Charles W. Morgan to Sail Again?

Posted on by April 24, 2010

charles_w_morganIntriguing news about Charles W. Morgan, the last American sailing whale ship.  From Boston.com

Mystic Seaport officials are now considering whether to make the ship seaworthy again so that it can tour New England’s coastline in the summer of 2012, with stops in New London, Newport, R.I., Provincetown, Mass., and New Bedford, Mass. The Morgan is undergoing a $6 million restoration at the museum, which has a working shipyard. Putting air in the sails would cost an additional $2 million. The idea has been tossed around for at least a decade, but last May, White and other officials started giving it serious consideration.

Continue reading →

The Bloop and the Sea Serpent

Posted on by April 24, 2010

monsterLast month we posted about The Great Gloucester Sea Serpent of 1817.    Eric, a blog reader, commented, no doubt tongue in cheek, “So that is what the bloop was.”  His comment got me thinking about the ironies of observations, technology and the unknown.

For the uninitiated, the “bloop” was an ultra-low frequency underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) several times during the summer of 1997.  NOAA was using an acoustic hydrophone array in the Pacific ocean originally developed by the US Navy to track Russian submarines.  The ”bloop” was heard on multiple sensors over a range greater than 5,000 km.  The sound appeared to be somewhere around 50° S 100° W (in the Pacific of the southwest coat of South American).  Scientists agreed that the bloop matches the audio profile of a living animal, but no known animal could have produced the sound.  Also given the range across which the sound was heard, any animal that created such a sound would have to be significantly larger than a blue whale, the largest creature ever know to have lived on the planet.

Tuning in to a deep sea monster
Continue reading →

Star-Crossed by Linda Collison, a Review

Posted on by May 13, 2011

I started reading nautical fiction, specifically C.S. Forester’s Hornblower series, as a teenager. The Hornblower novels, while meant for adults, were great “boy books,” full of adventure and action, with a hero with just enough self doubt and angst for a teenager to relate to. The readers of most nautical fiction seem to be primarily boys and men, which is not surprising for a genre whose heroes and villains are overwhelming male. Is there room for female readers and indeed a female heroine in these crowded waters? And if so, what role could she and would she play? After reading Linda Collison’s novel, Star-Crossed, the answer to the first question is clearly yes.
Continue reading →

Skysail in Close-Encounter with Airplane

Posted on by April 24, 2010

skysail1In June we posted about ships using SkySails to reduce fuel costs by an estimated 10 to 35%.   (See  Go Fly a Kite? A Look at SkySails)  One possibly unforeseen hazard of the SkySails became clear last week when an aircraft and a Skysail deployed from a ship had a close encounter.

Eurocontrol posts skysail warning
Continue reading →

Theodore Tugboat in the Big Harbor

Posted on by April 24, 2010

theodore2While New York may have a great yearly tug boat race, I recently discovered that Halifax harbor has a real Theodore Tugboat.

In the 1990s, “Theodore Tugboat”, was a Canadian kid’s TV show about a harbor tug in the “Big Harbor”.  In the late 90s it was picked up by US television.  Using radio controlled model tugs, it was sort of a maritime “Thomas the Tank Engine“.

In 2000, a 65 foot harbor tug, the Theodore Too, was built in Halifax.   It is a full-size replica of the scale model of the tug used in the original series.  Theodore Too is currently operated as harbor tour boat – Tour the Big Harbor.
Continue reading →

In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day ….

Posted on by April 27, 2010

Well it is that time of year again. In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day ….

Somali-English dictionary

Spare me the lame” arrgghs” and “shiver me timbers”.   If you want to talk like a budhcad badeed (Somali for pirate) show some effort.

Or if you want to be old school, looking back to the 90s when the Straits of Malacca were a pirate hot spot, you could also try Bahasa Indonesian, which is a bit easier.   “Tarik, kau penyakit kudis anjing” (according to Google) means “heave to, you scurvy dog.”

It is also the start of the Jewish New Year.  So far, I haven’t figured out how to say Happy Rosh Hashanah in Somali.

Dutch flotilla makes its way north on Hudson River

Posted on by April 27, 2010

Following up on our previous posts – Dutch Barges invade New York and The Dutch Barge Fleet has Arrived in New York.  From the AP:

Dutch flotilla makes its way north on Hudson River

A flotilla of historic Dutch sailing ships is making its way up the Hudson River to mark this month’s 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage aboard the Half Moon.
Continue reading →

Gold and Ivory Shipwreck on a Beach of Diamonds

Posted on by April 27, 2010

diamond-wreck-615The October 2009 National Geographic magazine has a fascinating story of a 16th century shipwreck on a beach in southern Namibia.  In 1533 a  Portuguese trading ship carrying a fortune in gold and ivory, bound for the famed spice ports of India, was swept ashore and wrecked by a winter storm.  It lay undisturbed until it was discovered only last year.   Ironically,  the treasure laden ship, believed to be the nau Bom Jesus, wrecked on a beach rich with diamonds.  The wreck was discovered in the Sperrgebiet, the Forbidden Zone, the fabulously rich and strictlyoff -limits De Beers diamond-mining lease near the mouth of the Orange River on Namibia’s southern coast.

Read the article:  Diamond Shipwreck – Shipwreck in the Forbidden Zone
Photo Gallery of the wreck site

SS Columbia’s Rebirth Fundraiser

Posted on by April 27, 2010

c-in-her-primeSS Columbia, built in 1902, is the oldest surviving passenger steam vessel in the United States. The SS Columbia Project is dedicated to restoring and operating the classic passenger steamer.  They are holding their first official fundraising event tommorrow featuring a cruise on the Detroit River on board the M.V. Friendship.  Complimentary pizza, delivered by the J.W. Westcott II mailboat, will be served and a cash bar will be available.

Click here to learn more.

From the SS Columbia Project :
Continue reading →

Australian adventurer & teenage circumnavigator to re-enact Capt. Bligh’s epic open boat voyage

Posted on by April 27, 2010

bountyboatAustralian adventurer Don McIntyre and teenage circumnavigator Mike Perham to re-enact Capt William Bligh’s epic mutiny on the Bounty open boat voyage

Australian adventurer and solo round the world sailor, Don McIntyre announced today that Mike Perham, the world’s youngest solo circumnavigator, has signed up as Second-in-command for the 2010 Bounty Boat Expedition. This is a 4,000-mile re-enactment 221 years after Capt William Bligh and his supporting crew were forced into an open-boat by the mutineering crew on HMS Bounty and successfully sailed from Tonga to Timor in the Pacific.

McIntyre and Perham will face the same deprivations, with little food, no charts or toilet paper and only the limited navigation implements that were available to Bligh.

The search is now on for two extra crew to join this expedition, which has a serious scientific purpose, as well as raise money for MND research. This opportunity of a lifetime to re-create history will cost each individual £10,000 to participate. Only those with an extreme sense of adventure need apply.

Read the rest of the article

Amanda Ridgely Lake

Posted on by April 27, 2010

amanda-lakeSad news regarding a a remarkable woman and sailor.

Amanda Ridgely Lake

Amanda Ridgely Lake died in her home in Fairhaven, MA on August 19. Ms. Lake was 44.  Ms. Lake was only one of a handful of women to ever earn a 100-ton Near Coast Master’s License, allowing her to pilot large vessels in and out of commercial ports. At the time of her death, she taught classes on advanced ship-handling and maritime safety at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to help others achieve similar licenses.  An accomplished sailor of all size ships, Ms. Lake served as Chief Mate and in various other positions aboard the Massachusetts tall ship Ernestina. After age and funding cuts forced the 115-year-old schooner dockside in 2003, she joined the crew of Pete Seeger’s Hudson Sloop, Clearwater.

A memorial service will be held for Ms. Lake on the deck of the schooner Ernestina on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2:00 pm in New Bedford, MA.

Read the rest of the obituary

John Stobart and the Ships of South Street

Posted on by April 27, 2010

stobartLast year the National Maritime Historical Society (NMHS) published a fascinating booklet, John Stobart and the Ships of South Street, which features the pre-eminent maritime artist’s paintings of ships arriving or departing from New York’s South Street docks.

At first the presentation struck me as odd.  The NMHS describes it as a booklet rather than a book, which is apt, as it is soft cover and only twenty four pages.   John Stobart’s work is best enjoyed at full size.  The prints of his paintings are breathtaking and worthy of study for their technical accuracy as well as his skillful composition and his breathtaking use of light and shadow.   Can such a slight volume do Stobart’s work justice?  After a few minutes of study, it became clear to me, that it can and indeed does.
Continue reading →

SELI 1 Update: Lee Shores and Legal Disputes

Posted on by April 27, 2010

seli1Lee shores were long the bane of sailing ships. They are no better for motor vessels who lose their engines or drag their anchors.   Table Bay where the SELI 1 grounded is just such a lee shore and has been a hazard for ships for hundreds of years. An interesting perspective from Ports & Ships Maritime News – Table Bay as a lee shore – the grounding of the SELI 1 and other similar incidents.
Continue reading →