Episode 24: The Mary Celeste The sea is full of mysteries We’ve all heard about  the well known fact that we know less about our oceans than we do about outer space. Most mysteries at sea can be debunked to superstition and folklore, but there are some stories that remain a enigma, puzzling the brightest of minds. In episode 19 we talked about the Bermuda Triangle, and while it is still an odd cluster of tragic events, we can look at the science behind it and understand that the phenomena surrounding that area might not actually be so confounding. Other mysteries include tales of underwat ..read more

If you’re from the coastal American south, the days of June 1 to November 30th sit a little differently than the rest. For over 60 million Americans, they live in an area that is vulnerable to one of the greatest forces of mother nature, the hurricane. The end of November marks the end of hurricane season in the South East United States and the Carribbean. The recent hurricane Nichole is among the latest in the season of hurricanes to touch land in Florida, the next one closest being hurricane Kate in 1985. And though it may be time to put away the storm shutters - the towns breathe a sigh of ..read more

EPISODE 22: LIMINAL LIGHTHOUSES By all intents and purposes, a lighthouse should represent hope. They light the way to safety, and present a safe harbour. But they also are reaped in solitude and often lie at the edge of danger. Even that though, could bring hope. So what is it about lighthouses, then, that makes them such macabre places?  Lighthouses occupy the liminal spaces between land and the sea. The rest often in the harshest of environments where humans shouldn’t really exist, and where normal rules of society do not prevail. There is no sense of start and stop in a lighthouse, ju ..read more

Episode 21: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustlaff In the icy cold January of 1945, all was quiet in the Baltic Sea.  The Wilhelm Gustlaff floated silently along.  Later that evening a national broadcast from Hitler blared through the boats speakers, echoing across the water. A man named Aleksander took his shot. In a loss of life that accounted to nearly 9000 people, the tragedy of the Wilhelm Gustlaff is that of the largest loss of human life at sea. Listen to the podcast to learn more! SHOW NOTES: 0:10 Peter’s Youth 2:00 The Encroachment of  the Russians 2:56 The History of  ..read more

Episode 20: Shackleton   If there was ever a man with a sense of adventure and a roaming spirit, it was Earnest Shackleton.  Earnest left school at the age of 16 to join the Merchant Navy. After that, he spent four years learning his trade as an apprentice on a square-rigged sailing ship. He then trained to be an officer, working his way up through the ranks. In 1898 he earned his master mariner certificate and got a job as an officer on the Union Castle line.  He primarily did the sailing route between London and South Africa.  Shackleton was a man of resolute character. A ..read more

In 1950 the Sandra departed from Savannah Georgia with 300 tons of insecticide on board. The Sandra’s destination was Venezuala, but she never completed her journey. As the ship passed the Florida coast  the ship lost complete radio contact and disappeared without trace. No one ever heard from the Sandra again. SHOW NOTES: :40 Flight 19 1:00 SS Cotopaxi 2:10 The Bermuda Triangle 2:35 Vincent Gaddis 4:30 Charles Berlitz’s The Bermuda Triangle 9:10 The Reality of the Bermuda Triangle Connect with Sydney Zaruba: Nautical Nonsense on Instagram Sydney on Instagram Nautical Nonsense & Sydn ..read more

Everyone loves the story of an underdog. A tale of someone with all the odds stacked against them, and manages to come back and surprise the world with their amazing feats. The type of person who has Islands named after them and can inspire a nation Someone who is so impressive at what they have accomplished, you can almost forget and forgive their flaws.   Horatio always had a poor disposition. His stomach afflicted him in ways he barely handled. When he was born, his mother didn’t believe he would survive infancy, and in fact he nearly died. As a child Horatio suffered many illnesses su ..read more

Sailors in particular are known for their decorated canvases of bodies. It is often said tattooing was first introduced to sailors after Captain Cook’s voyages to the South Seas. Here the men encountered the islanders with extensive tattoo designs, and the sailors were smitten. Captain Cook himself undertook a systematic study of these designs and several of the sailors on his the voyages had themselves tattooed. Everything about the first sailor tattoos were simple. They were marks of identification or affection. But gradually, and as things do with sailors, a superstition began to grow aroun ..read more

EPISODE 16 - SHIP TALK The way a person speaks says a lot about their background. Even setting the topic of conversation aside the accents, colloquialisms, and vocabulary of an individual are all indicators of geographic origins, regional and parental influences, and education. The way someone phrases their sentences, certain jargon they might use, and the way they place certain inflections on words and syntax can also provide huge clues to the profession of the speaker. Salesmen tend to posses the earnest capability of carrying a conversation with a wall, using everyday language, but in a way ..read more

Fear of anything is often misplaced for what is truly fear of the unknown. Are you scared of the dark, or maybe what lay hidden in the darkness? From the first time a human dipped their toes in the ocean, we have been fearful of what lies beneath that glimmering surface. From Greek myths to Icelandic sagas and in Chinese folklore. stories from around the world tell tales of terrible monsters in the sea. These creatures continue to hold a fascination over us today and appear in movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Meg.  The Kraken is one of the most infamous of all sea creatures ..read more