One up!

The South Carolina Martime Heritage Foundation has an absolute beauty in their shipyard. The Spirit of South Carolina is an updated pilot schooner based on an original Charleston vessel, and she is impressive. The website is impressive too, including links to details on design, construction, the shipyard, state of the ship and current photos.

At present the Spirit of South Carolina is being planked

Events at Maine Maritime

It's hard to get back into the blogging habit after a great Thanksgiving weekend luckily I was inspired by a news piece on Maine Maritime Museum's latest project. Not only are they building a full scale sculpture of the Wyoming, the largest wooden schooner ever built at the yard in Bath, but even more importantly they have a team of archaeologists documenting and preserving the remnants of the Percy and Small Shipyard.

Full story in the Kennebec Journal

Job Posting: Maritime Curator

The Los Angeles Maritime Museum, a facility of the City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation and Parks, is seeking a full-time Maritime Museum Curator.

Background:
The Los Angeles Maritime Museum is located in San Pedro California, and is a community institution, focusing on the maritime history of the L.A. Harbor area. This position is not an academic curatorship, but rather a hands-on opportunity to work with the community to create new educational exhibits and encourage donations of relevant materials to the permanent collection. Under the supervision of the Museum Director, the Curator’s primary duties will be exhibit design and fabrication, new acquisitions, loans, collections management, programming, with occasional tours or public speaking as assigned. Other duties as needed as determined by the Museum Director.

The Museum’s collection includes ship models, photographs, textiles, works of art, nautical instruments and equipment, and an operating tugboat. The Museum is currently in the planning stages of a large-scale, permanent exhibit chronicling the local fishing and canning industries, and the Curator will play a key role in this project.

Qualifications:
Master’s Degree in History or Museum Studies with two years full-time curatorial experience, successful track record of creating exhibits, excellent writing and public speaking skills, grant writing experience, and experience supervising volunteers and interns. Familiarity with PastPerfect software preferred. Knowledge of maritime artifacts and the ability to interact successfully with visitors of diverse ages and backgrounds is a must, as is the ability to work collaboratively with staff as well as independently, while keeping Museum Director advised as to progress.

Hours are Monday – Friday 8-5, one Sunday per month with compensatory time. Some weekend and/or special events may be required. Current driver’s license and ability to operate a City vehicle and lift heavy boxes is also required. Annual Salary is $43,764.00

Send resume, cover letter, and references to Curator Search, Los Angeles Maritime Museum, Berth 84 Foot of 6th Street, San Pedro CA 90731 or e-mail to office@lamaritimemuseum.org, with “Curator” in subject line. Deadline for receipt of applications is Monday, December 12, 2005.

The City of Los Angeles is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer.

Not like it used to be

Often people will call or write our library asking what it was like for their ancestors when they crossed the Atlantic. Our next question, of course, is "When exactly did they cross?, and as what type of passenger were they?" Crossing could vary from the harrowing experiences to leisurely cruises. What I am sure of is that they did not resemble the description of a transatlantic cruise on the Queen Mary 2 that I recently read about. Canyon Ranch style spas, lecture series, planatarium, restuarants and night clubs seem to be the highlights of ocean travel these days.

Rates have changed over time as well. Rooms aboard the QM2 start at $1400.00.

Call me silly, even old fashioned but I'd prefer crossing in the style of Sebastian Clover, youngest sailor to make the transatlantic crossing. Or even those two guys who rowed across. Can't remember their names right now but someone will remind me.

Job Posting: Youth Programs Coordinator

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland is seeking an outgoing applicant with great organizational skills. Current certification in life guarding, CPR, First Aid, Youth Camp, and US Sailing Instructor preferred. Assignments include development, implementation, evaluation and supervision of youth, school and sailing programs. Full-time position with excellent benefits. Send letter with resume, references and salary requirements to Human Resources, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, P. O. Box 636, St. Michaels, Maryland 21663 or e-mail bfaulkner@cbmm.org Posted November 20th

Book Notice: Sea Struck

Sea Struck is the 2004 winner of the NASOH Primary Source Materials award. The book, written by W. H. Bunting follows the accounts of voyages drawn from journals kept by three Massachusetts seamen on voyages to the Pacific in the 19th century.

Book includes the complete transcript of one the diaries, complimented by entries from the other two to provide a three dimensional, and interesting view of life at sea.

Job Posting: Consulting Archivist

The Noble Maritime Collection
1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301
(718) 447-6490 Fax: (718) 447-6056
www.noblemaritime.org


Small, fast-growing Staten Island museum seeks a consulting archivist to oversee the arrangement of its collection of holdings in Sailors' Snug Harbor records for public access and use in the museum’s programs.
Master's degree with a specialization in archives preferred, knowledge of Windows, software, and general computer skills; familiarity with OCLC cataloguing system and use; excellent writing skills and experience in preparation of funding proposals. Interest in maritime art and history essential. 10-20 hours per month.


Send resume and salary requirements to Noble Maritime Collection, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301. No faxes or emails.

Thar she blows!

Have you always wanted to sing those words our from the masthead? Or maybe its the thrill of the Nantucket sleigh ride that calls?

Well now you can go a-whaling on ebay. Yup. A few months ago some marketing mogul thought up The Whale Trail, a public art exhibit of 50 beluga and sperm whale sculptures running in southeastern Connecticut, Westerly, Rhode Island, Newport, Rhode Island, Boston, Massachusetts, and New York, New York. The exhibit is now over and the whales are being auctioned off on ebay as "6ft sculptures perfect for fountains and gardens". Gosh I'd even bid on one if the opening bid was a bit lower than $1000.00 Proceeds will go to worthy charities.

So now is your chance - throw that harpoon.

CFP: Charting the Inland Seas: Recent Studies in Great Lakes Maritime Research

North American Society for Oceanic History & Canadian Nautical Research Society invite you to participate by presenting a paper at the conference. Please submit an abstract including name, affiliation, location, telephone, fax, and email address, title of the paper, and a brief description of it contents not to exceed 200 words. Submissions must be received no later than March 31st, 2006. (Conference is June 1-4, at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum)

Please send abstracts to:
Victor T. Mastone, Director
Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources
Coastal Zone Management
251 Causeway Street, Suite 800
Boston, MA 02114-2136

Tel.: 617-626-1141
Fax: 617-626-1240
Email: victor.mastone@state.ma.us

Record Setting

In the 32-year history of the Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Race, no boat has ever exceeded 500 nautical miles in 24 hours whilst racing. Until Sunday that is, when a day and a half after race start, Sébastien Josse and the crew of ABN Amro Two put down an impressive new record of 504 miles, equating to an average speed of exactly 21 knots. The previous record was held by last race winners, illbruck, who set a distance of 480 miles on a fast passage across the Atlantic. ABN Amro Two's 500 miles is just a touch short of the all-out sailing record of 535 miles, set by Movistar earlier
this year during a delivery trip.

Full story from Scuttlebutt

Official Whitbread/Volvo Race site

Conference: International Congress of Maritime Museums

Last week Aukland, New Zealand hosted the 27th Triennial ICMM Conference. Taking part in this session were delegates from Australia, the United States, the Netherlands, Jersey, France, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Britain, Argentina, Canada and the Bahamas. According to a story in The New Zealand Herald the Congress featured several excellent speakers on a wide variety of international subjects.

Closing and Restoration: San Francisco Maritime Museum

Beginning sometime next year the Streamline Moderne Building of the San Francisco Maritime Museum will be closed for repairs that are expected to last roughly 18 months.

It’s funny. I ran by this building once while I was late for a meeting at the Library and never noticed its unique design – which is more than obvious from the photo.

Full story in the San Francisco Examiner

This just in: It will cost $3.5 million to complete the renovations. Federal dollars will pay for the renovations beginning in June and finishing by the end of 2007.

Anniversary-Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

November 10 marks the 30th anniversary of the sinking of one of the most famous of the Great Lakes freighters. Measuring 729 feet, the Great Lakes Engineering Works launched the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1958 and she cruised the Lakes for 17 years.

As many in the maritime community are more than familiar with the story - take the quiz posted on Timothy Craig McCall's comprehensive S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald website. This website is an amazing collection of facts, related events, oral history transcripts with people involved in the sinking, the lyrics to Gordon Lightfoot's song, and just about any other thing that could by associated with the Fitzgerald.

Maritime Heritage Education Conference

The National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Va will be the site of a conference bringing together educators and promoting the sharing of “maritime heritage related partnerships, programs and products”.

From November 18-10, 2005 sessions ranging from “Successful Strategies for Engaging Families” to “Boatbuilding in Key West: Past and Future” will be running in blocks of four concurrent sessions.

The Conference also includes a tour of the Mariners Museum, a “Spirit of Norfolk” Dinner Cruise and a keynote presentation by Dr. Robert Ballard.

For more information check out the conference website.

When Pirates Attack

Popular love of pirates collided with reality recently when modern day Somalians attacked a U.S cruise ship. Attacks the following day on a large bulk carrier and a roll-on roll-off cargo ship prompted the International Maritime Bureau to issue a warning and to advise all ships in the area to coordinate patrols.

Simultaneous with the IMB’s actions the British Maritime officers union, NUMAST, has called for a multinational naval task force to be established to protect ships in piracy-prone areas.

The IMB said the latest incidents brought the total number of attacks to 28 since mid-March after two years of relative calm.

Exhibit: Ships for Victory

The Digital Library of Georgia has just launched an online exhibit of photographs of the J.A. Jones Construction Company and Library Ships in Brunswick, Georgia.

From the site:

The online collection consists of eighty-four black-and-white photographs from the J.A. Jones Construction Company collection at the Brunswick-Glynn County Library that depict the company’s World War II cargo ship building activities in its Brunswick, Georgia shipyard from 1943 to 1945. The images document the life cycle of the Liberty and Knot ships built in Brunswick: from keel-laying and hull construction to christening and launch. Construction techniques are visible in many of the photographs, and several images feature the shipyard’s male and female laborers and management staff. In addition, the launch photographs feature ship sponsors and other dignitaries. Of particular note is a series of photographs depicting Christmas Day, 1944, when the shipyard workers volunteered to work through the holiday, donating their time-and-a-half pay as a Christmas gift to the nation.

CFP: International Log Boat Symposium

The Council of American Maritime Museums and The Museum Small Craft Association have issued a call for papers for the International Log Boat Symposium and invite all interested presenters to submit an abstract by February 17, 2006 to:

Paul Fontenoy
Curator of Maritime Research
North Carolina Maritime Museum
315 Front Street
Beaufort NC 28516

The Symposium will be held April 6-8 at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, North Carolina.

For more information contact Paul Fontenoy. paul.fontenoy@ncmail.net

Research Fellowship- John Carter Brown Library

The deadline for submission of both Long-Term and Short-Term application materials is January 10, 2006.

THE JOHN CARTER BROWN LIBRARY will award approximately twenty-five Research Fellowships for the year June 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007. Sponsorship of research at the John Carter Brown Library is reserved exclusively for scholars whose work is centered on the colonial history of the Americas, North and South, including all aspects of the European, African, and Native American involvement.

For more information

To download an application

Temporary Closing

The Operational Archives Branch of the Naval Historical Center will be closed to unofficial researchers from 1 November 2005 until 1 March 2006 to complete processing projects.

Phone: (202) 433-3224; Fax (202) 433-2833

2006 NASOH Meeting

Mark your calendars now for NASOH's Charting the Inland Seas: Recent Studies in Great Lakes Research to be held June 1-4, 2006 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. In addition to great presentations the meeting features tours of the Denis Sullivan, a 138' Great Lakes schooner, Rogers Street Fishing Village, and the Door County Maritime Museum. The event is hosted by the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, recently named the Wisconsin state Maritime Museum.