I was doing real good until I hit the sugar sand and then the shit hit the fan or should I say came to close to the house it's called the tow truck time
UNREAL 9,000-SQUARE-FOOT BOAT HOUSE BLOWS ALL OTHERS AWAY! #WANT
July 14, 2016
This….Is….Ridiculous!!
The Winns, founder of Four Winns boat company, built this incredible boat house/museum as a tribute to thier passion for boats. My gosh is this thing awesome
Miami Pilot Boat Underway With Maersk Kentucky. Photo by John Konrad
By Capt. George H Livingstone,
One could make the argument that international marine transportation is the singular thread running throughout the world. It is wonderfully complicated, layered and diverse; a fascinating business. Ships have been sailing the ocean trades for thousands of years along with the people who manned them. A Mesolithic (10,000-5,000 BC) boatyard was recently discovered on the Isle of Wight along with wheat DNA indicating “Hunter gatherers” in Britain were importing wheat long before ever farming it themselves. Confirming maritime trade has been active as far back as at least 7,000 years ago.
Related Book: Tugboats Illustrated: History, Technology, Seamanship by Paul Farrell The Egyptian’s, Phoenician’s, Persian’s, Greeks, Chinese, all developed extensive trade routes throughout the ancient world. By the time Jesus was walking the hills of Galilee, sea trade was already ancient. Ancient sea trade did not, however, translate to safe sea trade. Although transport by sea was cheaper than by land there was far greater risk in it. So much so that superstition and luck became an part of maritime trade. One of the riskiest parts was operating in and around ports. If a vessel was lost on the rocks of some foreign harbor, all was lost for the owner, trader and crew. One solution found to mitigate risk was to seek out individual local experts to help safely guide vessels in the various harbors, bays and rivers that were called upon. These experts were usually local fishermen who knew the waters well having expert local knowledge. Thus was the beginning of ship piloting as a profession. By the middle ages, local pilots had become so indispensable that they could find themselves absconded by foreign armies looking to safely land invasion fleets.
Modern Piloting
Modern maritime piloting is occasionally challenged by some within and outside of the marine transportation community. One of the wisest people I have ever known once commented that when faced with challenges to one’s person, beliefs, or profession, don’t defend, don’t attack, define.
Today in every major port in the world there is a group of professional mariners, pilots, typically operating under very old laws governing the movement of ships in bays, rivers and harbors.
The real numbers of pilots are very small compared to the entire international marine transportation workforce. For example, in the United States there are less than 1,500 pilots guiding ships in and out of American ports. Although not a large number, those pilots offer significant beneficial impacts in the areas of safety and commerce both vital to national interest, the same holds true worldwide.
“Whether described as ‘indispensable cogs in the transportation system of every maritime economy’ or as ‘hoary figures’1, pilots have one of most challenging jobs in the maritime world.”2 Those very few American pilots, for example, collectively guide hundreds of billions of dollars of cargo safely into port and ultimately to the American consumer. Internationally it’s in the trillions of dollars. Yet the public knows so very little about ship pilots.
USCG Rear Admiral (ret) Brian Salerno described the profession as follows “Each day, pilots are asked to take all sizes and types of vessels through narrow channels in congested waters where one miscalculation could mean disaster. They are highly trained professionals, whose individual judgements must be spot on for the hundreds of decisions they must make at every turn to bring a vessel safely to it berth or out to sea.” As to the hoary figures quote, there is no doubt that the piloting profession is not well understood by some. That does not change the facts, regulations and laws about piloting, nor the need to safeguard The Public Trust.
The Law and Pilots
The United States Supreme Court weighed in on the subject describing a pilot as follows: “In order to avoid invisible hazards, vessels approaching and leaving ports must be conducted from and to open waters by persons intimately familiar with the local waters. The pilot’s job generally requires that he or she go outside the harbor’s entrance in a small boat to meet incoming ships, board them and direct their course from open water to the port. The same service is performed for vessels leaving the port. Pilots are thus indispensable cogs in the transportation system of every maritime economy.”3
Capt Livingstone boarding a large container ship via pilot ladder.
As a professional pilot working in a small community I am admittedly biased in favor of my chosen profession and colleagues. However, that does not translate to blindly supporting substandard pilots; there is no room in this business for unprofessional pilots or captains, etc. Our stock in trade is to deliver safely and deliver we must.
The facts are that a very small number of highly trained and skilled professionals worldwide are responsible for (and do) safely guide thousands of ships every day, year round, in all conditions, contributing trillions of dollars to the world’s economy. They are subject-matter-experts working in local places and tight spaces in a ‘personally dangerous’ environment. Pilots understand the responsibility is greater than self-interest, and in fact, embraces The Public Trust and are proud to be a positive contributing factor in the greater international marine transportation system.
At the start of World War II, it was decided that Queen Elizabeth was so vital to the war effort that she must not have her movements tracked by German spies. Therefore, an elaborate ruse was fabricated involving her sailing to Southampton to complete her fitting out. There were only two spring tides that year that would see the water level high enough for Queen Elizabeth to leave the Clydebank shipyard. Parts were shipped to Southampton, and preparations were made to drydock the new liner when she arrived.
Queen Elizabeth in wartime grey
Her Cunard colours were painted over with battleship grey, and on the morning of 3 March, she quietly left her moorings in the Clyde. She proceeded out of the river and sailed further down the coast, where she was met by the King’s Messenger, who presented sealed orders directly to the captain, who soon discovered discovered that he was to take the untested vessel directly to New York without stopping, and without dropping off the Southampton harbour pilot who had departed with them from Clydebank. Scrict radio silence was to be observed at all times.
The liner zigzagged her way across the Atlantic at an average speed of 26 knots, avoiding Germany’s U-boats; she arrived safely at New York after 6 days and found herself moored alongside both Queen Mary and the French Line’s Normandie; the only time all three of the world’s largest liners would be berthed together. Queen Elizabeth left the port of New York on 13 November 1940 for Singapore to receive her troopship conversion. After two stops to refuel and replenish her stores in Trinidad and Cape Town, she arrived in Singapore’s Naval Docks where she was fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and her hull repainted black. In 1942, the two Queens were relocated to the North Atlantic for the transportation of American troops to Europe. more
Postcard of the Queen Mary with her funnels freshly repainted in the Cunard colours, meeting her new Atlantic running mate – more photos and history
During her war service as a troopship Queen Elizabeth, carried more than 750,000 troops, and sailed some 500,000 miles (800,000 km). more
U.S. Coast Guard Northeast – The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter OAK – WLB 211 hard at work cleaning a buoy
USCGC Oak (WLB-211) – is a United States Coast Guard Juniper-class seagoing buoy tenderh ome-ported in Newport, Rhode Island. Built by the Marinette Marine Corporation in Wisconsin, launched on 26 January 2002 and commissioned in March 2003. She is 225 ft long (69 m), beam 46 ft (14 m), draft 13 ft (4.0 m) is propelled by two Caterpillar diesel engines rated at 3,100 horsepower with a a top speed of 16 knots. Oak has an icebreaking capability of 14 in (0.36 m) at 3 knots and 3 ft (0.91 m) backing and ramming. more
French military policy made naval operations subordinate to land operations, yet Suffren realized that in wars fought overseas from the mother country, the nation which controlled the sea first had a great advantage in supporting the land war. Suffren’s achievements may seem modest but even this record stands in stark contrast to the failures of most contemporary French naval commanders.
He revived French fortunes in India when Paris had conceived his tasks as essentially ones of armed transportation and privateering. That his achievement went beyond these duties despite a lack of support from his uncomprehending superiors and battle shy captains adds greatly to his credit. more
Battle of Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805: Redoutable (Built as Suffren) during the late stages of the battle, dismasted and attacked by two larger ships
The first Suffren (1791–1794) was a 74-gun ship of the line renamed Redoutable in 1794, took part in the battles of the French Revolutionary Wars, served in the Caribbean in 1803, and most famously; duelled with HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar, killing Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson during the action. She sank in the storm that followed the battle.
Things went precipitously downhill from there. keep reading
Suffren was renamed Redoutable on 20 May 1794. That same day, she received and later hoisted the new naval flag of the Republic. On to Trafalgar
The Redoutable at Trafalgar – Auguste Etienne Francois Mayer (available as a wall mural here)The Fall of Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, by Denis Dighton
A second Suffren, built 1801, was of the same class and took part in Allemand’s expedition of 1805. Allemand’s expedition, often referred to as the Escadre invisible (invisible squadron) in French sources, was an important French naval expedition during the Napoleonic Wars, which formed a major diversion to the ongoing Trafalgar Campaign in the Atlantic Ocean. She was razeed in 1816, and used as a prison hulk on Toulon harbour; broken up in 1823.
French battleship Suffren (1899–1916) off the Dardanelles in 1915; Wilkinson, Norman (1915). The Dardanelles: Colour Sketches from Gallipoli
The fifth Suffren was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy, launched in July 1899. Suffren had an eventful career as she twice collided with French ships and twice had propeller shafts break. She was quickly sent to the Dardanelles after the beginning of World War I to reinforce British forces already in position. The ship provided covering fire as the Allies withdrew from the peninsula and accidentally sank one of the evacuation ships. While en route to Lorient for a refit, Suffren was torpedoed off Lisbon on 26 November 1916 and sunk with all hands. more
A nuclear attack submarine of the Barracuda class, planned to enter service in 2017, is scheduled to bear the name Suffren. +
River Thames Steamboat Company: Looking upstream from the Greenwich Pier; magic lantern slide probably dating from the late 1880s. MoreQuirk Museum17 Kick-Ass Vintage Photos Of Women With Tattoos
The North Carolina Ferry System posted a picture on Facebook (from Jason Wells of Jason’s Restaurant) showing the Wienermobile going for a ferry ride!
Not only is the vehicle traveling the country, Oscar Mayer is also hiring ‘hotdoggers’ (aka drivers).
Wienermobile pilots are expected to be skilled at delivering unlimited joy to thousands of people every day, according to Oscar Mayer.
Oscar Mayer said “If you have what it takes (a love of people, a winning smile, driving skill, and a desire to crisscross the country), apply here for the coolest job of your life.”
Brewery Tanks Set Off On Canal Journey; Jon Campbell, Gannett Albany, NY, WGRZ
WATERFORD – Three 60-foot-tall Genesee beer tanks began their 225-mile journey on the Erie Canal on Friday, marking the opening of the historic canal’s bicentennial season. The massive fermentation tanks, part of a $49.1 million expansion at the Genesee Brewery in Rochester, entered Lock E2 in the Saratoga County town of Waterford around noon as a few dozen camera-wielding onlookers watched. keep reading
Engine Room, steamer State of Maine – a coastal side-wheel steamship built by the New England Shipbuilding Co. of Bath, Maine in 1882 for the International Line in 1882. She was a highly successful steamer that was built for hard service with frames close LOA 241ft. Beam 37. Displ. 1409tons. Vertical beam engine indicating 1200hp.
The Boston Globe reported in April that in Gloucester, Mass., an estimated six fishermen have overdosed at the docks in the last three years. Creative Commons photo of Gloucester harbor by Flickr user Doug Kerr.
To their credit, in New England, advocates for fishermen are casting about desperately to deal with addiction in their industry. The Boston Globe recently reported that some vessels have taken to stocking naloxone (aka Narcan), which can reverse an opioid overdose, and Fishing Partnership Support Services, of Massachusetts, is training fishermen to administer the drug. Read
The development of ever-larger container ships, major LNG terminals, expanding bulk carrier ports such as Port Hedland in Australia, and of course, the rapid evolution of tanker escort technology created a whole new generation of high-performance specialized tugboats. Since 2000, Robert Allan Ltd. has had more than 720 tugs built to our designs worldwide. When added to the historical database the total number of tugs delivered stands, at time of writing, at 1005…
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren (17 July 1729 – 8 December 1788) most famous for his campaign in the Indian Ocean, in which he fought a series of intense and evenly matched battles for supremacy against the British, who’s arrogance he found offensive.
In September of 1793 the crews of the French fleet revolted in the Quibéron mutinies; a series of events that occurred in the Brest squadron of the French Navy during the height of the Reign of Terror. The Jacobins purged the Navy of most of its officers who were of noble extraction, a number of officers were relieved of duty and arrested, including two admirals.
