gCaptain Blogroll – Offbeat

I wanted to take some time and thank some of our partner sites; Maritime Experts from around the web. I also wanted to take the time to explain each one to our readers. The sites can be found on our blogroll page.

This is Part 3 of our series and concentrates on sites devoted to near coastal (boating) sites. When you are finished reading revisit Part 1; Big Ships and Part 2; Near Coastal

Sea Fever

I grappled with the decision of whether to categorize this site as “Big Ship” or coastal since it contains lots of interesting articles for us unlimited seafarers. The decision was made after reading the author, Peter Mello’s, excellent “About the Blog(ger)” section. To quote, “The Sea-Fever blog is a work in progress that will cover subjects that interest me, professionally and personally. Topics will include maritime heritage and cultural initiatives, corporate social responsibility”. A great blog that’s on my daily reading list.

Panbo

From the newest VHF radios to the latest AIS information if your looking for goodies for your boat Panbo is the place to visit. What I like most about panbo is they always consider unlimited vessels in their reviews of small boat electronics. If every boater was a reader of this blog I would certainly feel more confident brining my ship into places like Port Everglades, the Puget Sound or even San Diego. Highlights of the site (from the unlimited tonnage perspective) include Digital Charting, AIS and pilot ride-along sections.

Tugster

Tugs are marketed not by their available horsepower but by maximum Bollard Pull, the sheer amount of force the tug can pull on a line. Conversely blogs are measured in pageviews and click-thru rates but this blog, chronicalling New York Harbor’s working side, needs a new metric to define it. The site is filled with interesting pictures and commentary on the blue collar boats and ships that keep the harbor running. It’s a great site that first time visitors can spend hours reading, especially if (like me) you have roots in NYC’s maritime community.

Marine Firefighting Newsletter

Along with Tugster, Tom Guldner’s Marine Firefighting Newsletter has roots in New York Harbor. Tom was a New York City firefighter and worked a wide range of assignments including the FDNY’s fire boats and rescue trucks. This is not a blog, so it isn’t updated on a regular basis but it does contain valuable information that will help keep your crew safe in an emergency.

Telstar Logistics

What started as an ingenious parking scam has turned into a cult phenomena of interesting oddities and cold war relics. They also document really big ships which is why gCaptain will be first in line, looking like steve jobs in nikes, when Telstar I reemerges from deep space. Vodka anyone?

Honorable Mentions:

Navagear

Navagear gets left off our blog roll for the simple reason that it does not contain enough information relevant to our core audience; Ship Captains. Otherwise it is a great site that I read on a regular basis.

You can see the best stories from all the above blogs, as voted on by gCaptain readers, at our Maritime News Discoverer. Have a maritime blog post you would like to share, submit it now.