Boating News Nautical Maritime

6th Annual Bird Island Challenge

The 6th Annual Bird Island Challenge, Sunday August 10, 2008 is open to all paddling or row boats. The event begins at the Narrows in downtown Wareham. Choice of three courses, 3, 6 or 13 miles. Sponsored by Gleason Family YMCA. Proceeds benefit YMCA finanicial aid programs. For more information call 508 295 9622 ext 15.

TOP NATIONAL NAUTICAL NEWS STORIES FOR 2007

1) Recall of Chinese fish - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration shook up the seafood industry by announcing it stopped all farmed-seafood imports from China because of the drugs and chemicals put into them. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that the industrial chemical melamine, the same chemical that was found in pet food that killed so many dogs and cats, was also used in food that fed farm raised fish in China. FDA inspectors "repeatedly" detected banned antibiotics in five species, most notably shrimp and catfish. China is by far the top international seafood supplier to the U.S. market.

2) MAGNUSON STEVENS ACT renewed in 2007 - President Bush signed the new Magnuson-Stevens Act into law ending the long process of updating the nation's fish management law. One of the changes in the Act required the regional fishery management councils to adhere to annual catch quotas based on scientific recommendations. The bill also created national guidelines that allowed the different regions to divide their catch quotas. After the renewal of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Dr. William Hogarth, NOAA's Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, announced his intention to leave NOAA. Dr. Hogarth had joined NOAA Fisheries in 1994, and oversaw most of today's fishing regulations and management methods including the reauthorization of the current Magnuson-Stevens Act.

3) National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007 - At the International Boston Seafood Show in March, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced the National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007, designed to establish a regulatory framework for aquaculture in federal waters and lessen the dependence on farmed seafood imports also helping to reduce the federal trade deficit. United States Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez told industry leaders that last year China and Asia supplied 90% of the farm raised seafood, while the United States supplied only 1 per cent. In order to make up this difference, the Bush Administration is proposing legislation to allow fish farms to be built offshore in federal waters out to 200 miles. This will be the first time in our nation's history that fish farms will be built in our oceans. Scientists have warned us that fish farms in the ocean would jeopardize the natural wild species, between the spread of disease and farm raised fish escaping from their pen and mating with the wild stock.

4) Two Coast Guardsmen killed while scuba diving - The Captain of the ship was held responsible for failing to operate by the book. The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy had just completed its summer mission to study the Earth's crust for the National Science Foundation when it got stuck in 4 feet of ice in Alaska. Since the ship had been at sea for more than 40 days, Captain Douglas Russell offered the crew a little rest and relaxation. Most of the 84 crew and 35 scientists on board disembarked for several hours of ice liberty. A few of the crew members armed with rifles kept watch for polar bears. Others played football and drank beer. Lt. Jessica Hill, 31, and Boatswain's Mate Second Class Steven Duque, 22, both from Florida, decided to make an impromptu training dive near the bow of the 420 foot ship. Both were Navy trained and considered seasoned divers. However, this was their first cold-water descent using scuba gear. A third diver briefly floated in the 29 F water before climbing out shivering because of a leaky dry suit. Three minutes into the dive, both divers' safety lines began to play out quickly. The dive support team was ordered to "haul them up," but it was too late. EMTs worked for more than an hour to revive them to no avail.

5) The U.S. dollar drop on value keeps boat industry alive - In September, the US dollar was surpassed by the Canadian dollar in value for the first time in more than three decades. However, the weaker dollar kept the boat industry alive in the United States as foreigners found American built boats a bargain.

6) Treasure hunters claim richest sunken treasure ever discovered - Hundreds of thousands of colonial-era silver and gold coins worth an estimated $500 million were found on a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean. Court records indicated a Tampa-based corporation called Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered the coins from the wreck of a 17th century merchant ship believed to be a Spanish ship named the "Black Swan," The ship was found off the southwestern coast of England.

7) New England Patriots' football player, Marquise Hill, killed in a jet ski accident on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans - The body of Marquise Hill was found about a quarter of a mile from where the Patriots' player and a female companion fell off their jet ski. According to the ballplayer's agent, Hill and the young woman were jetskiing on the lake at night when both of them fell into the water. The woman was able to grab on to a wooden piling at the base of a bridge and hang on until she was rescued, but she said she watched Marquise Hill float away. Neither Hill nor the woman was wearing a life jacket. It was also reported that the couple had no means of signaling or calling for help.

8) President Bush signs Executive Order that gives striped bass and red drum fish game fish status - The Executive Order prohibits the sale of striped bass and red drum fish caught in Federal waters, and encourages more accurate, up to date scientific records about the fish population. The President directed the numerous Federal agencies to work with State officials to encourage them to use the designation of "gamefish status" for the fish in their state's waters.

9) Charter boat industry shocked by the murders of the captain and crew of the Florida charter boat named "Joe Cool" - An inmate in a Florida jail told investigators that a fellow prisoner, who was a suspect in the killings of four people aboard the Florida charter fishing boat named Joe Cool, admitted to him that he was indeed involved in the murder of the boat's captain, the captain's wife, and the two mates on board. The four were shot and their bodies thrown overboard because the captain refused to take his friend and him to Cuba. Previously, the two suspects had claimed the four were killed by Cuban pirates who attacked the boat at sea. The two allegedly paid $4,000 to charter the "Joe Cool."

10) Landlocked Swiss successfully defend the America's Cup - Team Alinghi from Switzerland beat Team New Zealand in the best of 9 series. Because Switzerland is landlocked, the races were held off the coast of Valencia, Spain, in the Mediterranean Sea. 2007 was the first time that an American team wasn't in the finals of the America's Cup Race. For 132 years, 1851 to 1983, the United States held the Cup making that streak the longest winning streak in any sport.

11) Coast Guard has record year for cocaine busts - So far this year, 355,755 pounds of cocaine worth more than $4.7 billion has been seized. Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Thad Allen, said that drug smugglers today were resorting to riskier, more desperate tactics in an attempt to evade detection and interdiction at sea. He said they can run, but they cannot hide, even thought that is exactly what the smugglers have tried to do by using submarines.

12) Earthrace fails its record breaking attempt; skipper blame bananas! - The futuristic looking biodiesel fuel powerboat, failed in its attempt to break the time record for circumnavigating the world in a biodiesel powered boat. Numerous breakdowns were blamed on bad luck, and then a collision with a fishing boat which killed one and injured two others, put an end to the boat's bid to break any record. The Earthrace skipper blamed the bad luck on bananas that a paying passenger brought on board during the first leg of the voyage. Historically, bananas are a bad luck omen to many sailors. The record for circumnavigating the world in 75 days set in 1998 in a powerboat remains intact.

TOP LOCAL NAUTICAL NEWS STORIES FOR 2007

1) Two commercial fishing boats sank the same week in 2007, killing all 6 fishermen - Four men were on board the 75 foot New Bedford fishing vessel named the Lady of Grace and two fishermen were aboard the Newburyport fishing vessel Lady Luck. The weight of ice forming on the Lady of Grace was suspected as the cause of that accident, but nobody was really sure what happened to the two young fishermen aboard the Lady Luck. Some thought it might have been run over a larger ship. The Canadian Coast Guard assisted the U.S. Coast Guard in the search for the Lady Luck.

2) Outer Brewster Island in Boston Harbor was saved from becoming an LNG terminal - Legislation to remove Outer Brewster Island from the Boston Harbor Islands National Park so that an LNG terminal could be built there was withdrawn. However, off the coast of Gloucester was a different story. Former Governor Mitt Romney gave his approval for energy companies to build two LNG terminals off the coast of Gloucester.

3) Routes for ships to enter Massachusetts waters were changed - The routes were changed to protect the whales off Boston and to prevent another oil spill in Buzzards Bay. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley enforced the state's Oil Spill Prevention Act, even though last year, a federal judge ruled major portions of the Massachusetts law unconstitutional. The judge at that time said the Coast Guard had sole jurisdiction to set regulations on a federal navigable waterway like Buzzards Bay and the state could not override them. However, the state's Attorney General appealed and re-instituted the state's law. A lawyer who represented a large shipping industry coalition said the state's Attorney General was "violating the spirit" of the process. Ultimately the Coast Guard prevailed, but adopted many of the state's regulations.

4) First archaeological survey ever done by the Coast Guard took place off the coast of Cohasset - The buoy tender Coast Guard Cutter Abbey Burgess took its crew and passengers to Minot's Lighthouse, looking for the remnants of the original Minot's Light steel tower that toppled over during a storm in 1851. Coast Guard divers photographed some pieces of steel cable and a turnbuckle lying on the bottom of the ocean that were thought to be from the original lighthouse. The crew aboard the Abbie Burgess also lowered a 5,000 pound granite block to the ocean's bottom near the site where the original Minot's Light tower stood. The granite block had a bronze plaque mounted on it to serve as a memorial to the two assistant lighthouse keepers who lost their lives in 1851 while serving on the tower. Before the keepers perished, one of them put a note in a bottle, which later washed ashore, that stated "the tower now sways three feet in each direction."

5) The 51st annual New England Boat Show at the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center made history - It was the first show ever held at the convention center that was open to the public. All previous shows at the convention center were "Trade Only" shows. The 2007 boat show was Boston's largest and most comprehensive featuring 500,000 square feet of marine exhibits. Attendance exceeded last year's attendance by as much as 30%.

6) Fourteen boat and yacht clubs on state owned land faced eviction - The clubs said they had been negotiating a new long term lease with the state the past 3 years. The state set a deadline of November 23, 2007, for the clubs to pay the increased fees and allow the public access to their docks, piers, and restrooms. Agreements were reached with 8 of the 14 clubs.

7) Scituate boaters saved a boat ramp in their town - The Herring River boat ramp off the Driftway had been in use since colonial days and provided boaters with a much needed, safe access to the North and South Rivers. After several protests and hearings, Scituate Selectmen had the town's DPW relocate the granite blocks that prevented boat trailer access and turnaround maneuverability.

8) Dredging of Marshfield's Green Harbor entrance channel was finished on time and on budget - The channel was restored to a width of 100 feet and a depth of 6 feet at mean low tide.

9) Porbeagle shark set state record - Scituate charter boat captain Mike Evensen and his crew on the Alexa Ann caught a 455 pound Porbeagle shark, the largest ever caught in Massachusetts. The shark was hooked about 30 miles off the coast of Scituate and since it was too big to get in the boat, it took more than three hours to tow it back to Scituate Harbor. After weighing it in front of an estimated crowd of 100, a biologist who works for the Division of Marine Fisheries said the shark was a state record.

10) Two Massachusetts high schools compete for Mallory Cup in Long Point, California - The Mallory Cup is given to the best high school sailing team in America. Duxbury High School's sailing class and Milton Academy's sailing class both competed in 2007 against 16 other teams. The young sailors raced in two person, 14 foot long, 420 sailboats. Milton Academy had raced in the finals the past 4 years in a row, and the Duxbury High School is said to have one of the biggest and best sailing teams in the country.

Listen to the live broadcast of "Nautical Talk Radio" with Capt Lou and crew, Sunday mornings from 11 - 12 noon (Boston time) on radio station 95.9FM WATD, Marshfield, and streaming around the world on www.959watd.com. You can also listen to a replay of the most recent show anytime at www.nauticaltalk.com.

Winner of Mass/Rhode Island Associated Press "BEST TALK SHOW"
Recipient of Joshua James Lifesaving Medal for public service
Recipient of American Lighthouse Foundation's "LEN HADLEY AWARD"
Winner of Boston's Achievement In Radio "BEST INTERVIEW" AWARD
Nominated Boston's A.I.R. "BEST PRODUCED PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM"