Word: skippering
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Novelist-Playwright De Hartog (The Distant Shore, The Fourposter) makes Skipper Harinxma the most intriguing ship's officer since Horatio Hornblower. This is surprising in some ways, for the hero's trials occur on the well-plowed Murmansk run during World War II. Moreover, the author nearly scuttles his story whenever his captain heads for shore, particularly in one farfetched episode in which Martinus beds down with the wife of a dead shipmate. But De Hartog's descriptions of prowling U-boats and fear-swept sea combat are adroit and chilling, as vivid as Very-lights...
Suddenly, in mid-passage the skipper found himself in the midst of 70-m.p.h. gale winds and heavy waves. With horror, crew members reported that the cars and trucks on the auto deck were about to break from their flimsy moorings. Sure enough, they did, cascading into the ship's sides. Worst of all, a huge 16-ton trailer truck was improperly parked by the bow exit. Each time the ship pitched, it rammed against the door. Finally, the door gave way and in spilled the Aegean waters. Radioed the Heraklion: "S O S. We are sinking...
...British have tried 16 times, the Canadians twice, the Australians once-all have failed. Hope still springs, as long as somebody springs for the price (upwards of $300,000) of a sleek 12-meter yacht. Next September Australia will go again. After trial races in Sydney last week, Top Skipper Jock Sturrock, 51, was eager to boast that "we've got a boat that can win the America...
...tapering sharply at the foot) and a 92-ft. aluminum mast that is built in sections for extra flexibility-to keep the mainsail flatter while beating to windward. She also has Jock Sturrock at the helm. In unofficial competition with Gretel, Dame Pattie has been spectacular. Last week Skipper Sturrock spotted Gretel a full minute, was ahead by 6 min. 45 sec. after 15 miles...
...more valor than luck that kept the Oriskany from going to the bottom of the Gulf of Tonkin. "There were just too many acts of heroism to count," said Skipper John Iarrobino. "There were literally hundreds. If there hadn't been, God only knows what the toll and the damage might have been." Almost everyone aboard performed with distinction, but the kids, the teen-aged sailors of the Oriskany, got particular acclaim for keeping her afloat. Said one seasoned chief: "Those crazy rock-'n'-roll jitterbuggers, they saved this ship today. Getting into that fire and pushing...