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Monthly Archives: July 2010
The White Lady with a Dark Past Visiting Panama
One of the most beautiful tall ships on the water, the Chilean Navy’s Esmeralda, will be docked in Balboa, Panama through tomorrow. Esmeralda, a steel-hulled four-masted barquentine, is nicknamed the “White Lady.” She is the sister ship to the four-masted … Continue reading
Collision in the North-East Passage – Two Arctic Tankers Collide
With the onset of limited trans-arctic navigation environmentalists have voiced concern about the potential for pollution due to increased ship traffic. The recent collision between two arctic tankers, the Indiga and Varzuga, on the Russian Northern Sea route, demonstrates the basis for these concerns. … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Arctic Tankers, Indiga, Murmansk Shipping Company, Russian Northern Sea route, Varzuga
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Ketch Bessie-Ellen Transporting 20,000 Bottles of Wine Across the Atlantic
Last month we posted about the Ketch Bessie-Ellen carrying French wine to the Festival of Valleys in Ballyvaughan, in Ireland’s County Claire. The Bessie-Ellen will soon set sail on a new 21-day voyage, carrying 20,000 bottles of Château Smith Lafite and Château … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Bessie Ellen, Bordeaux, Château de Cayx Bordeaux, Château Smith Lafite, CMTV, Frederic Albert, wine
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Sharktopus – Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Watch the Telly
On this the thirtieth anniversary of the movie Jaws, the SyFy Channel has teamed up with the legendary B-Movie Director, Roger Corman, to produce Sharktopus, a thriller about a Navy-engineered half-shark-half-octopus killing machine which, surprise, surprise gets out of control and starts … Continue reading
RIMPAC – Sinking Ships for Fun and Practice
RIMPAC 2010, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is one of the world’s largest maritime exercises, with participation by 14 nations, including including Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, France, Colombia, Chile, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Peru, South Korea and Thailand. RIMPAC … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
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Baltic Bubbly – ‘World’s oldest champagne’
Divers have found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution on the Baltic seabed. Reportedly, it was still highly drinkable. All I can say is that the seabed must be one hell of a wine cellar. … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea
Tagged Baltic seabed, champagne, French Revolution
7 Comments
The Trireme Olympias Coming to New York ?
There are plans to bring the trimere Olympias to New York harbor in 2012 coincide with the Tall Ships “OpSail” and July 4th celebrations. The Trireme Olympias Coming Soon to New York The H.N. Olympias is a full-scale, working replica … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Athenian trireme, new york harbor, Olympias, Tall Ships "OpSail"
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The Olympias Trireme – 5th Century B.C Warship Reborn
Many historians have long suspected that the performance of the Greek triremes as reported by Esculus and others, were overstated. Some have referred to them as “mythological.” The Olympias trireme, built in 1987, designed by the naval architect John Coates, who died last week, … Continue reading
Posted in Critiques, Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Seastories
Tagged John Coates, John Morrison, N. B. Rankov, Olympias, trireme
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John Coates: Latter-Day Trireme Designer
John Coates John Coates, who died on July 10 aged 88, had retired as chief naval architect at the Ministry of Defence when he took a central role in the building of a Greek trireme, the first, fastest and best … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Greek trireme, John Coates, Ministry of Defence
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Skimmer “A Whale” Fails Second Round of Testing
After a second round of testing, the converted O/B/O skimmer A Whale has been judged a failure in skimming oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Giant oil skimmer ‘A Whale’ deemed a bust for Gulf … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged A Whale, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, skimmer
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Tall Ships Tracking Map
Tom Russell over at the Tall Ship & Traditional Sail Professionals Linked-In group pointed out the Tall Ships Tracking Map posted on-line by Sailwx.info. Sailwx.info is a wonderful site for keeping track of of all sort of ships, including … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged cruise ships, oceanographic research vessels, ship tracking, Tall & Historic Ships, yachts
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Update on the Cutty Sark – Fiasco or just “Berthing” Pains?
Last September we posted about an article in the Telegraph, Cutty Sark restoration turning into a fiasco. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing on an update recently published in the Private Eye. The restoration of the Cutty Sark, after a major fire in 2007, … Continue reading
Captain Don McIntyre and the Talisker Bounty Boat Recreate Bligh’s Epic Voyage
At the end of last April we posted about an expedition led by Australian Don McIntyre to recreate the epic 3,700 nautical mile voyage of Captain Bligh and his crew across the Pacific in an open boat in 1789 following the famous mutiny. McIntyre … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Seastories
Tagged Captain Bligh, Don McIntyre, East Timor, Talisker Bounty Boat
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The Merchandising Begins – Teen Sailor Jessica Watson’s Book and Album
Jessica Watson’s book True Spirit will be published in August in Australia and in October in the United States. It was also recently announced that she will be releasing an album as well. Fast work given that she only returned in the middle of May. Teen sailor … Continue reading
18th Century Ship Found Buried at New York’s World Trade Center Site
Workers excavating at the new World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan have uncovered the remains of an 18th century wooden merchant ship. The ship was found 20 feet below street level, is roughly 30 feet in length and was probably buried intentionally as land fill. It … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged 18th century wooden merchant ship, hudson river, World Trade Center
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