Sailing & Maritime Thread

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Crossing the NORTH SEA to Lindisfarne!​

Jul 25, 2025
Join my on a wild ride across the North Sea, from Haugesund to Lindesfarne! The 327 NM journey did for sure provide its fare share of challenges...!


37:20
 

This Wasn't my Original Plan (but it Changed my Life)​

Jul 30, 2025


13:34
 
searcher said:

This Wasn't my Original Plan (but it Changed my Life)​

Jul 30, 2025


13:34
Click to expand...

Interesting.

He got turned down by the Navy. Now he's apparently in the Merchant Marine apprenticeship program, and loving it.

I wonder how he would have liked the regular Navy. Far different than the current structure for commercial mariners...the Navy will have 600 to 6000 bodies on a shop. A large freighter might have twelve.

On a large freighter, you have a small crew, and you work with no one else. You are gonna have intense personal reactions - if you work well together, you'll become close-knit.

In the Navy, you have all kinds, and a lot of them are gonna just trip your trigger. You have to find ways to avoid them, if you can. Meantime, there's a lot of time for making trouble - officers as well as enlisted.

I didn't much enjoy my Navy time. Wonder if I'd have liked life as a civilian sailor...I had some fantasies about working the Great Lakes ore boats...it was not to be.
 
Casey Jones said:
In the Navy, you have all kinds
Click to expand...

I still remember some of the characters I sailed with. Not their names but their personalities. One was a religious nut, others would drink & whore it up every chance they got, some who saved every cent they could, some would buy stuff in certain ports for resale, others took correspondence courses, etc.

Had a couple of guys hook up with chicks in the PI and go UA until their money ran out. Turned themselves in at Subic.

Another guy hated the canoe club so much he got drunk every chance he could. On one of his forays into never never land he blacked out and wrote Zoomie a letter calling the captain of the ship a nincompoop, said the officers were stooges and some other crazy shit. lol

The three guys I just described all got the same thing. Two months restriction to the ship, some sort of fine and EMI. Back then it was hard to get peeps to join and to reup so I guess that's why they didn't get anything more serious.

Once I got out and sailed merchant things were a bit different. It was just a job, a bit different than most jobs, but a job. Offered good pay and a chance for travel.
 
searcher said:
some would buy stuff in certain ports for resale, others took correspondence courses, etc.
Click to expand...

We had a couple hustlers on my two ships. One would wait until we got out of US territorial waters, and then basically buy as many cartons of cigarettes as he could. Once out of US waters, cigarettes could be sold without excise taxes. Oddly, that was as true on a carrier as it would be on a cruise ship.

So he'd buy them and then ship them home. A relative had a liquor store, and the relative would just stock his racks. Charge the tax, but never remit it. This was in the 1990s, after Treasury stopped requiring tax stamps on cigarette packages.

Another guy was trying to arbitrage West German marks to dollars...what with the flurry of reunification. He later ran for Senate from his home state, and was thrashed in the primaries...he was intelligent and photogenic, but had a personality as corrosive as my own. AND...he had been a real-life Corporal Klinger in the Navy. He was nuclear waste - washed out of Nuke School - and under a six-year enlistment, and couldn't WAIT to get out and get on with life.

So...already he had a rep for being crazy. He was a Machinist's Mate - the black gang. Well, we're in port, and the Captain is arranging his annual formal inspection of all spaces...this was a Big Deal, capitals, although any savvy CO would know what's going on with his ship. But it was ritual - someone from the division that owns the space is to present it to the captain and answer questions.

He was tasked with this. Well, he pretended not to hear the CO and his DivO come down the ladder, and he took his man-tool, which was abnormal length...and wrapped it around a handrail, pantomined beating it with a fist, and screaming.

The DivO showed outrage, but the CO just looked, said, "Carry on," and turned away. The guy never was punished - after all, he saved the engine spaces from a detailed inspection, saving a lot of grief for the division.

But that was the sort of circus the peacetime Navy had become.

(Sorry for the thread drift...memories...)
 

1973: Life on the LAST LIGHTHOUSE | Tuesday Documentary | World of Work | BBC Archive​

Aug 1, 2025
An inside view of life on the Bishop Rock Lighthouse.
Perched on a tiny outcrop of rock at the edge of the Atlantic, ' the Bishop ' has something special about it for the Trinity House officers who man Britain's light-houses. It's the last lighthouse for westward-bound ships, and the last still operating almost as it did under Queen Victoria's patronage. Soon, it may be replaced by an unmanned light, but in this ruggedly beautiful documentary, Tony Parker talks with the men who still maintain their lonely vigil in the ' Ships' Graveyard,' off the Isles of Scilly.


42:08
 

Building Northbound Tow From New Orleans Headed To St. Louis​


10:42
 

Tour of the Ship's Gym​

Aug 5, 2025
In this one I will show you a look inside of the ship's gymnasium. Many of you asked if the ships have these and the answer is always "YES" Let's go have a look.


4:13
 

This Job Lets You Vanish From Society (And Get Paid For It)​

Aug 7, 2025


8:31
 

Chinese Coast Guard Cutter and Chinese Navy Destroyer Collide While Pursuing a Filipino Cutter​

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — discusses the collision between the People's Liberation Army Navy destroyer Guilin and the Chinese Coast Guard Cutter 3104 while harassing and pursuing the Philippine Coast Guard Cutter Suluan on August 11, 2025, off Scarborough Shoal.
21
 

Collision Update: China and Philippines Trade Blame Over Collision in Contested Sea​

In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — provides an update on the collision between the People's Liberation Army Navy destroyer Guilin and the Chinese Coast Guard Cutter 3104 while harassing and pursuing the Philippine Coast Guard Cutter Suluan on August 11, 2025, off Scarborough Shoal. We examine the damage to the cutter, the statement by the Chinese, and what is the underlying cause for this action, along with America's reaction.
15
 

5 Big Pros and Cons of Being a Merchant Mariner!​

Aug 17, 2025
In This video I will give you 5 pros and cons of being a Merchant Mariner. There are many more that can be added to the list so I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. These are just 5 of the biggest ones especially for those considering becoming a mariner.


17:02
 


Bulk Carrier MV W Sapphire Suffers a Cargo Explosion as it Departs Baltimore - Aug 18, 2025​

13
 

I Kayaked Across the Ocean Solo in My 40s. Here Are the Messy Details.​

Cyril Derreumeaux; 48; Sausalito, California

I awaken in my kayak, about a half hour before sunrise. I’m so low to the water that any wave could swamp my cockpit. After I prepare my food for the day—freeze-dried meals that total 4,000 calories—I check messages on my Garmin InReach about the weather, the force of the winds. Based on that, I decide on what clothes to wear: Do I get the complete foul-weather outfit or shorts and a windbreaker? As soon as the sun rises, I dip my double blade in the water and start to paddle.

I keep watch for obstacles. Whales can push my boat around. I could hit a floating container or the ship it fell from at any time. It requires discipline to do this all day, while also thinking about my health. What if I cut myself? Hurt my eyes? Or have GI issues?

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle...he-messy-details/ar-AA1KJV1a?ocid=socialshare
 
SHIP'S SECURITY | SOMALI PIRATES vs CARGO SHIP | DAY IN THE LIFE MARITIME SECURITY
Aug 27, 2025


20:02
 
If you've never heard the BBC Shipping Forecast here's a recording if interested.

searcher

Post in thread 'Shortwave Listening (SWL)'

I'm collecting BBC Radio 4 198 kHz Shipping Forecast recordings on all my radios: JRC NRD525​

Aug 27, 2025
Hi there, here's another recording of the Shipping Forecast, this time with the legendary NRD525. Great audio actually on the AUX bandwidth setting (widest). As I have said previously, this signal will disappear at some point, so enjoy it while you can.
Recorded in Oxford UK on 10/07/24 at 00:48 hrs UTC, using a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna (outdoors) via a Bonito NTi AntennaJet RF splitter and GI1000 galvanic isolator.
Thanks for watching and 73...
 

Refueling a Mega Ship with a STORM Ahead - Can We Make It?​

Aug 28, 2025 #MegaShip #Refueling #episode3
Refueling a Mega Ship for 10,000 Miles with a Storm Ahead!
In this episode of my Life at Sea series, I take you on board a massive cargo ship as we navigate from China to Hong Kong via the Taiwan Strait. The first 10 minutes show you what it’s like to be on the bridge during real navigation - from steering clear of shallow waters to tracking a developing cyclone near the Philippines.
But the real highlight?⚡️ Refueling our mega ship with three small tankers in Hong Kong - a massive operation that fuels our upcoming 10,000-mile voyage across the ocean.
I also share something deeply personal: why I chose not to become a Chief Officer - even after years at sea.
This vlog brings together navigation, storms, refueling, and the raw truth of seafaring in one cinematic journey.


22:00

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:27 Route Overview from China to Hong Kong
04:14 First Sunday on the Ship
06:36 Storm Effects on the Ships Route
08:54 Navigating in Taiwan Straits
10:05 Why I am not a Chief Officer yet?
11:10 Refueling in Hong Kong
14:24 Navigation Lights of Ship
15:52 Taking Drafts of the Ship
19:33 Voyage Begins
 
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