When I arrived in New York back in the mid-70s, a vast fleet of tugs swarmed across the harbor like so many water beetles. Most kept busy assisting ships in docking. Now there are fewer but larger ships, many with … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
In early May, America’s Cup racing will return to New York City for the first time since 1920. The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series regatta, one of a series of warm-up races sailed in AC 45s, 45′ foiling catamarans, … Continue reading
British archeologists have located the wrecks of two German destroyers, V44 and V82, from World War I in an unlikely location — on the tidal mudflats near Whale Island in the eastern part of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite the Brittany Ferries … Continue reading
For the last sixty years or so, scientists have been puzzled how to classify the xenoturbella, a mysterious sea creature which resembles a purple sock. The xenoturbella has no brains, guts or even eyes. It only has a gaping mouth … Continue reading
The Bermuda Triangle nonsense continues, as does the media’s fondness for dramatic headlines, whether or not there are any facts to support them. The most recent silliness is about late ice age methane explosions. The UK’s Daily Mail headline reads: … Continue reading
When I think of E.B. White I think of the classic children’s books, Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan, among others. He was also the co-author of the English language style guide The Elements of Style. … Continue reading
Peter Stanford, an icon of maritime historical preservation in the United States, died yesterday at the age of 89. In 1967, Peter and his wife Norma founded the South Street Seaport Museum on New York City’s East River waterfront. Peter Stanford … Continue reading
On March 25th, 1921, the US Navy ocean-going tug, USS Conestoga, with a coal barge in tow, steamed out of Mare Island, California, bound for Tutuila, American Samoa, by way of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The tug, barge and crew disappeared. … Continue reading
The US Navy is currently testing some potentially revolutionary new weapons, including electromagnetic rail guns. This is not the first time that the navy has experimented with new and exotic weapons systems, not all of which have been successful. USS … Continue reading
In describing the internet, people often talk of “the cloud.” We connect through over an ethernet, where ether is an archaic term from the Latin aethēr meaning “the upper pure, bright air.” But as they say in Brooklyn, fuhgeddaboutit! Most … Continue reading
It is a huge challenge to build, operate, maintain and fund a historic sailing vessel, not to mention providing great educational programming to deck loads of school kids. The Sultana Educational Foundation of Chestertown, MD does a great job on the … Continue reading
The British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is asking for suggestions for a name for the new polar research ship, currently under construction at Cammell Laird’s yard in Birkenhead. The closing date for entries is 16th April 2016. They have gotten … Continue reading
The wreck of the Esmeralda, a ship from Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India in 1502 and 1503, is believed to have been found close to Al Hallaniyah island, near the coast of Oman according to an … Continue reading
Last November, we posted about two balsa rafts which had set out from Lima, Peru, intending to sail to Easter Island and back, on the Kon-Tiki 2 expedition. Yesterday, the Chilean Navy rescued 14 crew members from the two rafts … Continue reading
SeaWorld has announced that they are ending their program to breed captive orcas. The 24 orcas, also known as killer whales, currently held at parks in California, Texas and Florida will be the last generation of captive orcas at SeaWorld. … Continue reading
Farewell Topsails is a short film about the last topsail schooners in the British china clay trade. Remarkably for a film made in 1937, the short is in color, using the Dufaycolor process. The film was made by Humphrey Jennings who … Continue reading
One celebrity at Weymouth during the Weymouth Leviathan was the tall ship Earl of Pembroke. The barque has been featured in seventeen movies of TV shows. Unfortunately, like so many other movie stars, the ship was not accessible, behind locked … Continue reading
From 1862 to 1956, yachts competing in the America’s Cup were required to sail to the races “on their own bottoms.” My, how things have changed. Today, the AC 45 foiling catamarans sailing in the current America’s Cup Races … Continue reading
I am attending the Weymouth Leviathan, a maritime literary festival, in the lovely, historic port at the mouth of the River Wey in Dorset on the south-western coast of England. It is a fitting locale. Most of the writers attending … Continue reading
The headlines are great. “Iceberg that Sank the Titanic 100,000 years old” and “Titanic iceberg was a 100,000-year-old giant” and “Iceberg that sank the Titanic was 100,000-years-old and of monstrous size” and so and so on. Dozens of headlines and … Continue reading