northeast Passage through the Arctic. The Barents Observer reports that the “100,000 tons tanker Baltica left Murmansk on Saturday loaded with gas condensate for China. This is the first time a high-tonnage tanker takes the Northern Sea Route from Europe to Asia.” The Barents Observer also reports, ” The tanker will be followed by the nuclear ice breakers “Rossiya”, “Taymyr” and “50 years of Victory”. The latter will have divers and specialists on oil spill clean-up as well as necessary equipment. “
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BBC is featuring a dramatization of Patrick O’Brian’s novel HMS Surprise. Very well done. Each episode is 45 minutes long and will remain on line for a week.
HMS Surprise – Episode 1
HMS Surprise – Episode 2
HMS Surprise – Episode 3
A wonderful video about the ongoing festival.
Cruiser Olympia, the oldest steel warship afloat, but for how long?
The day after Philadelphia’s tall ship, the newly repaired, Gazela, arrived in New York harbor, an article in this morning’s New York Times focussed on the three historic ships in trouble on the Delaware River, in or near Philadelphia – the Olympia, the battleship New Jersey and the passenger liner SS United States. Sadly, the arguably most historic of the three ships, the Olympia, is the ship at the greatest risk with no currently viable rescue plan.
Efforts in Philadelphia to Save Showpiece Ships
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Philadelphia’s tall ship, the barquentine Gazela Primeiro, arrived in New York harbor yesterday, on her way to PortSide New York. (See our previous post – The Gazela at Portside with Vaudeville and Pirates – Oh My!) The classic ship will available for daytime tours starting today through Monday the 23rd. By night, the ship will host Philadelphia’s Cabaret Red Light’s “The Seven Deadly Seas” tonight through Sunday. Here are a few photographs of the Gazela taken by Captain Richard Dorfman from the schooner Pioneer. Click on the thumbnails to view larger images.
USS Peleliu
Two US Navy officers, in command of the USS Gunston Hall and USS Peleliu, were relieved of their commands within days of each other over charges related to sexual harassment.
Cmdr. Fred R. Wilhelm, the Commanding Officer of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall after an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, simple assault, and conduct unbecoming of an officer. The ship’s former executive officer, Cmdr. Kevin S. Rafferty, and former command master chief, Wayne Owings, received non-judicial punishment for failing to take action after repeated observations of inappropriate conduct. Owings also faced sexual harassment and simple assault charges.
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SAIL Amsterdam 2010, which starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend, will feature roughly 600 ships berthing in and around the harbor, ranging from traditional tall ships to historical replicas, to traditional coasting craft, as well as modern yachts and naval vessels. Twenty Class A tall ships are expected to participate. The festival is held every five years and is Europe’s largest nautical event. The last festival in 2005 attracted an estimated 2 million visitors. A great time to be in Amsterdam.
The E Ship 1 arrived in Dublin last week with a cargo of wind turbines manufactured by Enercon. What was striking was the ship itself, with four tall pillars rising vertically from the ship, two forward and two aft. The pillars are Flettner rotors, first developed in the 1920s by German engineer Anton Flettner. They are in essence, motor powered sails, 27 meters tall and 4 meters in diameter. The spinning vertical rotors develop aerodynamic lift using the Magnus effect. As the wind blows across the spinning rotors, they develop lift similar that of an airfoil shape of a conventional sail. Unlike masts and sails, however, the vertical Flettner rotor does not interfere with cargo operations. The Flettner rotors are expected to save 30-40% in fuel costs at 16 knots.
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Earlier this month we posted about Philadelphia’s tall ship, the barquentine Gazela, returning to sea after suffering rudder damage several years ago. After participating in a Portuguese festival in New Bedford, MA the Gazela will be visiting PortSide New York,starting this Thursday August 19th to Monday the 23rd. She will be “bringing education by day and pirate cabaret at night.” There will be daytime tours of the historic barquentine and at night Philadelphia’s Cabaret Red Light’s troupe will be presenting nightly performances of Pirate Cabaret – “The Seven Deadly Seas: Waylaid & Hornswoggled.” The performaces promise “sword fights, dancing girls and plenty of vaudeville charm – definitely not your Disney pirates. Tickets may be purchased here. For photographs including dancing girls (oh my) check out Will’s post on the Tugster blog.
Gazela, the Country’s Oldest Wooden Square-Rigger, Comes to NYC
A week ago we posted about the increasing popularity of Stand-Up-Paddling (SUP) also known as paddle-boarding. The sport was new to us, but obviously we have been behind the times, at least when it comes to stand-up paddling. Last Friday, the Surfers Environmental Alliance sponsored their 4th Annual SEAPADDLE NYC, a SUP paddle and race around Manhattan (well almost all the way around.) The events raised money for eight different charities providing services to families with autism.
In other news, the NY Times is reporting tension between traditional surfers and the SUPers who are beginning to move from calm waters to take on the big waves with paddles in hand.
Rivalry as Stand-Up Paddlers Head to Bigger Surf
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In 1994, US Courts gave salvage rights to the RMS Titanic, 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the North Atlantic, to RMS Titanic Inc, a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc, but explicitly did not grant ownership of the wreck or the artifacts. Since then the company has undertaken seven expeditions to the wreck site and has retrieved more than 5,500 artifacts. On Friday, a A US federal judge awarded the US exhibition company $110m for salvaging artifacts from the wreck of the RMS Titanic, ruling that the company is entitled to their full market value. Whether or not the exhibitions company will be granted ownership of the objects has yet to be determined.
Photo credit: Kees Stuip
In 1905, the three masted schooner yacht Atlantic sailed 3006 miles in twelve days, four hours, one minute and nine seconds; winning the Kaiser’s Cup from New York to the Lizard and setting the record for the fastest transatlantic passage by a monohull, during a race. The record stood for over a century and the Atlantic became a legend.
In 2007, Dutch entrepreneur, Ed Kastelein, commissioned the building of a new Atlantic, based on original plans of the William Gardner design. Now three years after her keel was laid, she sailed for the first time at the end of June. The schooner is 185 feet (56 metres) on deck, with a waterline length of 138 feet (42 meters) and a bowsprit to boom length of 227 feet (69 metres).
After a service life of almost 40 years, the Soviet light cruiser Murmansk was decommissioned and sold for scrap. On Christmas Eve in 1994, the ship was under tow to India when the tug lost control of the ship in a storm. The Murmansk ran aground outside the harbor breakwater just off Sørvær in northern Norway. In 2009 money was finally appropriated to remove the wreck. The plan is to enclose the wreck behind new temporary jetties, drain the water around the wreck, then cut the vessel in pieces on the dry bottom. The operation should be completed in 2011. The wreck removal is being documented as a part of a new documentary. A panoramic webcam also has been set up for those wishing to monitor progress of the project. Click on the image above to see the panorama.
