MetaFilter posts tagged with Boats

I'm on a Boat

brain_drain — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:44:35 -0800

If you're like me, you're in the market to buy yourself an island-sized boat, but you're not satisfied with the world's current inventory of formulaic, fuel-guzzling, cruise-ship-like mega-yachts. You might want to consider picking up a WHY 58x38, which offers 36,000 square feet of living space, a 120-foot "beach," three decks, and an 80-foot interior pool, topped by a vast solar panel array. It won't break your budget -- at a mere $151 million, it doesn't even crack the top four most expensive yachts in the world! More on the WHY 58x38 here.

Watching the ships roll in, 2.0 style

madamjujujive — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:27:50 -0800

MarineTraffic is a live map recording ship traffic based on AIS data. The site mainly covers European and North American coasts and includes info on vessels and ports, plus a gallery with some cool ship photos. Similar: see ShipAIS for live vessel movements from around the UK.

He owns a mansion and a yacht

Joe Beese — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:20:41 -0800

Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea Football Club, has launched his 557-foot yacht, Eclipse.

"Keep breathing, Crewser, c'mon, keep breathing!"

IvoShandor — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:01:10 -0800

The Ripples From Little Lake Nellie — "Four months after Cleveland Indian pitchers Tim Crews and Steve Olin died in a boating accident, their families and friends are coming to grips with the grief that still washes over them" Gary Smith's moving July 1993 piece is all the more poignant after what happened to Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, and their friends near Tampa, Florida. A boating accident killed Olin and Crews during baseball's 1993 Spring Training. For Smith and Cooper, Some are still holding out hope for their safe recovery, but the U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for the professional (American) football players. (Stats: Crews, Olin)

Where boats go to die.

allkindsoftime — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:04:51 -0800

This is a city of ShipBreakers.

World's Biggest and Most Expensive Ship

kliuless — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:03:19 -0800

Project Genesis - "It's destined to be the world's largest cruise ship—when launched next year, Royal Caribbean's US$1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers (6,400 at a pinch). It's the most expensive ship in history, and it's longer, wider and taller than the largest ocean liner ever built, (Cunard's QE II), 43 per cent larger in size than the world's largest cruise ship, (Freedom of the Seas [previously]) and remarkably, bigger than any military ship ever built, aircraft carriers included. In a world where choice of amenities count, Project Genesis has yet another trump card—in the the center of the ship is a lush, tropical park which opens to the sky." cf. The Lilypad

1921 steam-powered yacht

stbalbach — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:05:20 -0800

The 257-foot Delphine was a 1921 steam-powered yacht designed by and for the Dodge brothers (of Dodge Motors). Today, "of all the large American-built steam yachts built between 1893 and 1930, the Delphine is the only one left in her original condition with her original steam engines still in service." Forbes has a fascinating history and cool pictures of the fully restored 1921 lush decor. But probably forget about chartering it (unless you have 40-60k euros a day).

Hell's Gate and Beyond

Miko — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:00:40 -0800

Maritime New York

Plans for simple plywood boats

LobsterMitten — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:19:03 -0800

Hannu's Boatyard is a site by a Finnish guy who offers free plans for two dozen simple plywood boats you can build, along with photos illustrating the build process of each. He also describes basic woodbending technique and some of the design process, in a pleasing writing style that makes me want to get off the internet and make things. My favorites: Portuguese style dinghy; tiny stubby halfpea; round, Welsh-style coracle -- if you click on no other link today, click on the coracle link and scroll down at least to the black and white photo.

Nothing, simply nothing...

OmieWise — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 06:55:45 -0800

It's spring; build a boat, therefore.

Freedom of the Seas

thirteenkiller — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 09:43:11 -0800

Supertankers are so cool. Click previous sentence for more information.

Stuff About Dead People: or, History

marxchivist — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:29:12 -0800

The Public Archives of Nova Scotia has some cool online exhibits. The original list of dead bodies recovered from the Titanic sinking caught my eye, they also have original log book pages from privateers, lighthouses, slavery and abolition, boats, boats, and more boats. [via]

Boatyard of Broken Dreams

dersins — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 10:26:03 -0800

Staten Island Ship Graveyard. A fascinating gallery of photographs of abandoned and decaying ships.

Tour of the English canal system

pieisexactlythree — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 12:52:27 -0800

On the revival of a forgotten piece of infrastructure: Britain's massive canal system was constructed in the late 18th century to move goods throughout the country and provided an extensive logistical network for the industrial revolution. Since the rise of rail and truck transport, the canals were left to decay for generations. Today many are being restored, providing revenue for local communities and acting as a catalyst [PDF] for urban renewal.

One group of fun-lovin' Brits has been touring these man-made waterways since the 1970's and documenting their journeys in copious detail. The canals traverse every conceivable type of landscape, and evince some pretty amazing engineering.

Ever dreamed of building a boat and sailing away?

milkwood — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 10:30:27 -0800

Ever dreamed of building a boat and sailing away? Two clearly mad Canadians decide to built a yacht. Clearly mad because they actually do it! It's a bit of a saga but well worth the read for the vicarious pleasure. I'm green with envy! N.B. the site navigation can be a bit dicky so you may have to change the url to get to the next day sometimes. It goes up to day 222.

I'll start with corky

magullo — Tue, 22 Jun 2004 12:30:36 -0800

Make your own classic pleasure boat.

The internet guide to freighter travel.

bingo — Tue, 18 May 2004 09:21:37 -0800

The internet guide to freighter travel. "Traveling on a containership is not better than sex, though it does last longer."

cold fish

jonson — Mon, 03 May 2004 22:12:13 -0800

Frozen seas. A brief but kind of amazing collection of photos of the deck of a fishing trauler in fridgid conditions, where every exposed surface has layers of frozen saltwater accumulated. This condition can cause the boat to become topheavy and capsize, as well as just plain making life more miserable for those that work on the deck.

Get Hollywood on the phone, quick.....

troutfishing — Sat, 07 Feb 2004 10:55:02 -0800

Coast Guard pulls over floating, propeller equipped '59 Buick driving to Miami - manned by Cuban refugees. "For four of the 11 people on board, it was not the first thwarted attempt to leave the communist island in a bizarrely converted vintage vehicle." (from ABC news) Last year, they tried to do the same thing in a converted '51 Chevy Truck: "The crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter could not believe their eyes...Chugging along at a steady 13 kilometres per hour in the Straits of Florida was a bright-green 1951 Chevrolet truck...." (link to story, as reprinted in Free Republic, alas ) Sadly, the Coast Guard sunk the Buick - which looked a bit like a WW2 amphibious landing craft. Here's a picture, on the blog of a Christian Evangelical (scroll down for story) who argues that the refugees are worthy of a special exception to US immigration laws, for their pluck and innovative brilliance.

Being learned

badstone — Tue, 06 Jan 2004 20:30:44 -0800

Old River Bill really knows inland workboats. Besides exercising his novel system of punctuation, Bill makes model tugboats and is a part of an avid community of workboat modelers. You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about how real work is done on rivers on how the hell we move 100's of thousands of tons of crap around the country every day.

The Mary Celeste

moonbird — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 04:40:38 -0800

131 years ago today, the Mary Celeste, an American ship bound for Genoa, was found adrift in the Atlantic. Thus began of one of the most well known and loved of maritime mysteries, with numerous possible solutions offered.

Boat Nerd

norm111 — Wed, 03 Dec 2003 10:44:15 -0800

I am a BoatNerd.

ShipBreaking

vacapinta — Fri, 28 Nov 2003 16:09:50 -0800

ShipBreaking The photographer Edward Burtynsky captures some dramatic images of ShipBreaking. The Perils of this industry were first highlighted in a Pulitzer prize winning series of articles by the the Baltimore Sun. Today, these ship graveyards still pose serious environmental issues as highlighted by this shipbreaking weblog maintained by Greenpeace.

On a wing & a rail - global transportation

madamjujujive — Sun, 10 Aug 2003 07:17:25 -0800

Transportation around the world is a huge database of photos focusing on two topics: transportation mode and geography. From bullet trains to dogsleds and camel caravans to tramways, - browse by location or by topic. Also related: One of the best transportation museums in the world is the Verkehrshaus der Schweiz in Lucern, Switzerland. (via booknotes)

biscotti — Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:13:02 -0800

Everything you ever wanted to know about sunken ships. Passenger liners from the Titanic to the Andrea Doria. Military vessels from aircraft carriers like the USS Forrestall to submarines like the Kursk. I found this site by accident and got lost in it, some of the sections are just gorgeous, even though all the stories are tragic.