At just before 0800 GMT this morning, Pascal Bidegorry and the crew of the 40 meter trimaran Banque Populaire set off from Brest in an attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy. The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world. The record is currently held by the trimaran Groupma 3 which, under the command of Franck Cammas, circumnavigated the globe in 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds.
An update on yesterday’s post.
German defense minister fires ship’s captain amid mutiny rumors
The German defense minister has dismissed the commander of the naval training ship Gorch Fock after cadets complained of harsh treatment from superiors following a fatal accident. The ship will now return to Germany.
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In this latest video blog from Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Chris Dobbs, Head of Interpretation at the Mary Rose Trust, talks us through the designing of the new carpenters cabin display, which is due to go into the new museum in 2012.
Christopher Dobbs of the Mary Rose Trust talks about the new Carpenters Cabin Display
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The Honourable East India Company ship Nemesis
In 1840, when she arrived off their coast, the Chinese called the Honourable East India Company ship Nemesis, the devil ship. She was the first British ocean-going iron warship. In addition to two masts, she was powered by two two sixty horsepower Forrester steam engines driving paddle wheels. She was armed with two pivot-mounted 32 pounder and four 6 pounder guns, and a rocket launcher. Though underpowered and under-gunned she proved to be extremely effective in the coastal battles of the Opium Wars. The Chinese had nothing that could remotely match her.
In a recent article in the Huffington Post, Rory Fitzgerald wonders whether the ghost of the Nemesis is still driving Chinese military and foreign policy.
China’s U.S. Visit: The Chinese Are Haunted by a Ghost Ship
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Last November, Sarah Schmidt, a 25 year old cadet fell to her death from the rigging of the German sailing training ship, Gorch Fock. It is now being reported that shortly after Schmidt’s death the cadets aboard the ship mutinied and refused orders to go aloft. It is also alleged that the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Norbert Schatz, verbally abused and demeaned the cadet crew. Yesterday, the German government ordered the ship to break her round the world cruise and to divert to the Argentine port city of Ushuaia, pending a investigation of the events.
Cadet ‘mutiny’ scuppers German navy’s tall ship
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A group of former workers at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in the San Francisco Bay Area has launched a campaign to bring the USS Olympia to San Pablo Bay. The Olympia, Commodore George Dewey’s flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay, is the only surviving steel warship of its era.
Nelson style speed dating? I hope this doesn’t involve boarding with cutlasses.
Unlucky in love? Try speed dating Nelson-style!
His romance with mistress Lady Hamilton is the stuff of legend – and singletons will hope to harness some of Lord Nelson’s pulling power at a speed dating event with a difference.
In an age where the search for love is often confined to the internet and the closest thing to penning a love letter is sending a text message, the National Museum of the Royal Navy will host a Georgian-themed speed dating event – mixing up the 21st and 18th centuries like never before.
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As one who is shivering in the snow, I am highly envious of the good folks in San Diego who will be celebrating their 3rd annual Big Bay Whale Days & Whale Festival this Saturday, January 22nd, in observance of the annual gray whale migration along the California coast. There will be concerts, free whale watching cruises and discounts to maritime museums and attractions. Sounds like a great time.
San Diego Celebrates Gray Whale Migration at 3rd Annual Big Bay Whale Days in January
Joan Druett’s new book, Tupaia – Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator, fills an important blank space in the history, as well as the legend, of Captain Cook. On his first voyage to the Pacific in HMS Endeavour, during a stop in Tahiti, Cook took aboard a Polynesian high priest named Tupaia. Tupaia was also a skilled navigator and would serve as translator and diplomat for Cook when he encountered the warlike Maoris of New Zealand.
While Tupaia played a critical role in the success of Cook’s first voyage, he died of complications from scurvy in Batavia and was never given the credit he was due by either Captain Cook or Josephs Banks in their accounts of the expedition. Finally Tupaia’s story is being told, in this, the first full biography of the remarkable navigator, linguist, artist and priest. It is a fascinating tale, well told.
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This story is a few days old, but remains strange and disturbing. The Dutch coaster Leopard, carrying a cargo of weapons, was reported to have been hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Oman last week, but when a Turkish naval vessel located the ship, there was no sign of the crew of six, nor of the pirates. A hijacked Taiwanese owned fishing vessel, believed to be being used as a pirate mother ship, was observed heading towards Somalia. There is speculation that the crew was aboard the hijacked fishing vessel. There is also concern that the crew, two Danes and four Filipinos, may have been killed. The Leopard was carrying a cargo of arms but was apparently abandoned by the pirates, leaving the arms cargo untouched.
Thanks to Phil Leon for pointing out the strange story.
Grim news. Late Saturday night, the wooden vessel Hasan Reis in the Mediterranean, carrying over 260 passengers, reported to be illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, began to leak in heavy seas and subsequently sank. The Dutch ship Momentum Scan rescued the survivors and carried them to Corfu. Twenty two immigrants are dead or missing.
“Hasan Reis” sank, 22 Afghan immigrants died
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Photo: Hudson River Park Trust
The Hudson river docks in New York harbor were once elegant terminals that greeted the arrival of passenger ships in the 1900s. Several were designed by the same architects that designed New York’s Grand Central Station. By the 70s, when I first arrive in the New York, they were largely abandoned – urban nightmares, known for violence, drugs and illicit sex. In the eighties and nineties, many of the old sheds were torn down, leaving bare concrete piers jutting into the river. Now, the Hudson River Park Trust is seeking proposals for the long term docking of historic vessels on at least one surviving pier, the newly refurbished Pier 25.
Hudson giving berth – River park will host historic ships
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Some absolutely wonderful photography and video as photographer Lisa Denning talks about her process of making pictures of humpback whales off the island of Rurutu in French Polynesia. From Time magazine:
American Brad van Liew sailing his Eco 60 yacht Le Pingouin won the second leg of the Velux 5 Oceans race, arriving in Wellington 120 miles ahead of his nearest competitor. Van Liew also won the first leg from La Rochelle to Capetown, South Africa.
One year ago last Wednesday, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. The port of Port-au-Prince was severely damaged. Now a year later the damage to the port remains unrepaired, but floating barges have temporarily replaced the damaged docks. Click the thumbnails for larger images. To see more photos of Haiti before and after the earthquake: Destruction in Haiti, Then and Now
Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth sail past the Statue of Liberty
Last night was clear and bitterly cold in New York harbor. Wind chill from the northwesterly breeze made the temperature feel like it was in the single digits. A new layer of snow from a storm two days before added to the existing snowbanks. Nevertheless, as darkness fell, groups of hearty New Yorkers began lining up along the promenade at Battery Park to watch the Royal Rendezvous, the three Queens of the Cunard fleet sailing in company out of New York harbor to music and fireworks.
An interesting followup to a previous post:
Retirement of adm. on hold in video inquiry
In an indication of just how seriously the Navy is taking the investigation into the racy shipboard videos aired four years ago aboard the carrier Enterprise, the scheduled Feb. 1 retirement of the ship’s captain at the time — now Rear Adm. Larry Rice — has been put on hold.
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Congratulations to the Capt. Shane Granger, Meggi Macoun, Joanne Har and all the good folks on the historic vessel Vega for being honored with the Asia Pacific Laureate Foundation annual award for Social Services in recognition of “Humanitarian Services to Isolated Island Communities.”
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Enchantment of the Seas
Two news stories recently on drugs aboard cruise ships suggest two very different types of drug problems. U.S. Customs and Border Protection raided the MSC Poesia, on Jan. 4, prior to the ship departing on a “Jam Cruise” a floating music festival featuring 44 performers and bands. As reported by NBC Miami: “The raids resulted in 15 seizures of LSD, marijuana, mushrooms, hash oil, prescription drugs, Ecstasy, and drug paraphernalia, all in mostly small quantities.”
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What is it about model ships made of LEGOs? The little plastic blocks are such an unlikely raw material for model shipbuilding. Here is a lovely 1:50 scale reproduction of the Cutty Sark created by Henrik Hoexbroe. Click the photo for a larger image. To see more of Hoexbroe’s work also check out his Brickshelf site and Flickr pages.