Sixth Boro Sundries

Springtime . . . and motion gives a renewed sense of life to the watery boro.  Emerald Sea‘s been around all winter, but she’s not moved loads like this.  Diner?  Prefab beach buildings for post-Sandy reconstruction?  Many thanks to Ashley Hutto for this shot taken along Roxbury, Queens.

Eclipse, the huge yacht in the distance has taller masts than Clipper City, the tallest sailing vessel operating in the the harbor.  Eclipse left the harbor Tuesday, headed for Gibraltar.

Schooner Virginia left Wednesday, headed for Virginia . . . by way of Portland, Maine.

Anyone know the manufacturer of the speedboat in the foreground?  In the background is Zephyr, launched 10 years ago from the Austal Shipyard in Mobile, AL . . . and Wavertree, launched 128 years ago in Southampton, UK.

I could almost imagine this boat has a bowsprit.

Smaller workboats seem more commonplace this time of year like Henry Hudson,

this Oyster Bay government boat,

an OCC vessel,

and of course the ubiquitous all-weather sludge tanker North River, frequently mentioned on this blog.

Thanks to Ashley for the first foto, and I’d love to know what that structure on the Weeks barge is.  All other fotos by Will Van Dorp, who feels the urge to go somewhere too.

Clipper City

When the sixth boro looks like this, I recall

the warmth of late summer and

even late spring, truly splendid times to sail  It’s Clipper City above and  .  . following Dewaruci, Clipper City below.  But to ensure the vessels are ready, crews dedicate winter

to visiting places like this

for haul-out.

The vessel gets inspected

everywhere, even under the keel.

Wear and tear gets repaired and

and reinspected.

Exactly 90 days from today (April 26, 2013), the 158′ vessel begins season 2013.  Clipper City is one of two vessels operated by Manhattan by Sail, the other being Shearwater.  Click here for more info on Clipper City, a 1984 replica of a Manitowoc lumber schooner  that operated on Lake Michigan between 1854 and 1890 and capable of sailing 115 miles in less than 8 hours.

Manhattan by Sail is owned by Tom Berton, who first sailed on Petrel, a now-gone pioneer of sixth boro public sail operated by Nick Van Nes.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.

For profiles of Clipper City, Shearwater, and many other vessels from June 2009, click here.  For fotos of Clipper City bound for the yard, click here.

Convergence 5

Entering the KVK from the east . . . it’s the tallest tall ship sailing the sixth boro.

At about the same moment, entering the KVK from its west gate, aka the Bayonne Bridge, it’s Rebel, followed by Nicole Leigh Reinauer.

Clipper City, launched in Florida in 1984, is a replica of a wooden schooner that operated on the Great Lakes during the second half of the 19th century.

The schooner is only 20′ longer than Rebel.

Clipper City is headed for a haul-out.

Later I catch the stern of Rebel westbound back to the yard.  I believe the near-twin of Rebel in the distance is Yankee.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.