Our friends at GCaptain.com had an interesting post today: This (Illegal) ‘Urbex’ Video from Inside the Costa Concordia Wreck is Super Creepy Here’s the video but make sure you visit their website for more explanation and for a link to a photo gallery.
Strange. Interesting. Spooky.
I love this short film about life, photography and 2 large boats about 100 yards apart on the beach. Enjoy.
Check out the barge scenes!
[Professional driver, do not attempt in your city]
Flag dip to Todd Lappin, Telestar Logistic via Twitter
The first PortFire 40 Inductee has been named!
HAUS, a reclusive yet prolific contributor of maritime information to Wikipedia, was selected. This self proclaimed INTJ is kind of like the Banksy of the maritime world.
This appears on his/her Wikipedia profile:
This user has made over 37,000contributions to Wikipedia and, as a result, may be slightly insane.
We prefer to call HAUS “focused.”
Now will he step out of the shadows to accept this most prestigious award?!
In any case, congratulations and thanks for all of your contributions to the maritime world!
*The above photo by Tony Worrall Foto on Flickr is of a Banksy artwork painted on the side of a ship in Bristol, UK.
Google’s homepage has a salty flavor today! Check it out while you can because it has a fun interactive element to explore.
Flag dip to Sea-Fever Pacific Ocean Correspondent Mia Chambers.
I’m sure there won’t be a dry eye in the room after watching this video. Oh, the internet is a wonderful thing!
Moby-Monday is back and inspired by an extraordinary event organized by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. From all accounts the 15th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon was a great success!
I took my seven-year old son Luke to the Seamen’s Bethel on Saturday for Chapters 7 (The Chapel), 8 (The Pulpit) and 9 (The Sermon). Since I am on the Board of Managers of the New Bedford Port Society I am obviously biased, but there is no better place to experience a Moby-Dick reading than the place where Melville actually worshiped. Here are a few pictures and a video from that experience.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
After taking this in, the tide of Moby-Dick enthusiasts carried us across the street to the Jacob’s Family Gallery in the Whaling Museum, the home port of the Moby-Dick Marathon, where there was a full house and lots of great energy.
On Sunday mornings, we typically listen to classical music but this week we tuned into the livestream of the event. While listening Luke was hard at work in the corner with his carpenter’s kit and by mid-morning he had built a whaleship for my office! The extraordinary convergence and power of great art and new technology in action inspiring a young boy to dream and create!
Thanks and congratulations to the New Bedford Whaling Museum for putting on a great show! Using the livestream and an active Twitter feed, people were able to enjoy the experience without actually having to be present. Of course, there is no substitute for being there in body, soul and spirit. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is an extraordinary small museum that keep getting better. I’m already looking forward to the 16th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon!
Great news today for the tall ships / sail training world!
Schooner Adventuress won the Seattle/Puget Sound Initiative of the Partners in Preservation $125,000 Grant. The program is sponsored American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. People were encouraged to visit the website and vote every day for one of 25 special historic sites, many of which have maritime significance.
The final vote was extremely close with Adventuress edging out Town Hall Seattle by a single percentage point (20% to 19%). Recognizing the incredible support that both organizations received in the competition, and as a demonstration of solid corporate social responsibility, Partners in Preservation decided to award two full $125,000 grants, the first time in the program’s history.
Sound Experience did an amazing job using social media to engage stakeholders and mobilize support. From Zachary Simonson Bond’s fantastic introductory YouTube video with it’s clear calls to action …
…to Frank DePalma’s screencast
…to the daily Twitter and Facebook follow-ups which often pointed us to their creative blog (My Fair Vote, Romeo and the Vote, Gone with the Vote).
All of this made it fun to be involved. Of course, they sweetened the pot by giving voters the opportunity to win a daysail for 45 on the historic schooner. Who wouldn’t want a chance at winning that?!
It takes passion for the cause, creative ideas and lots of hard work to pull off something like this. Hat’s off to Zach and Sound Experience Executive Director Catherine Collins for charting and sailing a proper course that other nonprofits would do well to study and follow.
By the way, here’s a link to an article from February 25, 1897 that appeared in The Day (New London) explaining how the term schooner came about.
I love when technology companies celebrate maritime culture in their marketing initiatives. Remember when Microsoft caught Sea-Fever marketing Vista a few years ago?
Not to be outdone, here’s a new cool new video by Google that promotes the lightning fast speed of their new Chrome browser. Stick with it to the end for their little maritime ditty.
Here’s Bob Neuwirth’s version of Haul on the Bowline from the great Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Song And Chanteys
Every year a true sign that summer is here occurs when the popular Ice Cream Slip makes it’s way down to it’s Mattapoisett harborside location. Well, just in case you can’t wait, Google to the rescue with a virtual visit!
While your there, grab the screen and navigate around town. You can visit the library, town hall and Seaport Village, the operators of the slip. Perfect for friends around the world who can’t make it to Mattapoisett.
I stumbled on all of this while creating a map of all of the Mattapoisett Land Trust properties, so please make sure you visit them, virtually and in real life! (Get some fresh air!)
To give you a little different perspective on the Slip, here’s a picture of Shipyard Park from Wikipedia.
Sea-Fever blog 