“The Leaving of Liverpool” is a wonderful sea song, capturing both the promise of a new voyage and the sadness of leaving loved ones behind. It was “collected” by William Main Doerflinger in 1951 from Dick Maitland, an old sailor at New York’s Snug Harbor, who while bosun on the General Knox around 1885, had learned it one night from a Liverpool man.
The song appears to date from around 1860 to 1874 based on the lyrics which mention Captain Burgess of the clipper ship David Crockett. The David Crockett was a medium clipper ship built in Mystic, CT in 1853. She was know for being fast, making the trip between New York and San Fransisco in an average of 101 days. Two verses of “Leaving of Liverpool” mention the clipper ship and her captain:
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Daniel Pauly has an article in this month’s New Republic “
In honor of our unexpected whale watching in New York harbor, we are taking a brief look at whale watching around the country this summer. It has been an interesting summer indeed. After staying off shore for several years, 
As reported by the Stockholm News –
There will be a 
Perhaps it is the thought that counts. Swiss lawmakers have decided against joining EU anti-piracy efforts because it would violate the country’s long-held tradition of neutrality. The land-locked country lacks a blue water navy so could not send a ship or ships to support the efforts but had considered sending thirty military support personnel. The Swiss navy does operate ten patrol boats on Lakes Konstanz and Leman. Thirty-two merchant ships in international trade fly the Swiss flag.
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is hosting an Archeology Weekend tomorrow and Sunday. it will include presentations on Lake Champlain shipwrecks and feature some of their latest explorations including early steamboats, gunboats, sailing vessels and canal boats. There will be special demonstrations in the Conservation Lab, lectures and films and presentations on what threatens the lake’s collection of shipwrecks and what you can do to help protect and preserve underwater cultural resources.
We previously posted about the 
Depending on how you look at it, there is either good or bad news about the 
An update to our previous post – 
In honor of John Paul Jones’ victory in the Battle of Flamborough Head where he captured HMS Serapis on this day 230 years ago, we offer two works from the archives. (For those who have not yet discovered it, the 
Last Friday the 
Intriguing news about