We had previously posted about a BBC videocast of a documentary segment about attempts to save the composite clipper City of Adelaide. The videocast was available to UK residents only. Thanks to David Hayes for pointing out that the segment has now appeared on Youtube. Worth watching.
In early February we observed the anniversary of the rescue of Alexander Selkirk from the tiny island Mas a Tierra, in the Juan Fernandez archipelago off the coast of Chile. Selkirk would be the model for Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Mas a Tierra would become known as Robinson Crusoe Island. Tragically, the island has been devastated by a tsunami following the recent earthquake. The village of Juan Bautista was largely destroyed and nine people were killed by a wall of water reported to up to 5 meters high.
Tsunami warning came too late for Robinson Crusoe Island
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Centuries-old Baltic shipwrecks found
A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks — some of them unusually well-preserved — have been discovered in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany, Swedish experts said Tuesday.
The oldest wreck probably dates back to medieval times and could be up to 800 years old, while the others are likely from the 17th to 19th centuries, said Peter Norman, of Sweden’s National Heritage Board.
The 12 wrecks are in Sweden’s economic zone but not in the planned route of the pipeline, the Swedish heritage board said. Nord Stream, which plans to start construction in April, has promised to make sure its activities don’t damage the wrecks, it said.
The heritage board said three of the wrecks have intact hulls and are lying upside-down at a depth of 130 metres
France captures 35 ‘pirates’ in three days off the Somali coast
The French Navy has captured 35 suspected pirates in three days of operations off the coast of Somalia — the biggest haul in the two years since EU naval ships started patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
In operations over the weekend the Nivose, a French frigate, seized four mother ships and six skiffs. In one raid on Sunday, French and EU forces used helicopters and fired warning shots to stop and capture a mother ship and two accompanying vessels.
The prisoners are expected to be flown to Kenya, which is already prosecuting about 100 pirates on behalf of Western nations with forces in the area.
The French Navy and special forces have captured nearly 100 pirates and killed half a dozen since a luxury French yacht was captured in April 2008. About ten pirates are awaiting trial in French jails.
Olovaha
Early last August the Tongan ferry, Princess Ashika, sank with a presumed loss over seventy lives. See our previous posts – Princess Akisha. A new ferry, the Olovaha, for the route is being built in Japan, with Japanese funding and is expected to go into service in November. Until them New Zealand has donated a 45.5m flat-bottomed barge for use as a temporary inter-island ferry. The barge ferry service is to start from the first week of April and operate until the arrival of the new ferry from Japan.
Over the weekend, the Great Maui Whale Count spotted 1,208 humpback whales. More of a snapshot than a census, the watchers counted 676 pods or groups of whales, with an average of 214 pods or groups sighted per hour.
1,208 whale sightings in Great Maui Whale Count
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The Cove, a documentary about the slaughtering of dolphins in Japan won the 2010 Academy Award last night for best feature documentary.
Under Sail is a remarkable account of sixteen year old Felix Riesenberg’s first voyage on a square rigger from South Street Seaport in New York, to Honolulu and back. He sailed on the A.J. Fuller, a Bath built, copper clad, wooden hulled, three skysail yard medium clipper in the waning days of the age of sail.
Riesenberg’s prose is clear and concise yet vivid. He captures the both the beauty and the hardship of windjammer sailing, as well as the often complicated personalities of his shipmates. He sat down to write Under Sail in his mid-thirties, having served both as officer and able seaman. What makes Under Sail so engaging is that Reisenberg’s views are nuanced. He understands and sympathizes with those on both sides of the mast. He knows, first hand, the nearly impossible demands made on the captain and mates as well as the hardships suffered by the able seamen.
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Trafalgar cannons fired to mark 200th anniversary
Cannons which last saw action at the Battle of Trafalgar are fired on Tyneside to mark the 200th anniversary of Admiral Lord Collingwood’s death. They were last used in battle on board Collingwood’s vessel Royal Sovereign as it led British ships in 1805.
Collingwood was born in 1748 and went to sea at the age of 13. At Trafalgar in 1805 he was Nelson’s second-in-command and as Nelson lay mortally wounded it was Collingwood who directed the fleet to victory. He died at sea on 7 March 1810.
A fascinating new study reported in the LA Times suggests that we know far less about the great white shark than we may have thought.
After a controversial beginning, is Jessica Watson reaching the final legs of her circumnavigation. A flood of deals and endorsements could make Jessica a very wealthy teenager.
Solo sailor Jessica Watson set to make millions when she finishes
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Hull trawler joins SS Great Britain and Royal Yacht on Historic Ships Register
An historic trawler berthed in Hull’s Museum Quarter has joined the ss Great Britain, HMS Victory and the Royal Yacht Britannia on the list of the nation’s most treasured historic vessels.
Arctic Corsair, Hull’s last sidewinder trawler, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Vessels after it met the final criteria for inclusion. It was built in Beverley by Cook, Welton and Gemmell 50 years ago.
The Mystic Seaport Museum has posted a fascinating video of the 3D laser scanning of the hold of the whaler Charles W. Morgan along with commentary on how they are using the technology to record the original construction details of the historic ship. Definately worth a look and a listen.
A year ago we posted about the “Voyage of theSpirit of Mystery,” the recreation of an epic voyage by seven Cornishmen, several of whom had never been out of sight of land, who set sail in 1854 bound for the gold fields of Australia in Mystery, a 37′ Mounts Bay Lugger. Adventurer Pete Goss and his crew built and sailed the Spirit of Mystery, a Mounts Bay Lugger modeled after the original Mystery, to Australia to commemorate the original voyage, arriving in Melbourne almost exactly a year ago. Now the Spirit of Mystery will be returning home to Cornwall, though on this leg of the trip she will be traveling as cargo on a larger ship, at least as far as Holland. Thanks to Tom Russel on the Linked in Tall Ship & Traditional Sail Professionals group for the reference.
Lusitania arriving New York on her maiden voyage
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesconsiders the sinking of two well known ships, the Titanic and theLusitania, and looks at who made it to the lifeboats and who was left behind. Both had a similar number of passengers and a similar loss of life. The big difference between the two ships appears to be the time they took to sink. The Lusitania took 18 minutes while the Titanic took almost three hours. On the Lusitania a higher percentage of men made it to the lifeboats whereas women and children fared much better on the Titanic. The implication is that where time was short, as on the the Lusitania, basic survival instincts took over in the scramble to the boats. On the Titanic, where there was time to organize boarding, the old rule – women and children first, seems to have asserted itself.
USS Constitution
The first exhibit in the $500 expansion of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts new Art of the Americas Wing in currently being installed. The first new exhibit – ship models. An excellent choice. The new wing opens in November. For those in the Boston area who would rather not wait, the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild’s Annual Model Ship Show – Models in the Spotlight runs through March 2oth at the USS Constitution Museum.
As a follow up to our previous post, (Cruelty on the Cowpens? Cruiser CO Relieved of Duty), a newly released report by the Navy Office of the Inspector General details the charges of “cruelty and maltreatment” and their findings which resulted in Captain Holly Graf being relieved from duty as captain of the USS Cowpens. As reported by Time Magazine:
In addition to the investigation underway by the Barbados Maritime Ship Registry on behalf of the government of Barbados, where the Concordia was registered, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has decided to conduct its own independent investigation into the capsizing and sinking of the sail training ship.
Transportation board to probe sinking of Concordia
Class Afloat, owners of the Concordia say the 18-year-old brigantine was designed and tested to survive the sort of knockdown that apparently sank her.
Tall ship passed stability testing, owners say
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11th Annual Ghost Ships Festival 2010
The Ghost Ships Festival is Wisconsin’s largest trade show devoted to Scuba Diving and Great Lakes Maritime History. Exhibits, workshops, and presentations cover just about every aspect of Great Lakes maritime history and scuba diving.
Milwaukee’s Ghost Ships Festival
Thanks to Alaric Bond for the heads-up.
Louis Majesty
Huge wave kills 2 on cruise ship in Mediterranean
A 26-foot wave smashed into a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, smashing glass windshields and killing two passengers, according to officials and news reports.
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