On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to destroy and harass English shipping.
On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later the Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 6,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.
On 18 November, the ship set sail for England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and took aboard their rum.
But the Constitution had run out of shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here her landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 40,000 gallons aboard and headed for home.
On 20 February 1780, the Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no whiskey. Just 48,600 gallons of water.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The white killer whale spotted in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship’s crew scrambling for their cameras.
The nearly mythic creature was real after all.
“I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it,” said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. “It was quite neat to find it.”
xpda from S/A has thoughtfully converted all the NOAA nautical charts from the .bsb format (which you need special marine charting software to view) to .png format, which a web browser or almost any image viewer can open.
I was actually attending MIT when this very concise yet complete primer on dinghy sailing was brought out in 1981. You can read in online here. For reasons that seem very bad to me now, I never took sailing in college, or joined the crew as my freshman roomate urged me to do. I really regret both of those today. Who knows how my life might have been different, and I suspect, better, if I had?
For those of us that were hoping that the Shark Shield would allow us to safely surf the sharkiest lineups in the world, there is a bit of disappointing news. Whilst being tested in South Africa, under the supervision of the Natal Sharks Board, a female great white ate a Shark Shield device that had been attached to a float. This has been the cause of speculation that the electrical fields designed to repel sharks might in fact attract them.
The manufacturer claims that the device does work but that due to the design it will only be effective while a surfer is stationary and waiting for a wave. If you are actually surfing, or paddling, you could be out of luck. At any rate, I cannot think of a more spectacular product testing failure than this one.
The surging popularity of sushi and sashimi has devastated the bluefin tuna. Overfishing has slashed populations in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, pushing the species toward extinction. Regulatory bodies have failed to set sufficiently strict catch quotas, and illegal fishing is rampant.
Captive breeding of the bluefin could save the species, but the effort will be challenging. Research groups in Japan and Europe have bred the tuna in laboratories, and now an Australian company is attempting to perform the feat on a commercial scale. MORE
A ballad of a sailor doomed to forever go to sea in the worst job in the world for a sailor. Whaling was hard dirty and smelly. You only became a sailer on board a whaling ship if you were scraping the bottom of the barrel.
This song is from the album “steady as she goes” by Louis Killen, Jeff Warner,
Gerret Warner & Fud Benson
Buy it Now - A rare gem. A Viking Ship called the Blue Dragon. This is 1 of only 4 ships made. Fine Scandinavian design and craftsmanship. All hand crafted with fine attention to detail. Fiber glass hull with all teak wood decks and rich cherry wood veneers on the captain’s helm,cabin interior and window trim. Captain’s Helm is equipped with Compass, RPM, Digital Depth and Speed. Three cylinder Volvo Penta Diesel inboard power with bow thrusters in the hull for easy maneuverability. Boat cruises at about 10 knots. Extremely economical to run. Square viking sail is functional and ship sails with the wind nicely. Cabin has removable round table with Bed for two and sky light. Kitchenette with stainless steel sink, fridge and infared stove. Bathroom with head, sink and shower. Cabin is equipped with clarion in-deck Radio/Cd/TV player. On-deck video camera viewable from inside the cabin. Cabin has heater. No AC, but could easily be installed if desired. Boat has 10 removable Viking Shields and is equipped with 10 Viking Helmets in case you need to pillage and plunder as you journey on your way. Boat runs/operates like new. In excellent shape, with only a few minor blemishes. This boat is a real head turner and ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. New bimini sun shades as of last year. Currently docked at a marina in Austin Tx. The serious buyer is invited out for a cruise on scenic Lake Travis. Trailer is included in sale. *** Update - Minor blemishes are shown in two pictures. Window wood discoloration. Also, small wood gouge around bumper area. Sail is bleached and probably needs replacement - it’s material is woven cotton - red and white. There is a small chip in the fiber glass in one place. This boat originally sold for $150,000 New. The Blue Dragon is set to sell at the depreciated price of $70,000. It is sure to appreciate in price from here on out!! As true of a collector as you will ever find!!! Thanks for looking - Buy it now, or make us an offer.
The surging popularity of sushi and sashimi has devastated the bluefin tuna. Overfishing has slashed populations in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, pushing the species toward extinction. Regulatory bodies have failed to set sufficiently strict catch quotas, and illegal fishing is rampant.
Recent Comments