Sea-Fever Consulting LLC
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Mattapoisett, MA 02739
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skype: petermello w: sea-feverconsulting.com
For centuries nautical words have made their way ashore integrating themselves into our everyday language. You can hardly read a daily newspaper today without coming across a reference to a business experiencing “rough seas” or “smooth sailing,” a CEO being “thrown overboard” by directors or an unprofitable product line being “jettisoned.” You may have even felt “under the weather” or been “left high and dry?”
The December 23, 2007 NY Times Buzz Words column kept this tradition alive in an article entitled All We Are Saying. Grant Barrett wrote:
A large part of the delight derives from the re-orientation that new words make possible. They are fantastical transportation — portkeys and improbability starships — into other cultures, workplaces, minds.
According to Barrett, the 2007 nautical addition to our contemporary lexicon was:
Navy shower n.
A very short shower in which you turn off the water while lathering up. This old term is also known as a G.I. bath, but it’s new to many in the drought-stricken Southeast. Its antonym is the Hollywood shower, a long, wasteful one.
In the 2006 edition of Buzz Words, “stay the course”presented a nautical take on the Bush administration’s communications regarding US strategy with respect to Iraq.
The above image was taken by Robert Cohen for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Pushing barges on the Mississippi - A tug boat pushes a load of barges along the Mississippi River toward Winfield, MO, on Feb. 8. Barge traffic was slowed by winter weather and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to limit barge loads so they could slip through the ice coated locks.
The M/S Explorer cruise ship sinks hours after hitting an iceberg off the coast of the Antarctic, in this photo released by the Chilean Army November 23, 2007. (REUTERS/Chilean Navy)
Episode 4 of Messing About In Ships, your new maritime podcast, is now ready.
Listen here:
(39 minutes)
This week’s highlights including
“A Mariner’s Perspective” with Master Mariner Captain Kelly Sweeney, monthly contributor to Professional Mariner magazine and author of From the Bridge: Authentic Modern Sea Stories discusses the importance of new media to mariners.
Report on Empress of the North grounding
Winged ships in Alaska;
our Internet Ports of Call; nowpublic.com and the Bitter End blog;
Please subscribe via iTunes or download the MP3. (Windows users can right click here and save the file on your computer. You can then open it in Windows Media Player, iTunes and other media players.)
Here’s an older video clip that I found on YouTube this morning about the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, sail training, education and tall ships in general that is very effective at explaining what this powerful experience is all about. In this age of digital learning, tall ships offer youth real life adventure combined with practical education and social experiences in a challenging yet fun environment and today kids would benefit from more of this.
Back in 1999, my Dad and I went to Egypt for an adventure of a lifetime. For Christmas this year I finally got around to editing the nearly 10 hours of video that I shot. For the first week we traveled by night on a cruise ship, arriving at the next amazing destination by morning. Here’s some footage that I shot from the ship. I typically use Window’s Movie Maker but decided to test Adobe Premiere Elements trial which explains the ugly watermark. Fortunately, it’s not too distracting. Enjoy.
December 21, 2007, 2:22 pm
Filed under: Maritime, life
Christmas is only a few days away and here’s a mysteriously beautiful photo of the Lynchburg ferry in light fog entitled Christmas Is Comingby Flickr friend and Houston ship pilot Louis Vest . What a great way to start the weekend and begin celebrating the holidays!
Lou’s been generous to let us use his images for the Messing About In Ships podcast. We will be changing the blog header and album art of the podcast each month to coincide with the artwork that Lou has generously provided for the 2008 Houston Ship pilot’s calendar, the proceeds of which will benefit their foundation, Anchor Watch.
Get in the holiday spirit by buying a calendar and supporting a worthwhile cause!
Sports Illustrated has their great annual Year in Pictures up. The above shot was taken during Rolex Veteran Boat Rally in Porto Cervo, Sardina, Italy on September 9th and it’s the only sailing photo of of 43 published on their the website. Surprisingly, there’s nothing from the 2007 America’s Cup which took place this year in Valencia, Spain.
The above photo was taken by Carlo Borlenghi who has an amazing website of his work. Check it out!
Episode 3 of Messing About In Ships, your new maritime podcast, is now ready.
Listen here:
(33 minutes)
This week’s highlights include:
the introduction of a new feature, “A Mariner’s Perspective” with Master Mariner Captain Kelly Sweeney, monthly contributor to Professional Mariner magazine and author of From the Bridge: Authentic Modern Sea Stories;
roundtable discussion about education, training and career opportunities in the maritime field with guest Captain Bob Glover, director of education at Northeast Maritime Institute;
Please subscribe via iTunes or download the MP3. (Windows users can right click here and save the file on your computer. You can then open it in Windows Media Player, iTunes and other media players.)
Here’s a classic beer commercial from 1980 featuring the schooner Bill of Rights.
Thanks to my schooner Tabor Boy shipmate Captain Bob Glover who pointed me to the Bill of Rights Deadeye Society homepage where there’s some vintage schooner Bill of Rights photos, video and information. Bob’s maritime career was launched aboard the Bill of Rights many moons ago.
TIP:“Don’t get into the water to get someone out. If you get into the water, you put yourself at risk for hypothermia or injury. You don’t want to become part of the recovery.” —Executive Petty Officer Patrick Blakeley, Coast Guard Air Station, San Diego, Calif.
Here are a few other important skills to know that have some maritime application:
I look forward to starting every week with their comprehensive Maritime Monday recap of interesting stories from around the web and I’m alway honored when one of my Sea-Fever posts makes it in. If it’s not already, this should be one of your regular reads.
Joe Sharkey wrote an interesting article entitled Growing Rebellion on the High Seas for today’s (December 16, 2007) Sunday NY Times Travel Bug column in the Business Section. It’s basically about how cruiseship passengers have become much more adressive in expressing their unhappiness when things don’t go as scheduled. This even seems to be the case when bad weather causes course adjustments and skipped ports of call.
A similar incident occurred last month aboard the Sapphire Princess, a 2,600-passenger cruise ship on a 16-night voyage with scheduled stops in Singapore, Shanghai and other Asian ports. Two late-season typhoons severely disrupted the trip, canceling port calls in Vietnam, at Okinawa and at Taipei, Taiwan.
Unhappy passengers rushed to Internet stations to tell the world. Some were “claiming they were on the verge of mutiny,” The Sunday Mail reported while the ship was still at sea.
This article resonated with me. Back when I was in college I was captain of the New Bedford / Cuttyhunk ferry Alert during summer breaks. Cuttyhunk is a fairly remote tourist destination with at that time an 1 1/2 hour ferryboat ride being the main way of getting on or off. Summer Sundays were always very busy and more often than not we had to make 2 trips to meet the demand.
While the modern day concept of tall ships events was first launched in Europe in 1956, Mr. Braynard brought the spectacle to US shores linking an event called Operation Sail to the World’s Fair in 1964. Celebrating our country’s rich maritime heritage as well as the international camaraderie and goodwill engendered by the young participating trainees, OpSail attracted the attention and endorsement of President John F. Kennedy, a sailing enthusiast himself.
Here’s episode 2 of Messing About In Ships, your new maritime podcast.
Windows users: To download the MP3 of Episode one, right click here and save the file on your computer. You can then open it in Windows Media Player, iTunes and other media players.For the show notes and links, visit the Messing About In Ships blog.
Only 13 days left until Christmas, is all of your shopping done yet? Do you have somebody on your list for which you need to find that extra special gift? Check out the 100th Anniversary Edition of Neiman Marcus’ The Christmas Book where you can buy that special loved one a NM-Edition Gem Triton 1000 submarine.
From the Neiman Marcus catalog:
ABS-certified, three-axis maneuverability. Dives to 1,000 feet. 360-degree views from your high-density acrylic bubble. Luxury leather seats with our logo. Joystick steering, with a gemstone set in the stick. Matching gemstone key chain. Air conditioning even. In this beauty, you’ll be outmaneuvering Captain Nemo in no time.
Your under-the-sea dream machine comes with a comprehensive two-day training program and delivery to your secluded cove anywhere in the U.S. Scratch a fender on a sunken chest? U.S. Submarines provides worldwide service and replacement parts.
Okay, it might set you back $1,440,000 but if you apply for a Neiman Marcus credit card, you’ll get a complimentary $25 gift card too! They are also currently offering free 3 day shipping and free gift wrapping. (Please send pictures if you end up ordering one, because I would love to see how to gift wrap a submarine just in case I order one in the future.)
According to Barrett, the 2007 nautical addition to our contemporary lexicon was:
Episode 4 of Messing About In Ships, your new maritime podcast, is now ready.
discusses the importance of new media to mariners.
Joe Sharkey wrote an interesting article entitled 
Maritime historian, 
Here’s episode 2 of Messing About In Ships, your new maritime podcast.
