Yesterday I posted about the sinking of the much beloved HMS Bounty during Hurricane Sandy and the tragic loss of one of her crew. The US Coast Guard continues the search for her popular Captain, Robin Walbridge who remains missing as of this post.
In case you ever wondered how big ships deal with big storms here’s an interesting video from Maersk Lines that explains their process.
Flag dip to gCaptain.com
Early this morning news broke that the HMS Bounty was caught in Hurricane Sandy on her trip south and foundered in heavy weather. Fourteen of her 16 crew members were able to make it into life rafts and were ultimately rescued by the US Coast Guard. Here is an incredible video of this operation.
This is a sobering reminder of the incredible dangers of going to sea. There have been so many tragic losses of tall ships and sail training professionals over the past decade and it’s difficult to process a loss like this. Not enough is known about what transpired about the Bounty in her final moments but two experienced captains have weighed in wondering why the ship ever took to sea in advance of a storm like Sandy. Local captain baffled by HMS Bounty accident and Picton Castle captain questions Bounty being at sea during storm.
So our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Claudene Christian who died today and Captain Robin Walbridge who is still missing as I write this post.
Finally, the sad news is somewhat offset by the good news that we still have real life heroes today. US Coast rescue swimmers risk it all, accomplishing incomprehensible feats under mind-boggling conditions. While everyone else is advised to stay out of harms way, they are willing to jump into it save lives. They are true heroes and we can’t thank them enough for what they do, all in a days work.
Seventy five years since his last visit, Samuel Nevins tours the Charles W. Morgan being restored in Mystic Seaport.
My favorite line: “Without a comfortable wife, you don’t have a life.”
We love Moby-Dick at Sea-Fever so it was fun to stumble upon Google’s Doodle celebrating the 161st birthday of it’s publication in England. We can celebrate again next month because it was published in the US on November 14, 1851!
As a present to Sea-Fever readers, here’s the 1st chapter of the Moby-Dick Big Read. Here’s what’s that’s all about:
…an online version of Melville’s magisterial tome: each of its 135 chapters read out aloud, by a mixture of the celebrated and the unknown, to be broadcast online in a sequence of 135 downloads, publicly and freely accessible.
They started posting a chapter a day on Sept. 16, 2012. Tilda Swinton spins an awesome yarn in Chapter 1 – Loomings. There are many other interesting readers and the artwork on the website is definitely worth a visit.
Of course, if you need any help deciphering Melville’s lexicon, there’s no better place to go than Meg Guroff’s awesome PowerMobyDick website.
Here’s a great stop animation drawing and effective visual storytelling of a piece American classic literature, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
Growing up I dreamed of being a tug boat captain. Now I dream of lounging around in a hot tub. Maybe someday I can combine both of my dreams. Look for me in Mattapoisett Harbor!
Check out Hot Tug’s website.
Check out the barge scenes!
[Professional driver, do not attempt in your city]
Flag dip to Todd Lappin, Telestar Logistic via Twitter
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