Sea-Fever blog

Today in 1956 the Italian line SS Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish American Line’s SS Stockholm resulting in one of the most famous maritime disasters of all time. Remarkably, while over 1600 passengers and crew were aboard the Andrea Doria, only 46 lives were lost as a result of the collision even though half her lifeboats were inaccessible due to the severe list she took on after the incident. Much of this can be attributed to the improved maritime communications post-Titanic and the close proximity to the United States mainland and nearby vessels who quickly rendered assistance.

A week or so after the casualty, a team of divers located the Andrea Doria on the ocean’s floor and, led by a young Louis Malle, they were able to shoot the first underwater footage of the vessel in her final resting place.

Of course, Malle developed into a prolific and awarded film director who was nominated for three Oscars and won several awards at Cannes. One of his earliest successes was Le Monde du Silence (The Silent World) which he co-directed with famous underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau and which won Canne’s prestigious Palm d’Or (Golden Palm) in 1956. Here’s an snippet for this groundbreaking film.

While the Andrea Doria met her end 52 years ago, it’s amazing that the SS Stockholm continues to sail today under the name MS Athena for Classic International Cruises; not surprisingly, there’s no mention of her special place in maritime disaster history which probably is a sound marketing strategy.

For another famous director who launched his career doing maritime movies check out the previous post Stanley Kubrick and The Seafarers.

PBS – The Secrets of the Dead – The Sinking of the Andrea Doria

Andrea Doria – Tragedy and Rescue at Sea (some annoying pop-ups here)

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Here’s a dramatic photograph from the The Daily Mail UK (July 19, 2008 ) – The winds of change – the moment a Tall Ship faced up to modern wind turbines.

The solitary figure wading out into the sea is actually a sculpture by British artist Antony Gormley who may be most readily known for his monumental sculpture Angel of the North which is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary this year. Gormley was also awarded the Tate Gallery’s prestigious Turner Prize in 1994.

Antony Gormley’s “Another Place” (BBC’s h2g2 April 21, 2008 )

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Here’s the latest graphic that was used in an internal Microsoft conference about the upcoming $500 million Windows Vista marketing campaign as reported by the NY Times Bits blog this afternoon (Microsoft Tries to Polish Vista) and ZDNET last night. (First hints of Microsoft’s “fight back” ads appear)

Of course, we love the maritime theme and can only wonder if it was in someway influenced by the American Sail Training Association’s TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE Series which recently made several ports of call in their neighborhood. Probably not but it’s cool anyway. Too bad they didn’t use a photograph of an actual tall ship like the USCG Barque EAGLE or the more local Lady Washington or Adventuress. That could have brought some much appreciated attention to the good work that these vessels do in preserving our country’s rich maritime heritage. And wouldn’t it be great if Microsoft took a few bucks from the $500 million earmarked for this campaign and used it to support the youth programs of these and other Pacific Northwest tall ships.  Now that would be super corporate social responsibility. Okay, I know I’m dreaming but what the heck, it’s worth blogging about.

Like they say, “At one point, everyone thought the Earth was flat.” But then they got on a tall ship and the rest is history (or maybe science).

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Back in 1777, Captain John Paul-Jones placed the above advertisement in the New Hampshire Gazette in an effort to recruit sailors for “The Ship Ranger.” Seems that the fledgling US Navy was experience recruiting challenges much in the same way that the world’s merchant fleet is experiencing today, but that’s a story for another post.

Any Gentlemen Volunteers who have a Mind to take an agreeable Voyage in this pleasant Season of the Year, may, by entering on board the above Ship Ranger, meet with every Civility they can possibly expect, and for a further Encouragement depend on the first Opportunity being embraced to reward each one agreeable to his Merit.

Jones almost makes it sound more like a vacation than the harsh realities of life aboard a revolutionary war ship.

The Ship Ranger is long gone but today another active US Navy war ship is in search of a able bodied seamen. According to the Strategy Page, The US Navy is Seeking Sailing Sailors. Candidates must;

• Be able to handle going up in the rigging.
• Have capability to give talks and presentations (to museum visitors).
• Not been in trouble for drinking in the past 36 months, or have had a drunken driving conviction in the past five years.
• Not have had financial debt or credit) problems in the past 36 months.
• Have had above average fitness reports in the last 36 months.
• Not have excessive, or questionable, tattoos.
• Be in good physical shape and not overweight.
• Have passed all physical fitness assessments in the past year, and have not failed more than one physical fitness test in the past four years.
• Lower ranking sailors (E-3 and below) must be unmarried.

Hmmm? No drinking, tattoos or wives! Sailors who can handle going up in the rigging? What happened to our Navy when I was off watch?

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That’s Masefield’s classic poem Sea-Fever via Wordle, a cool web 2.0 visualization tool toy of the moment that as you can see takes the text, mixes it up and highlights certain words that are used more.

Here’s a link to the original work.

In case you missed it, here’s another interesting presentation of Sea-Fever.

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It’s a proud accomplishment for any academic institution to make the front page of the NY Times. For me it’s even more exciting when it one that uses maritime culture and heritage to change the lives of inner city youth and it’s even better when I know some of the people involved.

Today’s NY Times (June 26, 2008 ) has a great front page article by Sara Rimer about the Urban Assembly’s New York Harbor School entitled Taking Lessons, and Confidence, From the Water. It’s a must read for anyone interested or involved in maritime education. Here’s a link to my previous post, The Privilege of Sailing, that I did on the Harbor School along with co-founder Murray Fisher adding a comment.

Outcomes are what matters in programs like this and here’s some interesting facts from the article:

The Harbor School has 390 students in grades 9 to 12, 70 percent Latino and 30 percent black, with many from the Caribbean. Last year’s graduation rate was 63 percent, Mr. Fisher said, nearly triple the rate of the old Bushwick High School, which once occupied the same building. The citywide average is about 50 percent.

But more importantly the voices and pictures bring this success story to life. Please don’t miss the audio clips or slide show! If you only have time to do one thing today, please listen to student Jennifer Mendez and teacher Melissa Franco and you will get a better understanding about the power of the sea to teach and change lives!

Yes, she, Jennifer Mendez, 15, the girl from Brooklyn who used to be afraid of the water and everything related to it — fish, boats, bugs — was steering the Lettie up the river, along the Upper West Side. The captain of the ship, Denise Meagher, was standing by. But with her hand on the wheel, Jennifer felt as if she were the captain, responsible for the ship and everyone on it — the crew, her ninth-grade classmates and their science teachers, Roy Arrezo and Ann Fraioli.

A little later, Jennifer would write in her class journal, “I feel as if I can do anything.” Even, she confided, make the honor roll.

“I feel so privileged to learn about the water,” Jennifer wrote in her journal. “The Hudson River is like an ancestor of our past, and if we listen to it, it just might tell tales.”

Congratulations to the Murray Fisher and Nathan Dudley and all of the professional and volunteer leadership of the Harbor School for creating something special for New York City youth and for a well deserved acknowledgement on the front page of the NY Times! Also, congratulations to all of the Harbor School students who work so hard to make this unique program a success! Like sailing a tall ship, you’re all in the same boat so keep up the great work!

Photo credit: Ruby Washington / NY Times

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Interesting adaptation of the poem which is the inspiration for our organization and this blog.

Can anyone on the interwebs identify what’s wrong with this reading? I’ll send a copy of my friend Randy Peffer’s great book Logs of the Dead Pirates Society to the first person who comments with the correct answer.

Make sure that you check out poetryanimation on YouTube for many other amazing virtual animated poetry readings.

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Monday was a bad day for historic schooner groundings on both coasts of the United States.

First, the Adventuress ran aground off Orca Island while transiting Wasp Pass in the San Juans off Washington State. Our friend, marine salvor and fellow maritime blogger Captain Richard Rodriguez is all over this story, literally! As you can see from his above photo, his vessel and blog share the same name: Bitter End. Thankfully, that won’t be the result for the Adventuress; no injuries or serious hull damage has been reported. (KING 5 video report)

Tragically, another historic schooner, Robertson II, met her bitter end last year in similarly treacherous waters off the coast of Washington state.

Meanwhile on the Atlantic Coast, the Sylvina W. Beal, a Maine windjammer ran also ran aground yesterday. The Canadian Press reports:

The U.S. Coast Guard station in Eastport, Maine, says it received a report Monday night that the schooner Sylvina W. Beal had run aground near Indian Island in Head Harbor Passage and needed help. he Coast Guard evacuated the (41) passengers from the 25-metre-long vessel. No injuries or pollution are reported and the coast guard says the vessel is not taking on water.

The good news is that there were no reported injuries, significant damage or pollution in either incident.

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Stunning photo!

“People look at fireworks with the Russian tall ship Mir illuminated in the background, on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, June 21, 2008. The tall ship Mir participated in festivities marking school graduation. Graduation ceremonies are held all over Russia now as students of elementary and high schools and military academies finish their education.”

via commercialappeal.com “Day in Pictures – June 21, 2008”

Photo: AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky

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On Thursday we got a call from Luke’s (5) daycare that they would be closed on Friday because electricity had to be turned off in that part of town for a few hours. A little while later my mother called to say that she couldn’t babysit Joy (3) like she does every Friday because she and my father had to attend a funeral. My wife Jenny has been extremely busy with work over the past few weeks so that left me to entertain our little people. Uh, oh! Thank god for friends! More on that in a bit.

Thursday night Luke and I took my podcasting partner, gCaptain CEO/blogger and friend Captain John Konrad with us to a book signing at The Book Stall in Marion. Another friend, Randy Peffer, is an English professor at Phillips Academy Andover and prolific author. His newest book is titled Old School Bones; fortunately for Randy, but unfortunately for us, the book signing was so successful that he ran out of books by the time we arrived so we had to back order it.

Randy also has several great maritime themed works including Watermen, a classic, and Logs of the Dead Pirates Society: A Schooner Adventure Around Buzzards Bay, one of my all time favorites. As its name suggests, Logs chronicles a sail training adventure with Andover students around Buzzards Bay on Randy’s Nova Scotia schooner Sarah Abbott. He also has a US Civil War maritime series coming out later this year. Randy writes!

At the book signing Randy asked if we wanted to go sailing Friday. Well, Captain Konrad unfortunately had to work but the little people and me were free so we took him up on the offer. Saved by sailing!

What an great day we had on Buzzards Bay. Here are a couple of pictures and a short video (the sound is terrible but you get the idea what kind day it was on the bay.)

Continuing on the topics of sailing and books, in today’s (June 21, 2008 ) Weekend Wall Street Journal Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to solo circumnavigate the globe nonstop lists his 5 favorite sailing books:

1. The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby (Houghton Mifflin, 1956)
2. Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. 1840
3. The Acts of the Apostles circa A.D. 60
4. Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum, 1899
5. Last Man Across the Atlantic by Paul Heiney (Mainstream, 2006)

Those are all great books for your maritime library. Of course, make sure you also have Watermen and Logs of the Dead Pirate Society too!

Finally, if you need more to read this summer, Bookmarks Magazine had a great article in August 2006 entitled 101 Crackerjack Sea Books by Dean King. This list should keep you busy for a while!

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Since there are some cool contemporary maritime influenced art projects currently on exhibit across the globe, we’ve declared this Maritime Art Week. Here’s a peak at a another.

Simon Patterson is a British artist that is probably best known for his work The Great Bear, a London Underground map in which the names of the stations have been replaced with those of philosophers, film stars, assorted celebrities, artists and even saints. In 1996, Patterson was shortlisted for the Tate Britain’s prestigious Turner Prize.

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England has a program called New Visions – Contemporary Art at The National Maritime Museum in which “the Museum commissions British and international artists to explore themes that illustrate the significance of the sea, time and stars to an ever-changing audience.” Patterson currently has a show there entitled The Undersea World and Other Stories. From the museum’s website:

The Undersea World and Other Stories investigates Simon Patterson’s consistent explorations of the sea, stars and time – themes central to the collections and research at the National Maritime Museum (NMM). The Museum unpacks the material cultures that result from human attempts to find their place in the world, be it mapping the skies above, the ocean depths below, or seeking relationships across time and space. (more)

Patterson takes inspiration from the famous French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau who in the 1960’s and 1970’s hosted the very popular TV show The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. Hence the title of the exhibition.

The Undersea World and Other Stories presents an anthology of Patterson’s works alongside a new commission Cousteau in the Underworld which takes as its first layer mid-19th-century Admiralty charts of the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean where the sea is necessarily represented through its limits: soundings show the depth to its bottom; rocky outcrops and sandbanks mark where its surface is interrupted; details of landmasses, such as coastlines and buildings seen from seaward, its edges. Into these empirical documents Patterson folds Greek mythology – a belief system in which the adventures of gods and goddesses were used to interpret existence and conduct.

Not content with setting these two descriptive structures in mutual confrontation, Patterson further complicates the matter by drawing the figure of the French oceanaut Jacques-Yves Cousteau into his network. The pioneering scientist’s long-running television series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, first screened in 1966, turned the TV set into a porthole through which world-wide audience could explore the deep, aided by the crew of his ship, Calypso. Naming is an act that concerns Patterson: Cousteau’s ship adopts that of a nymph from Greek mythology, which in translation means ‘I will conceal’, quite the opposite of Cousteau’s mission.

Here are some of Patterson’s earlier works.

Monkey Business 1993

Untitled (Sails) 1996

From the Ikon exhibition guide for the show High Noon:

This work plays upon the viewer’s knowledge of two diverse subjects ­ sailing and literature. The names are those of famous authors  Sterne wrote ground-breaking novels, Bell was the pseudonym of Charlotte Brontë and Chandler wrote crime fiction. However, each name has an additional association related to sailing and shipping ­ the stern is the rear of the boat, the bell is used as
a traditional nautical signal and a ship’s chandler provides necessary supplies. The numbers become less obscure through the realisation that they relate to the authors’ birth and death dates. The information on the sails is presented as formal yacht identification markings ­ highlighting Patterson’s obsession with systems. The work evokes ideas of escape and travel, as the artist invites the viewer on a voyage into a fictional world created by the three writers.

Simon Patterson is a smart conceptual artist interested in ideas and language, not pretty pictures. Lucky for us, his works have been heavily influenced by maritime history, heritage and culture.

The Undersea World and Other Stories is on exhibit until October 26, 2008. General information about the National Maritime Museum, a must see for anyone interested in all things maritime.

TimesOnline (UK) Review (April 30, 2008 )

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