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Monthly Archives: September 2011
Piratical Weekend Round Up
The good folks in Eastport, Maine have seen fit to once again hold their annual Eastport Pirate Festival this weekend, featuring lots of fun activities including a lobster boat race. (Who knew pirates had lobster boats?) The Treasure Coast … Continue reading
Happy Birthday Captain Bligh !
On this day in 1754, William Bligh was born. Following the famous mutiny on HMS Bounty, his name would become synonymous with harsh discipline bordering on tyranny. The mutiny on the Bounty would be only one of four mutinies that Bligh would live … Continue reading
Posted in History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged HMS Bounty, mutiny on HMS Bounty, William Bligh
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Don’t Shoot, We’re Republicans! – The Strange Saga of the USS Iowa and the “Willie D”
The news that the battleship USS Iowa has found a new home brings to mind the story of the battleship and the destroyer USS William D Porter, nicknamed the “WIllie D.” The USS Iowa served in World War II as … Continue reading
Posted in History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged President Franklin D. Roosevelt, USS Iowa, USS William D Porter
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USS Iowa Bound for Berth 87 in the Port of Los Angeles
The USS Iowa will soon have a new home. The Port of Los Angeles has won the bidding to support the battleship, beating out Vallejo which had also been actively bidding for the ship. Los Angeles Wins USS Iowa Bid
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Pacific Battleship Center, Port of Los Angeles, USS Iowa
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Museum of the City of New York to Take Over Seaport Museum with $2M Grant
The Seaport Museum of New York, better known as the South Street Seaport Museum, will be taken over by the Museum of the City of New York with starting funds of $2 million in the form of a grant from the … Continue reading
Yet Another Reason Not to Smoke – Woman Falls Off Ferry While Lighting her Cigarette
A 23 year old woman reportedly fell overboard into the North Sea just after 8.30pm on Monday night from the Princess Seaways DFDS ferry bound from from Newcastle to Ijmuiden. The woman was reportedly lighting a cigarette at the rail … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Ijmuiden, Newcastle, North Sea, overboard, Princess Seaways DFDS ferry, rescue
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Update: Somali Pirates Free 7 Danes
Last February we posted that Somali pirates had hijacked a Danish sailboat with four adults and three children aboard. Yesterday, the Danish Foreign Ministry announced seven Danish citizens, including a family with three children had been released. It has been reported that the pirates were … Continue reading
Tourist Complains of Fish in the Harbor – Too Smelly & Disturbing to Children
Oh well. I guess there is nothing surprising about this news report. It seems that David Copp, a tourist visiting Ilfracombe Harbour, west of Bristol, in the UK, complained to the harbor-master that the fish being landed on the quayside had a “disgusting smell.” Nor, … Continue reading
MT Phoenix Finally Free from Salt Rocks, Sheffield Beach, South Africa
The MT Phoenix, which has been hard aground and leaking oil on a South African beach, is finally free. This Saturday, two salvage tugs, Smit Amanda and Smit Siyanda, under the direction of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), successfully towed the ship … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged MT Phoenix, Shark Rocks, Sheffield Beach, South Africa
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120 Year Old Sail Training Vessel, Leader, Dismasted off Portland Bill
The 120 year old ketch, Leader, was dismasted yesterday in force seven winds off Portland Bill, Dorset; losing her main mast, boom, sails and associated rigging. An RNLI lifeboat was called to assist and successfully towed the Leader and her 16 … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea, Ships
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Waterford Tugboat Roundup Canceled
Ironically, the further inland from where Hurricane Irene made landfall in Brooklyn, the more damage and disruption the storm caused. While the 19th Annual Great North River Tug Boat Race and Competition went off without a hitch, the annual Waterford Tugboat Roundup scheduled … Continue reading
Posted in Current, Lore of the Sea
Tagged Erie Canal, Tropical Storm Irene, Waterford Tugboat Roundup
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Gloucester Schooner Festival 2011
While here in New York harbor, we were cheering on tug boats racing along belching black smoke, the good folks in Gloucester, Massachusetts were celebrating classic schooners. The tug boat race was great fun, but I do so love schooners and the schooners at … Continue reading
Great North River Tug Boat Race 2011
The Hudson River as it enters New York harbor is still an unhealthy shade of brown from all the runoff from Hurricane Irene. Nevertheless it was a fine day to be on the river, especially to watch the 19th Annual Great North River Tug … Continue reading
Fin Whales Return to Wales
Fin whales have been called the “the greyhounds of the sea” because they are fast and sleek. grwoing to almost 90 feet, they are the second longest animal on the planet but only the the sixth heaviest. Though they are baleen whales, … Continue reading
Down-Rigging HMS Victory
Recent surveys have indicated that Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, was leaking, suffering from rot and being pulled apart by her own weight. Now, as the first part of a major restoration project, the ship is being down-rigged. Twenty six miles of … Continue reading
