Trafalgar Day Repost: Conrad on Nelson at Trafalgar — What if the Wind Had Shifted?

Posted on by October 21, 2019

Joseph Conrad

A repost from 2010 in honor of Trafalgar Day, commemorating Nelson’s great victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets on this day in 1805.  I have always been struck that of all the commentary I have read on the famous battle, Joseph Conrad is the only writer I am aware of to have asked one simple question — what if the wind had changed? How would a wind shift have altered the history which we all take for granted?

The final essay in Joseph Conrad’s wonderful, if somewhat odd book, The Mirror of the Sea,  is entitled “The Heroic Age.” It starts out rather disappointingly as a paean to Nelson. There is nothing wrong with praising Nelson, except that everyone does it, so another bit of hagiography doesn’t necessarily add  anything new.

Then, well into the essay,  Conrad does something rather remarkable.  He wonders what would have happened if the wind had shifted on that morning of the 21st of October.
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The Story of Bug Light — the Rise, Fall and Resurrection

Posted on by October 19, 2019

The Long Beach Bar Light was built in 1871 as a “screwpile” lighthouse on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island, off Orient, New York. Because a screwpile lighthouse is a lighthouse that stands on thin piles that are screwed into a sandy bottom, many thought the lighthouse looked like a water bug, earning it the nickname “Bug Light.” 

It wasn’t a screwpile lighthouse for long, however.  The winter ice threatened to rip out the piles and so a breakwater was built around the base of the lighthouse foundation which was later additionally reinforced with a concrete caisson.

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Lowell’s Boat Shop — Oldest Continuously Operated Boat Shop & Still Making Dories

Posted on by October 19, 2019

When Simeon Lowell moved his boat-building business to Amesbury, Massachusetts in 1793, I wonder whether he could have possibly imagined that the boat shop would still be producing boats, dories, and skiffs 226 years later. Lowell’s Boat Shop is the oldest continuously operating boat shop in the United States and is recognized as the birthplace of the legendary Banks fishing dory. Here is a short video that looks at the history and the legacy of Lowell and his dories.

Lowell’s Boat Shop – Dedicated to Craft

Paul Allen’s RV Petrel Locates Wreck of WWII Japanese Carrier Kaga

Posted on by October 18, 2019

Japanese Carrier Kaga

Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, died almost exactly a year ago.  Nevertheless, his passion for underwater archeology lives on in the operation of the Research Vessel Petrel, which is fully funded by Allen’s estate. The ship’s mission is to explore historically significant wrecks at challenging depths and conditions. A precondition set by Allen is for discovered wrecks to be respected as war graves and their locations kept secret but known only to national governments and museums.

Their latest find is the wreckage of the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga which was sunk in the Battle of Midway in June of 1942. Kaga was one of four large Japanese carriers sunk during the battle. Kaga had taken part in the Pearl Harbor raid of December 1941. 

The crew of the RV Petrel located the wreck sitting upright 5,400 meters (almost 3 nautical miles) below the surface.

Wreck of Imperial Japanese Navy Carrier Kaga

Update: USCGC Acushnet For Sale Again

Posted on by October 17, 2019

The strange saga of the USCGC Acushnet continues. Back in 2011, Acushnet, the oldest serving cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard was put up for sale. She was purchased by a con-man named Vernon Officer who bought the cutter using someone else’s money.  The cutter was subsequently abandoned and Mr. Officer was imprisoned for cheating an elderly widow out of her life savings. The cutter, however, has been cared for and is reportedly in reasonably good shape. She is currently for sale for $250,000.

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Update: Larry Page’s Kitty Hawk Seeks to Test Flying Cars in New York Harbor

Posted on by October 16, 2019

Two years ago, we posted about an all-electric “flying car” which was actually more of a single passenger seaplane, as it took off and landed on the water. The startup named Kitty Hawk has major funding from Larry Page, the billionaire co-founder of Google. Now Kitty Hawk is seeking to test their updated version of the craft in New York Harbor. Whether or not this is a good idea remains to be seen.

Jersey Digs reports that the company filed plans with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in connection with a proposal to bring its Flyer aircraft to Jersey City’s Hudson River waterfront. Continue reading →

Swedish Navy Returns to Once-Secret Muskö Underground Naval Base

Posted on by October 15, 2019

HSwMS Sundsvall entering one of the openings to the naval base

The Swedish Navy’s headquarters is returning to a vast underground naval base beneath Muskö in the Stockholm Archipelago in response to a perceived threat of a Russian attack. The vast underground cold war fortress can shelter warships and submarines and was designed to withstand a nuclear blast. The facility includes two shipyards and is connected to the mainland by a series of causeways and a tunnel.

The Guardian quotes Niklas Granholm, a senior analyst at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, saying “The move is based on the calculation that the Russians could use powerful weapons which demand the level of protection that only Muskö can provide.”

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CMA CGM Jacques Saadé, the World’s Largest LNG-Powered Container Ship

Posted on by October 14, 2019

Last month, China’s Shanghai Jiangnan-Changxing Shipyard launched the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé, the first in a new fleet of nine French-flagged, 23,000-TEU, LNG-powered containerships that will join the group’s fleet in 2020 on the French Asia Line. Not only will the new ship be one of the world’s largest container ships when it goes into service, and it will also be the largest LNG powered container ship in the world. The ship will be powered by a Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd (WinGD) 12-cylinder X92DF dual-fuel low-speed engine, developing 63,840 kW (91,766 HP) at 80 rpm.

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Shrimp Fishing on Horseback on the Coast of Belgium

Posted on by October 13, 2019

For nearly 700 years, fishermen have been trawling for shrimp from horseback in the small town of Oostduinkerke, on the Belgian coast. Whether the tradition is dying or enduring may be the subject of debate.  It is, however, both singular and fascinating. Here is a short video that describes Belgian fishing on horseback. 

Shrimp Fishing on Horseback for 700 Years

Update: North Korean Bulker Wise Honest Sold to Compensate Victims’ Families

Posted on by October 12, 2019

The North Korean handysize bulk carrier Wise Honest has been sold in a sealed bid auction. The proceeds of the auction will go to compensate the family of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died in 2017 shortly after being released in a vegetative state by North Korea after being tortured for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster, as well as the family of the Rev. Dong Shik Kim, who was kidnapped, tortured and executed by North Korean agents in 2000.

The 580-foot, 17,601-ton single-hull bulk carrier was seized in April 2018 by Indonesian authorities for violating international sanctions. The ship was taken over by the US in May of 2019 and was towed to American Samoa. In July, it was sold under the orders of federal judges in New York and Washington.

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Solaris, Solar-Powered Tour Boat to Ply the Hudson

Posted on by October 11, 2019

Solaris, docked at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston’s Rondout Basin

The Solaris, a solar-powered tour boat owned by the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, NY will provide trips across the Hudson River on Saturday and Sunday, October 19 and 20. (They also previously offered trips at the end of September.)

The Mid-Hudson News reports that the boat will run every hour, leaving the Newburgh Washington Street Boat Launch at 2 Washington Street. It will depart Beacon from the Beacon Institute Dock on the waterfront near the Metro-North Train Station, every half-hour. The crossing takes 20 minutes.

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Update: Billboard Barge Booted From New York Harbor

Posted on by October 10, 2019

Roughly a year ago, a tug pulling a barge carrying a double-sided 60 foot long LED screen blasting animated, high-definition digital ads for everything from beer to movies, appeared on the Hudson and East Rivers, threatening to turn the riverscape into another neon Times Square. The company which operated the barge, Ballyhoo Media, proclaimed their barge “the future of digital billboard advertising.” Many New Yorkers considered it to be a nuisance and an eyesore. 

Since then there have been lawsuits and legislation to restrict the barge and the others like it. At the same time, the Ballyhoo CEO Adam Shapiro promised to fight back and indeed flout the actions taken against the floating advertizements. 

For all the sturm und drang, the battle appears now to be over and the billboard barge has lost. Gothamist reports:

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Passengers’ Near-Riot on Norwegian Spirit “Mystical Fjords” Cruise

Posted on by October 9, 2019

Late season cruises have their own inherent risks. In the case of a recent cruise on the Norwegian Spirit these risks were compounded by the remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo, now a post-tropical storm, which was pounding the Atlantic Coast of Europe. 

The 2,016 passenger Norwegian Spirit left Southampton on September 27th, bound for a two-week cruise with nine port calls in the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, and Ireland. It was billed as the “Mystical Fjords” cruise. For many of its passengers, it would become the “cruise from hell,” featuring missed port calls, spoiled food, and overflowing toilets. Before it was all over, the passengers were in a near mutiny and close to rioting

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Was the ‘Enormous Serpent’ of HMS Daedalus in 1848 a “Sei” Monster?

Posted on by April 18, 2025

One of the most interesting accounts of a sea serpent is that of the HMS Daedalus in 1848. When sailing in the South Atlantic, some 300 miles from the coast of present-day Namibia, officers and crew aboard the ship saw what they described as an enormous serpent swimming with its head four feet above the water and roughly another sixty feet of the creature extending back in the sea. Captain McQuahoe also said that “[The creature] passed rapidly, but so close under our lee quarter, that had it been a man of my acquaintance I should have easily have recognized his features with the naked eye.” According to seven members of the crew, it remained in view for around twenty minutes. Lt. E.A. Drummond recorded the events in his diary the day he observed them and also made sketches of what he saw.

What makes the sighting so unusual is the length of the observation, the number of witnesses and that several Royal Navy officers were among that number. Three professional drawings of the creature, based on the captain’s account, were later published. Sketches made by Lt. Drummond finally turned up in 1977.

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Econowind Modular Sail Assist — Thinking Inside the Box

Posted on by October 7, 2019

Econology is a word that has been floating around the internet recently. A combination of economy and ecology, it refers to technology that is good for the ecology, while at the same time making economic sense. The Dutch firm eConowind is seeking to apply econology to shipping. We recently posted about the upcoming installation of two of eConowind’s Ventfoils on the 3,600 DWT general cargo vessel Ankie, operated by Van Dam Shipping.

While the Ventfoils on the Ankie will be fixed, eCononsail also offers an innovative modular sail-assist product, which they developed by literally thinking inside the box.

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Flying Clipper, World’s Largest Square Rigged Sailing Ship, On Trials & In Limbo

Posted on by October 7, 2019

For the past several years, we have followed the construction of the newest and largest square-rigged luxury passenger cruise ship built for the Star Clipper cruise fleet — the Flying Clipper.  Recently, the 300 passenger, five-masted bark has been seen on trials off Split. Unfortunately, the ship, built by the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit, is also sailing in limbo.

Total Croatia News reports that the 70 million euro contract between Brodosplit and Star Clippers owner Mikhail Krafft has recently been terminated because both sides claimed that it had been violated: Krafft had exceeded delivery deadlines for masts and rigging and the Split shipyard failed to meet the conditions for completion. The dispute is moving towards arbitration, but, according to unofficial information, negotiations over a possible compromise are also in progress.

In the meantime, the ship is sailing under the name Brodosplit 483. Brodosplit told Seatrade Cruise News it is no longer obliged to hand over the ship to the buyer and is free to dispose of the newbuilding adding ‘there is a great deal of interest in this unique vessel.’

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China Celebrates 70th Anniversary, Displays Dangerous New Naval Weapons

Posted on by October 5, 2019

This week, as China looked back at 70 years of Communist rule, its military parade looked to the future with a whole new generation of deadly naval and airborne weaponry.  Newsweek reports that in a speech last week, retired Admiral William McRaven, the former head of U.S. special forces, called China’s intensifying military build-up “a holy shit moment for the United States.”

One of the new weapons on display for the first time was the Dongfeng-17 (DF-17), a hypersonic anti-ship missile, dubbed a “carrier killer.”  Reportedly designed to operate at speeds of Mach 5 or greater and to be highly maneuverable in its glide stage, some analysts are concerned that the existing US anti-ballistic defense systems might not be able to counter the new missile.

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Schooner Regina Maris Chartered by 36 Climate Activists to Travel to Chilean Conference

Posted on by October 4, 2019

Photo: Lukas Riebling

Following the example of Greta Thunberg, who traveled to a UN climate conference by sail in August, 36 young climate change activists set sail from Amsterdam on October 2, bound for COP25 – the United Nations Climate Conference.  Rather than boarding airplanes, the group chose to charter the Regina Maris, a 101 ft (31m) LOA, 1970 built steel Dutch topsail schooner for the 5,000 nautical mile trip. 

Classic Sailor reports that the activists, from all across Europe, are hoping to use the seven-week voyage to brainstorm ideas for greener transport which they then intend to present to world governments meeting in Santiago from 2 – 13 December. But they will also be helping the six permanent crew to sail Regina Maris. Living in four-person cabins they plan to eat vegan meals. The voyage has scheduled stops at Casablanca, Tenerife, Cape Verde, and Recife to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables and get ashore for a few hours. When they arrive in Rio they will take a bus across the South American continent to Chile – a distance of some 3,000 kilometers.

Jeppe Bijker, one of four Dutch initiators of the Sail to the COP project, told reporters he did not expect people to give up flying altogether. “But we do ask that they think about why they are flying. You should ask yourself do you really need to go? Maybe it’s a business flight … and there could be an e-conference instead. And do you need to take so many short-haul trips?” Continue reading →

North Korea Developing Ballistic Missile Submarine, Tests Sub-Launched Missile

Posted on by October 3, 2019

North Korea appears to be aggressively developing the capacity to deploy a ballistic missile submarine even as it purports to continue to negotiate denuclearization with the current administration.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that North Korea successfully tested a new type of ballistic missile the previous day that is designed to be fired from a submarine, in a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, just ahead of a resumption of negotiations with the United States over its nuclear weapons program.

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Bronze Age Tin from Cornwall Identified in Shipwrecks Off Israel

Posted on by October 2, 2019

Tin ingots mined in Cornwall 1300 BCE

One open question about the Bronze Age in the Middle East was where the tin was sourced. Bronze is an alloy of primarily copper and tin. Recently, scientists identified the surprising source of tin ingots found in three shipwrecks off the coast of Isreal. Based on metallurgic data, they concluded that the tin most likely came from Cornwall and Devon in southwest England. The age of the shipwrecks suggests that it was mined around 1300 BCE. The discovery implies that Bronze Age maritime trade routes were longer and more complex than had previously been understood.

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