Category Archives: History

Fascinating Engineering Facts About the RMS Titanic

Posted on February 13, 2015 by captnmike

A fascinating video on the RMS Titanic and the Olympic-Class ships by Bill “Engineer Guy” Hannack.  The images and information is from the 1909 to 1911 editions of the Journal The Engineer.  The video starts with the laying of the … Continue reading →

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2014 in review

Posted on December 29, 2014 by captnmike

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. A note on the where traffic comes from – most of the traffic here comes from search engines, several times the listed referrals. Here’s an excerpt: The … Continue reading →

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DIY – Historical NOAA Charts & Maps Place-mats

Posted on October 25, 2014 by captnmike

NOAA has made it easy for you to make Place-mats for gifts to friends. You can download Historical Charts, maps and current Nautical Charts and for no charge from NOAA.  The charts and maps can easily be cropped to place-mat … Continue reading →

Posted in History, seattle | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Luncheon Cruise & Tour on the Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy

Posted on April 14, 2014 by captnmike

Last Saturday I had the honor of an Elliot Bay lunch cruise on the USCG Icebreaker Healy which is home-ported in Seattle. This was a special trip set up to let the family and friends of the crew on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aux Activities, History | Tagged , | 5 Comments

NOAA’s paper nautical charts get a needed update – literally

Posted on December 10, 2013 by captnmike

Paper nautical charts hold a special spot in a sailor’s heart – and in the chart table. The October announcement that the federal government will stop bulk lithographic printing of nautical charts brought some understandable angst to boaters – but…

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Historic NOAA Charts

Posted on November 1, 2013 by captnmike

Have you ever wondered what the Seattle Harbor Chart looked like in 1901? NOAA is scanning over 30,000 charts from their 150++ year history and releasing the high quality scans free to the public for Students, Historians, Researchers and anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Boating Safety, History, Navigation, seattle | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Happy Birthday & Thanks For The Visits

Posted on October 20, 2013 by captnmike

In August my web site was five years old and I wanted to thank everyone that has visited my site and to reflect a bit on how I got here. Why a website?  Well it was on a whim, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Before Captnmike was Captnmike, History | 4 Comments

The Untold 9/11 Boat Lift Story

Posted on September 25, 2013 by captnmike

Following the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, a problem faced by many New Yorkers was how to get home. I remember pictures of people walking across bridges and other images of mass migration as people tried to … Continue reading →

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