Alice Oldendorff came into town yesterday. Many thanks for this foto to a reader and blogger who is anything but self-absorbed. And seeing Alice from this angle, escorted by the inimitable McAllister Responder . . . Ms. O is the same beauty I fell for long ago, but the Manhattan skyline from this angle has some new detail . . . right above Alice’s forward boom is the World Trade Center with its twin cranes, and forward of that the Beekman Tower, NYC’s tallest residential building. I don’t think Beekman is a walk-up.
So, I have clearly self-disclosed myself as a fool for Alice, who may never requite my feelings for her. Never will I–unless my fortunes change–be invited to commune with Alice in drydock, where I could study her from stem to stern. Or trace her curves and contours. Or admire her from every angle with my lenses. Or massage her aches and smoothen her scars. Let me demonstrate by . . .
showing what I was able to do recently with Edna, a 35′ loa x 16′ truckable tug launched in 1997. My dance with Edna started here, and then
I walked around her, admiring her marks of graceful aging … the rust and the growth and dents. She exposed her vulnerabilities.
She let me appreciate her power and maneuverability both starboard closeup and
from farther back.
I pivoted around to port, and venerated her complex yet classic lines.
Back at the bow, our eyes locked as we read each other and grokked.
From full frontal to profile to dorsal-to-dorsal dosido, the dance could go on.
OK, Alice, I know you’re 20 times longer and 5 times beamier, but our feelings may some day converge and such exhilarated escape from inhibition we’ll enjoy. For now, I withdraw all this self-disclosure. If working relationship it is, then I will cherish that. Work calls us in opposite directions: you to the quarries of Nova Scotia and me . . . well, no more self-disclosure.
Top foto by Claude Scales; all others by Will Van Dorp, whose smile stretches from ear to ear right now.
tugster: a waterblog 
5 comments
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December 9, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Les Sonnenmark
Seems like the flirtation with EDNA is reciprocated. Did she give you that tire missing from her bow, hoping for one in exchange from your Prius?
December 9, 2010 at 5:33 pm
William B. Kelleher
Those coolers on the side sure look like they could be damaged very easily.
Bill K
December 9, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Anonymous
i thought so too; they’re right out there.
December 9, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Les Sonnenmark
The location is a trade-off. That type of cooler needs flow across it to work. That flow can be from movement through the water, from inflow to the propeller, or from convection (warm water rising through grid, pulling cold water up from the bottom). On V-hulled boats they are located on the deadrise, part-way up from the keel, and benefit from both types of flow. On larger, flat-bottomed vessels they can be located on the rake just forward of the propellers, using propeller flow when moving but also convecting when stationary. On smaller flat-bottomed boats, like EDNA, there is no room on the rake forward of the propellers. If you put them on the bottom, they would be easily damaged when working in shallow waters, and there might be insufficient flow when stationary. If you recess them in the bottom there will be zero flow when stationary and the engines will overheat. So the trade-off is to put them on the hull sides for good convective flow, guard them with sufficient structure and fendering, and rely on good boat handling to prevent damage.
December 9, 2010 at 10:22 pm
mageb
Nice essay on coolers. Thanks. Nice love affair too.