Noorderlicht – Summer Nordic Cruiser & Winter Ice Hotel

Posted on by November 6, 2010

The 36 meter steel schooner Noorderlicht celebrates her one hundredth birthday this year.  With ten double cabins for passengers, she cruises along the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the summer and coastal Norway in the Autumn. Her winter employment is what makes her remarkable, however.  In February, the Noorderlicht is allowed to freeze in the ice of the Tempelfjorden, a fjord on the island of Spitzberg.  Here she serves as a hotel on the ice for hearty travelers who arrive by dog sled.   The trips are organized by Base Camp Explorer.

Kevin Rushby writes about a visit to the Noorderlicht in this morning’s Guardian.    Thanks to Tom Russell of the Traditional Sail Professionals Linked-In group for pointing out the article.

A hotel like no other in Arctic Norway
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Artists Submissions for the “Art of the Boat”

Posted on by November 5, 2010

The Penobscot Marine Museum is seeking submissions from artists in all visual media for a juried  art exhibit entitled “The Art of the Boat.”  The show will examine the artistic aspects of boat design and construction, and will run from May through October 2011.

From the Museum press release:

“This exhibit will explore the boat as art and the boatbuilder as artist,” said the museum’s curator, Ben Fuller. “We will look for the artist’s interpretation of the boatbuilder’s art through studies of shape, form, structure and details.”
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Singlehanded Ocean Racing for Web-Potatoes

Posted on by November 5, 2010

Modern technology has revolutionized single handled ocean racing in so many ways for both sailors and spectators. The five sailors in the Velux Five Oceans race not only face all the hazards of the sea as they sail singlehanded around the world, but are also blogging, taking photographs and videotaping their exploits to entertain web-potatoes around the world.  (A web-potato is similar to a couch-potato except that a web-potato sits in front of a computer rather than a  television.)
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Andy Irons, three-time world champion surfer, dead at 32

Posted on by November 4, 2010

Photo: Newspix/Rex Features

Andy Irons, three time world champion surfer, was found dead in his hotel room in Dallas on Tuesday. He had been scheduled to compete in the Rip Curl Pro Search in Puerto Rico but became ill, reportedly with a bout of  dengue fever, which he had contracted at an earlier event.  He was on his way back to his home in Hawaii.   On Wednesday, the Association of Surfing Professionals, Rip Curl event organizers and pro surfers unanimously decided to postpone competition until Friday out of respect for his memory.

Andy Irons – Top Hawaiian surfer and three times world champion

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“Love, Love” – Disaster, Art or Just Fun?

Posted on by November 4, 2010

Julien Berthier is  a sculptor and a conceptual artist.  His work titled “Love, Love” is not in fact a sinking sailboat, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.   Bertheir started with a 6.5 meter yacht which he cut in half and added a new keel to allow the boat to remain upright while appearing to be sinking. The modified vessel/sculpture also has a motor, so it can move around, no doubt startling everyone everywhere it goes.   There is a photograph of “Love, Love” out of the water as well as a video of the craft  after the jump.

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Fifth Annual Remembering Fulton Fish Market Art Exhibit 2010

Posted on by November 3, 2010

Carter Fish Company by N. Rauam

A wonderful show by Naima Rauam.  It captures everything about the old market with the possible exception of the smell of fish.

Fifth Annual Remembering Fulton Fish Market Art Exhibit 2010

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New Biography of Joshua Slocum by Geoffrey Wolff

Posted on by November 29, 2010

The Boston Globe has an interesting interview with Geoffrey Wolff, who has written a new biography of Joshua Slocum, The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum. The book also got a rave review by Nathaniel Phibrick in the New York Times Sunday Book Section.

While the biography sounds intiguing, reading the interview made me want to go back to reread Slocum’s classic Sailing Alone Around the World. Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail around the world alone in1897  in his 37-foot sloop, the Spray.  He wrote Sailing Alone Around the World, a masterpiece of nautical literature, in 1900 on the return from his epic voyage.

From the Boston Globe interview:
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New York’s Graveyard of Ships on TV and Radio

Posted on by November 2, 2010

Photo: Shaun O'Boyle

The Witte boneyard, often referred to as New York’s graveyard of ships, usually sits unnoticed on the shore of Staten Island on the Arthur Kill in a far corner of New York harbor.   In the last week, however, it has appeared in the media twice – as a set on a network crime show and as a podcast on a local radio station.  On this week’s CSI:NY (Do Not Pass Go – Season 7, Edisode 6) , a television show about crime scene investigators in New York City, a murderer hid a body on an abandoned ship in  the Witte Boneyard on Staten Island.   Through the wonder of editing, the scene inside the ship was shot on the windjammer Peking, tied up at South Street Seaport.  Sadly, the interior of the Peking looks no better than the exterior shots of the ship graveyard, which is obviously why the ship was chosen as a set.  (This takes place at about the 38 minute mark of the episode.)

Then a  local radio  station, WNYC,  featured the salvage yard in a pre-Halloween podcast. Click on the red arrow below to listen.

The Witte Boneyard: A Different Kind of Graveyard

Along the lower part of Staten Island’s Arthur Kill waterway, historic ships rot and rust in the mud.


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HMS Victory to replace Trident and Ark Royal

Posted on by November 2, 2010

This is satire, though given the rather drastic cuts in the Royal Navy budget, it doesn’t feel too far off the mark.  From News Biscuit:

HMS Victory to replace Trident and Ark Royal

HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, is to be brought back into service, replacing Trident and the Ark Royal.
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The Famous Sailing Barge Cambria Reborn

Posted on by November 1, 2010

The Thames sailing barge Cambria was built in Greenhithe, Kent in 1906.  Remarkably, she kept sailing  and carrying commercial cargo under sail alone until 1970.  She is now undergoing a complete restoration by the Cambria Trust with major funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. They are still, however,  in need of sponsors to ensure a complete and full restoration.

The famous Sailing Barge CAMBRIA
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Teenage Trainees from brig Fryderyk Chopin Safely Ashore

Posted on by November 1, 2010

The British Maritime And Coastguard Agency has reported that the sail-training vessel, Fryderyk Chopin, has been secured to a buoy in Falmouth harbour, Cornwall, and the crew of 47, including 36 cadets, aged between 14 and 16, has been taken ashore.

Teenage Sailors Back After Three-Day Ordeal

Tall Ships 2011 Calendar by Thad Koza

Posted on by October 31, 2010

The calendar has been out since July, but I only got around to ordering mine yesterday.

Thad Koza’s Tall Ships 2011 calendar features  SAGRESs II, JOLIE BRISE, PICTON CASTLE, WESTWARD, BOUNTY, EUROPA, the schooner THOMAS E LANNON, and five other tall ships. Beautiful photogaphy of glorious ships.

Tall Ships 2011 Calendar

Vote for the Falls of Clyde !!!

Posted on by October 30, 2010

The Falls of Clyde, built in 1878, is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.  After years of neglect by the Bishop Museum, the ship has been taken over by Friends of the Falls of Clyde, a wonderfully dedicated group of volunteers, who are working hard maintaining the ship and struggling to raise the money needed to restore her.  Fortunately, the ship is good structural condition and an excellent candidate for restoration.

The Friends of the Falls of Clyde have been nominated to receive a grant from Hampton Hotels “Save-A-Landmark” program. The project which receives the most votes gets the funding.  The voting will continue through the end  of November.  Please vote now for the Falls of Clyde.    Click here to vote .   It costs nothing and could do a world of good.   The Falls of Clyde is truly a ship worth saving.

Fryderyk Chopin, Polish Training Vessel, loses masts in force 9 gale

Posted on by October 29, 2010

Brig Fryderyk Chopin

Update: UK coast guard: Polish teen sailors safe after their ship loses both masts

A group of teenage sailors whose ship was drifting at sea after it lost both masts in gale-force winds is safe from harm, coast guards said Friday, and the vessel was to be towed to a British port for repairs.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that the Fryderyk Chopin, a tall ship used to train young Polish sailors, is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Britain’s Isles of Scilly. The crew of 47 is mostly made up of 14-year-old cadets.

There have been no injuries reported and the Royal Navy has stood down their search and rescue helicopters, which are returning to base.

The brig Fryderyk Chopin, a Polish sail training ship with 47 aboard, lost one of its two masts during a severe gale this morning  off the Isles of Scilly.

Fryderyk Chopin, Polish Training Vessel, loses mast
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Halloween Ghost Ship Roundup

Posted on by October 29, 2010

On this eve of the eve of All Hallows Eve, it seems worthwhile to list a few of the “ghost” ships open to the public on Halloween.

Hornet Ship of Spirits – This evening , on the historic aircraft carrier USS Hornet in  Alameda CA, there will be a presentation the real stories of the ghosts on the USS Hornet, followed on Saturday by a USS Hornet Monster Bash.

The Haunted Ship at the USS Salem – Spooky tours and events through Sunday on the heavy cruiser USS Salem in Quincy, MA.

Captain Fishsticker’s Ship of Horrors – Revival Burlesque is performing “Captain Fishsticker’s Ship of Horrors” tonight through Sunday on the lovely Barkentine Gazela in Philadelphia, PA.
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Maine Maritime Museum Kids Pirates Party

Posted on by October 29, 2010

Maine Maritime Museum in Bath is having its 15th Annual Pirates Party this Saturday, October 30, 2010 from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM.  They have filmed a rather remarkable commercial promoting the party, starring Tomm Tomlinson, a.k.a. Crudbeard, Barbara Tomlinson, better known as Bloodthirsty Barbara, and Jim Nelson, known to authorities as Black Jim Spudcake. The location is aboard the schooner Sherman Zwicker at Maine Maritime Museum.    Jim Nelson, when not in his role as Jim Spudcake,  is an award-winning author  of maritime fiction and non-fiction.  His history, George Washington’s Secret Navy, was the recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.

Maine Maritime Museum – Pirate Party Promo 2010

Military ammunition discovered under Seattle cruise ship terminal

Posted on by October 28, 2010

The new cruise ship terminal at Pier 91 in the Port of Seattle appears to have been built over an old munitions terminal. Live high explosive ammunition dating back to World War II, and possibly earlier, has been found beneath the terminal berths.

Thanks to Dave Shirlaw for pointing out the article on the Marine History list.