Tag Archives: boats

Maritime Incidents

Maritime Incidents immigration boats

German photographer Heiko Schäfer captured these delicate yet haunting portraits of wooden boats used by African refugees trying to enter the EU illegally via the Mediterranean. (via pitch design union)

By Christopher on February 2, 2011 • boats immigration

Dazzle Camouflage

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while ever since seeing it on Graphic Hug a while back but it kinda fell off the radar. Dazzle camouflage was a technique used during both WWI and WWII to obscure aspects war ships.

At first glance Dazzle seems unlikely camouflage, drawing attention to the ship rather than hiding it, but this technique was developed after the Allied Navies were unable to develop effective means to disguise ships in all weather.

Dazzle did not conceal the ship but made it difficult for the enemy to estimate its type, size, speed and heading. The idea was to disrupt the visual rangefinders used for naval artillery. Its purpose was confusion rather than concealment. An observer would find it difficult to know exactly whether the stern or the bow is in view; and it would be equally difficult to estimate whether the observed vessel is moving towards or away from the observer’s position.

Dazzle Camouflage WWII war history camouflage boats

RISD also has a super cool online gallery on the topic. Great stuff. On a related note, and from a different war, see also Quaker Guns. (via graphic hug)

195 Yachts, Barges, Cargo Lines, Tankers, and Other Ships

195 Yachts, Barges, Cargo Lines, Tankers, and Other Ships posters and prints boats

Great print by Jenny Odell now for sale over at 20×200.

By Christopher on October 13, 2010 • boats posters and prints

The day Ben Affleck schooled me on evaporation

The day Ben Affleck schooled me on evaporation water sustainability science celebrities boats In 7th grade our science teacher, Mrs. Cheeks, began showing an educational miniseries produced by PBS called Voyage of the Mimi. It followed a fictional crew of cranky oceanographers as they bothered some humpback whales off the coast of Massachusetts in a 1930s French-built sailboat called the Mimi. For some reason the crew always sailed with a few annoying kids including a whiny 12-year-old Ben Affleck. Each dreary episode was split into two 15-minute segments, the first being a tragedy that befalls the crew, the second being the MacGuyveristic science that saves their lives. This was all reinforced by endless stacks of worksheets hot off the mimeograph with ample room in the margins for epic sketches of Ben Affleck being eaten by sharks.

Anyway, one episode always stuck with me. In episode 10 “Water, Water, Everywhere” the Mimi crashes on a deserted island in the third minute of the program. The crew realizes they are marooned and it’s clear everyone will soon die unless fresh water can be found. A 30-second search is unsuccessful and half the crew begins to pass into unconsciousness. Suddenly the skipper remembers the scientific theory of evaporation! Using his remaining stores of energy a hallucinogenic Ben Affleck in the advanced stages of dehydration helps construct an elevated tent that captures evaporating dew and collects it in a small canister. By minute 12 the tarp is producing more water than the Boston metropolitan water treatment facility and the crew is saved.

I don’t remember if there was a kid named Chao Gao in my junior high school, but apparently he saw this episode of Voyage of the Mimi and it forever influenced the direction of his life. Chao has designed an amazing portable water filtration device based on the teachings of Ben Affleck—aptly called C-Water—that can extract potable water from sewage, salt water, or any other form of moisture. Amazing.

The day Ben Affleck schooled me on evaporation water sustainability science celebrities boats

(via best part)

By Christopher on October 6, 2010 • boats celebrities science sustainability water

Not your father’s model boat

Not your fathers model boat wood toys models kids educational boats

Beautiful wooden replicas of the world’s three largest container ships, Emma Maersk, Arctic Princess and TI Asia by London-based design firm Postlerferguson. Plans are to eventually sell the models under a new brand, Papa Foxtrot. More info over at Creative Review.