UFOs and the Vendee Globe — Plus ça Change, Plus C’est la Meme Chose

Posted on by December 4, 2020

Of the 33 IMOCAs which started the Vendee Globe Race, four have officially abandoned. Two, Hugo Boss and Arkea Paprec, were damaged after striking Unidentified Floating Objects (UFOs). A third boat, Sam Davies’ Initiatives Coeur was also damaged by a UFO collision. Davies is now evaluating whether she will be able to stay in the race. Corum L’Épargne, sailed by Nicolas Troussel, quit the race after dismasting, and PRB sank after an apparent structural failure.

In considering the status of the race, the French phrase, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, ( the more things change, the more they stay the same) comes to mind. Looking back at the 2016-2017 Vendee Globe Race, little seems to have changed. Four years ago, UFOs were the largest single cause of damage to the fleet.

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Vendee Globe: Sam Davies’ and Sébastien Simon’s Boats Damaged by UFOs

Posted on by December 3, 2020

Unidentified Floating Objects (UFOs) continue to take their toll on the Vendee Globe Race fleet.  Yesterday, Sam Davies, sailing Initiatives Coeur, and Sébastien Simon, sailing Arkea Paprec, each hit UFOs which seriously damaged their boats. 

Davies reports: “I was sailing at speeds between 15 and 22kts and I was actually just making a hot meal after the gybe and doing the stack and everything and it was just starting to get dark. I hit something. I did not see anything. I did not know what it was. It was pretty much dark when it happened. But it was as if I had run aground on a rock at the time. The boat speed went from 20kts to zero. The boat nosedived on the impact with the keel. I knew it was the keel. I heard a crack coming from there. I and everything else flew forwards, including my dinner which has repainted the entire inside of my boat. Everything moved. I went flying into a ring frame, luckily, because that could have been worse. It was really violent. But luckily, I have just hurt some ribs. It is not serious but really painful. But I stopped the boat, dropped the main, and went to check around the keel, the bearings, and the bulkhead. The bulkhead, the main bearing bulkheads (which support the keel box) are intact as far as I can see. The keel bearings are intact. The longitudinal structure around the keel box is all cracked. That has taken the shock of the impact of when the boat moved, that is cracked on both sides.”  Continue reading →

USS Bonhomme Richard to Be Scrapped, a Glimpse Inside the Charred Wreckage

Posted on by December 2, 2020

The US Navy has decided to scrap the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, which burned for more than four days this summer in San Diego. The cost and time required to rebuild the gutted ship would be simply too great to justify. 

Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, commander of the Navy Regional Maintenance Center, told reporters Monday that the extensive damage to the flattop’s flight deck, island, mast and lower levels from the July 12 inferno would have required about 60 percent of the ship to be replaced.

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Vendee Globe: Le Cam Rescues Escoffier After Boat Breaks in Half in Roaring Forties

Posted on by December 1, 2020

Kevin Escoffier

High drama on the high seas. Kevin Escoffier was in third place in the Vendee Globe Race, sailing in the “Roaring Forties” about 840 miles south of Cape Town, when his boat PRB broke in half. He sent a brief message to his team at 1346hrs (UTC), saying: “I need assistance. I am sinking. This is not a joke.” He had just enough time to activate his EPIRB, don a neoprene survival suit, and to get to his liferaft before the boat sank beneath him.

Rescue services, including the MRCC Cape Town and French CROSS Griz, working with the PRB team and Vendée Globe race organizers, requested Jean Le Cam, the nearest competitor, in the boat Yes We Cam!, to sail to PRB’s last known position when the beacon was triggered.

When Le Cam arrived at the position (40°55 S 9°18 E) he initially spotted Escoffier’s life raft but then lost sight of it in the 5-meter seas and 20-25 knot winds. Yachting World reports: While Le Cam began initiating a search pattern, race organizers requested that three more Vendée Globe competitors – Boris Herrmann, Yannick Bestaven, and Sebastien Simon – divert to PRB’s last known position. By this stage, it was dark, with 3-5m waves, and blowing 22-25 knots.

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Dredging May Free the Replica “Lost Colony” Ship Elizabeth II

Posted on by November 30, 2020

For the last four years, the “Lost Colony” replica 16th-century ship Elizabeth II has been stuck in Manteo, NC. The ship, with a draft of 8 feet, has not been able to leave the harbor because the channel has not been in 14 years and has silted in places to depths of less than 5 feet.  It now looks like recently approved dredging will allow Elizabeth II to set sail again.  

The Elizabeth II is a replica ship inspired by one of the ships used in Sir Walter Raliegh’s ill-fated attempt to establish the first English colony in North America in the 1580s  on Roanoke Island on the Outer Banks in what is now North Carolina. Because of the disappearance of 120 colonists around 1590, the expedition is often referred to as the “Lost Colony.”  

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Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss Out of Vendee Globe Race

Posted on by November 29, 2020

After leading the fleet in the early days of the race, Alex Thomson, sailing on the IMCO 60 Hugo Boss, has withdrawn from the Vendee Globe single-handed around the world race.  Thomson has diverted to Cape Town, South Africa after suffering damage to the starboard rudder of the Hugo Boss. 

The Hugo Boss suffered structural damage to the bow last week. Thomson slowed the boat and made repairs to the bow with tools and material aboard. He then began racing again until suffering rudder damage. As the damage to the starboard rudder can not be repaired at sea, Thomson disconnected the starboard rudder and is relying on the port rudder to steer while sailing to Cape Town for repairs. 

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Maxi Edmond de Rothschild Attempt at Jules Verne Trophy Interrupted by UFO

Posted on by November 28, 2020

Yesterday, we posted about a head to head race between trimarans  Sodebo and Maxi Edmond de Rothschild/Gitana 17 attempting to win the Jules Verne Trophy. While the race for the trophy is against the clock, the two boats that sailed within hours of each other, sailing what amounted to a Maxi-match race, added a novel element to their attempt to beat the existing speed record for voyaging around the world under sail. The match race, however, between the maxi-tris has ended.  

After three days at sea, the attempt by the crew of the foiling trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has been interrupted by a high-speed collision with a UFO (an Unidentified Floating Object.) The trimaran is returning to port for repairs, intending to restart the race once the repairs are completed and a favorable weather window presents itself.

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Foiling Maxi-Trimarans Race Head to Head for Jules Verne Trophy

Posted on by November 27, 2020

Early Wednesday, two 100′ long foiling maxi-trimarans, Sodebo and Maxi Edmond de Rothschild/Gitana 17 set out to race around the globe to attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy. Sailing within hours of each other, Sodebo crossed the starting line, which lies between the Créac’h lighthouse (Ouessant) and the Lizard in south-west England, at 0255 (CET). An hour and a half later, Edmond de Rothschild, followed.

Technically, the two tris are not racing each other. Each is racing the clock. The Jules Verne Trophy is awarded to the challenger who breaks the previous Jules Verne record of the round the world voyage under sail. The current record of 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds was set by Francis Joyon sailing IDEC Sport in 2017.

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Thanksgiving Repost — Whaling Ships, Sarah Josepha Hale, Mary’s Lamb & a Liberty Ship

Posted on by November 26, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving for those on this side of the pond and below the 49th parallel.  (The Canadians celebrated the holiday in October.) Here is a repost of a story I think is well worth retelling. 

Thanksgiving is one of the central creation myths of the founding of the United States. The story is based on an account of a one time feast of thanksgiving in the Plymouth colony of Massachusetts in 1621 during a period of atypically good relations with local tribes. Thanksgiving only became a national holiday in 1863.  Before the celebration spread across the country, Thanksgiving was most popular in New England. On 19th-century American whale ships, which sailed from New England ports, they celebrated only the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Of the three holidays, Thanksgiving may have been the most popular. On Norfolk Island in the Pacific, they also celebrate Thanksgiving, the holiday brought to the island by visiting American whaling ships.

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VB-10,000 “Golden Arches” Making Progress in First Cut in Golden Ray

Posted on by November 25, 2020

After being delayed by hurricanes, the pandemic, and a broken link in the cutting chain, the heavy-lift catamaran VB-10,000, nicknamed the “Golden Arches” is now making good progress on the first cut to slice the stricken car carrier, Golden Ray into sections that can be loaded onto a barge and hauled away to scrap.

In September of 2019, the car carrier Golden Ray lost stability and partially capsized as it departed the Port of Brunswick, GA, carrying about 4,200 vehicles. The ships and its cargo were declared a total loss. The VB-10,000 is now cutting the 660-foot long ship into sections by hoisting a heavy chain to rip through the ship’s hull.

Specialized Lift Ship Cuts Through Capsized Car Carrier Golden Ray

Sea the City Introducing Hot Tub Boat Tours to New York Harbor

Posted on by November 24, 2020

Photo: Will Van Dorp

Will Van Dorp, host of the Tugster blog, recently saw an odd craft on the Hudson River, heading up into the Morris Canal Big Basin toward Liberty Landing Marina. It appeared to be a catamaran with a rather blocky deckhouse aft and two raised hatches forward. On closer examination, the hatches with their raised coamings turned out to be two large hot tubs. Yes, hot tubs.

Sea the City, a New York harbor jet ski tour company, has broadened its menu of services to include a “hot tub boat tour” which they describe on their website as “a unique and luxurious way to enjoy NY Harbor. Bring your favorite wine or beer and get ready for the most instagramable moment of your life. You will sit in a beautiful, commercial spa while taking in amazing views of the Hudson River and Lady Liberty.”

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Vendee Globe — Alex Thomson Slows Down to Make Repairs

Posted on by November 23, 2020

Communication technology these days is an absolute marvel.  Alex Thomson, who led the fleet for most of the first two weeks of the Vendee Globe race, is now slowing down to make repairs to the damaged longitudinal structure in the bow of his IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss. Fortunately, he has the tools and material aboard to make the repair and an entire team of designers, engineers, and boatbuilders advising him by video while he does it.

Remarkably, Thomson made a video, now posted on YouTube, allowing us to virtually crawl up into the bow, to take a look at the cracked carbon fiber girders, as the boat sails on in the South Atlantic. Fortunately, Alex discovered the damage and will have an opportunity to make repairs before sailing into the really nasty conditions in the Southern Ocean.  

Onboard Update: Repairs Under Way

Glasgow’s Tall Ship Glenlee

Posted on by November 22, 2020

This seems appropriate for an overcast Sunday in late November – a lovely drone video from a few years ago of the restored steel-hulled three-masted bark Glenlee on the River Clyde.

Built name in 1896, the Glenlee sailed for 23 years carrying bulk cargoes around the globe. In 1922, she became a sail training ship in the Spanish Navy.  Since 1993, Glenlee has been a museum ship at the Riverside Museum on Pointhouse Quay, Glasgow, Scotland.

Glenlee

Electric Narco-Sub Seized in Riverbank Boatyard in Columbia

Posted on by November 21, 2020

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that 32 percent of all maritime cocaine smuggled between Latin America and the United States arrives in narco-submarines. Narco-subs come in many shapes and sizes. Most are not submarines at all, but rather semisubmersibles, making them difficult to spot by eye or radar. Recently, the Columbian Navy, assisted by the U.S. DEA and local law enforcement agencies, raided a boatyard near the Cucurrupí River in the Chocó area of Colombia and found a very unusual electric narco-sub.

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Modern Commuter Ferry Pioneer Arthur Imperatore Dies at 95

Posted on by November 20, 2020

Arthur E. Imperatore Sr., an entrepreneur who built a successful New York City commuter ferry system, died Nov. 18 at the age of 95.

Imperatore founded NY Waterway in 1986 in Weehawken, NJ with a single route across the Hudson River to Pier 78 in New York. Once derided as “Arthur’s Folly,” he built the operation into an integrated ferry and bus service that has carried close to 300 million passengers. The success of NY Waterway helped to inspire a rebirth of commuter ferry services in New York harbor. The service also prompted the redevelopment of former railroad and industrial land in Weehawken, Edgewater, and other cities and towns on the west side of the Hudson River.

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Pride’s Capt. Jan Miles and “Coffee with the Captain”

Posted on by November 23, 2020

We have been remiss in not posting about “Coffee with the Captain,” the wonderful Facebook video blog hosted by the highly respected schooner skipper Captain Jan Miles of the Pride of Baltimore II.  The series began last April and is wonderfully entertaining as well as informative — discussing schooners, sailing, and the general strangeness of sailing during a pandemic. The most recent episode featured a Zoom chat between Captain Miles, the Pride‘s Chief Mate Jeff Crosby, and Captain Katelinn Shaw of the schooner Adventuress.

In the next episode, streaming live this Saturday, November 21st at 9 AM ET, Captain Miles will be sitting down for some socially distanced coffee with Captain Daniel Moreland of the Picton Castle. The two Captains have known each other for 40+ years, have been shipmates (they sailed together in Ernestina) and have each commanded their own vessels while sailing in company in a fleet of tall ships. Captain Moreland was a captain of the original Pride of Baltimore many years ago. It should make for a fascinating discussion.  Continue reading →

Fisherman’s Friends — Pandemic Movie Review

Posted on by November 18, 2020

I am tempted to begin by saying that I watched the movie “Fisherman’s Friends,” so that you don’t have to. Perhaps a better introduction would be to paraphrase Abe Lincon. “If this is the sort of movie you, you may like this movie.”  To be fair, I am not a fan of rom-coms and why making a romantic comedy about a real-life group of shanty-singers in Cornwall was a good idea is still a mystery to me. 

If you are not familiar with the actual story of the Fisherman’s Friends, they are a group of shanty singers, including some actual fishermen, from Port Isaac, Cornwall. They are described as the original “buoy band.”

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Cruise Lines Ready to Restart with Trial Cruises, First Attempt Sees Shipboard Outbreak

Posted on by November 17, 2020

Would you volunteer to go on a cruise ship again? Apparently, tens of thousands are eager to do so. One of the first trial cruises in the Caribbean did not go well.

The Center for Disease Control (CDCC) lifted its “No-Sail” order on cruise lines calling on US ports as of the end of last month. This does not mean, however, a return to business as usual. The CDCs is providing a “framework for conditional sailing” that requires cruise lines to run “simulated voyages” designed “to replicate real-world onboard conditions of cruising if they want to get permission to recommence regularly scheduled sailings.

CNN reports that the CDC framework also requires simulated cruise voyages to meet a series of requirements — including that passengers are informed in writing “that they are participating in a simulation of unproven and untested health and safety protocols” and, as mentioned earlier, “that sailing during a pandemic is an inherently risky activity.”

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The Pig War of 1859

Posted on by November 16, 2020

If you are fond of obscure and slightly absurd history, the Pig War of 1859 is the war for you. It involved a territorial dispute between the United States and Great Britain over the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest. On the American side, 461 soldiers armed with 14 cannons on San Juan Island faced over 2,140 British sailors, soldiers and marines on five British warships mounting 70 guns. Famous or soon-to-be-famous army officers, naval captains, an admiral, and even the German Emperor would play a role in the conflict which lasted over 12 years. When it was all finally over, the only casualty was a pig.

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Spanish Navy To Build New Rescue Ship for Submarines, Planes & Shipwrecks

Posted on by November 15, 2020

Spain’s new S-80 submarines, under construction, will be able to operate at depths of at least 350 meters. If one gets into trouble, however, the Spanish Navy’s only ship set up for rescue and recovery can only hold its position in depths of around 80 meters.  To remedy this, El Pais reports that the Spanish Navy is building a Military Action Ship for Underwater Intervention, (whose acronym in Spanish is BAM IS.) 

The €192 million BAM IS, including equipment, will feature dynamic positioning, side-scan radar, two hyperbaric chambers, two remotely-operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), two underwater communication systems, emergency supply systems and a helipad to evacuate the injured and receive supplies. It is based on the Meteoro-class offshore patrol vessel design the Spanish navy already operates, but will have a higher tonnage (5,000 tons compared to 2,670) and double decks.

In addition to its capabilities as a submarine rescue ship, it will also be outfitted for multiple tasks. Continue reading →