Here’s the latest maritime news from Monkey Fist and gCaptain. There’s always something interesting in the mix. This week I really liked the Halloween story of the Boston “Ghost Ship Harbor”. I love that kind of stuff!
The articles about the Voyageurs, the Enigma machine and the code breakers was all pretty interesting too.
Check it out…
Europa, later SS Liberté, was a German ocean liner built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) to work the transatlantic sea route. She and her sister ship, Bremen, were the two most advanced, high-speed steam turbine ocean vessels in their day, with both earning the Blue Riband. more Leave it to Boston to create a […]
Another weeks worth of maritime matters, courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. The story of the North Sea Sat divers was really interesting. I thought so, maybe because I work fairly often with those guys (sat divers). I just got off a job a couple of weeks ago with a bunch of them.
Interesting thoughts on snacking. I’m not a fan of oysters (too ‘slimy’ for me). I don’t think I would like the jellyfish chips either (tho I bet my Korean crews from the tuna boat would love them). 😉
I’d be more in favor of the bags of Doritos, beer and whiskey. That’s much more my style.
And I really wish I had known about this (Denizler Kitabevi Bookshop in Istanbul) bookstore when I would’ve been able to check it out! I probably walked right by it. 🙁
Hope you enjoy this weeks collection…
Pioneer North Sea Divers: In the 1970s, deep sea divers were at the sharp end of the North Sea oil boom. Alex Last has been speaking to the former diver David Beckett, who wrote The Loonliness of a Deep Sea Diver, about his dangerous life working under the waves. More on BBC World Service Brewing […]
Looks like another week of interesting maritime news courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. I haven’t been able to read it all due to lack of decent internet access out here on the boat this week. I can’t complain. I’m SO happy to have work- finally! Even if it’s only for a week or 2.
I hope you enjoy the news. Please comment with your favorites. Let me know what you liked and why. It should make for some good discussions later on. 🙂
Viking longboats on the Thames Oscar Adolf Wisting (6 June 1871 – 5 December 1936) was a Norwegian Naval officer and polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. In later years Oscar Wisting was an active force behind the preparations and building of […]
Time for another weeks maritime musings courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. I especially liked the articles about the Kursk, the German invasion and the Mariners Revenge song this week. Enjoy…
Lizzie Borden & The Old Fall River Line Everyone from presidents to swindlers sailed the Sound on “Mammoth Palace Steamers” in the heyday of the side wheelers and night boats. The Fall River Line was a combination steamboat and railroad connection between New York City and Boston that operated between 1847 and 1937. For many […]
Here comes the weekly blast of maritime news from Ms Monkey Fist via gCaptain. As always, there is plenty of good stuff in there. I especially liked the stories about the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” and the movie about Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton (to be played by English actor Tom Hardy). This post is the first I’ve heard about this upcoming movie, now I can’t wait to go see it. Be sure to check out the popsicles too. 🙂
Just off River Street, behind the New Heritage Diner, it looms like something out of the Battle of Midway: the U.S.S. Ling, a World War II-era submarine, squatting in a shallow stretch in the upper reaches of the Hackensack River. This 312-foot hulk of gray steel has been berthed along the river’s shoreline since the […]
Another interesting week of maritime matters courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. My favorites this week are the gorgeous photos of the whales, the octopus video and the story on the USS Liberty. I went to a presentation given by one of the last survivors of that attack a couple of months ago. A friend bought me the book but I haven’t had the chance to read it yet. I’m no fan of the NSA (to put it mildly), nor do I support our involvement in most wars we’ve inserted ourselves into, but it’s an amazing (and eye-opening) story…
Fifty Years Later, NSA Keeps Details of Israel’s USS Liberty Attack Secret On June 8, 1967, an Israeli torpedo tore through the side of the unarmed American naval vessel USS Liberty, approximately a dozen miles off the Sinai coast. The ship, whose crew was under command of the National Security Agency, was intercepting communications at […]
Sorry I’ve been away from the computer for so long. I finally got a little bit of work. Not nearly enough, but even those short couple of weeks will keep me going for another couple of months! I wish they had decent internet aboard, but can’t be picky about work at this point!
I got in late Saturday night, it’s taken me this long to catch up a little bit and start to interact with the world again. I got my dose of Maritime Monday yesterday and felt like it’s worth passing on. There’s a cool story about Singapore and the latest cool project over there. Be sure to check out the interesting pottery by Florida sculptor Mitchell Grafton. I really like what I’ve seen of his work so far.
As if there weren’t enough to worry about, Singapore is being invaded by giant crocheted sea urchins. >> via Trevor Corson, author of the books “The Secret Life of Lobsters” and “The Story of Sushi.” –TrevorCorson.com National Ocean Service – Looking for a getaway for a few minutes during your work day? Check out our […]
Another always interesting collection of maritime tidbits from Miss Monkey Fist. Enjoy…
Miss Monkey’s Retail Anecdotes Some of Miss Monkey’s closer associates already know that She earns Her beer money working part-time at a Maine based, family-owned clothing retailer that’s been a Portland institution since 1919. Whilst pulling her Saturday afternoon shift, an interesting tale unfolded. After passing this anecdote along to some of her friends later […]
In between trying to keep up with the #AtoZChallenge, I still managed to read the weekly post from Monkey Fist. There’s always such interesting stuff in there. My favorite articles this week (other than the stuff on John Cale- who has long been a favorite of mine) was the stuff about the weather. I also really liked the photographs. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…
Since leaving the band in 1968, he has released approximately 30 albums. Of his solo work, Cale is perhaps best known for his album Paris 1919, and his cover version of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah“. Cale was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996, and […]
Interesting history in todays post from Monkey Fist. A lot of stories about Americas entrance into WWI. The Lusitania, the U-Boats, etc. I recently read a good book on that subject- Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. Today’s post might whet your appetite, if so check out the book! 🙂
Other than that, there’s a story about a village of old boats where you can vacation in one if you like. Damien Hirst’s latest “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” looks like a fantastic project.
Check it out…
Notice! Travellers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying […]
Another weeks worth of nautical knowledge courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. There’s an interesting article about Sadie Horton, one of the women mariners of WWII (who have never really been recognized). Beautiful photos of some ugly stuff. Sounds of the seascape to relax to. And pretty little jellyfish to watch…
10 Hours of Ambient Arctic Sounds Will Help You Relax, Meditate, Study & Sleep   …
Another weeks worth of interesting nautical history from Monkey Fist via gCaptain. This week there seems to be a concentration on Russia. There’s also some cool info about tattooing, sea monsters, sailing school ships and salty old restaurants. Enjoy. 🙂
With only the clothes on their backs, 881 Aleuts from nine different island villages were …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMYEKwxTyo Here’s a new upload from maritime Youtuber …
He really makes a lot of good points. I have to agree with him on pretty much everything he says. Yes, things are much, much better for sailors than in the days of Richard Henry Dana’s “Two Years Before the Mast“, but they’ve sure as hell been going downhill since the 1960’s!
Yes, the ships are built with all the latest technology, but the crews have been cut in half and more! Our workload has been constantly increasing, with less and less personnel to do it all!
Yes, our pay has gone up- but not nearly as much as it would take to keep up with inflation. Considering all the expenses we now have added on in order to be allowed to work offshore, we’re actually earning much less than we were in the past.
Yes, communications have improved- for the ship. Not necessarily for the crew. There are still so many ship owners/operators who think of their crews as nothing more than another tool to use and abuse, not human beings like themselves. People who also have a life off the ship (if they have people who choose to stick around and wait for the sailor who may not be able to contact them for months at a time- which is not very likely now a days when everyone expects instant gratification).
I said I would never again work for someone who treated me like that, but I never in my life thought things would get this bad out there! Even with the advent of the STCW, which I immediately saw for what it was (an easy way for shipowners to rid themselves of ‘expensive’ first world crews), I still never imagined how small the box I’ve been shoved into has become!
I always figured that when it got slow offshore, I could ship out on a tugboat, or a tanker, or some other kind of vessel. Well, due to the US Coast Guard constantly changing the rules (and not always putting out the notifications they are required to by law), it is no longer possible to switch sectors like we could before.
Now, if you work on a tanker, you must stay on a tanker or you will lose your ability to ever go back to that kind of work without paying enormous fees to be ‘trained’, (ex: $1,100 for course, $500+ for lodging, $300+ for transport, $300+ for food). To do the same thing you’ve been doing for 5, 10, 15 years in the past ! Same goes for almost every type of vessel now. Passenger vessels only want people with that specific type of experience and paperwork. Towing vessels can only take people with towing endorsements. DP vessels will only take people with DP certificates. Etc.
I’m lucky I’m not a sailor from the Philippines, or China, or any of the other ‘third world’ (meaning low wage) countries where the overwhelming majority of seafarers come from now a days. For an American, working for MSC (Military Sealift Command) is probably the longest hitch out there. It’s supposedly 4 months long. I hear from friends it’s more like 6. Those poor crews from the Philippines are working for 2 years at a time before they can go home!
Most American ships are in pretty decent shape. They’re in great condition compared to a lot of the crap I’ve seen sailing around the world from other countries. Ships with ‘flags of convenience‘. Owners flag their ships outside of their own countries for financial reasons. They can get cheaper crews, bother with less rules and regulations, pay less taxes and fees, etc. Some of them are decent, but many of them are not. Check out this report by the ITF, they do a pretty good job of keeping track of this stuff. Or this, which makes the ITF report look tame.
Watch the video for a pretty good run down of what to expect shipping out. He doesn’t really get into the good parts. But then again, there aren’t too many good parts left anymore. 🙁
Any of you sailors out there, I’d be very interested to get your take on both the video and my comments on it.
Another weeks worth of fascinating maritime matters from Monkey Fist and gCaptain. This weeks especially interesting articles were about the SS St Louis. In honor of January 27th Holocaust Remembrance Day, there are a couple of great articles (also check it out on Twitter).
It’s especially relevant now because of the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the fleeing ‘refugees’. I have to admit, I am not whole heartedly going to welcome anyone who comes from over there. It’s a matter of their professed religion.
Yeah, I know. People will call me all kinds of nasty names (to my face or behind my back). I know I really shouldn’t say these kinds of things online. No, they never go away. But I think this all needs to come out in open discussion. No, not just smearing anyone who says this kind of thing as ‘racist’, ‘homophobe’, ‘antisemite’, etc. that just shuts down all attempts at communication. No, not just assuming you’re so much better, so much more enlightened, than someone who would say these kinds of things.
You know, I think one of the main reasons Trump got elected (regardless of how scared people were about his nuttiness, arrogance, temper, etc) was because he spoke his mind and didn’t play around with the mealy-mouthed politically correct crap everybody else has been saddled with for the last couple of decades. I didn’t vote for him, but I sure as hell enjoyed hearing him tell it like he thinks it. We all ought to have freedom of speech, without having to self-censor!
Personally I really don’t like any religion, but I especially don’t like the ones where their greatest objective (according to their holy book) is to kill people like me (unbelievers)! If anyone knows of a fool-proof method to tell who is a devout muslim who wants to follow the koran, and an ordinary person who really doesn’t give a damn about religion but just plays along to get along, please let me know. I’ll pass it on to Trump and maybe we can figure out how to solve the refugee problem.
In the meantime, check out this weeks Maritime Monday, there’s a lot more in there!
more: A Tribute to the “Picasso of Sailing” – Mike Peyton on yachtsandyachting.com Haunting Twitter …
More fascinating maritime history from Monkey Fist by way of gCaptain. This week there’s some interesting stories about the Vikings, some Irish monks, and the true story of how Gambia (the country) came to be. There’s another story about an underwater ‘art museum’, a new one- not the one off Cancun.
There’s a story about yet another #$%^##$% ship owner/operator who treats their crews like shit and than abandons them without pay. These poor guys have spent 7 months onboard without pay. Would you work for that long without a paycheck? Me neither! But these guys (and so many others) really had no choice. They can’t just say to hell with this shit and leave. Where can they go? Jump overboard? And then forfeit all their hard earned wages for the months they’ve already worked? And then, how to get home? India is a long way from the North Sea!
This type of work is not easy. Besides the fact of being away from home for months on end, there is the weather to deal with (the North Sea in winter is no fun!), the job they’re hired to do is dangerous. They earned their pay and they deserve to be paid on time, not sluffed off with lame excuses! Not abandoned and left to fend for themselves with no food, water, money, fuel in some foreign country where they might not even know the language!
This is just one more example of the all too common situation in the shipping industry today. The race to the bottom. ‘Globalization’. Americans are used to being replaced by cheap labor by now. Looks like the Brits are getting used to it too. 🙁 This ship is crewed by Indians! I guess it’s their turn now. They are now getting replaced by even cheaper labor!
How does this race to the bottom, becoming standard now- to treat your seamen like so many tools to be used up and then thrown away- how does this really help anyone? Americans losing out to Filipinos, who are losing out to Indians, who are losing out to Ukrainians, who are losing out to Indonesians, who are losing out to Malaysians. Where does it end? With ‘crew less’ ships (they are coming). Shipping rates are so low now it’s cheaper to send something across the ocean and back then to truck it across the state! The added cost to anything you’re going to buy is a very small part of its price.
This particular ship actually has it good. Apparently they still have food, water and power aboard. It’s stuck in Britain and the crew is allowed ashore. The people of the town are able to visit, they help as they can- they bring coffee and biscuits. It’s better than they would get in most places. Here- for instance- where they would most definitely NOT be allowed off the ship. Nor would anyone be allowed to visit (except maybe the port chaplain, ships agent, etc- all on ships business). Thanks TSA, PATRIOT ACT, etc. 🙁
This sort of thing is all too common. The MLC (maritime labor convention) has some new rules that just came into force Jan 18. Hopefully it will put some teeth into the rules regarding treatment of seafarers. It’s long past due.
The Lyford House being saved from demolition, 1957 Built in 1876, the house is listed …
Last week went by too fast! It’s time for another email full of interesting maritime info from Monkey Fist and Maritime Monday. This week I really enjoyed the old photos of the Tower Bridge. It brought back good memories of staying nearby in St Katharines yacht harbor. I was able to stay aboard an old sailing barge there for a whole summer after I graduated high school.
This week Monkey Fist shares articles about a couple of books that look interesting. “Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure”. Considered the “first original English prose pornography” and banned in Massachusetts, I doubt it gets as explicit as the “Fifty Shades’ series which I just finished reading, but might be worth a peek.
The other one is “Scurvy: the Disease of Discovery”. Of course I knew about scurvy, and not just from the old ‘pirate’ thing, calling everyone a ‘scurvy dog’. I had no idea it killed so many people. More than 3 times as many as died in the Civil War?! I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this book.
Check out the rest of the post…
Old Dragon’s Head: Where the Great Wall of China Meets the Sea Old Dragon …
Another week’s gone by already. I’ve hardly noticed. It seems I can keep busy doing absolutely nothing useful. 😉
I did try to keep up with my emails through the week, if I don’t I just have to delete them all, they just get overwhelming. I always enjoy reading the Maritime Monday emails I get from gCaptain.
This week, there’s some interesting stuff about Christmas (of course) and maritime history. I really liked the cool wrapping paper!
Royal Navy pilot Jock Moffat – credited with launching the torpedo which crippled the Bismarck in …
Here’s another of Monkey Fists’ always interesting Maritime Monday posts. I’m still in New Orleans, but heading home tonight. Hope to catch up soon (if I don’t get lucky and find a job). Tighter marine fuel sulfur limits will spark changes by both refiners and vessel operators The …
Lots of interesting history this week. Thanks to gCaptain and Monkey Fist for sharing. I never learned anything about Robert Smalls in school. Did you?
Mystery of the WWI U-Boat and the ‘sea monster’ solved How a bungling German …
This weeks Maritime Monday is a good one. I do love art of all kinds, and especially maritime art (of course). This week there’s a very nice showcase of artists who liked to work on maritime subjects down through history. There’s also a mention of a new group, the “Sea Sisters”. I’ll definitely be checking them out. A neat article about the elevators on the Three Gorges Dam (I was excited to be able to cruise through there before the dam was finished), what an impressive project! Thanks to Monkey Fist and gCaptain for sharing all this great stuff!
The World’s Largest Elevator Can Lift 6.7 Million Pounds of Ship sploid.gizmodo …
Arrrgh, it’s Monday already again. The good thing about it is- it’s officially ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’. Aye, we wait for this all year. 😉
Check out Monkey Fist’s post of the week’s interesting maritime stuff. Flotsam and jetsam from all over the world.
Don’t forget to head to Krispy Kreme for your free donuts and Long John Silvers for a free sandwich. Thanks to both for supporting us pirates! 🙂
“There were no marks to separate one day from another, no rule whereby to measure …
Another Monday and it’s time for more cool stuff coming from Monkey Fist by way of gCaptain. As always, it’s an interesting mix of maritime art, history, science and more. It brought back some memories for me this week while reading of the Peking’s planned departure for Hamburg.
I remember clambering around her decks at the South Street Seaport museum when I returned to New York from my time with the Oceanics. I still have some great pictures around here somewhere. I still think man has never made anything as beautiful as a square rigger under full sail.
Inspired by Mariners on 9/11, One Photographer Found a Passion Sunday marks 15 years …
Another great post from Monkey Fist for Maritime Monday! Can’t get over the one about cafe’s inside the whale’s head! There’s a ‘cute’ video about pirates (language) and interesting history of the Steamboat Arabia. Enjoy! 🙂
Chiclet, ship’s cat aboard the historic tanker Mary A Whalen in NY’s Atlantic Basin, now digging in her claws in preparation for Hermine WarHistoryOnline – Much Like the Allies’ later D-Day plans, Operation Sealion was marked by daring and ingenuity In the early Seventies I worked as a lighthouse keeper on three islands off the […]
I’ve always enjoyed this Maritime Monday series from Monkey Fist and so glad they’re back again. Thanks to Monkey Fist and to gCaptain for promoting them. There’s so much interesting history, science, art, music, movies, culture and just all around maritime fun. 🙂
I hope you enjoy this weeks collection of maritime stuff in Maritime Monday…
Scientists call for better plastics design to protect marine life Improved materials would encourage recycling and prevent single-use containers from entering the oceans “[It comes from] 60 years of being a throwaway society,” Thompson said. Most of the plastic litter comes from single-use items, which have been inadequately disposed of and not recycled. “They have […]
Inspired by Mariners on 9/11, One Photographer Found a Passion Sunday marks 15 years …
