This weekend Hamburg celebrated its Hafengeburtstag 2019, the 830th anniversary of the founding of the Port of Hamburg, established in 1189 by Frederick I. And celebrate they did. An estimated 300 ships participated and were greeted by over one million … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
A repost appropriate for Mother’s Day. Sailors choose their tattoos for various reasons. Among the most popular sailor tattoos are anchors, hearts and swallows. Not infrequently, “Mom” also made an appearance as a reminder of loved ones and home. On … Continue reading
Just returning from its seventh round the world voyage, the barque Picton Castle will set off again this summer bound for the Great Lakes to take part in the Tall Ships America’s Tall Ships Challenge — Great Lakes 2019. The … Continue reading
The media has been full of reports about the sanctions violating North Korean bulk carrier, dubiously named Wise Honest. Virtually every headline begins with “US seizes North Korean ship” or some variation thereof. The Justice Department also used the word … Continue reading
After a voyage of 147 days covering more than 2,000 nautical miles, French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin, 72, has successfully drifted across the Atlantic Ocean on the wind and currents in his 10′ by 9′ orange barrel-shaped craft. He departed from … Continue reading
On Sunday, May 5th, armed pirates boarded the semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel Blue Marlin, 80 nautical miles offshore of Equatorial Guinea on the west coast of Africa. The ship, operated by the Dutch firm Boskalis, had unloaded cargo near Luba port, … Continue reading
Cruise Fever is reporting that Royal Caribbean is having to rearrange the itineraries for the Allure of the Seas for the next five months due to mechanical issues with one of the three Azipods, the pod propulsion units which drive … Continue reading
In July of last year, we posted about a Korean maritime salvage company which claimed to have found the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, which sank during the 1905 Battle of Tsushima. They also claimed that the wreck … Continue reading
While the surface of the Earth is more than 70% covered by ocean, worlds covered by even greater expanses of water may be more common than previously thought. We have previously posted about evidence of water on other bodies in … Continue reading
Two days ago, NPR reported: “Fisherman off the coast of Norway encountered a beluga whale with “Equipment of St. Petersburg” inscribed on its harness. Researchers think the beluga may be a Russian spy in training.” There was speculation that the … Continue reading
Here is a fun time-lapse of the 1939 built Alden schooner, When And If, overtaking the schooner America 2.0 in the 34th Annual Schooner Wharf Bar Wrecker’s Cup Race in Key West, FL. When And If was built for General … Continue reading
Next Wednesday, May 1, from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, the City Lore gallery in Manhattan is hosting Waterfront Heroes: Women on the Waterfront which will feature a panel discussion moderated by maritime journalist Betsy Haggerty. The panelists will include Fulton … Continue reading
In 1919, the three-masted schooner William H. Sumner was wrecked on the North Carolina shore near New Topsail Inlet, after a mutiny by its crew. Since then the wreck has played hide and seek, disappearing beneath the sand and emerging … Continue reading
Mitsuhiro Iwamoto, 52, sailed 8,700-miles across the Pacific non-stop, becoming the first visually impaired person to do so. He was assisted by his sighted navigator, Doug Smith. The two left California in late February on a 12m (40 ft) sailboat and … Continue reading
A few years ago I was walking down a street in Austin Texas when I saw a group of folks sitting at a bar pedal by. Apparently, they were peddling a “Pedal Pub” on a PubCrawler tour. The Pedal Pub … Continue reading
At the end of last December, we posted about the 72-year-old French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin who set off to attempt to drift across the Atlantic in a large wooden barrel. He departed from El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, … Continue reading
Recently, we posted about the planned sinking of the USS Clamagore as an artificial reef. The 1945 built Balao-class submarine has been an exhibit at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston, SC since 1981, but the museum says … Continue reading
Man at Sea is one of Alfred Dunhill’s ‘Portraits of Achievement‘. It is five years old, but new to me. Man at Sea is an ode to the sea and one man’s life long passion for sailing on it, following … Continue reading
In February we posted that the tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry was entering drydock and that the mission and strategy of Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI), the organization operating the ship, was being reconsidered. Rather than focussing on distance sailing, … Continue reading
The News is reporting that Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is setting sail today from Portsmouth Harbour, heading to a celebratory tour of Falmouth, where he finished his record-setting voyage on April 22 in 1969, becoming the first person to sail non-stop … Continue reading