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.
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The October issue of Popular Mechanics has an indispensable entitled 25 Skills Every Man Should Know. Skill 3# is Rescue a Boater Who Has Capsized.
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:
Fred Fry International is celebrating their 3rd anniversary of blogging this week.
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.
Congratulations, thanks and many more!
Technorati tags: Fred Fry International, Maritime Monday, maritime news
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.
Continue reading From The Category of Be Careful What You Wish For!
Maritime historian, OpSail creator and South Street Seaport founder Frank O. Braynard has passed away at the age of 91.
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.
Technorati tags: Messing About In Ships, maritime, podcast, MV Explorer, Texas Clipper, Pasha Bulker, Maritime Executive, Furled Sails podcast, The Wind in the Willows, Jonathan Coulton
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.)
Happy Holidays!
Popular Mechanics magazine’s website has a cool multimedia feature called This Is My Job (sponsored by Caterpillar). The December 2007 issue profiles Captain Andy Merrill, master of Matson Navigation’s MV Manulani. Make sure you check out the cool multimedia graphic here and the great info about the ship on Matson’s website.
In October 2006, Oceanographer Eric Terrill, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography was featured.
A few other cool non-maritime jobs profiled: Forest Service smoker jumper; US Army Sniper School instructor; National Severe Weather Center storm chaser; and surfboard designer.
If you don’t have Google Alerts set up for your name and business, this is an example of why you might want to:
Woke up this morning to the above. Hmm, interesting blog post headline. You’ll have to follow the link to see where Bob Couttie takes this one.
Technorati tags: Bob Couttie Maritime Accident Casebook, Messing About In Ships, maritime podcast
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