Tar, that thick, gooey, mess has been used on ships for many purposes since the beginning of ancient voyages. All types of tars and pitch formulas were used on hulls, decks, riggings, and even on a seaman’s clothing. It has always been the crew fighting…
Posts tagged as “Mark C. Nuccio”
“Pieces of wreck washed up on the shore near The Fire Island Lighthouse cannot be from the famed wreck of the first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic!”Most of you know about the first steamboat to cross the Atlantic in 1819. I won’t dawdle on…
I wrote an article years ago concerning the wholesale destruction of shore birds on Long Island’s Great South Bay during the 19th and early 20th Century. Many shorebird species were decimated due to the fashionable use of various feathers in women’s hats during that period.…
It’s July 4, 1776, and the official document of “The Declaration of Independence” is signed in Philadelphia by men such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and many others including Long Islanders William Floyd and Francis Lewis. Though there had already been armed altercations…
Like everyone else, I was deeply saddened by the loss off life on the deep dive submersible “Titan” built by the company-Ocean Gate Explorations. Titan was operating as a paid, $250,00 per person “Tourist attraction”, offering trips down to the wreck of the Titanic. The…
The first horseshoe crab I ever saw was when a woman pulled a massive one out of the Rockaway surf by its tail when I was about seven years old. It scared the seaweed right out of me. A crowd had gathered around to see…
Listen to old sailor’s words and learn much about weather Check any waterfront, even today, and you may find some old salt who spent his life at sea, and is now grounded by age, (“setting out the anchor’’) He may be gazing out towards the…
“Over the years you swam the ocean, following dreams that were your own, now you are washed up on the shoreline. I can see your body lie. It’s a shame you have to die………… It’s not that we don’t know, it’s just that we don’t…
Ok! We get it! Your boat is dry-docked, winterized, and wrapped. The holidays are over and all the boat gizmos you were gifted for the holidays are stacked in the corner on your side of the bed so you can dream about boating. Your wife…
Music, art, and song are woven into the canvas of sailing vessels.What did the sailors that manned the war, trade, whaling and fishing ships during the age of sail do to occupy themselves on the few hours they had to themselves?Every sailor aboard kept several…