Swan’s Weight

Note the Crowley props and the orange-clad crew.  Doubleclick enlarges image.

Note the huge design difference between Socrates (1966, 3200 hp) and

Heron (1968, 3200 hp).  

My question is this:  what is the actual weight added to Swan by these five tugs, one barge, and one crewboat?  Does the load change the draft of Swan at all, given that she like any vessel is ballasted as needed?  And I do not know the answer.

For outatowners, these shots from Bay Ridge show the “west” end of the Verrazano Bridge.  Yesterday’s fotos were taken from the bluff more or less just above the white dome of the lighthouse.

And for this foto, I pivoted slightly toward the south, capturing both towers of the Bridge.  Entering the Narrows is a ferry and dredger

Terrapin Island, which as recently as two and a half months ago was sucking up silt from Jed’s coast in southern Georgia.

All fotos this morning by Will Van Dorp, who probably has one more installment on Swan.  For the title, my apologies to Marcel Proust.

Crackin’ the Bottom

Thanks to Harold and eastriver for their recent comments on (I’d say) opposing points of view on change, on of the future of the sixth boro as a major port.  Work has proceeded apace for a future involving larger vessels.  The barely visible yellow vessel in the foreground is one instrument in that work.  Some specs and a company foto of her, drill boat Kraken, can be found at the bottom of this company site.     By her virtual invisibility, she reminds of USS Monitor.

Low profile does not translate to low power.  With her three towers, Kraken drills holes into bedrock, inserts dynamite, and then triggers the blast to loosen that rock so that shovels on other Cashman and DonJon vessels can remove it.

The structure on stilts here must be mission control, like the “tower” for mid-20th century air traffic controllers.  Work was happening Sunday despite the cold snap.

After a blast, as I said, shovels transfer loosened materials into scows towed by vessels like Atlantic Salvor  to “dump sites” offshore.  notice in the background another drill ship, Apache, which I wrote about here.   Atlantic Salvor here tows the scow underneath Bayonne Bridge, another controversial target of change in the sixth boro as a port. I wrote about this here and here back last November, on the days of the 80th anniversary of the dedication of the Bridge.

Two notes:  First, not all the dredging in the sixth boro relates to navigation.  Along the Passaic River in Newark NJ, a dredging project to remove Agent Orange -related contamination is underway.  See a video on this project here.

Second, way over the horizon, but just a week away by sea is another node of this change in the sixth boro . . . I mean the Panama Canal.    Note one of the dredge boats Samson in lower right of this screen capture of the Atlantic end of the Canal.   Samson is one of the vessels operated by DEME-Group Dredging International, a contractor working on enlarging the Panama Canal.   Another one of their vessels is Yuang Dong 007, a larger version of Kraken and Apache.  Note that the screen capture below is time-sensitive.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who’s beginning to feel a stronger gravitational pull from the Canal.

Unrelated:  in today’s NYTimes, check out this article on maritime whistleblowers.

And (thanks to a reminder from jpaul) these 1940s/50s fotos of NYC by Charles W. Cushman published in yesterday’s NYTimes.

Two Hours on the KVK: Winter Solstice 2011

Here’s my post from a year ago. Where HAS the time gone?  A joy of doing this blog is to go back, and sometimes as with this one, my memory–or is it my gut–recalls the eagerness of that morning 365 days ago.  What I pursued then I still pursue  . . .

Can you spot anything in the foto below that suggests the time of year?  Answer follows.  All fotos look better if you enlarge by doubleclicking on them.

Oyster Creek reenacts a moment with the Bayonne Bridge that mimics a Fractor scene (see my “masthead” atop each post) from five years back.

L. W. Caddell struts out into the KVK all in a day’s work that

shows off its bollard pull.

Mary Alice (ex-Gulf Sword, 1974) sashays back to the work on the channel near Shooters.  I wonder, given how long the deepening of  the sixth boro channels has been ongoing and how from the surface, the water looks unchanged, has anyone heard of a moniker for this project akin to “big dig,”  a Boston phenomenon?

Behemoths like NYK Romulus, relatively small given the world fleet, benefits from this dredging.  Notice the red/green detail nearly in the center of this foto.  Might that be on-deck controls for a bow thruster?

In her last moments of this leg of her never-ending journey, she’s assisted by Gramma Lee T Moran and

Margaret Moran.  Without the dredging and without assistance, Romulus would never get here and

negotiate this

S-curve.  Notice in the distance, where on Shooters shore the dredging currently focuses.  If you missed this post showing Shooters a century ago, click here.  If you want a comparison then and now, click here.

So, did you find the seasonal reference in the top foto?  Here’s another look . . . move your eye toward the bell in front of Amy Moran‘s  raised wheelhouse.  Piney branches.  I like it.  And I’m thrilled to see Ice Babe Base back in town.

Parting shot for this solstice:  from left to right, Barney Turecamo, Amy Moran, and Turecamo Boys Girls (Thanks, Harold!).

Saturday I hit the road for the south, Chattahoochee watershed, then Cape Fear, then maybe Newport News.  Tomorrow I may put up some road fotos not yet used from the last trip.

Thanks for reading.  Peace,  friendship, prosperity, and imagination to all of you.    Health too.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, today. . . . first day of winter . . . 63 degrees in the sixth boro!

Left Green Coming In

. . . not nearly so catchy a mnemonic  as “right red returning,” but it means the same thing.  Thomas J. Brown green left returning,

McCormack Boys green right going,

Kristy Ann Reinauer green port returning,

A nameless Caldwell truckable tug green starboard going,

Miss Gill with scow GPR (green port returning),

NJ State Police GSG,

scow GPR . . .

Miriam GSG,

Atlantic Salvor and scow,

That green 9 in the KVK is a great place to set up fotos, but IMHO, it’s best to stick with “right red returning” as a memory keeper.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Road Fotos 8

What a treat . . .  swimming beneath the first summer full moon of 2011 in a new climate zone for me.  No matter what other people call it,  I’ll call it “gallivant and relax” moon.

The day before . . .  at the mouth of the St. Johns River, a shrimper, one would hope carries more “swimmy-things” than birds, although  there’s no guarantee.  I love the two pelicans on the portside gear.

Crewboat East River and dredger–either Padre Island or Dodge Island–suggest something of the range of GLD&D vessels . . .  a year ago they might have worked the sixth boro of New York.

This is looking west here along the channel between Fisher Island (south) and Dodge Island, where the container port is located.  Being here has forced me to look at and appreciate the development of greater Miami and Biscayne Bay in a whole new way . . .  Venetian Islands?!@!#!!

Fisher Island, named for an automotive tycoon –still possibly the most exclusive neighborhood in the USA–has its own ferry system.

Truckable tug Toucan and barge auto carrier . . .  I have to find more info here.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who is a bit overwhelmed by Miami . . . and has so far only seen the barrier beach.

Yon and Hither 2

Quick post . . . when will Janice Ann Reinauer and the other emigrants load onto Blue Marlin?

Peking‘s 100th birthday aka launch date has NOT officially been mentioned by South Street Seaport Museum . . . her guardian . . . but then again, nothing else has been discussed in detail by this secretive disorganization.  A good dozen folks spoke on behalf of saving the museum at last night’s Community Board 1 meeting.

Thanks much to Justin Nash for this foto of the horns of Brangus;  she worked in NYC waters  for Great Lakes Dock and Dredge two years ago, but I’ve never seen a foto of the horns of this mighty vessel . . . til now, and maybe neither have you.  Tugboats used to regularly sport eagles atop the house.

And finally, for now, Hocking came through the KVK recently with what appeared to be loosely attached outriggers.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Finally, three people asked yesterday whether I had “coined” the now-ubiquitous term “sixth boro” to refer to the waters that unite the other five boros of New York City and its Jersey neighbors.  The answer is–for that usage–YES, loud and clear.  And I’m thrilled that so many folks have adopted the term.

Random Tugs 70

Doubleclick enlarges.  Calusa Sea Coast (1978) pushing Sugar Express comes thanks to Dan Blumenthal, who recently sent along the shot of Stad Amsterdam‘s golden masts and ivory sails here.  Thanks, anon., for the correction.

Miss Gill (1970) and Taurus (1979) pass Jag Aparna (2009), as does

McCormack Boys (1982).

And Captain Zeke  (1980).

Maria J (1971)  arrives from the east.

Christine M. McAllister (1975) pushes RTC 502.

Dann Ocean’s Neptune (1992) and

Ocean Tower (1978) have passed through recently.

But none catches my fancy as much as does Calusa Coast and Sugar Express.  Does raw sugar smell sweet if you lean over the edge of the hatch and inhale deeply?

Thanks again to Dan Blumenthal for fotos of Calusa Coast and Sugar Express;  all others by Will Van Dorp.

Average age of these boats is . . . almost 33 years old.

Congestion

It’s Friday afternoon, and the Upper Bay seems congested . . .  Yano is being spun in the distance as McAllister Responder and McAllister Girls head east and Amy Moran enters the KVK.

Around the same time, here’s a shot of work in the sixth boro bookending the Yano move between my favorite cutterhead and construction at 1 WTC.

Cold, gusty Saturday the same basic area sees Taurus and Davis Sea jointly leveraging DBL 25 into a berth, and  . . .

Duncan Island heads for sea from out behind a dredge spoils scow holding station with Captain D.  Ever wonder why a reefer vessel of the Ecuadorian Line is called Duncan Island?  It’s Duncan Island aka Isla Pinzon, said to be named for the Pinzon brothers who captained the Nina and Pinta of the Columbus fleet.  Here’s a statue of the brothers, quite unknown in North America.

Most congestion as these two Moran groups cross:  left to right, Jean Turecamo, Catherine Turecamo, Scott Turecamo pushing New Hampshire, and Linda Moran pushing Houston.  Minerva Vaso lies at the dock in the distance.

At the end of this post is a video that really shows congestion, but as background, consider these two AIS screen captures, each showing about 2000 square miles.  The one below displays regularly about 100 vessels, whereas

this one .  . .  about 500 vessels.

Now enjoy as much of this 15-minute video as you have time for:  heavy traffic on Nieuwe Waterweg connecting Rotterdam with the North Sea.  Included are at least two container ships–MSC Alexandria and Maersk Edmonton– with three times the capacity of any vessels currently serving the sixth boro aka Port of New York and New Jersey.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Bulker Queen

In the sixth boro Queens come and go, shipping and schlepping all sorts of cargo.

Here Miriam Moran and

Kimberly Turecamo escort

a Queen from Claremont Terminal to Port Newark.

This Queen carries bulk,

probably scrap metal, and hails from Viet Nam.

As she turns into the KVK, Tai Bai Hai, a very rusty bulker from Tianjian, China, escorted by Ron G and Resolute slips astern.

And still farther along, Vinalines Queen streams past GLDD dredge Florida.

The last three fotos comes compliments of John Watson;  all others by Will Van Dorp.

By the way, Alice is said to have slipped into Brooklyn last night, Mardi Gras, under cover of darkness, but I have had no visual contact.

Random Tugs 65

Maria J (ex-Jesus Saves) . .  .63′ loa (length overall),  you’ve seen her here at least once before;  since that link mentions vhf chatter, you must see bowsprite’s latest creations and transcriptions.   Maria J was quickly overtaken by the three Brants.  Remember, for most fotos, doubleclick enlarges.

Crystal Cutler . .  . 67′ loa, all new and shiny . . .  has been in the harbor now at most . . . three months.

Recently I saw OSG Independence . . . 131′ loa pushing barge OSG 243 .. 557′ loa, in the sixth boro for the first time.

Swarming here from left to right:  McCormack Boys … 73′ loa,  Austin Reinauer … 110′ loa, and Bohemia … 95′ loa with barge GCS 235 … 285′ loa.

The venerable Crow, a Brooklyn-built Bushey tug …. 86′ loa.   I believe Crow first appeared on the blog here, almost three years ago, back when she was “crow red.”  To hear Crow‘s horn and see its ability to raise/lower the wheelhouse, click here and see the embedded youtube at the end of that post.

Freddie K. Miller passes by in its latest colors.  Remember when she was orange and also when she was white with black/orange trim and operating for the same fleet as …

Erie Service … 98′ loa, and Eagle Service … 115′ loa here?  Beyond Eagle Service, might that be Scott Turecamo … 116′ loa?

Here’s a light Norwegian Sea .. 131′ loa and here she is

deep in the notch of DBL 103 … at least 381′ loa.  Any guesses on the build date of DBL 103?

2005 was launch date for that, from Bollinger Marine Fab.    Click here for the main Bollinger site.

Finally, here’s a mystery tug moving a deck barge through KVK last weekend.  Snow covered up the name, and it’s a tug I

can’t recall seeing before.  Help?

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who’s happy we’re in the short winter month now.

Unrelated:  If you didn’t read Megan Fraser’s comment in Non-Random Tugs 5, she embedded a link to all the photos in the exhibit at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philly.  Here’s a shortcut to the link to these fabulous images.   Thanks, Megan.