For the past fifteen years, the three masted barquentine motorsailer Peacemaker has been owned by the Twelve Tribes, a religious community, often referred to as a cult. The 158′ Class A “tall ship” served as floating ambassador for the fundamentalist group, which has 50 or so communities in North and South America, Europe, and Australia. Peacemaker is now for sale for around $3 million. (Please, do not contact us. We have no involvement in the vessel. )
Originally named Avany, the ship was built by the Maccarini shipyard in southern Brazil using traditional methods and tropical ironwood, and was launched in 1989. In 2000, the ship was purchased by the Twelve Tribes and rigged as a barquentine. The refit vessel set sail for the first time in the spring of 2007, under the name Peacemaker.
Coronet 1885
The broker for Northrop and Johnson, the group handling the sale, is based in Newport, Rhode Island. Also in Newport, the classic 131-foot schooner Coronet is now being restored at the International Yacht Restoration School, IYRS. Coronet also has a long history of ownership by a religious cult.
I have a definite love-hate relationship with 
When Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy bought the 52ft yawl 
This morning was overcast and threatening rain on the West bank of the Hudson River. Fourteen years ago, on September 11, 2001, it was a sunny, clear day. A Nor’westerly wind was blowing and the air was cool and crisp. That morning, I got a frantic call from my wife who had left for work not too long before. Something terrible had happened in the World Trade Center. She had been on the mezzanine of One World Trade Center when the first plane hit. I left our house and walked literally around the corner to see an ugly black plume of smoke streaming almost horizontally from the North Tower. A few minutes later, while walking with neighbors toward the waterfront, I saw the second plane hit the South tower followed by a billowing orange plume of flame erupting from the opposite side of the building an instant later.
Last Sunday, a 
In her long and varied career, the historic cutter 
One hundred and fifteen years ago today, on September 8, 1900, the city of Galveston Texas was struck by what today would be classified as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 145 mph and a storm surge of 14 feet. Somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 people died, making it the deadliest hurricane in US history.
This weekend, the 
On July 10, 1985, 
Recently, 
In 1869, the 
I hate jet-skis. They are noisy, exhaust-spewing and dangerous. I am amazed that more people don’t get killed by running them into other boats or seawalls, or just