“I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book,” wrote J.K. Rowling, British author and creator of the popular Harry Potter series. Although published long ago, the following sea books (in PDF format) have not lost their magic.
It is exactly 16 years today since I started Marine Café Blog. One thought has guided me throughout: the greatest challenge faced by shipping in the 21st century is how to reclaim its humaniy. This is why the blog has been highlighting seafarers’ rights and maritine art and culture, for both themes are reminders of that humanity.
A number of kind-hearted readers have made donations through Buy Me a Coffee. Some have bought me one cup equiavalent to $5; others, more. The amount doesn’t really matter. I consider every donation as a cup of love, a grateful acknowledgement of my work as a writer.
A great many writers have described the sea in poetry and prose. Only a few, however, have done so in a way that makes one imagine and feel its mysterious beauty and power. The words they used seem fresh and out of the ordinary. They stick to the mind.
I recently came across an interesting old ballad called ‘The Sailor’s Tragedy’. Also known as ‘The Dreadful Ghost’, the song was published in 1826 by Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns in an eight-page booklet that included three other ballads. It reminds me of the maritime Lotharios and skirt-chasers I have encountered in real life.
The world of the seafarer has two aspects. There is the light side, which one sees in the pictures of smiling seafarers on social media. And there is the dark side, which comes to the surface through news photos of abandoned crews or the deplorable conditions on board a flag-of-convenience vessel. The world would not know about the latter if not for ITF inspectors, Port State Control authorities and the news media. The duality calls to mind the Chinese philosophy of yin/yang, the two opposing and complementary forces that underlie all natural phenomena and all aspects of life.
Beauty, physical dimensions and history — all three factors combine to make a river great. But there is another element that elevates a river’s status so that it stands above the rest: the power to inspire artists, poets and other creative spirits through the ages. The following are 10 such rivers which share this last characteristic.
Harbour pilots play an important role, but ship masters do not always appreciate their services. Some may feel resentful that a local chap is taking over control of their vessel. It’s a blow to their ego.
Anyone who believes that photography is more than just a matter of recording reality ought to take a look at the pictures made by Robert Demachy (1859–1936). The man was a leading French light in the late 1860s to early 20th century movement called Pictorialism. The term is succinctly defined by Britannica as “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.”
The Seine River in France runs for 780 kilometres (485 miles) — shorter than the country’s longest river, the Loire (1,020 kilometres or 634 miles). But it is the beloved river of Paris and one of Europe’s great historic rivers. And like other great rivers such as the Volga and the Mississippi, it has, through the centuries, held a strong fascination for creative spirits — poets, musical composers and artists. The stream of inspiration has never stopped flowing.
One can understand that the printed edition of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (or STCW) cannot be given for free. Like any other publisher, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has to cover the cost of printing plus some markup for overhead expenses and profit. But why sell the electronic edition, and for a hefty £50 (USD67.16) at that?
“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go,” the American novelist and screenwriter, Truman Capote, once said. Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet may not have felt exactly the same about the fabled city. For sure, though, Venice had an exhilarating effect on these two key figures in the art movement called ‘Impressionism’. Both painters depicted its waters, palaces, cathedrals and sky in colours that continue to bedazzle viewers in the 21st century.