During the next few weeks I’ve be covering items relating to preparation for the boating season which begins May 1, in Friday Harbor for me. Gear and impressions will cover a few of the topics. Let me know what’s on your mind, as I’d be happy to cover questions in the form a post. Looking forward to seeing you here and on [...]

OK guys:  ”No Starship Enterprise comments” Maritime Professional is reporting: A deep-sea exploration robot — one of the first successful submersible vehicles that was both unmanned and untethered to surface ships — was lost at sea Friday, March 5, on a research expedition off the coast of Chile. The 15-year-old Autonomous Benthic Explorer, affectionately nicknamed ABE, was [...]

DailyCognition.com has the post: Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater [...]

Silver Streak Boats Length 23′ on deck – 25.5′ overall Beam 8.6 Fuel:  65 gallons Dead rise: 18 deg Freeboard: 36″ Radios:  3 vhf (AIS receive capable) Radar:  Furuno Chartplotter:  Garmin Power:  Honda 225ph (Ed. note:  Yep – that’s me at the wheel.)

Salvage at Orcas Photo via Tom Tillman This 25′ Coronado went aground at the Orcas Ferry landing in a blow last night.  Towline Marine Assist (Capt. Deb Fritz) was on the job until 03:00 this morning.  The boat was pumped, stabilized, and towed to Friday Harbor where the owner will repair the hull.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Friday Harbor, WA – March 12, 2010) Friday Harbor Marine and Towline Marine Assist are pleased to announce a unique partnership to serve the boating community in the San Juan Islands.  The two companies will work jointly to meet on the water towing and mechanical needs throughout the local cruising area. A flat rate pricing [...]

KOMOnews.com is reporting: SEATTLE — The number of sea lions found shot to death in Puget Sound is higher than first thought. We first heard of five sea lions found shot to death in January and February, but biologists recovered a total of 11 carcasses so far this year, they’ve now determined 10 were shot to [...]

Mark Harrison photo….The Seattle Times The Seattle Times is reporting: Standing on the deck of the cutter Polar Star at the U.S. Coast Guard base on Pier 36, Adm. Thad Allen described the ship’s $62 million facelift as well as what he said was “a clarion call for action regarding ocean policy, regarding climate change and regarding [...]

via DarkRoastedBlend: This is a huge ship. Knock Nevis was a supertanker generally considered the largest ship ever built – more info and pictures here. And it is now in the process of being scrapped. It has been difficult to find it in Google Earth for some time, but now it has been located at the Alang Ship Breaking [...]

Map of northern Europe showing the route of the planned Nord Stream gas pipeline. A dozen previously unknown shipwrecks, some of them believed to be up to 1,000 years old, were discovered in the Baltic Sea during a probe of the sea bed to prepare for the installation of a large gas pipeline, the Swedish [...]