The Salvare is a 120,000 ton displacement former cruise liner which Dr. Steven Jossy converted to a floating hospital. In case you missed the video as part of the previous post, here is the website for Dr. Jossy’s venture: www.the-salvare.com.  Click on the live links at the website to discover more.

Through the course of writing Universal Coverage, I could hardly believe the many things I thought were fiction are actually becoming fact. When it comes to health care systems, choose wisely.

Once again, I was in the New York Harbor area, aboard a tugboat with the legendary Captain Silva. This time we tended to a few barge shifts than returned to Staten Island where there was a heavy lift operation underway. DonJon Marine moved in with their Chesapeake 1000 floating crane. This unit proceeded to lift a newly constructed floating drydock from the shipyard into the water. Here is a photo of the scene.

This can be a tricky procedure, full of pitfalls if the weather changes, something goes wrong, or simple human error. However, the job went easily enough. The drydock was lifted, the crane pivoted around, and then the drydock was set into the water like a dozen eggs in the fridge. It takes copious amounts of cooperation between the people on the ground and the fellow operating the crane, who may not be able to see everything, including obstacles in the way.

Just another way to travel and things to do. Great story material, too.

There are fewer and fewer single screw tugboats around these days. And a captain who knows how to operate them is another rarity. However, there is the legendary Captain Silva, a good friend of mine, and master of most anything afloat, including these old boats with a single propeller and lots of history. Thus, he and I traveled to visit one of the smaller incarnations of such nautical engineering just the other day, a boat he operates from time to time, named the Thomas Brown. This tug was in drydock for some love and affection as you can see below:

The guys are working to reattach the bow fender, which is no easy task given that it has to be bent and pulled fast to the shape of the hull. Here is a shot of stern:

You can see the scale of the hull and that single propeller by comparing both to the man standing on the right. The propeller is about six feet in diameter, which may sound large, but is actually small as things go in these matters. This boat has an engine that develops a mere 850 horsepower. Here’s a closer look at that prop.

It’s all shiny and clean for today. Won’t be long before this boat is back in the water, towing barges, nudging larger vessel to the dock, and roaming the harbor in search of work. The Thomas Brown is a handsome boat, one that features traditional lines that passed down from the earliest of vessels. It’s also the last of a breed. Single screw boats are simply not built anymore. So, when this one is finished, it’ll be lost to the scrapper’s torch. But not yet! There’s still work to be done.

Let’s have a word about piracy. As readers of this blog know, I’ve been researching a novel titled MacMillan Judge, Privateer. In the course of Mr. Judge’s adventure, he must face rogue Barbary Pirates who hold a Philadelphia merchant’s daughter for ransom. All is not as it appears, except for the fact that pirates are the embodiment of evil. Since MacMillan Judge sails in the year 1816, let’s move forward to 2009, when pirates are once again a serious issue.

Piracy is more than a simple criminal enterprise. It is an abomination, perpetuated against innocent victims. Any talk of economic necessity as a justification for piracy is absolute nonsense spouted by fools and idiots. Imagine you’re aboard a ship, cruising through international waters, when suddenly you are under attack by machine gun wielding savages. You are unarmed, virtually defenseless against this onslaught. You are actually forbidden in some cases from having weapons other than your bare hands. Sound frightening? It should. The pirates who attack you know that your are a member of the civilized portion of the human species as much as they are members of the savage class. Hence they prey upon your willingness to follow the rules even as they do not.

Please don’t listen to the pablum foisted by popular media and silly political types that declare these pirates to be poor members of the down trodden class with no employment options. Pirates are not cute and cuddly movie stars brought to you by the Disney Company. Pirates are killers, thieves, rapists, enslavers, and a menace to any civilized society. To treat them as anything less than vermin is to elevate them beyond their actual state.

And what to do about pirates? Take a look at the Caribbean of the 1700’s. The British Navy was quite tired of the pirates of Jamaica and elsewhere. Hence the British sent squadrons with specific orders to eliminate the pirates. Let’s be clear. Eliminate meant to destroy the pirate outposts, vessels, and either kill the pirates in combat or return them to England for trial and subsequent hanging. Today’s genteel world erroneously believes that pirates can be “talked to.” Really? People who attack unarmed vessels, steal cargo, ransom hostages, kill crew members, rape, and pillage are the type of people you can trust in the course of a parlay? Anyone who believes that is a mindless dolt not worthy of the air he breathes.

Let’s take a look at another example. After the young United States attacked and partially subdued the Barbary Pirates of the Mediterranean, the British and the Dutch sailed into the area to settle the matter for their own nations. The combined fleet shelled the city of Algiers, ultimately pounding the local pirate king (or dey as they were called) into submission.

The lesson here is that negotiating with pirates like negotiating with cockroaches. You stamp them out or suffer their infestation. To do any less is to sacrifice yourself at the altar of evil.

In keeping with the theme of WHAT CAN BE DONE, take a look at this photo:

The man in the foreground is working on a submarine at the Electric Boat Works in Connecticut during World War II. Here are some statistics that should perk you up: During the Second World War, American workers built 5,777 merchant ships, 1,556 naval vessels, and 299,293 aircraft. This was accomplished without computers, without cellphones, and by people who for the most part had not finished high school.

Thus, it’s time to rise to the challenge, get to work, and quit complaining if we’re ever to live up to the accomplishments of previous generations.

While doing some more research for MacMillan Judge, Privateer, I came across Michael J. Berman’s website. He has some brilliant photographs of sailing ships there to be seen. Here is a link http://www.michaelbermanphotography.com/fineArtDyn.php?ID=49. It is very difficult to take pictures in the marine environment, let alone of sailing ships. The weather, the vessels, and any number of other factors can conspire against you. However, I’m impressed with Mr. Berman’s work, especially the black and white images.

Among them, you’ll find one of the Pride of Baltimore II. This is a topsail schooner, much like the one MacMillan Judge finds laid up in Spain. Judge buys it from a Spanish nobleman named Don Francisco. After some refit and repair, he and the crew rename her Fletcher. No need to tell you any more, you’ll have to read the book.

Please check out Mr. Berman’s site. You won’t be disappointed.

The cruise ship Statendam is seen approaching Oranjestaad, Aruba. You’ll see a tugboat standing by, then disappear behind the leaward side of the ship. Take a look.

The wind almost always comes from the east in Aruba. Thus the tugboat has moved to the opposite side of the ship. Plus, it will need to be on that side to help the ship to the dock. Most modern cruise ships have an array of bow thrusters, steerable pods, and other devices that enable them to dock with very little help from the tugs. Still, it makes sense to have one handy in case of a failure of man or machine.

Bon dia from Aruba.

Pilot boats have the tricky job of showing larger vessels a safe route to port. Here in Aruba, pilot boats are used to guide tankers to the terminals in San Nicolaas. I made this short video from the front window of my little house here in Savaneta, Aruba, DWI.

As you can see, the ship towers over the pilot boat. The captain of the smaller vessels has to be careful not to be run over by the larger. That happened here in Aruba a couple of years ago, in the harbor at Oranjestaad. One of the biggest problems is that the ship can’t stop on a dime or even a quarter. Usually there are a few tugs helping to guide the ship through the channel and to the dock. I hope to post a video of them working soon.

If you read my novel, An Island Away, this is the type of work that Captain Beck was doing while here in Aruba.

Bon dia from Aruba.

Who would have thought that sailing ships would come back into style? I mean, isn’t that how the first ships were powered? Yes, wind and human power at the oars. However the Sky Sails company has taken sailing to a new level. They use a kite, which is actually a sort of wing, that is tethered to the ship. The kite is flown up to 300 meters above the ship, a place where the winds are stronger and more reliable. They’ve been doing some test runs and fuel savings are better than 10% when compared to normal operations and are on the way to 20% or more. That’s better than $1000 per day for a 10,000 ton ship. Mucho dinero as my Spanish speaking friends would say.

Check out this video for some good footage of the system in action: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QUyetrs3MQ0&feature=related.

Thus, there are smart people doing great things out there to protect the environment and make money at the same time. Best thing we can do is let them continue their good work unmolested.

It was Mark Twain who said, “You die and go to heaven, I’ll stay here in Bermuda.” He might have been on to something. Of course I love the island of Aruba, which is a more raucous place than the more dignified Bermuda. Still, I appreciate the difference and have enjoyed several visits to Bermuda in my travels. So it was that I found this old photograph of Hamilton in the archives at the Library of Congress, where regular readers of this blog know I scour up some good finds now and then.

This photo was taken in 1911. My how things have changed! You don’t see any cruise ships in the harbor. Plenty of small buildings, the scale of which seems appropriate to a place like Bermuda. I can’t be certain, however, I think I was in that church on left side of the frame. Back in my days of photography that used film, I made some images of the stained glass windows there.

This photo is also a time capsule of sorts. It shows us what was, which can then be compared to what is today. It might also give us a glimpse of the future or at least a sense of the trend of things to come. I hope people take the time to print their digital photographs. If for no other reason, someday someone will find them and be able to do what I’ve been doing with these photos from the Library of Congress: Take a look at the past. One of my fears is that all the digital photos we take will be stored (invisibly) on a chip or CD or some other media that will become inaccessible. As the computer industry changes, compatibility is always a problem.

The best thing to do is print the good ones, and a few of the not so good ones as well. Hey, you never know. Some guy may be writing a blog or a novel and use your pictures as source material. If you’re really lucky, they’ll end up in the Library of Congress.