Sailing & Maritime Thread

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Northbound at Kenner Bend on Lower Mississippi River​

Oct 7, 2025


8:33
 

After lunch, boat walk around on the Lower Mississippi River October 8, 2025​


7:33
 

Sister vessels on Mississippi River waiting at river closure September 22, 2025​


6:20
 
Container Ship | Cabin Tour

Oct 22, 2025
Some of you asked to see my cabin on my most recent ship, so this is just a short tour.
Enjoy😎🚢⚓️🌊🐋


4:57
 
Lotta old pics here. Click on gallery. May take a few secs to load.

www.thediverslocker.com

HOO-YAA DEEP SEA - The Divers Locker

Deep Sea Diving Gear for Denizens of the Deep, Navy and Army Deep Sea Diving Challenge Coins, Custom Challenge Coins, Deep Sea Art and MK-V Galleries, and more.
www.thediverslocker.com www.thediverslocker.com
 

Departing Southbound From St. Louis Shortly 11/8/25​


10:09
 
searcher said:
Click to expand...

I think I touched on this a few weeks back, on another thread.

Nonetheless...the Fitz matters, but the way it matters is being ignored.

It shows the deceit of Officialdom; and of how frantically people - some vested into the Narrative, some not - how hard they cling to a pleasing, if untrue, picture.

IMHO, having read up on this for 50 years (a neighbor of ours went down on it; our families weren't close but it fueled my macabre fascination)...what I've learned and come to conclude, is this:

--Fitz was overloaded. Cleveland-Cliffs' oversight agency, whoever it was, waved a magic want and thereby increased the hull's capacity. No modification had been made.

--The ship was not derelict but a lot of maintenance had been deferred. The crew had made mention of it to families, individually.

--The navigation chart the ship was using had Six Fathom Shoal marked in the wrong location. This was learned later. I'm not sure if the officers were aware of the error.

--Sitting low, with the radar out, with a bad chart - AND bobbing around in the midst of gale-force winds - they are believed to have gone right over the shoal, and probably grounded hard. With all the other commotion going on, they may not have felt it.

--Shortly later, they began a list and the captain called in the ship was taking on water. He believed, over the cargo hatches.

--Same transmission, he reported he had "a railing down." That is not a trivial event. This happens when the hull is distorted, usually because of imminent failure. A railing breaking, means the ship is hogging. A railing going slack and coming down, means the ship is sagging. Both indicate keel failure and separation of the hull.

So, overloaded, swamping, listing, and with a keel damaged or broken, the nose of the ship went into one of those giant waves' troughs; and the forces combined, probably broke the ship apart. The stern section rolled over. The forward part did not; it probably jammed right into mud at the bottom before the stern completely separated.

I do not know what improvements have been made for safety on the Great Lakes. Surely, weathertight lifeboats. Probably, more durable radar equipment, as well as sounding apparatuses. Charts need not be carried; they almost-certainly can be seen in real time, with all updates, on Wi-Fi or satellite.

The Fitzgerald is but one of many, many Great Lakes shipwrecks - many occurring about the time of the close of season, in November. The public fascination with this one of course, is due only to Gordon Lightfoot's dirge.
 
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As the next generation turns away from life at sea, industry leaders reflect on what it would take to make seafaring something parents once again want for their children. The second instalment in our brand-new Seafarers magazine. Ask anyone who’s spent time at sea and they’ll tell you: shipping...
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Dead man and toilet in the wheelhouse​

Nov 19, 2025


5:02
 

Explaining Wheelhouse Stuff During Fog Delay​

Nov 18, 2025


17:35
 
searcher said:

Maurice and Maralyn Bailey - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
Click to expand...
It's stuff like that that made me give up any fantasies of sailing across the ocean, any ocean, alone or with a small crew.

That's not the only story I've read like that. Long ago I read another, of a guy who was adrift forty days or so, in a life raft with no food but one floating seawater still. He survived on what crap he could hook with a screwdriver, string and a shirt.

Wish I could remember the name or the time. But, forty days waiting for almost-certain death...no, t'anks.
 

Sunday Dinner with a real British Pirate - Meet John the legend!​

Nov 24, 2025
This guy is a true legend! He has a past that could fill Hollywood with content for years (but I need him to tell you).


16:28
 

Sailing Alone to Where the Icebergs Are Born (Greenland)​

Sep 27, 2025 GREENLAND
I'm sailing solo into Disko Bay, one of the areas with the highest iceberg concentration in Western Greenland!
Coastal Marine Litter Observatory that we take part in:https://cmlo.scidrones.com/


37:17
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all maritime aficionados and ship spotters.

Thankful 11/27/25​


8:16
 

Day 7 on the Ship: Happy Thanksgiving 🦃​

Nov 28, 2025


6:52
 

Tami Oldham Ashcraft - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Adrift: Surviving a hurricane at sea​

20 days into the journey, they were caught in a Category 4 hurricane, bringing with it 15m waves and 150mph winds. Despite courageously battling the giant waves, the Hazana was pitchpoled (rolled end-over-end) when she slipped down into a trench between waves.

The last thing Tami remembers before being knocked unconscious for 27 hours is Richard shouting: ‘Oh my God!’ as a big wave crashed down on the boat.

Her account of the events that unfolded has been made into a book, Red Sky in Mourning, and now a movie, Adrift.

We sat down with Tami to learn more about her self-rescue.

Content warning: Some people may find some of the content of this article distressing.
Read the rest:

 
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