Join Us For “Hell Around the Horn” at NMHS Seminar Series, Nov 3rd

Posted on by October 29, 2018

If you are in the neighborhood, consider joining us when I give a presentation about my novel, Hell Around the Horn, at the National Maritime Historical Society Seminar Series this Saturday at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, 185 Kings Ferry Road, Montrose, NY. Welcome and refreshments begin at 10:30 AM, with the presentation at 11:00 AM.

From the National Maritime Historical Society website: 

The November NMHS Seminar Series features Hell Around the Horn with author and “Old Salt Blog” founder and host Rick Spilman. This nautical thriller is set in the last days of the great age of sail. In 1905, a young ship’s captain and his family set sail on the windjammer, Lady Rebecca, from Cardiff, Wales with a cargo of coal bound for Chile, by way of Cape Horn. Before they reach the Southern Ocean, the cargo catches fire, the mate threatens mutiny and one of the crew may be going mad, yet the greatest challenge will prove to be surviving the vicious westerly winds and mountainous seas of the worst Cape Horn winter in memory.

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New Memorial to NY Tug Crew Abducted by UFO in 1977

Posted on by October 28, 2018

Photograph by Joe Reginella

A new bronze statue, pedestal, and plaque have been erected at New York’s Battery Park, memorializing the six crew of the harbor tug Maria 120 who mysteriously vanished during the New York City blackout of 1977. Some believe that the sailors were abducted by a UFO. The statue is of a tug crewman gazing up at what can be presumed to be an alien spacecraft as an extraterrestrial figure lays at his feet

Do you recall this bit of forgotten history? Probably not, as it never happened. Nevertheless, the plaque and monument are quite real, as is the website, NYC UFO Tugboat Abduction, subtitled, “Learn the Truth about New York’s UFO Cover-Up.” There is also a Youtube video and an on-line gift shop. Of course, it is all a spoof, the most recent latest public art piece from Staten Island-based sculptor Joe Reginella.

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Little Brigs are for Sale

Posted on by October 27, 2018

Sad news from the Little Brig Trust, which operates two very small tall-ships. The Gosport based charity has announced that after a review of operations, that it did not have the capacity to continue into 2019, and so are putting their two “little brigs” up for sale.

As we posted in 2010, the two 9 meter brigs, the Bob Allen and the Caroline Allen, were designed to introduce sailors as young as ten to the fun and challenges of sailing a square-rigged “tall ship.”   The small tall-ships cost less to build, operate and crew than larger vessels. They are also incredibly cute.  The small tall-ships were designed by British naval architect Colin Mudie.  

The statement by the Trust went on to say: We are placing the Little Brigs for sale as one lot and welcome offers based on the fact they have life-rafts, life-jackets and a multitude of other items (including two working engines) we have sent a minimum reserve.

If you would like to purchase please send a bid to info@littlebrig.org and we will contact you to discuss.

“Invisible” Superyacht Mirage — Good Idea or Bad?

Posted on by October 26, 2018

Italian boatbuilders Fincantieri and Dutch firm Van Geest Designs have developed a design of a 106 meter “Superyacht,” named Mirage, which would effectively become invisible at sea. The design features specially mirrored glass which is intended to reflect the image of the sea back to onlookers, making the yacht apparently vanish at distances over 50 meters. 

So far, the yacht is only a design. Designer Pieter Van Geest says that after working for over a year on the plans, the yacht itself would take three and a half years to construct. Mirage would cost an estimated £200 million.

Is this a brilliant concept or a really bad idea? Continue reading →

The History Guy on the Naval Battle of Campeche

Posted on by October 25, 2018

Here is a fascinating bit of history from the “History Guy” about when the navies of the Republic of Texas and the Republic of the Yucatan faced off against the most modern warships of their time, the ironclads of the Mexican Navy, the steamers Guadalupe and Moctezuma.  They fought in the Naval Battle of Campeche in 1843. Remarkably, the battle between the wooden ships and the iron steamers ended in a draw.   

The Naval Battle of Campeche

A Sail on the Draken Harald Hårfagre in New York Harbor

Posted on by October 24, 2018

Photo: Bjoern Kils

On Monday, I was fortunate enough to have been invited by the good folks at Highland Park Whisky to sail for an afternoon on the Draken Harald Hårfagre in New York harbor. At 115′ feet from stem to stern, Draken Harald Hårfagre is the largest Viking ship built in modern times. 

Built in Haugesund in Western Norway, the ship and her crew made an epic crossing of the Atlantic in 2016, following the old Viking route westward. The ship then toured the Great Lakes before traveling down the Hudson to New York, before wintering over at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. This year the ship has just finished a 14 harbor East Coast tour from Maine to South Carolina.

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Scientists Find Oldest Intact Shipwreck in Black Sea

Posted on by October 23, 2018

In the dark and oxygenless waters of the Black Sea two miles below the surface, a team of maritime archaeologists, scientists and surveyors has discovered what it believes to be the world’s oldest intact shipwreck. Carbon dating suggests that the wreck is more than 2,400 years ago. A remote-controlled submarine piloted by British scientists spotted the 75 foot Greek trading lying on its side about 50 miles off the coast of Bulgaria. The vessel was found lying whole with its mast, rudders and rowing benches in place.

The ship is believed to have been a trading vessel of a type that researchers have only seen represented on ancient Greek pottery.

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Hurricane Michael Unearths Ships Lost in Hurricane 119 Years Ago

Posted on by October 22, 2018

Ships were wrecked on Dog island during a hurricane in 1899.

In 1899, a hurricane carried 15 ships ashore on Dog Island, a barrier island on the northwestern Florida Gulf coast. Recently, Hurricane Micheal unearthed several of the lost ships. The exposed wooden ships now rest in plain view near the west end of the island on the Gulf of Mexico.

USA Today reports that the ships are well-documented wrecks, according to the Florida Department of State. Because state resources are being allocated to more urgent hurricane recovery efforts, there are currently no plans for state archaeologists to visit the site.

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Grays Harbor Historical Seaport: Learn. Sail. Discover.

Posted on by October 18, 2018

Here is the very nicely done 2018 promotional video for Grays Harbor Historical Seaport, produced by Leftcoast Media House.  Grays Harbor, Washington is homeport to the West Coast’s tall ships, Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain.

Grays Harbor Historical Seaport: Learn. Sail. Discover. from Grays Harbor Historical Seaport on Vimeo.

Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, First Visit to New York Harbor

Posted on by October 20, 2018

The HMS Queen Elizabeth, Great Britain’s new aircraft carrier, sailed beneath the Verrazano Bridge yesterday on a weeklong visit to New York harbor. The ship which cost £3.1 billion is 932 feet long, displaces 65,000 tonnes, and is the largest warship ever built by the Royal Navy.

As the new carrier sailed into the harbor, the Royal Marines band and a bagpiper played as many of the more than 1,000 personnel onboard stood at attention, lining the rails and walkways.

During her stay in New York, the ship nicknamed, “Big Lizzie,” will host a major forum on cybersecurity. The UK Defence secretary Gavin Williamson will be announcing a joint drive with the US to counter cyber-warfare. Gavin Williamson is visiting HMS Queen Elizabeth, where he will make a speech during a special Trafalgar Day dinner held on board.

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Raye Montague, Barrier-Shattering Navy Ship Designer, Dies at 83

Posted on by October 22, 2018

Barrier-shattering naval engineer Raye Montague has died at the age of 83. At the age of 7, she was inspired to become an engineer after she toured a captured German submarine with her grandmother during World War II.  As an African-American girl, however, she was told that becoming an engineer was simply not an option.

Thirty years later, Raye Montague became the first person to use a computer program to rapidly develop a preliminary ship design for the U.S. Navy. The design process had previously taken the Navy two years. Montague completed the preliminary design of the Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigate in less than 19 hours. Her accomplishment revolutionized the way the Navy designs ships and submarines. 

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Coast Guard Auxiliary Radio Day & 79th Anniversary Celebration on Cutter Lilac

Posted on by October 18, 2018

This Saturday, October 20, from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at Manhattan’s Pier 25, at West Street and N. Moore Street, on the Hudson River, the retired U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Lilac will be hosting a celebration of 79th anniversary of the founding of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary with a special Radio Day event.  The Lower Manhattan Flotilla of the Auxiliary will install a ham radio station on the Liliac which will open to the public especially for the afternoon.  Visitors will be able to learn about the importance of radio in maritime communications by observing operators send and receive messages as part of this nationwide Radio Day. 

Auxiliarists will be on hand to discuss their work and provide information on recreational boating safety, a key part of their mission to support the Coast Guard. As always, Lilac‘s volunteers will share the ship’s story with visitors who wish to take a tour. 

Lilac is a retired Coast Guard cutter that carried supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys from 1933 to 1972.  USCGC Lilac is America’s only surviving steam-powered lighthouse tender and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Continue reading →

Cable Car Ride Down Gibraltar

Posted on by October 17, 2018

As someone who has been reading Georgian naval fiction since I was a teenager, I am well acquainted with Gibraltar and the famous Rock. I recently had the opportunity to visit the British Overseas Territory, one half of the Pillars of Hercules, at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. We arrived on the M/Y Harmony G, a 55M passenger ship masquerading as a yacht. Here is a short video of the cable car ride down from Ape’s Den midway up the Rock. When we rode up, we were completely enveloped by fog. Fortunately, the fog lifted just before we boarded the cable car to ride down. The clouds still form a dark and glowering canopy but provided a nice view of the harbor and the Spanish shore on the far side of the bay. 

Surge Barriers for New York — the Best or Worst of Solutions?

Posted on by October 2, 2018

After the flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, a proposal was developed to build storm surge barriers to protect New York City and nearby municipalities. Given the rising sea levels and increasingly violent storms associated with climate change, many argue that this storm barriers are an absolute necessity to prevent more devastating flooding in the immediate future.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now considering six different plans involving massive in-water barriers and/or land-based floodwalls, dunes and levees intended to “manage the risk of coastal storm damage” to New York Harbor and the Hudson Valley.

On the other hand, a number of environmentalists argue that the storm surge barriers as designed would effectively threaten the very existence of the Hudson as a living river.

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Women and Children First — The Birkenhead Disaster

Posted on by October 2, 2018

Where did the rule of loading women and children first into the lifeboats in an emergency come from? It is actually more of a guideline than a rule as it is not explicitly called out in admiralty law. It all dates from the sinking of HM Troopship Birkenhead in 1852, off the aptly named Danger Point, near Gansbaai, South Africa. A short video explanation from the “History Guy.”

The Birkenhead Disaster

Nautical Coincidence & Lifeboat Morality – Richard Parker and the Mignonette

Posted on by April 12, 2022

Here is another old favorite, a companion repost to yesterday’s repost of “The Unsinkable Hugh Williams – Truth Behind the Legend?”

We recently posted in response to a video, “The Strangest Coincidence Ever Recorded?.”  It recounted how three men named Hugh Williams were each the only survivors of shipwrecks in the treacherousness Menai Straits off North Wales. More remarkably, two of the Hugh Williams escaped from shipwrecks on the same day,  December 5th separated by over a hundred years.  The video claimed that all three Hugh Williams’ ships sank on December 5th, but that was not the case.  And Hugh Williams is a very common name in North Wales, so while it is a remarkable coincidence, it doesn’t quite rank as the “strangest ever recorded.”

On the topic of nautical coincidences, Chris Quigley at the Quigley’s Cabinet blog, mentioned the Mignonette coincidence.  All that we can say is, Hugh Williams meet Richard Parker.  The case of Richard Parker and the Mignonette does indeed involve coincidence but the story remains compelling because it raises issues of morality that are very tricky to address, even to this day.

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The Unsinkable Hugh Williams – Truth Behind the Legend?

Posted on by April 12, 2022

I am traveling this week, so it seems like a good time to repost an old blog favorite, the remarkable story of the unsinkable Hugh Williams.

There is a video bouncing around the web these days called “The Strangest Coincidence Ever Recorded?”   (The video is embedded at the bottom of the post.) It tells the story of a ship that sank in the Menai Strait off the coast of Wales on December 5, 1664. All 81 passengers died, except one. His name was Hugh Williams.  Then on December 5th, 1785 another ship with 60 aboard sank in the Menai Strait. The only survivor – a man named Hugh Williams.   In 1820 on December 5th, a third vessel sank in the Menai Strait. All 25 aboard were drowned except, you guessed it, a man named Hugh Williams.

An amazing tale, but is it history or just an oft retold sea story?   It could easily be a bit of each.

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Algae Apocalypse — Sargassum Spreads Across the Caribbean & Florida

Posted on by October 17, 2018

On the resort beaches of the Yucatan Peninsula masses of stinking sargassum seaweed have been washing ashore for several years. From Miami Beach to Barbados sargassum is spreading across the Caribbean and Florida. The seaweed is killing fish, turtles and other sea life as well as befouling beaches and damaging fisherman’s nets. 

The Washington Post reports: 
Scientists warn that the algae known as sargassum are a grave new threat to the Caribbean — one as potentially life-altering as rising sea levels or destructive hurricanes.

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Sailor’s Tattoos – Pigs, Chickens, Swallows, and Tattooed Backsides

Posted on by October 2, 2018

A repost on Throw-Back Thursday from all the way back to 2008.

Tattoos have become very popular of late. Tattoo Facts & Statistics notes that “thirty-six percent of those ages 18 to 25, and 40 percent of those ages 26 to 40, have at least one tattoo, according to a fall 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center.” As popular as tattoos are with twenty and thirty-somethings, sailors have been marking their bodies for most of history.

Many years ago a retired ship’s captain told me that his youth deckhands often had “HOLD FAST” tattooed across the knuckles of their hands so they wouldn’t fall when they went aloft. They also often had a pig tattooed on one foot and chicken the other which was supposed to protect you from drowning. He told me that he never figured out which foot was supposed to be tattooed with the chicken and which with the pig. He would say, with a twinkle in his eye, that he never got the tattoos because he was afraid of getting them on the wrong feet.

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Mutant Green Crabs Invading Maine

Posted on by October 17, 2018

Photo: Hans Hillewaert

It sounds like a low budget horror/sci-fi flick —  “Nasty Mutant Green Crabs Invade Maine.” Sadly, it is no movie pitch. LiveScience reports that an aggressive breed of green crab is indeed invading Maine’s waters. 

Green crabs have been in North America in the 1800s. They are believed to have arrived in the ballast water of ships from Europe. In recent years, however, a genetically different European green crab from Nova Scotia, Canada — one that is more combative and more destructive of ecosystems — has appeared off the coast of Maine. 

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