What kind of person would want to become a Lighthouse Keeper ? Spending weeks and months in a tower, miles from shore, and in the front line of the very worst of weather conditions. The sea crashes into the structure, and climbs to the very top, shaking the lighthouse tower, and quivering the crockery. With only the company of two others, wasn't it boring and monotonous? Did you ever fall out with each other? How did it feel to be stuck, overdue, when bad weather prevented relief? This book presents first hand, the experiences, and daily lot of the Lighthouse Keeper, of how the team bonded and made certain that the reassuring beams of the lighthouse, never failed the Mariner.

Researches and Discoveries on the Eastern Coast of West Greenland, made in the summer of 1822, on the ship "Baffin of Liverpool."

How was life on windjammers? This book still gives answers - since 1905.

Reprint of the original official publication, 1792.

The british shipping industry was at the peak of its international importance in 1914 when Kirkaldy set out to describe it and sketch its history in a unique way.

The first deep-sea fishing boats of Cornwall are regarded as being influenced by the three-masted French luggers that sailed over to cause havoc amongst the locals. However, fishing had been practised by Cornishmen for many generations before that, with mackerel and pilchard fishing being prominent. Inshore, lobster and crab fishing had also been popular for generations. This book looks at the development of Cornish fishing boats, from the lugger to Pilchard seine-net boats, once as prolific as the luggers and usually built locally, as were traditional lobster and crab vessels. These are discussed alongside more unusual boats, such as the St Ives 'jumbo' and the Mevagissey 'tosher'. The book brings the story up to date, including modern photos of existing boats gathering for the bi-annual Looe lugger regatta. After motorisation, the shape of the boat changed forever and the adaptation of old boats to accommodate engines is examined, as are the famous yards and boatbuilders of Cornwall still operational today.

"Navigation puzzles, controversies, historical problems, and other ponderables demystified by an expert navigator and writer. Joe Portney is a US Naval Academy graduate and Air Force navigator who has participated in three historic flights over the North Pole. He is a past President of the Institute of Navigation and recipient of the Weems Award for continuing contributions to the art and science of navigation. He has produced a wonderful little book here, chock filled with interesting tidbits, each of which can be read in a few minutes but will stimulate your thought for many days to come. Some are very basic, others more involved, but he provides a clear explanation of each. Some refer to math computations that we might not all be familiar with, but this is not a distraction from the main points being made even in these few cases."

Throughout the 1960s and '70s, despite having the technology to land men on the moon, some of our lighthouses were still operated by oil, not only for the main navigation light, but also in the keepers' living quarters. With some of the offshore stations lacking even the basic facilities of running water, a bathroom or heating life onboard was, to say the least, pretty basic. The author's story begins in 1966 - a time when oil lights were rotated by a hand-wound clockwork mechanism and keepers handled explosive fog signals. Little did the author realize that he would witness, and become part of, a new technological age that would sweep through the industry. Unmanned lighthouses being operated by remote control via telemetry links to a computer and satellite information provided by GPS. Travelling extensively around the coasts of England, Wales and the Channel Islands, his 22 postings varied from offshore lighthouses, such as the famous Needles Rock at the Isle of Wight, where the men were confined to just a handful of circular rooms, to those located on beautiful islands such as Lundy in the Bristol Channel where the accommodation was more spacious. Due to their isolation, lighthouses and their keepers were in an advantageous position to assist the Coastguard and rescue services and the author describes how he became involved in two hazardous rescue operations for which he was awarded the Royal Humane Society bronze medal. With the onset of automation, it was frequently necessary for keepers to share their already-cramped living space with the contractors who installed the specialised equipment that would ultimately result in their redundancy. Although the introduction of helicopters was initially a godsend in overcoming late reliefs, it proved to be the nail in the coffin for the men of the service, as they offered virtually all-weather access. "An Illuminating Experience" tells the fascinating story of a way of life that has become a part of our maritime heritage.

When Daniel Robb set out to rebuild a family sailboat that had been deteriorating for years, he couldn't have anticipated what he was getting into. Although Robb was a skilled carpenter, boatbuilding (and boat repair) required a specialized set of skills. And this wasn't just any boat; it was a Herreshoff 12 1/2, a classic wooden sailboat. Built especially for the coastal waters of New England, this little sloop had sailed for years out of the author's boyhood home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, before being relegated to a quiet corner of a yard, no longer the focus of the family's summer. Restoring the sailboat was both an act of respect and an homage to a place and a way of life that are in jeopardy of disappearing.

"Sloop" is the captivating story of Daniel Robb's education in boatbuilding, peopled by an eccentric cast of characters -- lumbermen, boatbuilders, and local artisans -- who are part of a changing and perhaps dying world. They tell Robb how to find the materials -- certain kinds of wood, fastenings, caulking, and canvas -- he'll need, which are increasingly hard to come by, and they educate him in the techniques of restoration, an all-but-lost art. Building and restoring wooden boats means an initiation into a world where life is lived simply, with respect for materials, for labor, and for the local waters.

A craftsman and environmentalist, Robb is a willing and able student, and although the restoration of the boat takes far more time and effort than he'd calculated, it is ultimately successful. After all Robb's struggles with quartersawn white oak, homemade steam boxes, bronze screws, copper rivets, andold mast hoops, the Herreshoff sails again -- and a dying art and a vanishing way of life remain alive and vibrant just a while longer.

By turns charming, meditative, and wonderfully quirky, "Sloop" is a paean to a sense of place and to old-fashioned values.

The Titanic, greatest of ships, has gone to her ocean grave. What has she left behind her? Think clearly. She has left debts. Vast sums of money have been lost. Some of them are covered by insurance which will be paid. The rest is gone. All wealth is insecure. She has left lessons. The risk of running the northern course when it is menaced by icebergs is revealed. The cruelty of sending a ship to sea without enough life-boats and life-rafts to hold her company is exhibited and underlined in black. She has left sorrows. Hundreds of human hearts and homes are in mourning for the loss of dear companions and friends. The universal sympathy which is written in every face and heard in every voice proves that man is more than the beasts that perish. It is an evidence of the divine in humanity. Why should we care? There is no reason in the world, unless there is something in us that is different from lime and carbon and phosphorus, something that makes us mortals able to suffer together-- "For we have all of us an human heart."

With Historical, Heraldic, And Practical Notes.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This report discusses the July 18, 2006, accident on the cruise ship Crown Princess in which the vessel heeled at a maximum angle of about 24, resulting in injuries to 298 passengers and crewmembers. The vessel's second officer, the senior watch officer on the bridge, had disengaged the automatic steering mode of the vessel's integrated navigation system and taken manual control of the steering in an effort to counteract a perceived high rate of turn to port. He turned the wheel first to port and then between port and starboard several times, causing the vessel to suddenly heel and people to be thrown about or struck by unsecured objects. The Crown Princess incurred no structural damage, although unsecured interior items were damaged. The NTSB's investigation of the accident identified safety issues and made recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard, to the Cruise Lines International Association, and to SAM Electronics and Sperry Marine (manufacturers of integrated navigation systems).

This report discusses the accident in which a 5-ton spud (mooring shaft) unintentionally released from the uninspected construction barge Athena 106 and struck a natural gas pipeline buried in West Cote Blanche Bay, Louisiana. The Athena 106 and another barge were both being pushed by the towing vessel Miss Megan. The gas ignited and created a fireball that engulfed the Miss Megan and both barges. Five people were killed and two survived; one barge worker was officially listed as missing as of the report date. Damages were estimated at $150,000 for the Athena 106 and $650,000 for the Miss Megan. The estimated value of the released natural gas was $6,800; replacing the ruptured pipeline cost an estimated $800,000. The National Transportation Safety Board identified safety issues during its accident investigation and made recommendations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, Athena Construction (Athena 106 owner/operator), and Central Boat Rentals (Miss Megan owner/operator).

Lawrence Beesley, a British schoolteacher, was a second-class passenger on the "Titanic" when it hit an iceberg and sank in two and a half hours. This is Beesley's eyewitness account, written just weeks after the sinking, of his voyage on the "Titanic," the collision with the iceberg, his hours in Lifeboat 13, and his rescue by the "Carpathia." A classic account of the story of "Titanic." With 6 pages of photos.

An authentic account of the Titanic's disaster with mesmerizing first-hand account of survivors.***** "He led Mrs. Astor to the side of the ship and helped her to the life-boat to which she had been assigned. I saw that she was prostrated and said she would remain and take her chances with him, but Colonel Astor quietly insisted and tried to reassure her in a few words. As she took her place in the boat her eyes were fixed upon him. Colonel Astor smiled, touched his cap, and when the boat moved safely away from the ship's side he turned back to his place among the men." ***** "I will not leave my husband," said Mrs. Isidor Straus. "We are old; we can best die together," and she turned from those who would have forced her into one of the boats and clung to the man who had been the partner of her joys and sorrows. Thus they stood hand in hand and heart to heart, comforting each other until the sea claimed them, united in death as they had been through a long life. *****

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.