Raja Ampat atoll, off Papua, Indonesia

From the Big Picture.

A champion historical re-enactment

Duplicating the reported ancient Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa! Complete with months-long delays!

A really good article at Sail-world.com.

I am truly impressed.

Image: the ship, Phoenicia.

Under sail

...at the Big Picture. Need I say more?

Image: Wild Oats IX off Tasman Island.

Most obscure country in the world per capita

I hope no Indonesians reading this Slate article are offended by the tone of the question "Why don't Indonesians know how to swim?" but in North America Indonesia is amazingly unknown, even in regards to the most basic facts, given its size and population.

I simply note that before the end of the 19th century recreational swimming was a rare activity everywhere, and many sailors around the world did not learn on purpose so that they would go down faster if overboard, rather than struggle futilely.

Image: Indonesian ferry.

The Vikings are back

Not the movie, but a crew who have reconstructed a longship and intend to sail it from Denmark to Ireland. The ship is called the Sea Stallion and it will be launched tomorrow. The Sea Stallion has an attractive website which you can use, among other things, for following its progress.

Question: Vikings could be either merchants or pirates, and usually both. This applies to just about every sailor of ancient or medieval times. Very little "Law of the Sea" back then. Is there a good book about this?

Image: The Sea Stallion's first launching, 2004.