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No, I’m not switching over to other folks’ fotos, but I just read a story that I can’t pass up on. I can’t wait until I find time to gallivant up to Eastport, Maine, for the next shipment of cows in CATS. Eastport has suddenly called me, really loud. Like MOO! Pregnant Moo at that. Let me explain.
Marcel took this foto of Artisgracht in IJmuiden, and put it on Shipspotting.
During the second half of July 2010 Artisgracht transported 472 pregnant cows from Eastport, Maine, to Turkey. All arrived safely thanks to “Comfort Animal Transport Suites,” aka CATS. Pregnant Maine cattle have the additional distinction of being “bluetongue-free.” Further, thanks to a company called Sexing Technologies, 80% of the cows are guaranteed to be carrying females. Read the story here. Artisgracht is a particularly apt name for this vessel, since Artis is the common name of a zoo in Amsterdam, near a gracht (“canal”).
Excuse the brevity of the post, but I must get up to Eastport to see this. I rest my case. It also reminds me of some friends who worked for Livestock Air . . . can’t make that up.
CATS . . . I’ve not located a description or foto of a CATS, but we can play with this a bit . . . a lot . .. til the …. cows come home, in fact.
Imagine a shipping line offering to transport cars in DOGS (Dry Overseas Garaging Solutions). Or local produce, brews, christmas trees, and milk products (SSS) coming down the Hudson on RABBITS ( Riverine Area Barged Box Initiatives for Transportation Sustainability). Finally, oil on river TRUCKS (Transportation Remedation to Undo Congestion Kinks).
Unrelated to this post, but relevant to “Anatomy…,” Kyran Clune from Michigan calls attention to “truckable tug” Nipigon, outa Toronto. Click here and here.
Mystic, to quote Soundbounder, is ”Disneyland for [proud] water rats” and thrills even the dogs, at least water dogs. Can you figure out what’s happening here?
Kingston II was launched in 1937 after being assembled by apprentice welders at Electric Boat.
Amazon (an 1885 screw schooner) graces Mystic with her beauty until her lightning-charred electronics are repaired. Just beyond her with the wildly raked masts is Amistad, also in for repairs.
Amazon (83′ waterline x 15′ beam) embodies long and lean.
Breck Marshall, a Crosby catboat, sails like a dream.
Mina is a sweet “launchetta” from exactly a century ago.
Growler leaves early on Columbus Day.
Be-puddinged garvey with dory and high-and-dry whaleship Morgan.
And the dog question . . . John Paul (launched 1967, ex-Katrina, Nickie B, and U. T. 1) , moored for part of weekend, had a blueclaw on a piece of fendering designed to allow assisting of submarine. Dog saw crab and became so curious it nearly tried walking on water.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp. More on some of these vessels soon.
Pegasus, westbound across the Sound, is back in
the sixth boro as I write, having traversed the American Mediterranean. She basked in attention
of thousands of
folks as well as dozens of vessels who loved her visit. Where?
Mystic! More fotos tomorrow.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who–along with the entire crew– needs some sleep.
To see a recap of the North River fireworks, click here, and for Queens/Bronx/East River fireworks foto’d by Mitch, click here. In that foto, you can see three barges, each accompanied by a tug. Anyone know which ones? I mostly heard fireworks in what sounded like a north woods war, which must have chased all the fish into the deepest holes in the lakes.
On the way up, I sailed with Jeff Anzevino on Tide Rider and caught this view of NYS Marine Highway‘s Margot‘s wake just after we had
circumnavigated this nameless
and peerless 1948 Chris Craft, which seemed to serve as waterside chase
crew for this hot air balloon, one of a half dozen launching from Poughkeepsie.
Later we headed to Portsmouth, where we talked to Bob Hassold (facing camera). Interested in his 1966 tug (ex-Matinicus)? It’s for sale. See this article. Bob runs a tugboat paraphernalia shop on the Portsmouth waterfront, where I found Thomas R. Flagg’s book New York Harbor Railroads in Color (a treasure for anyone interested in a “pre-truck intensive” when short-sea-shipping and cross-harbor shipping was the rule!) for less than Amazon’s price. If you don’t know this book and are interested in the sixth boro, this IS a “must-read” book. Tug Alley . . . it’s the most intense tug-oriented shop in the East . . . if not in the world–and I was not asked or paid to say that.
I love Portsmouth, up north in general . . . . with its lights,
sights,
blue produce and brews,
planters painted in red-white-blue,
(actually these are Hudson River bottom feeders), and
the water. Enjoy this gratuitous, top-feeder tugster-relaxing foto.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who continues gallivanting (from Puget Sound) soon.
And happy 234th . . . read the sentiments here.
After a half year elapsed, the Piscataqua called me back. But before I show you two posts of new shots of Portsmouth harbor, can anyone identify this wreck over in the Sommerville Basin in Jamaica Bay, Queens? I don’t have an answer.
The Basin is located in the right side center of the chart between Far Rockaway and Silver Hole Marsh. Click on the chart below to make it interactive.
Now to Portsmouth, left to right: Eugenia Moran and Carly A. Turecamo (both from 1966).
OK, I couldn’t resist: an Auburn 866 Speedster just outside the Moran yard on Ceres Street.
As seen from the waterside, Mary M. Coppedge (1975) and then the two mentioned above.
Less than a mile away is the Portsmouth Navy Yard. Here YTB 771 Keokuk. Off Keokuk‘s stern is
YTL 602 Cocheco (1945). I cannot identify the quite modern tug facing Cocheco.
Anyone identify the type?
San Francisco has its Alcatraz, and in the Count of Monte Cristo, Marseille had its Chateau d’If. Portsmouth has its Naval Prison, formidable and surrounded by vicious currents.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, now in major gallivant mode. More Portsmouth tomorrow.
Three years ago I felt the Pow Wow was my headwaters, and it still floods my head and soul with freshness, but I have moved on, find centering in other waters now. So I should call this post Merrimack watershed, but … next time.
Also, notice a new tugster feature . . . flickr on the sidebar. I’ve avoided overlap of fotos there and here.
Songfrog: my invented term this trip. They really do sing, so why not give them as much credit as we do birds? For frog mating protocols, click here. Notice all the pollen on the water surface. Peepers: songfrogs’ castrati accompaniment, longed for here.
Redwing blackbird: if I had to choose one birdsong as soundtrack for my life, this would be it. Know it?
Stunning beauty . . . the most beautiful flower on earth . . . the watery part of earth, that is.
The elusive young beaver: I spotted this one or its siblings again and again but got no closer than this. They do share stealth with bigfoot. For all you ever wanted to know about beaver life, check here.
Dragonflies: a personal quest this trip.
A biologist of the anisoptera variety would spend an entire lifetime studying these ancient critters. On the Pow Wow around midday, they come out by the millions. Only if you’re curious about the mechanics of their mating should you read this unromantic detail here.
Young’uns and … dinner for the big’uns.
Elizabeth … when she’s fed up with the city.
And full frontal tugster . . . nothing about nudity here. Said Elizabeth, “Why would you pose this way?”
“Because I can,” replied tugster. Really, he’s something of a songfrog sometime.
The blog will have a lot of guest gallivant bloggers this week because next week, I will be locked away in the wilds of Brooklyn . . . training not detention. Actually, one goal with tugster (the blog) is to turn it over to guest-bloggers periodically, to broaden the perspective.
Thanks for reading. All fotos but the last one by Will Van Dorp.
Uh– . . .actually the fleet had already entered through the Narrows, but look just to the right of the Brooklyn-side pillar . . . like disembodied fingertips ready to pluck VZ’s strings . . .
a fleet of the air . . . Hornets and
Ospreys and a single
Dolphin. I understand the importance of the color, but I think of a clownfish whenever I see a Dolphin. And those streams of water . . . FireFighter is pumping them out its monitors.
Later . . . Philippine Sea gets
assisted into its berth
on Staten Island. By the way, the summertime haze here exists in 92-degree heat.
Between the bow of CG 58 the fendering of Catherine Turecamo, there’s . . . protection. In my layperson’s terminology, I’d call it a sheet. Does it have a more technical name?
Between Robbins Light and Brooklyn, that’s Campbell.
Yes, I must “get the hang” of video, but enjoy this snippet. A shot from the shore battery can be heard at 9 seconds, and Iwo Jima‘s response . . . just after the puff of smoke . .. around 16 seconds in. I’d stationed myself such that for its first three shots, Iwo Jima was obscured by the bridge pillar.
Tomorrow before dawn . . I’m headed up to New Hampshire . . . back in a week or less. No offense intended, but sometimes I must balance the sixth boro waters and shorelines with canoes, woods, beavers, porcupines, songbirds and songfrogs, fresh fish …. the list could go on. I’ll bring foto evidence.
On a happy note: In May 2008, I lamented here the fact that the NYTIMES had nary a word about the fleet entering the city. Today the top center foto was of Iwo Jima here. Bravo the New York Times . . . maybe they’ll rename the paper as the “all six boros of NY Times.”
Many thanks to Matt of Soundbounder for the heads up and to Lori of Jarvis House and Garden for use of these fotos. As of this post time Wednesday, LV-112 Nantucket has just seen its first sunrise in Boston after languishing for eight years in Oyster Bay, hoping there to become a museum but facing the ever-approaching scrapper. Leaving the dock, she escapes the scrapyard fate this past Monday morning,
ready to dance with a tug named
Lynx of Constellation Maritime. Here’s the specs on Lynx. I wrote about a nimble Constellation boat sans propellers here.
Arrival in Boston was 3 pm Tuesday.
Here are some fascinating lightship links, starting with this one featuring dramatic art of LV-117 Nantucket rammed by RMS Olympic on May 15, 1934. Scroll all the way through and you’ll see info on LV-112 including that it spent 1942–1945 painted gray and patrolling off Maine. Also, an address is given there if you wish to contribute to the preservation effort. Amesbury, MA . . . my favorite waters, the Pow Wow River flows through Amesbury!
Here’s a story from today’s Boston Globe.
Here are some tugster links: WLV-612, 18 Lightships, and my own confusion. And of course . . . winter/summer solstice and my summer hangout . . . Frying Pan, rendered here in this exquisite drawing by . . . bowsprite!
Thanks again, Lori and Matt.
The dark season and the end of 2009 trigger an impulse to look back. Wood . . . there’s been a fair amount of it this year especially from Mystic, the Dutch barges, and of course Onrust. The following are mostly built on Cape Ann, a place once synonymous with shipbuilding from wood. The tradition continues at Burnham’s , who’ve added the magic of blogging to their craft.
Here’s a short set of wooden vessels for your pleasure. And a contest to heighten your fun: Arrange these woodies from youngest . . oldest. I’ll try not to give it away, but if I do, I make no apology. A warning, though, this is so link-heavy that I won’t post tomorrow.
First, for Jolea, it’s Appledore III. It seems there’s a whole fleet of vessels by the name Appledore. As an aside, I love the color/name SS Melon. Honeydew, I’d guess.
For Paul, whose father used to work on her decks, it’s Phyllis A.
It’s Essex-built schooner Adventure, paired here with steel trawler Sea Farmer II.
For Bowsprite, here are some shanteys; it’s the best I can offer after an unsuccessful search for Daisy Nell’s version of a shantey about Adventure. By the way, ‘sprite, you’ve never told us the port where said slipped shantey singing transpired.
I’d love to position myself in a dory full-frontally to Adventure so as to best foto those hussy-red hawses, which sounds like a project for my next trip to Gloucester, eh amigoes?
Evelina M. Goulart. Will she or won’t?
Little Sandra (ex-Anthony & Josephine) with eastern rig side trawling gear. Little Sandra’s age info here, as well as lots of interesting tuna and whale info about Stellwagen. A great schooner link is this one featuring a foto of Little Sandra but you have to scroll through.
So here are the ages: Appledore III–1984. Little Sandra–1946. Evelina M. Goulart–1927. Adventure–1926. Phyllis A. –1923. Even older–by a generation–is Lettie G. Howard, languishing in the sixth boro (although there’s a hearty maintenance crew) and featured here.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
No matter what the posts are this week, the backdrop is that around this time three years ago I started this blog. Now nine hundred fiftysomething (!) posts later, the greatest gratification for me is the sense of community I’ve gotten from my work. I feel it! Thanks to all who’ve read, commented, contributed info and/or fotos, and lurked. If you’ve only read and lurked, great although I’d love to hear from you too.
Recent traffic has been heavy on Grouper, a 1914 tug that languishes upstate along the part of the Erie Canal where I grew up. Click here for the details. Anyone need a project for a mere $26,000? I took the pic of Grouper in early November 2009, less than three weeks ago.
Fire Fighter, to date FDNY’s unit with the greatest gpm output, cuts an impressive profile as she cruises Gravesend Bay.
LORO Baltic Mercur has an intriguing silhouette.
An unidentified tanker disappears out the Ambrose, way beyond the bow of barge Charleston.
Uh . . Brendan (3900 hp), who are you trying to kid? You’re no stand-in for Pati R, (5100 hp), at least from a “see-over” perspective even with your telescoping house.
And what you do NOT see in the offing of the sixth boro, large fishing vessels like this one, a midwater trawler like Challenger. This foto was taken off the east end of Cape Ann.
A front page story in today’s NYTimes links Challenger and Brendan Turecamo, in a manner of speaking: a guy catching a 157-pound bluefin from a kayak that weighs less than 30 pounds, human-powered although it had to be registered as a motor vessel for him to get a tuna license, Check it out; tuna have impressive bollard pull.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Here’s a herring song to hold you over til my fishing post: version a and version b. I prefer b.
Note: Although I like assembling/looking at a random set of fotos, I’m aware that each one tells at least one good story . . . only problem is that I don’t know the story, the very one that in fact I should. These common unknowns overlay the pictures with a sense of mystery. Maybe seeking the mysterious and exotic is why I keep doing this blog. Of course I also do it because it completes me.
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