Featured Books
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- Damage to the Hull Photo: Reuters
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- Davit where lifeboat was knocked off by “explosion”
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- Damage to Passageway
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- HMS Investigator Caught in the Ice 1854
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- Sonar Image of HMS Investigator Photo: Parks Canda
True Colours by Alaric Bond
Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha's Vineyard by Dunlop & Shaw
Live Yankees: The Sewalls and Their Ships by W. H. Bunting
His Majesty's Ship by Alaric Bond
Galveston's the Elissa: The Tall Ship of Texas by Kurt Voss
My River Chronicles - Rediscovering the America on the Hudson by Jessica DuLong
The Frigate Surprise: The Complete Story of the Ship Made Famous in the Novels of Patrick O'Brian by by Geoff Hunt and Brian Lavery
James Nelson's George Washington's Secret Navy
Defying Empire:Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York by Thomas Truxes
Deadly Shoals, a Wiki Coffin Mystery by Joan Druett
Star Crossedby Linda Collison
The Privateer's Revenge: A Kydd Sea Adventure (Kydd Sea Adventures)
Peter Wicked: A Matty Graves Novel (The Matty Graves Novels)
The Jackass Frigate byAlaric Bond
Steady As She Goesby John Molloy
Voyages, the Age of Sail: Documents in American Maritime History, Volume I, 1492-1865
Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her
Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge
The Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
Welcome to the Old Salt blog, a home for lovers of the sea, for tellers of tales, for sailors, for dreamers and anyone else who wanders by. Pull up a chair by the fire and join us. There are many tales yet to be told.
40th Anniversary of Black Tot Day
In early July we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the return of the SS Great Britain to Bristol. Yesterday was a more somber anniversary – the 40th anniversary of “Black Tot” Day.
Ceremony to mark ending of rum tot at HMS Victory
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Dead Humpback Whale Pinned to Bow of the Sapphire Princess
Last summer, the Sapphire Princess, a cruise ship operating on the South-West coast of Alaska, arrived in the port of Vancouver with a 70 foot long fin whale impaled on its bulbous bow. Wednesday, almost exactly a year later, another dead whale, an adult female humpback measuring 43 feet in length, was found pinned to bow of the same ship. This is the third reported whale strike by the company’s Alaska fleet in a decade.
Dead whale found pinned to Alaska cruise ship
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A Brigantine Beneath Washington Street – Identifying the World Trade Center Ship
Two weeks ago the remains of an 18th century ship were found in the excavation of the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. On Thursday Warren Riess, an archaeologist specializing in marine history, speculated that the ship was most likely a brigantine; the two-masted workhorse of the coastal trade. “It’s one of the ships that helped build New York.” It also now appears that work on a concrete wall last year may have inadvertently destroyed the after section of the ship.
A Brigantine Beneath Washington Street
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Photos of the MV M. Star – Cause of Damage Still a Mystery
Photos of the damage to the VLCC MV M. Star. Click on the thumbnails above for larger images.
Questions Swirl About Damaged Japanese Tanker
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HMS Investigator – 150 years ago and Today
The HMS Investigator was found in remarkably good shape in only 11 meters of water in Mercy Bay along the northern coast of Banks Island in Canada’s western Arctic. The image to the left is from a lithograph of the ship trapped in the ice in 1854 while the image to right is from the Parks Canada sonar scan of the ship on the bottom as she is today. The HMS Investigator, was caught in the ice and sank when on an expedition to search for Franklin. Click on either thumbnail for a larger image.
12th Annual West Coast Wooden Kayak Rendezvous – July 30th – August 1st
12th Annual West Coast Wooden Kayak Rendezvous
The annual West Coast Wooden Kayak Rendezvous (R2KX) is the first weekend in August at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. The event is free and open to the public (donations to cover park fees gladly accepted).
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Bristol Harbor Festival 2010 Begins Today
Kathleen and May
The Bristol Harbour Festival begins today and runs through the weekend. It is expected to attract over 200,000 people and is one of the biggest free events in the UK. In addition to Brunel’s SS Great Britain, on permanent display in Bristol, the harbor will be visited by the three-masted schooner Kathleen and May, as well as the Matthew, a replica of explorer John Cabot’s ship from 1497. Also visiting for the festival is the Vilma an ex Danish fishing boat from 1934, rerigged like an old Irish trading schooner.
Skimmer “A Whale” Sails for Dalian, China Spill
Lloyds List is reporting that the Skimmer “A Whale” which failed to collect significant amounts of oil in the Gulf of mexico from the BP spill is now en-route to the major spill in Dalian, China. The more concentrated oil on the water at Dailin may be better suited to the converted OBO’s skimming capabilities. Thanks to Michael Pryce on the Marine History List for the reference.
Fourteen Year Old Laura Dekker has Dutch Court OK to Sail around the World
The teen-round-the-world-sailing-escapades may be starting all over again.
Laura Dekker has Dutch court permission to sail around the world
A Dutch court cleared the way Tuesday for 14-year-old Laura Dekker to embark on a risky attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, an adventure that could begin in the next two weeks.
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What Hit the MV M. Star? An Explosion, A Grenade, or a Freak Wave?
Depending on which of the various news reports you read, the MOL 314,016 dwt tanker M. Star suffered either an explosion, was hit by a grenade or was struck by a freak wave caused by an earthquake while transiting the Straits of Hormuz. An intriguing and developing story.
Giant Supertanker Suffers Mystery Explosion
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HMS Investigator, Abandoned in 1854, Found in Arctic
Earlier this month we posted about a new expedition by Parks Canada to search for Franklin’s ships, the Terror and the Erebus. Parks Canada also intended to search for the HMS Investigator, a ship which was caught in the ice and sank when sent to search for Franklin. Today Parks Canada announced that they have found the HMS Investigator, apparently after a very brief sonar scan.
Abandoned 1854 ship found in Arctic
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Hiawatha – Last Operational Walking-Beam Sidewheeler in the World for Sale on EBay
The Hiawatha, reportedly the last operational walking beam steam sidewheeler in the world, is being offered for sale on E-Bay. Built in 1983 of steel, the Hiawatha is 38 feet long with a 15.5 feet beam. Its paddle wheels are 7 feet in diameter and the ship has a top speed of 7 knots and cruising speed of 5 knots. She is currently in Bay City, Michigan.
Historic Bay City steamboat Hiawatha up for sale on eBay
Thanks to Alaric Bond for pointing out the auction.
Tall Ships Duluth 2010 July 28 – August 3
Barque Europa
Tall Ships Duluth 2010 has an impressive line up of ships scheduled for their tall ships festival. The ships are expected to start arriving in Duluth today. The Brig Niagara, the Barque Europa, HMS Bounty, the Pride of Baltimore II, the Roald Amundsen, the schooner Zeeto, the S/V Denis Sullivan, and the schooner Roseway will sail in a “Grand Parade of Ships” on Thursday afternoon with the tall ships festival getting into full swing Friday through Sunday.
Tall Ships Duluth 2010 July 28 – August 3
Dismantling the Ground Zero Ship
A follow-up to our previous post – 18th Century Ship Found Buried at New York’s World Trade Center Site. Workers are now beginning to dismantle what is left of the ship, plank by plank, for preservation. Last week, Atlantic Wire posted an interesting discussion on the various theories of the ship’s origin. See : Theories on Ancient Wooden Ship Found at Ground Zero
Workers in NYC begin to dismantle ground zero ship
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Sailing Ship Photos from Life Magazine on Google
Be warned. If you are interested in sailing ships, do not click on the link below if you have anything important to do for the next fifteen or twenty minutes or possibly much longer. Here is a absolutely fantastic archive of roughly two hundred photos and drawings originally published in Life Magazine of sailing ships and sailors, primarily from the last days of commercial sail. The only thing that is a disappointing is that most photos are not titled and no information is given on which ship is being photographed or even the date the photo was taken. Nevertheless, there are some wonderful shots well worthy of contemplation if not outright study. The Life Picture Collection Photo Archive is owned by Time Inc. and all the images are available as prints.
Sailing Ship Archive from Life Magazine on Google
Thanks to Wojtek (Voytec) Wacowski on the Tall Ship & Traditional Sail Professionals Linked-In Group for pointing out the photographs.
