“Gasparilla Pirate Fest,” Panther John Gomez, & the Fictious Pirate Jose Gaspar

Posted on by January 30, 2023

Last Saturday, a ragtag pirate band calling itself Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla invaded the port of Tampa, FL, kicking off the Gasparilla Pirate Fest, notionally in honor of Jose Gaspar, a brigand reputed to be the “Last Buccaneer.” The festival is described as “a swashbuckling good time” involving silly costumes, parade floats, and heavy drinking. The festival has been going on in Tampa almost yearly since 1904.

According to legend, the pirate Jose Gaspar, nicknamed Gasparilla, is described as a Spanish Admiral turned brigand said to have seized over 400 ships between 1789 and 1821. His treasure, none of which has ever been found, is said to be buried all along the Gulf Coast.

While Gasparilla’s exploits are described as legendary, mythological might be an even better description, as there is no evidence, whatsoever, that Jose Gaspar ever existed.

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What is Killing Whales Off New York & New Jersey Coasts? Is Offshore Wind to Blame?

Posted on by January 27, 2023

We recently posted about the burial of the carcass of a beached humpback whale in the beach at Atlantic City, NJ. It was the second whale to come ashore in the city in the last month. Overall nine dead whales have washed ashore on the coast of New York and New Jersey in the last two months. 

The dead whales have prompted several New Jersey GOP lawmakers to question whether the deaths were linked to the future development of a major proposed offshore wind farm in the area.  Fox News host Tucker Carlson went further, blaming the wind project for the death of the whales and calling offshore wind “the DDT of our times.” 

But scientists say there’s no evidence to support a connection between whale mortality and the development of offshore wind farms. 

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Russia’s Only Aircraft Carrier Catches Fire Again, Lawmaker Proposes Buying China’s Liaoning Carrier

Posted on by January 25, 2023

Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, has been out of service for years while undergoing maintenance for chronic operational problems. In just the most recent mishap, a fire broke out on the carrier, a few days before Christmas, while undergoing repair work at a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk, according to reports by the Russian state Tass and RIA Novosti news agencies. 

Admiral Kuznetsov’s ongoing overhaul, which began in 2017 and was initially set to conclude last year, has been beset by failures and accidents. In 2018, the ship was damaged when a crane collapsed as a floating drydock sank beneath the ship. Reportedly, one person died and four were injured in the mishap. 

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Sydney Beaches Close After Sharks Attack Dolphin — What are Risks of Shark Attacks?

Posted on by January 23, 2023

Bull Shark — Photo: Chaloklum Diving

The BBC reports that several popular beaches in Sydney, Australia have been closed after sharks attacked a dolphin in waters near the city. At least two bull sharks were spotted in the Shelly Beach area, in northern Sydney, after the attack and authorities closed all nearby beaches as a precaution. The injured dolphin circled the shallow waters but eventually beached and died.

Manly Open Surf, a carnival taking place at the beach over the weekend, has been suspended. Lifeguards cleared people from the water after the attack, which happened at around 07:00 local time on Saturday (20:00 GMT on Friday). Hundreds of people had been about to compete in the festival.

What are the risks of being attacked by a shark?

What are the actual risks of being attacked by a shark when swimming in the ocean? It turns out that the risks are quite low. The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF) investigated 137 alleged shark-human interactions worldwide in 2021. ISAF confirmed 73 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 39 provoked bites.

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Newport Ship: Medieval Vessel Described as ‘World’s Largest 3D Puzzle’

Posted on by January 22, 2023

In June 2002 in the city of Newport, South East Wales, a mid-fifteenth-century sailing vessel was discovered during the construction of the Riverfront Theatre in the banks of the River Usk.

Now, after two decades of documenting the remains of the former wine-trading vessel and 1,000 medieval artifacts, including drying and preserving the ship’s timbers, archeologists will be attempting the unprecedented. They will now attempt to reassemble the ship from its surviving parts. With almost 2,500 pieces, measuring 30 meters and weighing 25 tonnes, the project has been called the world’s largest 3D puzzle.

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Ice Core Study Shows Greenland is the Warmest it has Been in 1,000 Years

Posted on by January 21, 2023

At the end of December, we posted about a disturbing report that Greenland’s glaciers are melting 100 times faster than previously calculated. Now, a new study published this week in the journal Nature reveals that Greenland is warmer than it has been in more than 1,000 years, according to new ice core data.

Newly drilled and analyzed ice cores were used to make a chart of proxy temperatures for Greenland running from the year 1000 to 2011. The plot shows temperatures gently sloping cooler for the first 800 years, then wiggling up and down while sloping warmer until a sharp and sudden spike hotter from the 1990s on. One scientist compared it to a hockey stick, a description used for other long-term temperature data showing climate change.

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RIP David Crosby — Iconic Singer-Songwriter, Guitarist & Sailor

Posted on by January 20, 2023

On January 19, 2023, David Crosby died at the age of 81, following a long illness. He was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: once for his work in the Byrds and again for his work with CSN. Five albums to which he contributed are included in Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time“, three with the Byrds and two with CSN(Y). Crosby’s work with the Byrds and CSNY has sold over 35 million albums.

David Crosby was also a lifelong sailor, starting sailing at the age of 11. In 1968, Crosby purchased the 1947-built Alden schooner Mayan, which he would own and sail extensively for 45 years. The schooner became a sanctuary from which Crosby could escape at least some of the challenges of his personal and professional life.

Crosby wrote that ““Mayan became my rock. She was always there and I could always get away from the crazies in my business.”

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SS United States – Exploration of the Abandoned Ocean Liner

Posted on by January 17, 2023

The SS United States is a ship from another era. One of the last great ocean liners, very different from modern cruise ships, she was designed to carry passengers across oceans.  On her maiden voyage in 1952, she set speed records crossing the Atlantic in both directions, earning the coveted Blue Riband.

Nevertheless, from the start, her days in liner service were numbered. Only five years after entering service, Boeing introduced the Model 707, the first widely adopted long-range commercial jetliner. The 707 ushered in the Jet Age and marked the end of the Golden age of ocean liners.

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US Coast Guard Rescues 7 From Drifting Tug Legacy

Posted on by January 16, 2023

Photo: US Coast Guard

On Saturday, January 14, the US Coast Guard rescued seven crewmembers from the tug Legacy, disabled and drifting about 30 miles off the coast of Ocean City, New Jersey.

The Coast Guard reports that the tug Legacy notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday that while towing a 290-foot barge from New Jersey, to Guyana, a 1,000-foot towing line became entangled and fouled their starboard propeller. The vessel continued to make way on one engine when the tow line snapped. The crew attempted to regain tow of the barge at which time the line became tangled in the port propeller immobilizing the vessel. The tug’s crew member said Legacy was inoperable and that the crew was making preparations to abandon ship.

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Flight 1549, NY Harbor Ferries, & the Two “Miracles on the Hudson”

Posted on by January 15, 2023

An updated repost — a look back at the twin miracles on the Hudson from fourteen years ago today. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency water landing in the Hudson River. If the plane’s pilots, Captain Chesley “Sulley” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles had not glided the plane in at exactly the right angle and airspeed, it is likely that the plane would have broken apart and that all the 155 passengers and crew aboard could have died.

The landing is often called the “Miracle on the Hudson.” There was, however, a second miracle on the Hudson that day. Remarkably, New York harbor commuter ferries began arriving at the flooding plane less than four minutes after the crash.  Had it not been for the ferries’ rapid rescue of the passengers from the icy waters, the “miracle” might have ended as a tragedy.

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Chantiers de l’Atlantique to Build Large Sailing Cruise Ships for Accor

Posted on by January 14, 2023

Marine Log reports that French hospitality giant Accor S.A. has signed a letter of intent with Chantiers de l’Atlantique covering the construction of two very large luxury sailing cruise ships. The shipbuilder says “the order will be signed within a few weeks” and that the first ship, the Orient Express Silenseas, will be delivered in March 2026 and the second on September 1, 2027.

With a length of 220 meters, it is claimed the Orient Express Silenseas will be the largest sailing vessel in the world. Continue reading →

Remembering Charley Morgan — Legendary Sailor, Sailmaker, Yacht Builder, and Designer

Posted on by January 13, 2023

Charles Eugene Morgan Jr., 93, known to all as Charley, passed away last weekend, just a few hours after his wife Maurine died.

It has been said that Charley Morgan is the only person to ever single-handedly design, build, and skipper his own 12 Meter in the America’s Cup. Prior to and since Charley’s 1970 Cup attempt, all campaigns were organized by large syndicates. He even sailed the boat on its own bottom from St. Petersburg, Florida to Newport, Rhode Island to compete in the 1970 America’s Cup Defender Trials.

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Fifty Three Years Ago, the Exploding Whale or How Not To Remove a Whale Carcass

Posted on by January 11, 2023

Fifty years ago this November,  the residents of Florence, Oregon learned how not to dispose of a dead whale We recently posted about the burial of a dead humpback whale on the beach in Atlantic City. This was the correct way to dispose of a dead whale’s carcass.

Fifty-three years ago, in Florence, OR, local officials attempted to dispose of a beached whale carcass the wrong way.  Rather than cut up and bury the carcass, they decided to use dynamite to blow it up. While, no doubt, it must have seemed like a good idea at the time, it wasn’t. The explosives blasted large chunks of decayed whale skyward, raining down on curious bystanders, and even crushing a nearby parked car.  The moment was caught on video and has since been memorialized on YouTube (see below.) 

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After Grounding, Maryland Bans On-Duty Marine Pilots From Using Cell Phones

Posted on by January 10, 2023

The Maryland Board of Pilots has decided to enact a rule change that forbids on-duty pilots from using their phones after the Coast Guard determined that a distracted pilot’s cell phone use contributed to a container ship grounding. 

In March of last year, the container ship Ever Forward near Baltimore in the Chesapeake Bay failed to make a turn in the Craighill channel and ran hard aground on a mud flat, where it remained stuck for more than 35 days. The Coast Guard accident investigation report in late October determined that a “causal factor” contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inattention while on his cell phone, including sending texts, making a series of phone calls, and drafting an email while the ship was underway. 

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Humpback Whale Burial Draws Crowd to Atlantic City Beach

Posted on by January 9, 2023

On Sunday, a crowd gathered to watch the examination and burial of the carcass of a beached humpback whale in the sand in the beach at Atlantic City, NJ. It was the second whale to come ashore in the city in the last month.

The Press of Atlantic City reported that dozens of observers came and stood on the sand dunes over the approximately five hours crews were working, watching them dissect and dispose of the corpse. A bulldozer was driven onto the beach to dig the whale its grave and bury the sea creature. The most common observation made by passersby was the pungent smell of the decomposing whale.

The whale, a female humpback, was about 10 yards long and described as a “sub-adult.” Experts on the site hoped to collect the samples to help determine the cause of death. The team examined the whale’s superficial features as well as its internal organs and stomach contents.

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Wanted: Two Innkeepers on San Francisco Bay’s East Brother Light Station

Posted on by January 8, 2023

The East Bay Light Station Bed and Breakfast Inn, at the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay, is looking to hire two innkeepers for a period of two years. The joint positions, which start in April of this year, come with some very specific requirements.

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Iran Converting Two Panamax Container Ships to “Drone Carriers”

Posted on by January 6, 2023

In 1982 during the Falklands conflict, the Royal Navy commandeered two British container ships and converted them into impromptu carriers carrying Harrier jump jets and Harrier helicopters. Now over 40 years later, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard is reported to be converting two Panamax container ships to “drone carriers” according to Iranian social media and naval analyst H.I. Sutton. 

Maritime Executive reports that it appears the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be converting two container ships to drone carrier configurations. One has been reported as the former 3,300 TEU Panamax container ship Sarvin – currently listed in Equasis as “in repair/conversion” – and Sutton has identified the other as a sister ship, the Perarin. Both were last seen on AIS in 2019, lying at anchor off Bandar Abbas. 

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After Fire, Union Calls For New Staten Island Ferries to be Docked Pending Investigation

Posted on by January 3, 2023

On December 22, the new Ollis Class Staten Island ferry Sandy Ground suffered an engine room fire at the height of rush hour, requiring the evacuation of 866 passengers and 16 crew members aboard. The ferry was anchored as firefighters extinguished the fire. Five passengers were reported to be injured. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.

Now, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association — which represents captains, mates, and engineers on the Staten Island Ferry — has written a letter to the city Department of Transportation, calling for three Ollis-class ferries to be put out of service while the city probes the blaze on the Sandy Ground ferry.

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Cruise Ship Viking Orion Denied Port Entries Due to “Biofouling” — What Happened?

Posted on by January 2, 2023

Eight hundred passengers, reported to be mostly Americans, found themselves stranded on the cruise ship Viking Orion off South Australia for seven days after the ship was denied permission to dock in Adelaide, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Hobart, due to marine growth or “biofoul” on the ship’s hull.

Australia’s National Maritime Coordination Centre established that the ship’s hull had small amounts of biofoul – marine microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals.

The Guardian reports that authorities ordered the Viking Orion’s agent to have its hull cleaned before entering Australian waters.

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