Month: October 2008

5 Great Versions of Bob Dylan’s "When the Ship Comes In"

1. Bob Dylan on August 28, 1963 as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. At the same event, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.  delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mD7_YtuwGM]
YouTube – Bob Dylan 1963-08-28 (Washington DC) When the Ship Comes In

2. Peter, Paul and Mary on June 14, 1967 for the opening song of a live concert on Australian TV. “Brought to you by the good people at British Petroleum.”

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7G_bq4iWk8]
YouTube – Peter Paul and Mary – When the Ship Comes In

3. Bob Dylan with Keith Richards and Ron Woods on July 13, 1985 for Live Aid

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux_vK_bUjBQ]
YouTube – When the ship comes in – Bob Dylan, K. Richard and R. Wood

4. The Clancy Brothers on October 16, 1992 for Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY0lYgBQrJI]
YouTube – The Clancy Brothers – When The Ship Comes In

5. Marcus Carl Franklin who portrays Wood Guthrie in the 2007 Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiDfNjVAdZo]
YouTube – I’m not there – When the ship comes in

Note and lyrics after the jump.

Continue reading 5 Great Versions of Bob Dylan’s "When the Ship Comes In"

Sea-Fever Style – Huguette Despault May’s Rope Drawings

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Last Sunday we dragged the kids out to go to gallery hopping in New Bedford, MA. Yup, that’s right, I said New Bedford. Believe it or not there’s a vibrant art community mostly hidden away in the vast old mill buildings that are scattered around the city.  Each year in the early fall there is an open studio weekend where you can go see and buy art and meet artists. Luckily Luke and Joy fancy themselves as mini-Matisses so this adventure is not too tough a sell.

One of the most amazing shows was by Huguette Despault May who does these very large charcoal drawings of ropes. The above photo will give you some sense of the scale of these works.  From the artist’s website about her Hawser Series (2007):

This series began with the chance discovery of an abandoned ship’s hawser* line languishing in an old cart at the Ropeworks building in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The rope’s heft and tattered state immediately suggested an exciting series of drawing investigations. Having viewed my earlier rope drawings, its owner – who happened to be the last of the Ropeworks master rope makers – offered to let me keep my new found treasure. Each drawing in the Hawser Series derives from that single piece of rope.

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Despault May’s amazing work can be viewed at her website but due to it’s awesome scale, it’s best viewed in person.

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Foto Friday – ClydeSights

ClydeSights - STEN ODIN and Pipers

I love photography. I love the Internet. Put the two together and you’ve got something that rivals this.

One of the greatest things about it is the wide range of styles that you can experience. Some like our friend OneEighteen are artists behind the lens and others, like another good friend, Tugster, are comprehensive documentarians. ClydeSights falls in the latter category.

While Tugster’s backdrops are the manmade mountains of Manhattan, ClydeSights are god’s version in Scotland. The full blog title is ClydeSights – Contemporary local shipping on the Clyde and the website says:

The ClydeSighter is a shipping enthusiast, who spent several years at sea sailing around the world before taking up employment with a local company.
Just like when visiting with Tugster, I can find my self lost for hours checking out the ships that work The Clyde. These photographers do a wonderful job of capturing our maritime heritage for future generations. Check it out.

Sailing Alone Around Google Earth

David over at the always interesting Never Sea Land blog, home of the daily mermaid meme, brings our attention to a project taking Joshua Slocum’s landmark first solo circumnavigation of the globe and plotting it on Google Earth.

Sailing-Alone-Around-the-World-cover Hopefully most Sea-Fever readers are familiar with Slocum’s story and have read his classic, Sailing Alone Around the World. It’s such a great read that Arthur Ransome, the author of the classic Swallows and Amazons series, went so far as to declare, “Boys who do not like this book ought to be drowned at once.”  If you haven’t read Sailing Around the World Alone yet, you’re in luck because you can read it online, download a copy to read anytime or even better get a free audio version through iTunes and let Slocum bring some adventure to your humdrum commute.

I grew up  in Fairhaven, MA which is the place where Slocum rebuilt his vessel the Spray prior to embarking on his history making voyage in 1895 so he’s a bit of  hometown hero to me.

Continue reading Sailing Alone Around Google Earth

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 Rumors

Jack Sparrow DIgg just pointed me to CinemaBlend.com where Katey Rich reports:

Big, big news on the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie, courtesy of one of our most reliable tipsters. Our proven informant (who we’re forced to keep anonymous) wants you to know the following info should be taken with a “grain of salt and a dose of pepper,” things are still in motion, but here goes anyway. Wondering how they’re going to make a whole Pirates movie with just Jack Sparrow? Or who else might return? Read on!

Most excitingly, there are talks of Captain Jack having a brother in the next movie, possibly to be played by Sacha Baron Cohen (perfect!) or Russell Brand (even more perfect!) Of course, that’s probably just fantasy casting, but why would either of those comedians turn the role down? As we’ve mentioned before, the new movie might kick off a trilogy, which would revolve around Captain Jack’s search for the Fountain of Youth.

Geoffrey Rush and director Gore Verbinski are apparently both planning to return, but… and this is a big maybe… Tim Burton might direct instead. Tim Burton!

Okay, it’s just a rumor but heck, it’s something fun to think about while the financial markets collapse, the war rages on, real pirates attack ships off Africa and politicians argue about the same thing and nothing.

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Will Box Ships Need Bail Out?

container-ship

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about how the global economic downturn and financial meltdown is impacting shipping. John W. Miller wrote “Shipping Lines Sail Uncertain Seas – Global Weakness Sends Rates Tumbling With New Vessels On the Way; Some May Become Cruise Ships” (free content)

Last year, the basic price of shipping a large container of goods from Asia to Europe, the world’s busiest route, was $2,800. This week, with demand plunging amid a worsening economy, that price was an unprofitable $700.

Unfortunately, the news gets worse.

Rates for ships heading from Europe to Asia are even more depressed than the reverse trip — about $200 per 40-foot container. These days, 60% of containers making that trip are empty, reflecting Europe’s trade deficit with China, which stood at $223 billion last year.

Yikes! I’ve never run a shipping company but I think it’s the understatement of the day when Eivand Kolding, chief executive of Copenhagen-based A.P. Moller Maersk AS, the world’s biggest shipping company by sales, is quoted saying that these rates are “unsustainable.”

Miller points out the challenges that large companies face when they have to make long term significant capital investments like shipping companies do. And there are some large orders hanging out there.

Marseille-based CMA CGM SA, for example, has placed orders for 80 ships, at a total cost of roughly $1 billion, to complement the some 400 it already runs. Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company SA is scheduled to receive 57 ships, adding to its 427. Maersk received 15 vessels in the first half and has 48 ships on order for delivery by 2012.

The world’s economies better get back on course soon or we might see a lot of tonnage showing up on eBay and craigslist.

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Was marine debris the culprit in the sinking of Irish Tall Ship Asgard II?

 Cargo containers falling overboard

Last month, the Irish tall ship Asgard II sank when she suddenly began taking on water that overwhelmed her pumps. (See A Significant Loss for Sail Training, the sinking of the Irish Asgard II) All crew and trainees were safely rescued by the French Coast Guard in the middle of the night. Due to the nature and speed of the casualty there has been conjecture that the Asgard II may have struck some significant marine debris.

Anyone who takes to sea professionally or sails offshore knows the hazards of encountering marine debris, which at the extreme end can include shipping containers and vessel hatch covers washed overboard. New Zealand’s Vero Marine Insurance website has an interesting article on the dangers of lost cargo containers. Cargo containers overboard – Do they sink or swim?

The Asgard II website reports that the vessel sits relatively intact and upright on the sandy bottom off the coast of France. An ROV expedition identified a significant fracture of one of her hull planks. Her insured value is 3.8m euros is less than the preliminary estimates to salvage her. Certainly this will be no easy undertaking. (‘Asgard II’ more likely to be raised as exploration reveals it is largely intact Irish Times, Oct. 3, 2008)

It will be interesting to follow the Asgard II story.

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How many harbormasters does it take to …

New Bedford Harbor

First of all, let me preface this post with the fact that some of my favorite people are harbormasters.

That being said, according to the New Bedford Standard Times there’s a storm brewing in one of the country’s premiere ports. (Council questions assistant harbormaster appointment Sept. 25, 2008)

The controversy is basically how many harbormasters does it take to manage the top fishing port in America. Currently there’s 6 but the Harbor Development Commission wants to bump it up to 7. The New Bedford City Council seems to think that’s too many but Kristin Decas, executive director of the Harbor Development Commission responds:

“…seven is not too many assistant harbormasters for a port such as New Bedford with an active commercial fleet, passenger ferries, cruise boats, shipyards and a large number of recreational vessels.

…Fairhaven has five assistant harbormasters, Dartmouth has three and Falmouth has four. Also, by comparison, Salem has 17, Winthrop has 11 and Beverly has 14.”

Ms. Decas makes good points although this does have a bit of a how long is a piece of string feel to it.

What I found most interesting is how the article ended:

The city’s harbormaster is Lazarus Chongarlides. He is serving with a lifetime appointment. He has declined to retire, despite being in his 80s and infirm. He is paid $55,000 a year.

Wow, good work if you can get it! Although with lifetime appointments, it might be tough!

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Pirate PR

Pirate illustration by Kate O'Connor for the NY Times Over the past few years we have seen a surge of pirate activity across the globe with some of the highest profile incidents taking place off the coast of Somalia in Africa.

The one that has certainly secured the world’s attention involves the Russian ship MV Faina which is full of military equipment destined for Kenya. The ship is currently surrounded by navy warships and basically has nowhere to go. The pirates have demanded a ransom of $20million. The stand off continues as of this post.

NY Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman was extremely resourceful in securing the pirates’ satellite phone number which he called and ultimately connected with the official spokespirate, Sugule Ali. Now the PR world is abuzz about Pirate PR. Here’s a few interesting articles.

Swashbuckler Has A Future on Wall Street – Virginia Pilot (Oct. 2, 2008)

But I Promised the Pirates’ Flack That I Wouldn’t Quote Anyone But Him! – Editor & Publisher (Oct. 2, 2008)

Pirates Reveal a New Side With Spokesperson – PR Week  (Oct. 1, 2008)

Pirates Have PR Pros, Too – PR Junkie – Ragan Communications (Oct. 1, 2008)

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The LoveBoat (NY Times Wedding and Celebrations)

1-loveboat-logo(swf)If you are a regular reader of the Sunday NY Times like me, you probably cruise right through the Weddings/Celebrations section.  Usually reserved for the rich and famous and socially connected, heck if a simple sailor like me would ever know anybody whose nuptials are “fit to print.”

Well low and behold today’s paper featured two merchant mariners!

Margaret Meehan and Rocky Curtis – The bride and bridegroom, both merchant mariners, married in a calm after the storm.

WHEN the punishing surf churned up by an offshore storm washed away the restaurant deck where Margaret Meehan and Peter Curtis Jr. were to have their rehearsal dinner in a few short hours, the couple didn’t panic.

As experienced chief officers in the merchant marine guiding giant container ships through the world’s busiest shipping channels, both are well versed in the ways of the sea. They simply found another spot. Called, of course, the Anchor.

Read their full story here.

Fair winds and smooth sailing wishes for the couple!

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