Guilty Tugboat Captain Was Shopping Online

Jul 22

“My client is deeply remorseful for his conduct, he feels awful,” defense attorney Walter A. Reynoso told reporters after Tuesday’s hearing. “He feels awful about the unimaginable pain and loss suffered by the three families who lost their three very young daughters. Our thoughts remain with each of the families as they continue to endure this profound tragedy.”

Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to seaman’s manslaughter in connection with the deaths of three girls learning to sail in Biscayne Bay. Insua admitted to operating a barge with obstructed visibility and without a proper lookout, which led to July 28, 2025 collision.

Insua also admitted he was using his phone to visit the online shopping services eBay and Amazon. “Due to the obstructed visibility, and lack of a lookout, Insua did not see the stalled sailboat before the barge struck it,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release yesterday. “A forensic review of Insua’s cellphone revealed internet activity during transit, including at or near the time of the collision.”

Under a plea agreement Insua will serve a year in prison and six months of home confinement. The maximum sentence for the manslaughter offense is 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October 13.

(More details on the accident may be found by following the link at the bottom of this story.)

What follows is the “factual proffer” behind the plea agreement:

The United States of America, defendant Yusiel Lopez Insua (“the Defendant”), and the defendant’s undersigned counsel (collectively, the “Parties”), agree that had this case proceeded to trial, the United States would have proven the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt:
On July 28, 2025, the Defendant operated a 25-foot tugboat that was affixed to, and pushing, a 108 feet long, 28 feet wide, and 149 gross ton construction barge (collectively “the Vessel”). The Vessel had the capacity for steering and propulsion. Due to the position of a deckhouse and a crane on the barge, the Defendant did not have waterline visibility in front of the Vessel, from his position in the Vessel’s pilothouse. While there was another person on the barge (“Individual 1”), Individual 1 was not designated as a “look out” and was not acting as a lookout on July 28, 2025. Individual 1 did not have a means of communicating with the Defendant from the deckhouse to the pilot house, and the Defendant did not take actions to ensure that Individual 1 was acting as a “look out.”
On July 28, 2025, the Defendant was piloting the Vessel from a lot on Star Island to an empty lot on Di Lido Island to transport material from the deconstruction of a sea wall. Because the Defendant was driving the Vessel in the inland waters of the United States, he was subject to the United States Inland Navigation Rules, codified in 33 C.F.R. § 83, et seq. One such rule provides that “[a] power driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of… [a] sailing vessel.” 33 C.F.R. § 83.18(a)(iv).
On that same day—July 28, 2025—a group of children and young adults in a camp run by a local organization were sailing from the camp towards Monument Island. One such sailboat was a Hobie Getaway type sailboat which had a 13’ 6” foot tall sail (‘the Sailboat”). The Sailboat’s sole means of propulsion was wind and sail. The Sailboat was operated by Victim 6 and had five children aboard (Victim 1, Victim 2, Victim 3, Victim 4, and Victim 5).
As the Sailboat progressed through Biscayne Bay, the wind suddenly died, leaving the Sailboat becalmed—unable to move under its own power. The Vessel, piloted by the Defendant, continued on a collision course towards the Sailboat. Because the Vessel was a power-driven vessel underway, it had a duty under the Navigation Rules to avoid collision. Despite this, the Defendant did not change course or speed. Victim 6, as alleged in the Information, attempted to warn the Defendant of the oncoming collision by waving her hands but the Defendant did not change course or speed.
A forensic examination of Defendant’s cellular telephone revealed that it was unlocked while transiting from the lot on Star Island and in the moments prior to and at the collision demonstrated activity on eBay and Amazon.
The Vessel—operated by the Defendant—collided with the Sailboat. Victim 4, Victim 5, and Victim 6, as alleged in the Information, escaped being pulled under the water by the Vessel as the Vessel continued to travel over and on top of the Sailboat, eventually submerging it and pinning it under the barge’s hull. However, Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3, as alleged in the Information, were trapped underwater, pinned by their life jackets to the bottom of the barge’s hull. Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3 perished by drowning.
The above conduct given the attendant circumstances constituted the required negligence under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1115. This negligence caused Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3’s deaths. The Defendant had a duty to avoid a collision.
The facts described above are not intended to be a complete recitation of the facts of this case and are merely intended to form a basis for the undersigned Defendant’s knowing, willful, and intentional plea of guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of the Information.

‘Seaman’s Manslaughter,’ Coast Guard Says, Referring Barge Deaths to Prosecutors

October 31, 2025

Read full story

LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

You’re currently a free subscriber to LOOSE CANNON. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Be the first to comment!

Jul 22, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Tropical Storm Bertha Strengthens – Fred Pickhardt

Fred Pickhardt’s Substack is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Fred Pickhardt’s Substack that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won’t be charged unless they enable payments.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Tropical Storm Bertha Strengthens

Max winds now to 50 knots

Jul 21

Tropical Storm Bertha is showing increased organization this morning. Deep convection has developed around the system, dropping its minimum central pressure to 995mb. Max sustained winds have ticked up to 50 knots (approx. 60 mph). The storm is currently drifting north-northwest at a slow 3 knots.

Forecast Track and Intensity

A mid-level ridge centered near the Rockies is expected to move southeastward. This will push Bertha on a west-northwest to westward track, steering it near or along the northern Gulf Coast.

Despite the recent organization, Bertha remains an asymmetric storm. The heaviest rainfall and strongest winds are concentrated to the south and east of the center. Furthermore, strong northeasterly vertical wind shear will persist through tonight. This shear will make further intensification difficult. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts a gradual weakening trend over the coming days.

Key Impacts and Safety Warnings

Wind and Storm Conditions: A Tropical Storm Warning is currently in effect from the Florida Panhandle westward to southeastern Louisiana. Expect tropical storm conditions to arrive later today and continue into Wednesday. A Tropical Storm Watch is also in effect for metro New Orleans and the southern Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
Coastal Flooding: A Coastal Flood Warning covers the Mississippi and Louisiana coastlines. Residents in these areas should prepare for moderate coastal flooding.
Flash Flooding: Heavy rains could cause isolated areas of flash flooding through Friday. The highest risk spans the Gulf Coast from western Florida into southern Louisiana and the upper Texas coast.

You’re currently a free subscriber to Fred Pickhardt’s Substack. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Be the first to comment!

Jul 22, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Dear Coast Guard, You Do Know They Can’t Hear You, Right? – Loose Cannon

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

When all else fails, try journalism.

Dear Coast Guard, You Do Know They Can’t Hear You, Right?

A Brief Memo to Watchstanders

Jul 21

The author is a retired telecom/satcom professional who cruises the East Coast with his wife Louise aboard a 52-foot steel trawler yacht named Vector. He is Loose Cannon’s go-to guy in matters of regulations and best practices.

By SEAN WELSH

Dear U.S. Coast Guard radio watchstanders:

Getting on Channel 16 when there is an open mic, to announce that there is an open mic, and to ask mariners to check their equipment, basically does nothing except add clutter to the channel, something you would be yelling at us for doing.

The reason is simple, and really ought to be taught in radio watchstander school, if it’s not already: The radio with the open mic—the one radio you are trying to talk to—cannot and will not hear your announcement. When the microphone transmit button is pressed, the radio can no longer receive transmissions from other stations.

Yes, yes, there is a minuscule chance that the vessel with the open mic actually has more than one radio, and one of the other radios is tuned to 16, and someone somewhere on that vessel will hear your plea, make their way to the bridge or wherever the offending radio is, and do something about it.

Or perhaps the vessel with the open mic is actually in a marina, and within earshot of another boat with a radio that is on, and they will hear your call.

But both of these scenarios have a likelihood that is vanishingly small. When most of us hear people making open-mic announcements, we think “does this person not know how radios work?” When it’s the Coast Guard doing it, we wonder about standards of training.

FWIW.

Be the first to comment!

Jul 21, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments 26.0732,-80.15129999
Tropical Storm Bertha forms near Florida’s Panhandle, threatens northern Gulf coast SunSentinel

View In Chartview

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/07/21/tropical-storm-bertha-florida-louisiana/

Share:
Be the first to comment!

Jul 20, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Alternate History: ‘Real’ Odysseus Sailed to the Bahamas and Back – Loose Cannon

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

When all else fails, try journalism.

Alternate History: ‘Real’ Odysseus Sailed to the Bahamas and Back

Author-Sailor Also Suggests Florida Might Have Been ‘Hell’

Jul 20

**Another waterfront property owner** shows his distain for sailors trying to enjoy the cruising lifestyle. Actually, the Cyclops doesn’t play a role in the reimagined *Odyssey*. This work, Odysseus and Polyphemus, is an 1896 oil painting by the Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin, now display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Henk van Oosten is a Dutch sailor and professional predictor of the future. When van Oosten retired from his job as an innovation expert, he combined sensibilities from both vocation and avocation, reexamined historical assumptions and proceded to rewrite The Odyssey.

Why Is This of Interest to Sailors Today?
The author assumes an early Western European maritime culture with bluewater-capable craft plying trade routes outside the Mediterranean.
He posits a lost system of celestial navigation more akin to traditional Polynesian methods but not exactly that either.

One of the greatest works of literature of all time, The Odyssey is also one of the earliest examples of a sequel. Writing around 800 years BC, Homer chronicled an epic war of Greeks versus Trojans in his poem The Iliad. The blind Greek poet hooked his audience: The war was caused by Helen, the unfaithful queen with a “face that launched a thousand ships.”

With the release of the Christipher Nolan movie “The Odyssey” last week, a massive amount of attention is being paid to the story.

Odysseus, the central figure in The Odyssey, was fresh from winning the Trojan War with his idea for the “Trojan horse” ruse de guerre in The Iliad. If you think of the Greek heroes of that war as celebrities such as, say, the Beatles, Odysseus would have been “the clever one.”

What van Oosten had done in a series of academic papers and a book was to upend the Homeric versions and create an entirely different narrative, set not in the Greek world of the Eastern Mediterranean but the Atlantic Ocean.

In van Oosten’s retro-futuristic imagination, Odysseus takes a ten-year lap around the Atlantic, to the Caribbean, then the Bahamas, Florida and the Azores before returning to his kingdom in southwestern Spain.

Hilariously, van Oosten identifies Florida as possibly the Hades of Homer’s account. That is, a Hell on earth.

Van Oosten was inspired by a 1990 book that posited Troy as a fortress in England, not what is now Turkey. Speaking to Fiona Cameron Lister in a July 22, 2020 story on the Medium website, Van Oosten said:

As a scientist, I disliked the fact everyone was saying the same thing about Troy — that it was Greek and on the coast of Turkey. The few people saying something different and that the Odyssey was possibly on the Atlantic were completely dismissed by classical historians and archaeologists…In searching for other perspectives to interpret the Iliad and the Odyssey, I am taking my own approach. As a reader, but also as a traveller and sailor.

Van Oosten’s inspiration was the shield of Achilles, another Trojan war hero conventionally assumed to have been Greek. According to Homer, the shield was made by a god for Achilles and decorated along its rim by a depiction of Oceanus, now called the Atlantic Ocean. The waves of Oceanus surround a dome of the sky with the sun, moon and four constellations.

Which can be used, van Oosten theorizes, for navigation to guide voyagers on the somewhat circular route still used for small boat voyages from Europe to the Caribbean and back. The fact that the Oceanus motif rims the circular shield suggests the Gulf Stream, he said.

*Haphaestus*, Greek god of fire and blacksmiths, made this shield for Achilles.

The Iliad records the first reference in history to celestial navigation. Homer describes the nymph Calipso giving Odysseus sailing directions using the very same constellations on Achilles’ shield, according to van Oosten:

Ocean navigation is determined, more accurately than by the sun, by constellations on the Achilles shield. Using the SkyMap astronomy software, it is possible to study the night sky in 1400 BC. The Great Bear is always in the north. If there are two stars on the horizon perpendicular to each other, that is the right course.

Stars Like Range Lights

To the west in winter is the setting Betelgeuse (Orion) and directly above, Procyon (Canis minor). In 1400 BC, this range marked the route from Boa Vista in the Cape Verde Islands to Guadalupe in the Caribbean.

In the summer of 1400 BC, heading towards the home port in the east, there is the rising *Saiph* (Orion) and *Aldebaran* (Hyades) directly above it. To van Oosten, Ithaca was not a Greek city state; it was in Southwestern Spain at the mouth of the Rio Odiel and Rio Tinto, site of present day Huelva.

Odysseus’ Imagined Route

As you can see, the reimagined Odyssey does follow the currents like the ocean-river depicted on Achilles shield. Coastal cruising is indicated by dotted lines, while the ocean-crossing passages are straight lines, aligned with the ranges depicted in the star charts above.

The story is pretty involved, of course. Epic, you might say. So one of van Oosten’s papers is included below for those who want to get deep in the weeds, or you could read van Oosten’s book on the subject.

Trojan Tin War And Odysseus Ocean Route

1.35MB ∙ PDF file

By Henk van Oosten, Wageningen University

Download

Helen of Troy doesn’t exist in van Oosten’s narrative. The Trojan War is a powerplay between various peoples along the Iberian Atlantic and British Isles involved in the mining and distribution of tin. Tin was perhaps the most strategic commodity of the Bronze Age since it was the element in bronze alloy that kept edged weapons sharp.

The absence of Helen doesn’t mean van Oosten entirely ignores the love angle. None of the mentioned Atlantic islands were populated in 1400 BC, according to conventional thinking, but the science is not definitive. That gives van Oosten the wiggle room to speculate.

In those places, Odysseus dallies with the same assortment of nymphs, witches and queens as had been assigned by Homer, thus maintaining a plausible explanation of why it took 10 years to sail from Cornwall in the Southwest England to his wife in Huelva.

Covering nautical news, history and now legend, LOOSE CANNON encourages you to subscribe. It’s free, and there are no ads.

Be the first to comment!

Jul 20, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Tropical Depression 2 Monday Update – Fred Pickhardt

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Tropical Depression 2 Monday Update

Jul 20

TD2 at 5pm EDT, was centered near 28.7N 85.8W with max winds of 30 KT with a minimum pressure of 1005 mb. The strongest winds are currently south and east of the center. The low-level center is drifting northwest at only 3 knots and is forecast to move slowly northwestward to west-northwestward for 36 h or so, followed by a turn toward the west.

The depression is experiencing moderate northeasterly shear, and these conditions should continue for another 18-24 hours, after which, the northeasterly shear should increase, and cause the system to weaken. The peak intensity forecast is 45 knots in 36 hours, however, wind shear could keep that somewhat lower.

Tropical storm conditions are possible in portions of the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle westward to southeastern Louisiana Tuesday and Wednesday. A storm Surge Watch is in effect for the Alabama, Mississippi, and southeastern Louisiana coasts.

Areas of flash flooding will be possible through Friday along portions of the Gulf Coast and adjacent inland locations from western Florida north of Fort Myers to the Middle Texas Coast, including southern portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Latest NHC advisories: NOAA NHC

Ocean Weather Services

Forensic Marine Weather Expert

You’re currently a free subscriber to Fred Pickhardt’s Substack. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Be the first to comment!

Jul 20, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments 33.3735,-79.28859999

Weather Alert – TD 2 No Threat to SC, Stormy Late Wednesday, SCDNR

View In Chartview

Weather Alert – July 20, 2026

TD 2 No Threat

Over the weekend, the disturbance over the eastern Gulf became Tropical Depression Two. It remains a weak feature south of Panama City, Florida.

The NHC forecast track and current watches and warnings for TD 2 from Advisory 4A

It now looks like it will head westward instead of our way. The National Hurricane Center calls for it to move into Louisiana Wednesday afternoon as a weak tropical storm. So, it won’t have any effect on us through the first part of the week. Some computer models show moisture from it being pulled toward us later this week by a cold front moving in. That would be nice; we need the rain.

It’s quiet over the rest of the Atlantic still. The tropical wave near Cabo Verde on Friday is now over the middle of the tropical Atlantic along 40° west, but there is little thunderstorm activity with it. Another wave moving off of Africa today will struggle against dry, stable air and vertical wind shear.

A loop of visible satellite imagery covering the Atlantic Basin and eastern United States

The above loop of visible satellite imagery above shows several features of interest across the North Atlantic and eastern U. S.:

Tropical Depression Two over the northeastern Gulf.
A tropical wave near 40° west in the tropical Atlantic
A band of clouds over North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and the Atlantic associated with a stationary front.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is spilling southward over the middle of the Atlantic, all the way into the deep tropics.

Stay prepped; hurricane.sc is the place to go for prep advice.

Our Weather This Week:

The front we hoped would bring us active weather early this week has stalled farther north than expected. It’s close enough that the northern half of the state will see substantial coverage of afternoon thunderstorms through Tuesday, and a locally severe storm with damaging wind is possible. A stray storm can’t be ruled out further south, but they will be isolated. Temperatures will remain near to a few degrees above average.

We remain on track to see a more substantial cold front move through on Wednesday afternoon and evening. With that comes more widespread storms and the risk for locally severe storms, especially across the north. Damaging winds will be the primary concern.

The Storm Prediction Center's latest Day 3 Severe Weather Outlook graphic for South Carolina.

It’s looking more likely that the front will stall over us later in the week now rather than push south. There’s a chance that the Upstate sees a nice day with low humidity on Friday, but don’t count on it. Otherwise, we’ll see limited sunshine with widespread showers and thunderstorms, mostly during the afternoon. If tropical moisture from TD Two becomes involved, torrential downpours and a flash-flooding risk would become a concern.

Frank Strait
Severe Weather Liaison
S.C. State Climate Office

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
260 D. Epting Lane
West Columbia, SC, 29172

Department Phone Numbers

Be the first to comment!

Jul 20, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments
NC coast is state’s greatest investment; new budget treats it so – CoastalReview
https://coastalreview.org/2026/07/nc-coast-is-states-greatest-investment-new-budget-treats-it-so/

Share:
Be the first to comment!

Jul 19, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

TD Two has formed over the Northeast Gulf – Fred Pickhardt

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

TD Two has formed over the Northeast Gulf

Jul 19

Tropical Depression Two, has formed in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico with initial maximum sustained winds of 25 knots and a minimum central pressure of 1011 mb.

Current Status

Location: 28.0N, 85.3W (Northeastern Gulf of Mexico)
Current Movement: North-northwest at 3 knots
Initial Intensity: 25 knots (30 mph)
Minimum Pressure: 1011 mb

Expected Track and Timing

TD 2 is forecast to drift very slowly northwest, approaching the Florida Panhandle Monday and Tuesday before turning more towards the west.

Wind Intensity Forecast

TD 2 should slowly strengthen reaching tropical storm intensity in about 24 hours peaking near 50 knots midweek. Rapid intensification is not likely due to dry air and wind shear.

Primary Hazards and Warnings

Wind: A Tropical Storm Watch is active for parts of the Florida Panhandle.
Flooding: Heavy rainfall threatens flash flooding through Thursday along the eastern and central Gulf Coast, spanning from western Florida into southern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Latest NHC advisories: NOAA NHC
NOAA US Coastal Waters Forecasts
Ocean Weather Services
Forensic Marine Weather Expert

You’re currently a free subscriber to Fred Pickhardt’s Substack. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Be the first to comment!

Jul 19, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Draken Shows Off Her Star Power in ‘Odyssey’ – Loose Cannon

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

When all else fails, try journalism.

Draken Shows Off Her Star Power in ‘Odyssey’

Per the Naysayers, Nothing Is Quite Right, Yet Somehow Magnificent

Jul 18

Starring as Odysseus’ flagship, *Draken* sails along, looking all Bronze Age Greekie without her dragon’s head stem.

Last month, Loose Cannon poked fun at the folks moaning about a black woman playing the role of Helen of Troy in the movie “Odysseus.” These folks had obviously been hoping for someone more like Nicole Kidman. “The poet Homer may have been blind, but that doesn’t mean he was colorblind,” I wrote in jest.

Last night, we attended the film’s opening at our local theater, and I can testify that 1. The movie was breathtaking, and 2. Black Helen (Lupita Nyong’o) was a minor character with only a few minutes of screen time that hardly mattered.

Whereas Odysseus’ ship was a major character, she being the vehicle that transported these Trojan War veterans from one nightmarish disaster to another. (Forgive the trivialization, but the movie harkened back to cruising the New England coast in my old wooden sloop, during which we faced “a crisis in every port” of engine failures and near sinkings.)

The Bronze Age penteconter was played by Draken, a replica of a 10th century Viking longboat. As I jokingly pointed out, this choice was more a-historical than a black Helen. The Vikings built lapstrake hulls, while the Greeks stuck with carvel planking. Truth be told, the distinction was hardly noticeable on screen, and I shall return to Draken’s performance shortly.

But First

Predictably, a few of my own readers last month fell into the “I like white” camp, not from racism but a nerdy devotion to Homer’s sacred text. I rarely debate readers anymore. I have become convinced that you should be able to have your say without an author feeling he or she has to nitpick back at you. But this time I felt these grown-up prep-school grads had entirely missed the point.

‘Odyssey’ Movie Anachronism: That Viking Longship Ain’t Right

Jun 8

Read full story

As I explained to one skeptic, the Odyssey is really akin to a fairy tale, albeit an epic one. Fairy tales are stories where wolves and pigs can talk and witches are real.

The narrator began last night’s movie by telling us that the events of the Odyssey happened “in a time of magic.” That plays out as you watch scenes of goddess Athena walking among us, a one-eyed giant, a witch or two, monsters and deadly sweet-singing mermaids.

But, no. Helen’s got to be milky white—Irish looking, if possible.

Let me go into some background about Helen that was not included in Homer, but would have been known to everyone listening in his audience: Helen was hatched from an egg.

Yeah, Zeus yearned for a little lovin’ from a human woman named Leda, who happened to be queen of Sparta, so he came down to court the lady the way one does. He took on the form of an oversized swan, swept down from the sky and raped her. (The New Testament God took a more nuanced approach when he sent the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove to impregnate Mary—via her ear in one telling.)

William Butler Yeats described the rape in his poem “Leda and the Swan,”¹ which begins:

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still 
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed 
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, 
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

So, in this 1920s depiction by Tadé Styka, Zeus is black and Leda appears to be disturbingly willing.

So, with dad being a bird and all, Leda was unable operate her gestation machinery in the conventional way. Instead, she laid a clutch of eggs, one of which housed embryonic Helen. Pray tell, amigos mios, what color should a person be who was hatched from a friggin’ egg?

In a July 16 article for Slate, writer Myke Cole described the same phenomenon, except from the point of view of military history buffs who were fussing over Director Christoper Nolan’s choice of costumes, armament and fighting tactics:

Nolan didn’t care. He’s making a movie about a myth, not a YouTube video about military history. In selecting the Odyssey, he is clearly focused on rendering one of humanity’s great stories relevant for the widest audience possible, not with gratifying the niche concerns of purist military historians like me, a vanishingly small fraction of viewers. In the screaming over historical inaccuracy, these critics reveal the truth—the loneliness that nerdy obsessives like us feel when we are forced to confront the fact that most folks don’t care about minutiae like we do.

Which brings us back to the boat, as we must do, to fulfill Loose Cannon’s mission statement. Draken was simply magnificent, even as an anachronism in Hellenic disguise.

Beach scenes depicted Odysseus and crew running for their lives back to their ship, clambering on board and rowing away chaotically from pursuing Cyclops or the Laestrygonian cannibals. It occurred to me that scenes such as these must have played out thousands of times during the Viking Era, but with Saxons and Franks instead of giants.

Having just lost a bank of oars from scrapping along rocks, the ship heads toward the whirlpool known as Charybdis, to be followed by an attack from the monster Scilla of the six heads. Rock and a hard place.

As fierce as they are portrayed, Norse raiders were also casualty-averse. They had to be, and the reason was simple. Each amphibious band had to maintain a certain number of hands in order to operate the ship—60 or 80 men to row, for example. They developed tactics and technology for the quick get-away, rather than risk too many casualties.

On a rocky shore, Vikings would drill a hole into a boulder, a hole big enough to loosely nest an iron mooring pin. These pins were likely fabricated with a big eye on top. Think: closed-loop oarlock. They would secure the bow of the longship to the pin with a long line, while deploying a stern anchor to secure the boat perpendicular to shore—barely afloat or barely grounded.

When pressed to escape a larger force, men on the bow could whip the line vigourously, flipping the mooring pin out of its hole, thus freeing the bow, as men aft hauled in the stern line, quickly moving the ship into deep water, while oarsmen took station.

For decades hopeful amateur archaeologists scoured the shores of New England, whereupon finding any hole in rock, would declare this as evidence of a Viking visit.

I will stop now, lest I be confused with a “lonely, nerdy obsessive.”

LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Sometimes he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

In its entirety, “Leda and the Swan”:

By William Butler Yeats
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
                                 Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

Be the first to comment!

Jul 19, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

DOING WHAT EVERYONE EXPECTED – Janice Anne Wheeler, Sparring With Mother Nature

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

This is a different piece of history, my own. I was ready for a change of pace this week. Enjoy the mountains, for a change. ~J

If you just dove into our very engaging little community, please read SPARS & SPARRING, .….it introduces my wonders and my wanders. ~J

DOING WHAT EVERYONE EXPECTED

Has never been my forté.

Janice Anne Wheeler

Jul 19

Share SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE

Listen to post · 9:28

I was raised in and around the public, protected lands of the United States. Our homes were within the 6,000,000 acre Adirondack Park in Upstate New York; National Parks far and wide were always our destinations. We ogled the Grand Canyon with our grandparents, camped in National Forests, explored Wilderness Areas, climbed Monuments in Utah, saw vast tracts of California, wandered seashores of the Southeast, always appreciating the unique and often endangered creatures each contains.

Utah sunrise. Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Author.

My father achieved his Doctorate in education, but throughout his life told us he should have been a Forest Ranger instead. Less money, more life. He did what was expected of him, a high-ranking job in education, or at least that’s how I look at it now that I can no longer ask him.

US Geological Survey, each color is a level of Protected Public Lands. I feel fortunate that my home country has set these places aside.

What follows must be one of the first stories I ever wrote and kept, perhaps two dozen years ago and in the third person, which I rarely use now. Predictably, it’s about a National Park and is presented here largely un-edited. I stumbled across a print copy and typed it in as a powerful reminisce of my transformational summer job three dozen years ago…. hard to believe it’s been that long. ~J

THE DECISION

She had repacked the car, taken her last exam, filled the gas tank, had the oil changed. It was late, early morning, in fact, when she pulled up to her boyfriend’s house to say goodbye. His sciatic nerve had acted up and he could not move from the bed. It was an awkward, weird conversation. He thought she was making a ridiculous mistake and told her as much. They parted, she knowing it was for the last time but not saying that out loud.

After leaving him she sat at the curb, both hands on the steering wheel, making sure she was ready. It wasn’t her first solo road trip, all those to and from Arizona were longer, but this one takes her far from everything she has known. The ivy covered walls loomed above the residence as they are supposed to at these old, renowned colleges. She had spent the winter of her Junior year interviewing with Corporate Recruiters, just as her classmates had, receiving an offer from Hilton and Marriott for a Summer Internship in big hotels in big cities, all expenses paid. Great resumé material; it’s what her counselor recommended she do. In fact, it’s what everyone recommended she do, and what everyone expected her to do.

But back in March, she had come across an unlabeled folder in the placement office that contained a flimsy three-fold brochure. The pictures were fantastic, too good to be true, she thought as she dialed the number. An elderly gentleman on the other end of the phone seemed surprised that she had found him, took her information and mailed her an uncomplicated two-page application which she promptly returned, applying to be a bartender, her favorite, most lucrative job in the industry. No high heels, no nylons or business suits, no internship to write about, no rotation through the various departments of some anonymous hotel. Probably not great resumé material. Her friends told her she was crazy, throwing her career away, putting herself another year farther from making the big bucks. Big, big, big. Big business, big careers, big hotels with thousands of rooms, dozens of restaurants and hundreds of employees. Big decisions, or so they seemed at the time.

She put the car in gear and drove west; the toll booths were lit but empty. Exhausted from making a decision no one agreed with, she pulled over at dawn somewhere on New York’s Southern Tier Expressway until an officer rapped on the window. Suddenly wide awake and ready to get gone, she continued the 2,700 mile, thirty-five hour drive, spending the night in Fargo, North Dakota. One gentleman at a gas station commented that he had never seen a car like hers before; it was an aging Mazda RX-7 and she was rendered speechless. She smiled at him, thinking of her classmates at Cornell. “Where in the hell is Glacier National Park?” they had asked her incredulously when she turned down the internships.

At the Montana border she still had hundreds of miles to go, and the first exit, honestly, is called Home On The Range. She laughed out loud, stopped and photographed the sign; she was a tourist, after all. The sun was shining and she pulled over on State Route 200 for a bite of lunch. Tremendous Black Angus cattle grazed nearby and gentle breezes blew the prairie grasses just as they did in all the stories she had loved as a child. When she started the engine, it dawned on her that no vehicle had passed in either direction for the thirty minutes or so she had been eating and strolling. The speed limit was 75. That was a lot of miles between her and the next person in either direction. A lot of miles. If you ever want to feel small, go to Eastern Montana and pull over wherever you wish. It’s pretty much just you and God, no matter what form of religion you do or don’t believe in.

The tiny hotel in Great Falls was the least expensive place she had ever stayed in her twenty-one years of life and one of the cleanest; the phone, rotary dial. Nervous because tomorrow she was to meet the elderly gentleman who had answered her call, sleep was elusive.

May 25, 1990 dawned clear and fabulous, a chilly frost lay on the car. Wondering if she had packed the right wardrobe, she headed Northwest. The longest and most colorful train she had ever seen was running along the north side of the narrow two-lane highway, and in the distance the Rockies appeared, white with winter snow. When those Burlington Northern cars crossed an overpass and framed the bottom of the mountain range, the tourist stopped. She would never forget that sight, and the enlarged photograph has been with her ever since.

She entered the park at Babb, Montana, and headed up a thirteen-mile long dead end road, an hour and a half from any services except a tiny convenience store on the Blackfoot Reservation. She turned left into the hotel, crossed a bridge splashed by roaring rapids and surrounded by graying snowbanks. Many Glacier Hotel, with two hundred rooms, one place to eat and one place to drink took three years to construct in 1915 by The Great Northern Railway. Instead of bartending, she was in charge of the one place to eat, a football-field sized dining room serving 700 meals daily with fifty-five employees. None of that mattered. Her pay was $214 for a six-day work week, and that didn’t matter either.

Many Glacier Hotel is on the left side of the photo. Credit NPS. You see why it triggered my **wanderlust**.

The restaurant manager’s room was in the “Crow’s Nest” above the atrium. Five flights up, her view and the one she remembered so well in the brochure matched perfectly. Swiftcurrent Lake was below, Grinnell Glacier to her left, fantastic peaks and valleys in every direction. The snow melted after a final blizzard brought snow in around the windows on June 11^th. Grizzlies showed themselves every day, flowers bloomed, waterfalls ran.

It was, indeed, too good to be true. Not another doubt ever crossed her mind about that summer job decision. It wasn’t big. It was perfect.

The left two windows in the main peak were my room. Heaven on earth. I remember being amazed how few people used the balconies. TripAdvisor 2018.

All of the photographs I tell you about here are inaccessible right now, 35mm, print only, tucked into a storage unit as my old wooden sailing yacht rocks along in a life far, far different from the time I spent out West. After graduating from Cornell Hotel School, spring of ‘91, I became Beverage Manager at Yellowstone National Park’s flagship Lake Hotel, then moved to Colorado, spending twenty-six years there, Catering from a little organic farm on the stunning Western Slope after an I-just-have-to-make-sure-this-is-not-for-me stint at a corporate skirts-required Hilton in the Denver Tech Center and a beloved adventure working Food and Beverage at Copper Mountain Resort where my skis hung in my office.

If you have not experienced Glacier, as those familiar call it, GO. Drive Going To The Sun Road. Hike amongst the Beargrass. Watch the Mountain Goats play on vertical granite. GO. It’s officially Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a unique cooperation with Canadian National Park Waterton Lakes, which is stunning, too. GO. But don’t tell everyone!

What were you doing the summer of 1990? Or were you just a gleam?? ~J

If you believe other people will enjoy my stories, please take a quick sec to tap that heart and the little recycle symbol which sends these words out to the world somehow, which is how I get subscribers and fans. Even better, leave me your own reminisce! I answer every one and always enjoy the engagement. Thanks!

Someone asked me, “Why do you always take the harder road?”

And I replied, “What makes you think I see more than one road?”

—unknown—if you know, please lemme know. J

I so appreciate your support of my work. Have a wonderful week!

Be the first to comment!

Jul 18, 2026by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

Gulf Disturbance Update – Fred Pickhardt

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Gulf Disturbance Update

Jul 18

Upper level low pressure across Florida and the far eastern Gulf now extends into the lower atmosphere, and a weak surface low.

300 mb wind

This system has been designated a tropical disturbance (Invest AL91) by NOAA NHC. There is now a 40% chance for this system to become a tropical cyclone over the next 3-7 days as it moves slowly northward.

NOAA Satellite Image

Disorganized thunderstorms, strong wind gusts, and frequent lightning are occuring between 83W–84W and across the Florida Gulf Coast, mainly associated with an upper-level low. An Air Force reconnaissance flight scheduled for Sunday, July 19 to investigate the system.

Latest NHC advisories: NOAA NHC

Ocean Weather Services

Forensic Marine Weather Expert

You’re currently a free subscriber to Fred Pickhardt’s Substack. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.