Keeping Things Ship-Shape: Boat Maintenance

Every boat needs a little bit of love, and as boat chandlers, we’re pretty well versed in knowing how to keep your vessel looking ship-shape. Whatever type of boat you sail, you’re going to need to put in some elbow grease to keep you sailing smoothly all the time. But what should you be doing to care for your boat? Give it a Clean Sure, half of your boat is submerged in water most of

Read More

Famous Ships in History: Mayflower

Here at Offshore Supply as ship chandlers, we’re passionate about all things ships, and that’s why we love to talk about some of the most famous vessels from history. Last time, we took a look at HMS Bounty – a British warship made famous by its mutiny. Today, we’ll look a little further back as we explore the history and impact of the infamous Mayflower.   The traditional story begins in September of 1620 as

Read More

Great Pirates That You Have Never Heard Of: Ann Bonny

If asked to name famous pirates through history, you’re likely to list off names such as Blackbeard and Calico Jack – names and stories that have been around for decades. However, there has been a whole host of other frighteningly scary and terrifyingly brilliant pirates throughout history, which just haven’t received the same attention as others. Unfortunately, this means that we have often missed out on hearing all about these fascinating people that existed so

Read More

What Lies Beneath – Nautical Legends – Part Two

For as long as there have been sailors and people making trips out to sea – there have been myths, lore’s, and nautical legends. These are the stories that have been around for hundreds of years, the ones that have been passed on from generation to generation, to the point where some people aren’t sure whether they might have a hint of truth to them. Recently, we started a series that took a closer look

Read More

The Evolution of the Navy – Part Seven

Back in April, we had our sixth instalment of our long-running series on the evolution of the navy –  looking at how the Royal Navy evolved and came to be the establishment it is today. We left off as James II fled to France and William of Orange took the British throne for himself, so let’s take a look at how the following years impacted the Royal Navy. As Louis XIV of France had signed

Read More

All at Sea – Nautical Terminology – Part Two

A little while ago, we started to look at how some nautical words and phrases have found their way into our everyday vocabulary. Many people use these colloquialisms today without ever knowing the true meaning behind them. Today, we’ll carry on our series as we look at more nautical terminology that has found its way into our language and the original meanings. The Bitter End Meaning: to do something until it is completely finished. This

Read More

Sailor Profile: Christopher Columbus

Recently, we have been running a series that has been looking at the most influential sailors in history.  We have already looked at Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Captain James Cook, and more recently Jessica Watson. In this post, we will be looking at a sailor that almost everyone has heard of – Christopher Columbus. He is best known as an Italian explorer who was responsible for initiating the Spanish colonisation of the ‘New World’. Early Life

Read More

What Lies Beneath – Nautical Legends – Part One

In the past, the sea was just as mysterious as outer space. Anything below the surface was unknown and unchartered and the creatures that lived below were unfamiliar. As many men spent more time at sea than they did on land, they would look for answers to the mysteries below which led to stories of unbelievable creatures spreading from ship to ship. Today, we’ll take a look at a few of these myths and legends

Read More

The Evolution of the Navy – Part Six

It’s been a while since we last took a look at how the Royal Navy evolved into the great force it is today, but fear not! Today we shall pick up again where we last left off. In part five, we talked about how the Commonwealth had a huge effect on the development of the navy. So let’s take a look at what happened next, as Charles II reclaimed the throne and took control of

Read More

Famous Ships in History: HMS Bounty

In our last instalment of the most famous ships in history, we looked at the British ship HMS Warspite, a ship that was used in two world wars. Today, we’ll be looking at the HMS Bounty, a Royal Navy ship that’s famous for the mutiny that took place in 1789. Beginnings and Initial Mission The Bounty was built in 1784, in a shipyard in East Yorkshire. Three years after the vessel had been constructed, the Royal

Read More