The strong ties between maritime history and maritime art

Visual art about working boats is the special subject for Trawlers and Tugs art blog. Why? To explain, may I tell you the personal story of how I became a fish boat maniac?

The craft that supply our favorite restaurants and markets in northern California are still run by tiny crews on small boats who brave death and disaster daily; so we can enjoy our extra-fresh broiled salmon, our crab Louis salads, our tasty shrimp cocktails. All this first dawned on me personally one day while walking around the Bodega Bay docks, gazing mindlessly at the fishing boats.

I realized one had a sturdy wooden worktable on deck, with a homemade sign propped up, saying, "Fresh Salmon Today." On the dock nearby a walk-in refrigerator motor flapped away to keep the contents cool in spite of the warm sunshine. A young fisherman stood there wrapping a large fish in paper, for an older man waiting for his purchase. It was then and there I got it! There still are people here trying to make a living by selling their catch.

I know that military or sport or even natural history are favorite themes in maritime art and immensely popular with the public. But maybe they don't know any other options. In the northern California art world, too, in galleries, museums, art exhibits, working people's boats are conspicuously absent. Just call it my stubborn streak. Point at my love of the underdog: I personally dedicated my blog—as I have my own art—to these forgotten subjects.

Maritime history and art: What do they have in common? Just as maritime history, to which Fyddeye is dedicated, belongs to the wider academic category of world history, so maritime art belongs to the larger world of art. Maritime history tells about the interaction of human beings with the sea, and maritime art does the same.

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Muddy excavations one of many 2010 projects for Maritime Heritage Minnesota

Maritime Heritage Minnesota was founded in July 2005 by Ann Merriman and Christopher Olson in St. Paul, Minn., to preserve the maritime heritage of Minnesota through scientific and historical research, underwater and nautical archaeological survey and excavation of shipwrecks, piers, docks, and other submerged cultural resources, terrestrial maritime archaeology, artifact and site conservation, and publication.

In 2010, MHM was granted five Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants to conduct historical research, historical document digitization and editing, a nautical archaeological sonar survey, and a “dry” nautical site excavation of a Mississippi River sternwheeler, the Andy Gibson.

MHM spent part of 2010 in Washington, D.C., and Annapolis, Maryland, investigating the history of the USS Essex, the only known Donald McKay vessel known to exist in North America and possibly the world. Her wreck is located in Duluth, Minn. Dozens of images of the Essex were scanned and ship’s plans recording her construction changes during her working life were reproduced. Some of these images are being utilized by the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in Duluth for their new Essex exhibit, now in preparation. The documents collected in Washington, DC at the National Archives and the Navy Yard were used in MHM’s report “Developing a Plan to Preserve the USS Essex.”

MHM also digitized the known 62 log books of the Essex at the National Archives and United States Naval Academy. MHM is currently editing the log books for download from the Internet Archive, including their transcriptions. MHM produced over 20,000 images during the two-week project.

Read more: Muddy excavations one of many 2010 projects for Maritime Heritage Minnesota

Video shows historic Australian lightship sinking during Queensland floods

New video from the Queensland Maritime Museum in Brisbane shows the historic lightship Carpentaria sinking in her dry dock berth at the museum. Alan Bibby, the museum's operations supervisor, sent us a link to the video, which was apparently taken by a bystander last week and posted to YouTube. The images show water pouring into the dry dock that holds the river frigate HMAS Diamantina and the Carpentaria. The orange-painted lightship lists heavily to port, which allows water to pour in over the side. By the end of the sinking, the vessel is almost completely submerged in the dock.

Flooding has devastated Queensland state, affecting an area the size of France and Germany combined, including the capital of Brisbane. Bibby says museum staff had time to prepare both ships for the deluge before it arrived early last week.  "Diamantina floated clear of her blocks and two small leaks were subsequently detected," Bibby writes in an email to Fyddeye. "One [leak] in the aft ballast tank and one in the stern gland compartment. It appears a pocket of air was trapped in Carpentaria and she has rolled to a 45-degree angle. We don’t intend re-docking Diamantina until we have resolved the recovery method for Carpentaria."

The lightship Carpentaria sinks at the Queensland Maritime Museum. (Can't see the video? Click here.)

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Bibby says the tug Forceful, which is part of the QMM collection, was secured before the worst flooding arrived and is safe. Staff and volunteers had enough advance warning to move most of the museum's ground floor exhibits and office equipment to higher ground. At the peak of the flood, water was 10 centimeters (four inches) deep in the administration building and 30 centimeters deep (one foot) in the workshops. "There has been an extensive deposit of mud everywhere," Bibby says. The clean-up is continuing.

If you'd like to help QMM with clean-up or funds, please contact the museum at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 07 3844 5361.

Queensland Maritime Museum staff scrambles to save warship during Australian floods

The devastating floods in Australia have affected every aspect of Australian culture, including the care of its maritime heritage. Petra Sepkow, a computer programmer in Brisbane and a member of the LinkedIn "Traditional Sail Professionals" group, shared a link to an overhead image of HMAS Diamantina, a World War II-era frigate that normally rests in a dry dock at the Queensland Maritime Museum. But the flooding Brisbane River overtopped the gate at the riverfront site, pouring water into the dry dock.

According to the Narooma News, museum staff and volunteers scrambled to tie up the Diamantina before she could float free and damage herself or the dock. Fresh water was also pumped into the ship's ballast tanks to keep her stable.

The image below taken from the Nearmap.com mapping application shows the warship afloat in its normally dry berth. The smaller vessel on the right is a replica of the 17th century Dutch ship of exploration Duyfken.

So far, we've heard no reports of serious damage to the vessels or the museum facilities, although staff told the Narooma News that they have many weeks of clean-up ahead. If you have any news to share about the impact of the Australian floods on artifacts from Australia's maritime history, please post it on the Fyddeye Facebook page.

If you'd like to help QMM with clean-up or funds, please contact the museum at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 07 3844 5361.