China Celebrates 70th Anniversary, Displays Dangerous New Naval Weapons

Posted on by October 5, 2019

This week, as China looked back at 70 years of Communist rule, its military parade looked to the future with a whole new generation of deadly naval and airborne weaponry.  Newsweek reports that in a speech last week, retired Admiral William McRaven, the former head of U.S. special forces, called China’s intensifying military build-up “a holy shit moment for the United States.”

One of the new weapons on display for the first time was the Dongfeng-17 (DF-17), a hypersonic anti-ship missile, dubbed a “carrier killer.”  Reportedly designed to operate at speeds of Mach 5 or greater and to be highly maneuverable in its glide stage, some analysts are concerned that the existing US anti-ballistic defense systems might not be able to counter the new missile.

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Schooner Regina Maris Chartered by 36 Climate Activists to Travel to Chilean Conference

Posted on by October 4, 2019

Photo: Lukas Riebling

Following the example of Greta Thunberg, who traveled to a UN climate conference by sail in August, 36 young climate change activists set sail from Amsterdam on October 2, bound for COP25 – the United Nations Climate Conference.  Rather than boarding airplanes, the group chose to charter the Regina Maris, a 101 ft (31m) LOA, 1970 built steel Dutch topsail schooner for the 5,000 nautical mile trip. 

Classic Sailor reports that the activists, from all across Europe, are hoping to use the seven-week voyage to brainstorm ideas for greener transport which they then intend to present to world governments meeting in Santiago from 2 – 13 December. But they will also be helping the six permanent crew to sail Regina Maris. Living in four-person cabins they plan to eat vegan meals. The voyage has scheduled stops at Casablanca, Tenerife, Cape Verde, and Recife to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables and get ashore for a few hours. When they arrive in Rio they will take a bus across the South American continent to Chile – a distance of some 3,000 kilometers.

Jeppe Bijker, one of four Dutch initiators of the Sail to the COP project, told reporters he did not expect people to give up flying altogether. “But we do ask that they think about why they are flying. You should ask yourself do you really need to go? Maybe it’s a business flight … and there could be an e-conference instead. And do you need to take so many short-haul trips?” Continue reading →

North Korea Developing Ballistic Missile Submarine, Tests Sub-Launched Missile

Posted on by October 3, 2019

North Korea appears to be aggressively developing the capacity to deploy a ballistic missile submarine even as it purports to continue to negotiate denuclearization with the current administration.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that North Korea successfully tested a new type of ballistic missile the previous day that is designed to be fired from a submarine, in a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, just ahead of a resumption of negotiations with the United States over its nuclear weapons program.

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Bronze Age Tin from Cornwall Identified in Shipwrecks Off Israel

Posted on by October 2, 2019

Tin ingots mined in Cornwall 1300 BCE

One open question about the Bronze Age in the Middle East was where the tin was sourced. Bronze is an alloy of primarily copper and tin. Recently, scientists identified the surprising source of tin ingots found in three shipwrecks off the coast of Isreal. Based on metallurgic data, they concluded that the tin most likely came from Cornwall and Devon in southwest England. The age of the shipwrecks suggests that it was mined around 1300 BCE. The discovery implies that Bronze Age maritime trade routes were longer and more complex than had previously been understood.

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Divers Destroy WWII Bomb Found in 17th Century Ship London

Posted on by October 1, 2019

Civilian divers were on an archeological dive on the London, a Royal Navy ship built-in 1656 which exploded and sank in 1665 in the Thames Estuary. They were shocked to find a large World War II bomb in the wreck. And it wasn’t just any bomb. The BBC reports that it was a German parachute ground mine, at 987kg (2,175lbs) one of the biggest bombs used by the Luftwaffe during the war.

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Record Setting Hurricane Lorenzo Threatens Azores

Posted on by September 30, 2019

Hurricane Lorenzo strengthened briefly to a Category 5 storm over the weekend, becoming the strongest hurricane on record so far north and east in the Atlantic Ocean.  On Saturday, we posted about the sinking of the tug-supply vessel Bourbon Rhode in the hurricane. Eleven of the fourteen crew are missing and presumed dead. Three of the crew were rescued following the sinking.

Lorenzo is unusual in that it strengthened so dramatically while so far east. Most hurricanes strengthen after moving farther west and remaining in warmer southern waters. According to weather.com, Lorenzo is by far the farthest east in the Atlantic Ocean any of the previous 35 Category 5 hurricanes that have occurred in records dating to the 1920s.

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Deal Reached for Clipper Ship City of Adelaide & Seaport Village at Dock Two

Posted on by September 29, 2019

The world’s oldest clipper ship, City of Adelaide, may be one step closer to having a permanent home.

Last March we posted about how the clipper ship City of Adelaide was being kicked off Dock 1 in its namesake port city and was expected to be moved to Dock 2. Unfortunately, Dock 2 was described as a largely inaccessible, industrial wasteland. Promised improvements had not been made in preparation for moving the historic ship.

On Friday, on its Facebook page, it was announced that an agreement has been signed to make Dock 2 a permanent home with suitable infrastructure and access. 

The clipper ship City of Adelaide was built in Sunderland, England, and launched on May 7, 1864.

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Three Rescued from Tug Bourbon Rhode Lost in Hurricane Lorenzo, Eleven Missing

Posted on by September 28, 2019

Three sailors have been rescued from a lifeboat following the sinking of the 164′ tug supply boat Bourbon Rhode in Hurricane Lorenzo. The remaining eleven crew members are missing.

The tug had sent a distress signal on Thursday and a rescue effort was mounted by the French and US governments assisted by commercial ships. The tug’s owner confirmed in a press release on Saturday that the Bourbon Rhode had sunk.

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Do Octopus Change Color As They Dream?

Posted on by September 27, 2019

In an upcoming PBS documentary, Octopus: Making Contact, a scientist observes an octopus changing color while sleeping upside down in a tank. Is it dreaming? Marine biologist Dr. David Scheel speculates what the dream might be in accordance with the particular shade of camouflage being exhibited at each moment. 


Octopus Dreaming

Dutch Shipowner Investing in New Ventifoil Wind-Assist Technology

Posted on by September 26, 2019

Van Dam Shipping, based in Spijk, Netherlands, has signed a contract for the installation of an eConowind propulsion system on its 3,600 DWT general cargo vessel Ankie. At first glance, two vertical structures in the graphic of the ship look like Flettner rotors. They are different, although a related technology. The two “sails” are a Ventifoil system, a development of Jacques Cousteau’s turbosail design which he used on the research vessel Alcyone in the mid-1980s.

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UN Report: Oceans Getting Hotter & Sea Levels Rising Faster

Posted on by September 25, 2019

A disturbing new report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that the rate at which the world’s oceans are heating up is accelerating and that sea levels are rising more quickly than previous predictions. The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate notes that “the ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme events are becoming more severe.”

NPR reports that the report is a synthesis of the most up-to-date climate science on oceans and ice, and it lays out a stark reality: Ocean surface temperatures have been warming steadily since 1970, and for the past 25 years or so, they’ve been warming twice as fast.

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A Look at McLean’s Clipper Ships — the Fastest Cargo Ships in the World

Posted on by September 24, 2019

The recent activation by TRANSCOM of 28 cargo ships, makes it a good time to take a look back at eight iconic shps from the 1970s still in service today. 

When I was a young student of naval architecture at the University of Michigan in the early 70s, I attended a Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) convention in New York City. In our visit, we took a field trip across the river to the Sea-Land container terminal at Elizabeth, New Jersey to tour a new SL-7 class container ship.

The eight SL-7s were Malcom McLean‘s modern-day clipper ships. As I stood on the pier looking up at the ship, I remember finding the long hollow water line to be breathtaking. And whereas the clipper ship Sovereign of the Seas was just over 250′ long, the SL-7s were close to 1000′ overall. With steam turbines producing 120,000 HP, these ships could cross oceans at 33 knots. They would each carry over 1,000 containers, making them the largest container ships in the world at that time. 

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Update: Ex-Presidential Yacht Sequoia Bound for Restoration in Maine

Posted on by September 23, 2019

Back in 2016, we posted about a new owner for the ex-presidential yacht Sequoia, which had been sitting, deteriorating in a boatyard in Deltaville, VA. Now, three years later, the 104′ long motor vessel has been loaded aboard a barge to be transported ultimately to Maine for restoration. The Sequoia served as a presidential yacht during the administrations of Herbert Hoover through Jimmy Carter and is a National Historic Landmark. 

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America’s Cup Gets Interesting — Two Very Different AC75s

Posted on by September 22, 2019

The 36th America’s Cup Races, featuring foiling monohulls, is still 18 months away but are beginning to look very interesting.  Two very different AC75 contenders have taken to the water recently — The New York Yacht Club Team American Magic‘s Defiant. and Emirates Team New Zealand’s Te Aihe.  

Richard Gladwell writing in Sail-World commented about the two boats: The two AC75’s launched to date have little in common other than they are 75ft long, are sloop-rigged, and are 13.5ft between the Foil Arm rotation pins.  The basics – hull profile, rig style, foil fairings, foil wing shapes, deck, and cockpit layouts – are all markedly different. And that is just comparing the pieces we can see or have been shown.

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The Beauty of Sail, Video and Stills by Onne van der Wal

Posted on by September 21, 2019

Photographer Onne van der Wal’s “The Beauty of Sail,” a selection of videos and photographs which portray just that. Onne is a full time pro nautical shooter and sailor based in Newport, RI and has been at it since 1987.

“Meet Us Don’t Eat Us” — Tourists to Iceland Support Both Whale Watching and Whaling

Posted on by September 20, 2019

Paradoxically, whale watching by tourists to Iceland is booming. At the same time, the primary economic support for the hunting of whales by Icelandic whalers are also tourists to the island.

Iceland is the largest whale watching destination in Europe. Around 20% of all tourists who visit Iceland go whale watching, which is to say somewhere between 300,000 and 400,00 tourists yearly.

Along with Japan and Norway, Iceland is also one of only three countries still engaging commercial whaling.  And who is eating all the whale meat? Tourists. Tourists eat about 70% of all whale meat from Icelandic whaling. Icelanders eat around 2%. The rest is exported, mostly to Japan. 

So, basically, tourists support both the growth of Icelandic whale watching while at the same time providing an economic foundation for Icelandic whaling.

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Sarah Thomas, Cancer Survivor, Swims English Channel Four Times Non-Stop

Posted on by September 19, 2019

In November 2017, Sarah Thomas, a marathon swimmer from Colorado, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She underwent chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation to fight the disease. One of the ways she coped was by continuing to swim.

And cope she has indeed. From Sunday to Tuesday, over a period of 54 hours, Sarah Thomas, 37, swam the English Channel four times, nonstop, becoming the first person ever on record to do so. Only one year out of treatment for cancer, she swam nearly 134 miles (215km) in the open sea, a swim made more challenging by strong tides and choppy conditions. 

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US Navy Deploys Carrier Group (Without a Carrier) & Activates 28 Ready Reserve Cargo Ships

Posted on by September 18, 2019

Four ships from the Navy’s carrier Harry S. Truman Strike Group are deploying from the East Coast this week. Notably, the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman is not one of the ships being deployed as it is still undergoing repairs for an electrical system failure. 

Military.com reports that “the guided-missile cruiser Normandy and guided-missile destroyers Lassen, Forrest Sherman, and Farragut — will form a surface action group (SAG) as the Truman continues undergoing repairs.”

Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, U.S. 2nd Fleet’s commander, said in a statement that the deployment demonstrates the Navy’s ability to maneuver and flex to accomplish its tasks on hand. But in an interview with USNI News, which first reported the unique deployment, Lewis also called the situation “unfortunate.” He added that it is the first time a surface action group has deployed from the East Coast in 13 years.

In what may or may not be unrelated news, the U.S. Transportation Command (Transcom) has begun the largest turbo activation of the ready Reserve Fleet since 2003 to stress-test the military’s ability to quickly deploy the cargo ships required for a massive troop movement. 

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Crossing the Arctic Circle — An Unexpected Line Crossing Baptism

Posted on by September 18, 2019

Panorama in calmer water

When crossing the Equator for the first time, sailors have traditionally undergone a “line-crossing ceremony” which often includes being dunked in the ocean three times. Recently, on my first northern line crossing, I inadvertently presided over my own unexpected dunking, a baptism of sorts in the early morning hours, just as we were crossing Latitude 66.56 N, the Arctic Circle. 

My wife and I were on the Panorama, a 173′ motor sailing cruise ship, on a week-long trip on the west coast of Iceland, from Akureyri to Reykjavik, making five port calls along the way. Like most cruise ships, the Panorama did most of her sailing at night so the 34 passengers aboard would wake up at a different port every morning.

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Humpback Whale Watching Off Hólmavík, Iceland

Posted on by September 17, 2019

We have just gotten back from a week-long voyage along the west coast of Iceland from Akureyri to Reykjavik on the three-masted motor sailor Panorama. One of the stops was the village of Hólmavík, population 300. The village may be best known by tourists for its Museum of Sorcery & Witchcraft, an interesting if a rather small museum, which also features a cafe, a gift shop and tourist information center. Hólmavík was the center of witchcraft and witch-hunting in 17th century Iceland.

The village should perhaps also be better known for the whales in the fjord. Whereas some whale watching sites have as many as twenty boats offering tours, Hólmavík has exactly one. We were fortunate enough to be able to catch one of the last tours of the season offered by Laki Tours. The morning was cold and the wind bitter but, we saw lots of humpback whales, feeding in the Steingrimsfjordur Fjord. Captain Víðir was skilled in finding the whales and our naturalist/guide Judith was knowledgeable and entertaining. Here is a short video. 

Whale Watching Off Hólmavík, Iceland