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Category Archives: Nautical History
Death of the Antarctic Ship Hero
How a Notable Vessel Met Its End on Willapa Bay Fifty years ago, the 125′ X 30′ expedition ship Hero was taking shape at the Harvey Gamage Boatyard in Maine. Designed by Potter & M’Arthur, Inc., naval architects of Boston, … Continue reading
Harbo & Samuelson “Hitch-Rowed” the Atlantic
First Atlantic Row: Harbo and Samuelson in 1896 The bizarre and risky activity of “ocean drifting by rowboat” has its origin in 1896 when two Norwegian fishermen departed Manhattan in an attempt to row the North Atlantic. Their boat was … Continue reading
After 75 Years, Katie Ford Sails on in B.C.
In the summer of 2016, I received an email from the Canadian owner of the 44′ cruising yacht Katie Ford, inviting me to its 70th birthday party in Victoria B.C. This classic old sailing yacht was built in in 1946 … Continue reading
The Cutty Sark Sails into the 21st Century
In 2008, the world’s only surviving clipper ship, the Cutty Sark, suffered a disastrous fire that came close to destroying the entire hull in its permanent drydock beside the River Thames in Greenwich. This news was especially shocking for me … Continue reading
Posted in Nautical History, Ocean Racing & Records, Sailing Ships
Tagged cutty sark preservation, robo ship
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How the Taste for Tea Created the Tea Clippers
Tea reached Europe from China around 1560 on Portuguese and Dutch ships, but it was a latecomer to England. In London, coffee was the drink of choice among businessmen and Edward Lloyd’s coffee house became the center of shipping insurance. … Continue reading
Posted in Nautical History, Sailing Ships, Shipyards
Tagged tea clipper, tea party, tea races
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2017: Old Astoria Pilot Boat Arrow 2 Returns
The pilot boat Arrow 2 disappeared from the Astoria waterfront in 2012 and has been greatly missed by the seamen who admired its unique traditional hull shape and general low-tech appearance. There was much speculation about its final disposition: would … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial craft, Nautical History, NW boats and boaters
Tagged astoria pilot boat
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Astoria Yard’s WW II YMS Minesweepers
AMCCO Shipyard’s Minesweeper (YMS) Production Remembered The 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor last December gives us a chance to review the incredible history of the “war at home” in Astoria—a time when thousands of ordinary women performed … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial craft, Nautical History, Shipyards, Worth Reading
Tagged AMCCO YMS, minesweeper, YMS
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WW II Minesweeper Tradition Lives on in Seattle Yard
Wooden Hulls Still Restored at Pacific Fishermen Yard Almost every kind of boat imaginable has traveled up and down the Seattle Ship Canal and through the locks over the last 100 years, but few of the thousands of crew or … Continue reading
Posted in Nautical History, NW boats and boaters, Shipyards, Worth Reading
Tagged jacques cousteau, minesweeper, MV Grey Goose, RV Calypso, YMS
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Salmon Tender Duke–Oldest Boat on the Columbia River
After 112 Years Afloat, the Duke Retires to Museum in Astoria The older a wooden boat gets, the more work it takes to keep it seaworthy. That’s a lesson that many boatmen learned the hard way. On the lower Columbia … Continue reading
Ole Evinrude’s Outboard Engine is 100 Years Old
How Ole Evinrude Invented his “Detachable Rowboat Engine” It has been 100 years since the first successful Evinrude machine took the boating world by storm. Ole Evinrude was born in 1877 in Christiania, Norway, and his idea was so revolutionary … Continue reading
Posted in Nautical History, Worth Reading
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