A unusually large wave killed an 85 year old man and injured a woman in her 70s on the cruise ship MS Marco Polo in the English Channel, as it headed for its home port of Tilbury, in Essex. Both were … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
Recently, the press has been abuzz with the lack of sightings of Loch Ness monster. There have been no sightings of the famous beastie in the last 18 months. The Daily Mail asks “Is Nessie DEAD?” The BBC notes: No Loch … Continue reading
The crew of the HMS Daring spelled out a message on the the flight deck to their loved ones at home. The Type 45 destroyer is on her way home to Portsmouth, Hampshire, after having spent nine months on deployment. … Continue reading
Sometime around the 60 CE, a Greek merchant, whose name is lost to history, wrote a guide, The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Periplus is the Latinization of the Greek word περίπλους (periplous, contracted from periploos), literally “a sailing-around.” While Erythraean literally … Continue reading
The NTSB Report conclusion came as no real surprise. Captain Robin Walbridge; who was lost along with a crew member, Claudene Christian, in the sinking of the replica of the HMS Bounty; should never have taken the ship to sea with … Continue reading
Joseph Conrad, who claimed not to be a sentimentalist when came to the life at sea, waxed poetic when writing of the trade winds: In the middle belt of the earth the Trade Winds reign supreme, undisputed, like monarchs of … Continue reading
José Salvador Alvarenga, the fisherman who apparently drifted for 13 months at sea in open boat, has been released from the hospital in the Marshall Islands. How is it possible that he could have survived for over a year, while … Continue reading
We recently endured the media farce in which dozens of newspapers and websites reported that “a ghost ship filled with cannibal rats may be headed straight for Britain,” even though the ship has probably sunk and the bit about the rats … Continue reading
The USS Forrestal left Phildelphia yesterday, under tow on her way to a scrap yard in Beaumont, Texas. The USS Forrestal (CV-59) was the first US “supercarrier” and the first American aircraft carrier to be built with an angled flight deck, steam … Continue reading
Fascinating commentary on the joys and sacrifices of following her dreams by three-time Olympian sailor Nikola Girke, as she prepares for Rio 2016. “It takes guts to dream” – Canadian Olympian – Nikola Girke … Continue reading
A man recently drifted ashore in a 24′ fiberglass boat on Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the northern Pacific. He speaks only Spanish and says his name is Jose Ivan. He claims to have set off from Mexico heading … Continue reading
Princess Cruises announced that the Caribbean Princess would be returning to Houston one day early “because we were informed that dense fog is expected to close the port for much of the weekend.” Others have suggested that it was because … Continue reading
Super Bowl Fever has taken over New York and New Jersey. (Personally, I am sick of it and we are still two days away from the game.) Football fans are swarming all over, on both sides of New York harbor. … Continue reading
It is no doubt not a record that Royal Caribbean would have aspired to. Their ship, Explorer of the Seas, on its voyage from New York harbor to the Eastern Caribbean, from January 21-29, 2014, had the largest outbreak of … Continue reading
The “Left Coast Lifter” has arrived in New York. The Lifter is described by the New York Times as the “superman of floating cranes.” It is a shear-leg crane barge capable of lifting over 1,800 tons, built to help lift … Continue reading
My next door neighbors left last Tuesday for a 10 day cruise in the Eastern Caribbean on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ship Explorer of the Seas. I saw them shortly before they departed. We were both shoveling snow from our … Continue reading
The Vega desperately needs a mizzen mast. Specifically, they are looking for a fir or spruce to shape the 10m x 26cm mast and a shipping company able to transport the wood from either Brisbane, Australia, or Vancouver, Canada, to Singapore. If they … Continue reading
Today, Tampa, Florida will be “invaded” by pirates. Every year about this time, Tampa celebrates the Gasparilla Pirate Fest notionally in honor of Jose Gaspar, reputed to be the “Last Buccaneer.” It is described as “a swashbuckling good time” involving … Continue reading
I may owe Chris Reynolds an apology. In a reply to a comment about our post, Lyubov Orlova, Ghost Ship Crewed by Cannibal Rats Drifting Toward the UK — Phony Hysteria on a Slow News Day?, I suggested that Reynolds, Director, … Continue reading
The Twitterverse has gone crazy (crazier?) over reports of the Ghost Ship Swarming With Cannibal Rats Bound for Britain. Dozens of newspaper websites have feaverishly picked up the story. In all the foolishness, I was reminded of Evelyn Waugh’s satirical novel “Scoop” … Continue reading