This is not an April Fool’s Day joke although my last Sea-Fever post was exactly 2 years ago today about an effort to relaunch the blog that ultimately founded, again.
Sea-Fever launched in 2006 and created over 1,000 posts of flotsam and jetsam and nonsense over the years. That’s a lot of content and frankly I was pretty proud of hitting that milestone way back then. I feel that I invested too much to just let this thing drift in helplessly in the Sagasso Sea of the web. So let’s relaunch this baby!
For the second post in a row, I’m back to our friends at GCaptain where they report another tall ship disaster.
Admittedly I know nothing about this ship nor the details of the incident but this type of headline grabbing news is not good for the sail training industry and particularly those programs and vessels that are run professionally and competently and do the right thing.
However, from their own Facebook page it seems that this voyage was cursed from the start.
You really should try to make the Moby-Dick Marathon which begins shortly at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. It’s a great and unique experience in one of America’s most historic downtown districts. The event starts at noon and runs all through the night until about midday tomorrow. The majority of the reading takes place in the museum but this afternoon the crowd ambles across the street to the historic Seamen’s Bethel which is always a highlight. Get there early because the pews are as full as an Easter Sunday service!
In case you can’t make it, the museum has set up a live stream so you can experience it from the comfort of your own berth. Enjoy!
Jamestown Distributors and Off Center Harbor.com produced this great video about building boats with kids. It’s definitely worth watching and is guaranteed to generate a smile or two. Enjoy.
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.
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