The Rise and Fall of the South Street Seaport Museum

Posted on by February 19, 2011

The restored South Street Seaport, on New York’s City’s East River, has always been an uneasy balance between a historic seaport and a real estate deal.   South Street  is now far  more shopping mall than historic seaport.  The current museum chairman, Frank J. Sciame,  is himself a real estate developer. Depending on who one asks, Sciame is either the museum’s savior or its destroyer.   Since March, Mr. Sciame has lent the museum $3 million to cover operating expenses.  Over the last three weeks, seven of the 21 trustees resigned from the museum board, and according to sources at the Seaport, twelve employees were furloughed on Monday, leaving at most a skeleton staff to continue Seaport operations.  Whether the Seaport Museum will survive its current financial crisis is unclear.

As reported in yesterday’s New York Times:
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A Blog for the ‘Sixth Borough’ – Tugster in the New York Times

Posted on by December 13, 2011

Will Van Dorp, Tugster Photo: Brian Luster

One of my favorite blogs is Will van Dorp’s Tugster : a water blog – part shipspotting, part anthropology and part wry commentary on life and the universe, Will and his omnipresent camera do a great job covering New York’s “six borough.”   Those who know New York might note that there are only five boroughs – Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx.  The Tugster blog covers the sixth  –  the great harbor and the network of waterways that separate and also bind together the great city of New York.   Yesterday, the New York Times took note of Will’s work on Tugster:

A Blog for the ‘Sixth Borough’
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Pirates Capture Four Americans on Yacht in Indian Ocean

Posted on by February 20, 2011

SV Quest reported hijacked by pirates

Four Americans on the S/V Quest were seized by pirates this afternoon 240 nautical miles off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean.   Jean and Scott Adam, owners of the S/V Quest, have been sailing around the world for more than seven years.  With their two crew, they will join the over 815 sailors now being held hostage by pirates.

Somali pirates hijack US yacht: NGO
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Losing the War on Piracy – A Lack of Political Will

Posted on by February 18, 2011

Photo: english.alshahid.net

Last week the  Danish warship Esbern Snare captured a hijacked fishing vessel and freed two Yemeni hostages.  In addition to 16 pirates aboard the ship, the Danes  found rocket launchers, assault rifles, ammunition, large quantities of fuel and two skiffs.

The pirates were released due to a lack of evidence.  I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

Warship captures Somali pirates
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Japan Halts Whale Hunt, or Does it?

Posted on by February 17, 2011

Yesterday, Japan announced that due to concerns for safety they had suspended their whale hunt,  as of February 10th.   The Sea Shepherds claim that the Japanese are bluffing.   Perhaps Watson and his band of bumbling vigilante pirates are concerned over their “reality” TV show “Whale Wars.”    If the Japanese withdraw, it could severely cramp the production of Watson’s long running Animal Planet farce.

Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protesters

Whalers’ withdrawal a bluff, says Sea Shepherd

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the article along.

The Legend of Sadie, the Goat – Hudson River Pirate

Posted on by February 19, 2011

from Herbert Asbury's Gangs of New York, 1929

Recently the New York Times on its “Answers to Readers’ Questions About New York” blog was asked, “Can you tell me anything about a Hudson River pirate named Sadie the Goat?”  Sadie’s tale is worth retelling, whether or not she ever existed.

Sadie Farrell began her career as a thief in New York’s Bloody Fourth Ward in the late 1860s.  She earned her nickname, Sadie the Goat, for head butting her victims in the stomach.   She apparently had a running feud with Gallus Mag, the 6-foot bouncer of a Water Street dive called the Hole-in-the-Wall, who had raised ear-biting to a fine art.  Gallus would drag troublemakers out to the street by one ear clenched in her teeth.  In a fight with Gallus Mag, Sadie had one ear bitten off.  Galllus kept the trophy in a pickling jar. Continue reading →

Oyster Apocalypse?

Posted on by February 16, 2011

Photo: Tim Graham / Getty Images

According to a study published in the February issue of BioScience, 85% percent of the world’s native oyster reefs have been destroyed.

Oyster Apocalypse? Truth About Bivalve Obliteration

Three-quarters of the wild oysters left in the world, the study says, now live in North America — and they aren’t all doing that great, either. Many of the native reefs that still exist are “functionally extinct,” meaning they no longer play a significant role in the ecosystem, which is a big deal since these rugged little buggers used to do such things as create habitats for other species, keep the water clean and shore up coastlines. One of the last major areas to harbor native oyster reefs is the Gulf of Mexico, and at least half of the ones there were destroyed by the BP oil spill — or the subsequent attempts to clean it up.

Shipwreck’s ‘oldest beer’ to be brewed again

Posted on by February 16, 2011

Worlds Oldest Drinkable Beer

Last November we posted about a plan by Finnish authorities to allow one or several modern breweries to replicate the recipe of beer found in a Baltic Sea shipwreck dated between 1800 to 1830.  In addition to cases of champagne, the wreck contained five bottles of the oldest drinkable beer ever discovered.   Now the local government of the Aland island chain, where the wreck was found, has commissioned a scientific study to attempt to determine the beer’s original recipe, as the first step toward brewing the ancient beer.

Shipwreck’s ‘oldest beer’ to be brewed again
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Update: Opposition to Shipping Nuclear Waste on the Great Lakes

Posted on by February 15, 2011

Last week we posted about the approval granted  by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to allow Bruce Power to ship 1,600 tonnes of radioactive waste, in the form of 16 decommissioned nuclear reactors, across the Great Lakes, though the St. Lawrence Seaway and across the Atlantic Ocean to Sweden for recycling.  Not everyone is happy about it.   The Ontario First Nations are pointing out that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is “ignoring the rule of law” by approving a nuclear waste shipment through the Great Lakes.

Ontario First Nation says planned nuke shipment through Great Lakes ignores law
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New York’s Seaport Museum Struggles to Stay Afloat

Posted on by February 16, 2011

Photo: DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

Update: The Seaport Museum “temporarily” laid-off another twelve staff members on Monday afternoon.

More bad news from the South Street Seaport.   Last week the Seaport Museum laid off the captain of the schooner Pioneer, as well a marine educator and several others.  We have posted previously about the museum’s so far unsuccessful attempts to sell historic vessels to bridge budget shortfalls.   The schooner Lettie Howard, the windjammer Peking, as well as the tug Helen McAllister and the lighter Marion M. are reported to be for sale.   The schooner Pioneer is supported by an active group of volunteers but is often inactive for lack of paying  passengers.  The museum, which has been referred to as the best kept secret in New York, has often not been effective in marketing its activities.

Seaport Museum Struggles to Stay Afloat
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Barge Waldhof Finally Raised from Rhine River

Posted on by February 14, 2011

The tank barge Waldhof which capsized a month ago in the Rhine River near Lorelei Rock  was finally raised today after its cargo of sulfuric acid was allowed to slowly drain off.   Two sailors where lost in the capsize. One of the bodies was found inside the barge cabin.    The second sailor remains missing and is presumed drowned.  The barge has now been towed to a safe harbor close by.   The capsized barge has severely restricted commercial travel on the Rhine River, Europe’s busiest inland water way.

Salvagers raise sunken barge to clear Rhine bottleneck

Previous Posts on the Capsize of the Waldhof

Thanks to Ulrich Rudofsky for the heads up.

Happy Battle of Cape St. Vincent’s day

Posted on by February 14, 2011

If by some chance you choose not celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, or you have simply reached the limit of how many hearts and flowers you can tolerate,   feel free to celebrate today as the Battle of Cape St. Vincent‘s Day.   Two hundred and fourteen years ago on this day, a British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated a larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal.  Nothing like black powder smoke and slaughter to clear the Valentine’s Day cobwebs.

Valentine Islands

Posted on by February 14, 2011

Are they islands of love on the storm-tossed seas of life?  Sadly, they probably are not, but they do look like Valentine’s Day hearts.

Sailors’ Valentines – Better than a Hallmark Card

Posted on by February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day!   Yesterday, the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine held a sailor’s valentine workshop.  (See our previous post.)   Sailors’ valentines were traditionally octagonal wooden boxes with a glass front,  with intricate symmetrical designs inside, often made of shells and carved and polished woods or ivory.  They were particularly popular in the 1830s to 1850s.   While the name suggests that the  boxes were made by sailor’s for their loved ones, many of the “valentines” were made in Barbados.  Antique sailors’ valentines have become quite valuable. For beautiful, more modern, sailor’s valentines check out the work of Sandy Morgan and Lynda Susan Hennigan.

Water Bloggers at the Oldest Working Bar in New York

Posted on by February 13, 2011

One of the wonderful and maddening things about the internet is that we all make so many virtual acquaintances;  many who become good friends, and yet who we have met only through the ether of web pages and email.   It was, therefore, a real pleasure last Friday evening to sit down, in the flesh, and share a drink or two or – well perhaps, it is best not to specify the specific numbers of drinks – with a group of water bloggers from in and around New York.   In no particular order, there was Will van Dorp of the Tugster blog,  Christina 0f Bowsprite, Bonnie of Frogma with TQ,  John and Vicky of  Summit to Shore, Michael Alex of Peconic Puffin, and Adam of Messing Around in Boats,  as well as Carolina from Portside New York.  An illustrious and/or nefarious group, to be sure.   Peconic Puffin summed up the evening thusly, “The gathering of so many water bloggers in an ancient watering hole created a metafactual vortex that left me adrift in uncertainty and doubt.   But it was a  fun uncertainty and doubt!” I have no idea what that means exactly, but it works for me.
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Recent Watercolor by Hans Breeman – MV Rotte

Posted on by February 13, 2011

Here is a recent watercolor by Hans Breeman showing the MV Rotte owned by NV Houtvaart Rotterdam. The vessel is shown in Hongkong on charter to K-Line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, Tokyo).  Hans Breeman is a Dutch maritime painter who focuses on the merchant ships of the 50s and 60s.  To see more of his marvelous work visit his site  – Hans Breeman and Maritime Art.

Update: HMS Invincible Sold to Turkish Scrappers

Posted on by February 12, 2011

HMS Invincible

Last November, we posted about the sale by tender, through an internet site, of the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible. The highest bidder was a Turkish scrapper.

HMS Invincible sold to Turkish ship recyclers

Leyal Ship Recycling, which is based near Izmir, was chosen ahead of a bid by a UK-based Chinese businessman.
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Always Summer Somewhere – Sailing on the Tall Ship Soren Larsen

Posted on by February 10, 2011

In response to our post, Sail this summer on the Picton Castle, Greg Winter commented, “Or try the same in the beautiful South Pacific, on the brigantine Soren Larsen. Sails out of Auckland New Zealand to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Australia.”    During the ugly winter we have been having, it is easy to forget that it is always summer somewhere.    The beautiful Soren Larsen is offering a wide range of cruises during the reset of the New Zealand Summer and Fall and escapes to the balmier  sections of the Pacific in Winter.

TALLSHIP SOREN LARSEN

The Two Brothers and the Two Captains – Who was Unlucky?

Posted on by February 11, 2011

Wreck of the whale ship Two Brothers, Photo: Greg McFall/NOAA

The wreck of the whale ship Two Brothers, which sank 188 years ago on French Frigate Shoals, 600 miles northwest of Honolulu,  was recently located by divers.   The captain of the whale ship was George Pollard Jr., whose previous ship, the Essex, was sunk by a rogue sperm whale in the Pacific in 1820.  The survivors, in open boats, attempted in vain to reach the coast of South America.  Before the two remaining boats were picked up by passing ships, the eight survivors suffered starvation, death, madness and finally cannibalism.   The Chief Mate on the Essex, Owen Chase, would later write, the  Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, which influenced Herman Melville in writing his masterpiece Moby Dick.

No ‘Moby-Dick’: A Real Captain, Twice Doomed
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Record Crowds Expected for Hobart Wooden Boat Festival

Posted on by February 11, 2011

Record crowds, possibly exceeding 100,000, are expected at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival which begins today and runs through Monday at Hobart’s historic Sullivan’s Cove docks.   The four-day festival which  brings together the biggest collection of wooden boats in the southern hemisphere, is a celebration of maritime culture and craftsmanship.   Jessica Watson, the young Australian  circumnavigator, will be a special guest.

Record crowds expected for wooden boat festival