After decades of absence, whales are returning to the waters around New York City. Competing whale watching cruises depart New York docks in the warmer months to see humpback, fin whales and dolphins, often within site of the city skyline. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
On July 25, 1956, the Italian Line passenger liner Andrea Doria was approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bound for New York City, when she collided with the eastbound MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line and sank. Now 60 … Continue reading
Several years ago, we posted about the Oru, the origami kayak. Now, two Belgian designers, Otto Van de Steene and Thomas Weyn, have developed ONAK, an origami full-sized canoe with urban paddlers in mind. The canoe is made of a custom-made … Continue reading
Congratulations to the officers, crew and the shore staff of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry. The 200′ long tall ship recently completed the necessary drills and inspections required by the US Coast Guard in order for the ship to qualify as a … Continue reading
The Pepsi Tall Ships Chicago 2016 festival begins tomorrow, July 27th, and runs for five days through the 31st, at Chicago’s Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. One of the participating ships was expected to be the replica Viking longship Draken Harald Hårfagre. Earlier … Continue reading
Four hundred and seventy one years after it sank in the Solent in 1545, King Henry VIII’s flag ship, Mary Rose, is now, once again, accessible to the viewing public at the Mary Rose Museum in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, … Continue reading
Yesterday, one hundred and thirty four year after his death, a headstone was unveiled at the grave of John Willis Griffiths, a gifted American naval architect who is often referred to as the “Father of the Clipper Ship.” Although Griffiths … Continue reading
Only slightly nautical but a lot of fun, nevertheless. Giant Octopus Kite … Continue reading
Last October, we took a five day cruise on the Amazon from Iquitos, Peru. It was a fascinating trip. Iquitos is 2,000 nautical miles up the Amazon and yet is a deep water port with a controlling draft of around … Continue reading
Last week, we posted about the upcoming scuttling of the Luck Lady, ex-Newtown Creek, later this month as an artificial reef off Pompano Beach, FL. Recently, about fifty miles to the north of Pompano, the cargo ship Ana Cecilia was sunk about 1.25 … Continue reading
I am currently in the Northern Neck of of Virginia, where I will soon sit down with a boatyard to hear the latest estimated launch date for my Albin Nimbus 42, Arcturus. As I left the boat with the yard … Continue reading
An area off the Fourni archepelago, a group of 13 islands between the islands of Samos and Icaria in Greece, is known as a graveyard of ships. In June, underwater archaeologists discovered 23 ship wrecks during a survey period of … Continue reading
In 2012, we posted about how U.S Navy low frequency sonar training and testing could kill or deafen thousands of whales and dolphins. Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed a lawsuit in San Francisco arguing that actions violated … Continue reading
Bay City Michigan kicked off its sixth Tall Ship Celebration yesterday, featuring a diverse mix of historic ships and replicas, including the U.S. Brig Niagara; the replica galleon El Galeon Andalucia; the replica Viking longship Draken Harald Hårfagre; the brigantines Pathfinder and Playfair; and the … Continue reading
Last Saturday, a North Korean submarine fired a ballistic missile while submerged off the country’s eastern coast. The missile was successfully ejected from the submarine but the missile was believed to have failed in its initial flight stage. This was the … Continue reading
For those concerned by China’s aggressive expansion into the South China Sea, there is some very good news and some not so good news. The very good news is that an international tribunal in The Hague has overwhelmingly rejected Chinese claims … Continue reading
Despite being burdened with unmanageable pilotage fees, the Norwegian Viking longboat, Draken Harald Hårfagre, and her crew have decided to sail on to the Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City, MI, on July 14 -17th. From their press release: There is not room … Continue reading
The Norwegian Viking ship Draken Harald Hårfagre has successfully weathered the seas of the Atlantic Ocean only to be turned back by exorbitant pilotage fees in the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence Seaway. Unless changes are made, pilotage fees … Continue reading
In April we posted, Farewell to Newtown Creek, New York’s Lovely “Honey Tanker”. It was a fond farewell to a lovely coastal “honey tanker” that carried sewage sludge around New York harbor for decades. When she was sold we did not … Continue reading
A beautiful video of sailing aboard the Windjammer Angelique. The 95′ ketch-rigged Angelique was built specifically for the windjamming trade in 1980 and sails from Camden, Maine. Sailing Windjammer Angelique … Continue reading