In response to our post, Sail this summer on the Picton Castle, Greg Winter commented, “Or try the same in the beautiful South Pacific, on the brigantine Soren Larsen. Sails out of Auckland New Zealand to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
The wreck of the whale ship Two Brothers, which sank 188 years ago on French Frigate Shoals, 600 miles northwest of Honolulu, was recently located by divers. The captain of the whale ship was George Pollard Jr., whose previous ship, … Continue reading
Record crowds, possibly exceeding 100,000, are expected at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival which begins today and runs through Monday at Hobart’s historic Sullivan’s Cove docks. The four-day festival which brings together the biggest collection of wooden boats in … Continue reading
Rear Admiral Peter Branson, who died recently at age 86, had an illustrious career in the Royal Navy. His career almost ended before it began. Branson was twice torpedoed while he was still under training, on one occasion surviving five days adrift in … Continue reading
The Carnival Splendor, which was crippled by an engine room fire on November 8th, leaving it drifting for days off the coast of Mexico with nearly 4,500 crew members and passengers aboard, is expected to sail from San Francisco on Friday … Continue reading
Ocean rowing has got to be one of the most physically demanding of all sports. In addition to the physical labor of fighting the wind and seas, salt water sores and chafing are reported to be a big problem. … Continue reading
On Monday, the six British rowers of Team Hallin have set a new world record for rowing the Atlantic Ocean. The five men and one woman landed in Barbados after completing the 3,000 mile course from Tenerife in 31days and 23hours … Continue reading
Salvors are now reported to be beginning a slow release of sulphuric acid from the capsized tank barge, Waldhof, which capsized in the Rhine on January 13th near the infamous Lorelei Rock, in hope of averting a larger uncontrolled acid spill on … Continue reading
Yesterday, the Italian-owned Aframax tanker MV Savina Caylyn was hijacked by pirates approximately 670 nautical miles East of Socotra Island in the Indian Ocean. Today, the Greek-owned VLCC MV Irene SL was hijacked approximately 350 nautical miles South East of … Continue reading
On this day, sixty nine years ago, the great French luxury liner SS Normandie caught fire at Pier 88 on the Hudson River in New York City. The fire burned out of control and the next day the ship capsized at the dock. … Continue reading
Last Friday, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approved a plan for Bruce Power to ship 1,600 tonnes of radioactive waste, in the form of 16 decommissioned nuclear reactors, across the Great Lakes, though the St. Lawrence Seaway and across the Atlantic … Continue reading
Blustery winds, gray skies and rain marked the beginning of the 6,000 nautical mile Sprint 3 of the Velux Five Oceans Singlehanded Around the World Race. The four remaining boats departed Sunday from Wellington, New Zealand bound for to Punta del … Continue reading
On this the 183th anniversary of the birth of Jules Verne, it seems worthwhile to look at the submarines named Nautilus. Click on any of the thumbnails for a larger image. … Continue reading
The United States is far behind the countries of Western Europe and China in the development of offshore wind power. Today, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced a few steps toward catching up. … Continue reading
Last month we posted about a rendezvous of the “Three Queens,” the RMS Queen Mary II, the MS Queen Elizabeth and the MS Queen Victoria in New York harbor. Of the three ships only the Queen Mary II has the distinction of … Continue reading
The sinking of the frigate INS Vindhyagiri, following a collision with the container ship MV Nordlake, last Sunday near Mumbai harbor, is the worst-ever peacetime loss for the Indian Navy. That the accident occurred as the warship was returning … Continue reading
“Spice” is apparently the generic name for so-called “synthetic marijuana” or “fake pot.” In most states, it is still perfectly legal, though that may be changing. “Spice” is, however, not OK with the US Navy. At the end of last … Continue reading
The barque Picton Castle, known for its around the world voyages, is offering cruises this summer sailing around Newfoundland. It sounds fantastic. Sail Around Newfoundland Starkly stunning coastline. Incredible whales, seabirds and maybe even icebergs. Hospitable folks in big towns and small outport … Continue reading
Somehow this sounds like a really bad idea. I just hope everyone brings sun screen. Back in October, the BBC ran an article about a Lithuanian company’s plans for a Maldive island resort run entirely by blondes. The proposed development was reported on again this week … Continue reading
The press release, translated from the French by Google, reads, “Maxi Banque Populaire V hit a UFO*. ” The footnote clarifies that the trimaran hit an “unidentified floating object.” (Late last month we posted about the trimaran Banque Populaire V setting off … Continue reading