Articles tagged as Boats | Smithsonian Magazine

Found: Sailboat From Teen’s Abandoned Round-the-World Attempt

Abby Sunderland’s boat was dismasted in the Indian Ocean in 2010 during her controversial bid to become the youngest to circumnavigate the world solo

January 7, 2019

New Research

Was the Vikings’ Secret to Success Industrial-Scale Tar Production?

Evidence suggests that the ability to mass-produce tar bolstered their trade repertoire and allowed them to waterproof and seal their iconic longships

October 29, 2018

Plastic Whale organizes boat tours along Amsterdam's canals to collect garbage--in particular plastic--which it then recycles and uses the repurposed material to build boats.

Fishing for Plastic Is the Latest Way to Clean Up Amsterdam’s Canals

Plastic Whale offers visitors an opportunity to see the city by boat while also cleaning up its waterways

October 11, 2018

To create her dazzle camouflage design, Auerbach used a process known as marbling, or swirling pools of ink on paper to generate fluid patterns

Art Meets Science

NYC Fireboat Rebranded in Vibrant Dazzle Camouflage to Commemorate WWI

Vessels cloaked in clashing colors, patterns attempted to confuse U-boat commanders by distorting their perception of a ship’s speed, size and location

July 18, 2018

A U-Boat Class II submarine (this one depicted, UB-35, was the same class as UB-29) prowls the open seas.

The Hunt for the Notorious U-Boat UB-29

A wreck-diving archaeologist and his quest to discover a missing submarine

May 2018

The ship sunk in pack ice in 1915, setting off one of exploration’s most epic survival tales

April 12, 2018

Leif Erikson pointing toward North America. Did he use a sunstone to navigate the open seas?

New Research

Simulation Suggests Viking Sunstones of Legend Could Have Worked

If they existed, the crystals—used to locate the sun’s position on cloudy days—could have helped Vikings sail to far away places

April 9, 2018

Cool Finds

Centuries-Old Shipwreck Washes Up in Florida

The 48-foot section of ship’s hull was found last week at South Ponte Vedra Beach

April 2, 2018

131-Year-Old Message in a Bottle Found on Australian Beach

The oldest yet found, the relic was thrown into the Indian Ocean by German sailors conducting an experiment

March 7, 2018

Sperry today sells a variety of footwear beyond the iconic deck shoes.

The Story of the Sperry Top-Sider

Paul A. Sperry’s innovative boat shoes were inspired by his dog

November 14, 2017

Cool Finds

Canoe Churned up by Irma May Date to the 1600s

Radiocarbon dating shows the dugout canoe found in Cocoa, Florida, has a 50 percent chance of being from 1640 to 1680

October 10, 2017

'Vasa' can be visited today at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Bizarre Story of ‘Vasa,’ the Ship That Keeps On Giving

‘Vasa’ sunk in front of horrified onlookers on this day in 1628, claiming 30 lives

August 10, 2017

The Sabino sailing into port in 2005. The steamboat still carries museum-goers on tours of the Mystic River.

America’s Oldest Coal-Powered Steamboat Chugs Along

After a two-year restoration, the 109-year-old Sabino is ready to sail for many years to come

August 7, 2017

A Newly Discovered Diary Tells the Harrowing Story of the Deadly Halifax Explosion

On the eve of the disaster’s centennial, a sailor’s 1917 journal details a rare eyewitness account of the massive harbor blast

July 14, 2017

Boaty McBoatface. It is not a boat and it has no face. Please discuss.

New Research

Boaty McBoatface Completes Its First Mission

The little submarine named by the Internet investigated the icy deep waters of Antarctica’s Orkney Channel

June 28, 2017

Racing the Storm: The Story of the Mobile Bay Sailing Disaster

When hurricane-force winds suddenly struck the Bay, they swept more than 100 boaters into one of the worst sailing disasters in modern American history

July 2017