Sepia Tugs

What’s this?  Where?  Answer follows.  It’s not really sepia per se, just an approximation.

I took this foto a week ago, then stripped out the color.  It’s Yemitzis, the former

PRR Philadelphia, launched 1954.  Major modifications have happened between the two incarnations.

Here’s another foto I took last week, Resolute.  With its ample pudding, it’s a perfect candidate to be sepia-fied.

The top foto was taken by Fred Wehner a few days ago;  that’s not Rosie the riveter but Capt. Wendy Marble, working to prep her vessel  Urger, for the 2013 season.  Here, here, and here are some full color fotos previously featuring Urger, who initially looked like this over a century ago.

Thanks to Paul Strubeck for the foto of PRR Philadelphia.

2012 Tug Race Winner is . . .

soon to be determined . . . less than 48 hours from now.  Here’s a schedule from the race organizers.

Will the winner be blue . . . like Atlantic Salvor or

formerly blue like Greenland Sea or Lincoln Sea?

Maybe it’ll be blue and miraculously restored . . . like Crow?

Or will it be red, like this Pegasus or

. . . the not-to-be underestimated Augie?

Or maybe a blue and gold government boat?

Or it might be some shade of white like Susan Miller or Gabby L Miller?

On the other hand, it may be a stealth competitor, like the one these gents have been refurbishing since late spring?

Cosmetic work has been visible on the outside, but

Glen had this grin straight off the cheshire cat when he told me they’d installed huge power down below and

as they’ve worked on the surface, above decks, rendering a beautfully restored New York Central No. 31 house.  Who

knows whether Glen was kidding or not about that power plant and about the hull they cleverly built below the dock which be free with a few minor cuts of the Saw-zall.

New York Central No 31 might turn its competitors green with envy once they steam out onto the course.  And if she were flying a Canadian flag, she’d be an international entry.     And

with all that jabber about competitors red and blue at the beginning of the post, you might have wondered if I was talking about something else.  Maybe a spokesperson for red or blue might be interviewing a stealth version of a leading member of the competition?

Check page four of this 1952 issue of Towline for an action foto of one of the winners of the race exactly 60 years ago.  And on page 5, you’ll see that the 1952 race was in fact a revival of a pre-WW2 International Lifeboat Race.  Click on the image below to watch a two-minute video of the rowing race, some time between 1930 and 1939.

In 1952, after the tugs raced, oarsmen took to the same course.  Hmmmm….  Might that portion of the race be revived too?  I wonder what happened to that trophy.

Other People’s Fotos 8

In my personal life, the beginning of a calendar year seems the best time for maintenance, new starts, re-evaluations.  Today I cleared out and organized a tool closet, tossing out with gusto and energy what I hadn’t been able to . . . in “cleaning” attempts for the past few years.

As I looked through fotos some of you have sent, I “read” maintenance in them, too.  Like this foto of Ambrose from John Watson.  I’m wondering how many years it’s been since LV-87 had her previous

haircut and a shave.

Lou Rosenberg sent this foto;  even QM2 needs touch-ups.  Here are some fotos I took of QM2 arriving in the sixth boro for the first time in April 2004.

Finally, Captain Thalassic sent some fotos from up on the Erie Canal, Lock 28A, where Erie Canal boats Emita II (1953) and Colonial Belle dry out their hulls over the winter, as does

 . . . is that Seneca, and blindfolded and trussed in back of the dry dock?  Does Seneca need help? Here’s another shot of Seneca by Jason LaDue.

Two more shots by John Watson, although these have no connection with maintenance . . . except my own.  Catherine Turecamo here escorts bulk carrier being escorted  Steel Anna.

Now there’s a name!!  I imagine introducing myself . . .   “Hi, I’m ‘steel will.’    If I needed some life maintenance , that would be an energetic start.

Thanks all for sending these fotos along.

Really Random Tugs 7

Transitioning from the “farm tugs” post, enjoy Governor Roosevelt, sister of Governor Cleveland,  both came to the canal to  break ice and do other tasks in 1927 as steam tugs.   If you add the ages of Governor Roosevelt, Governor Cleveland, and Urger . . . you have almost three hundred years of boat work.   I found Roosevelt hauled out last weekend along the Erie Canal in Lyons.

Edna (1997) was hauled out for some work recently along

the KVK.

Here’s a first sighting:  Coney Island, built by

Blount in 1958.  Here’s George (a 2009 vessel with a simple name)  taken recently in Lake Charles, LA.

And (once again . . . might she be languishing?) Grouper, a year away from a century old.  This is how she looked last weekend, and I’d love to hear an update on efforts to bring her back to life, lest she become HMS (heavy melt steel).

George foto comes thanks to eastriver;  all others by Will Van Dorp.

Waterford Tugboat Roundup 2010 c

Details today, delightful ones like the house of Crow,

stern of Margot in front of portside and rope fender Governor Cleveland,

stern of The Chancellor in front of Margot,

twin barges 1914 Lehigh Valley 79 and 1942  Pennsy 399 (venues for music and photographic displays),

stern of Wire and Governor Cleveland,

lots of stacks,

bow wave of Wire,

W. O. Decker downbound in Federal Lock,

bows of MV Bear and Seahorse (from Ontario and Connecticut, respectively),

and bow of Hestia in front of Crow.

The Roundup had two music stages this year:  New York Canal System tug Grand Erie and Lehigh Valley barge 79 .   Enjoy these snippets from a group called Tug Bitts.

Capt. Walter E. Hughes joined Tug Bitts on stage for this unlikely Johnny Cash piece.

x

Waterford Tugboat Roundup 2010 b

(Silent version)

The Roundup begins with a parade between the Port of Albany and the wall below Lock 2 at Waterford.  Waterford is the easternmost point on the Erie Canal. From wherever they find themselves, crews and vessels begin to gather around mid-day Friday.  Benjamin Elliott headed south from Waterford,

Cornell saved fuel, waited at the wall, and met the parade just below the Federal Lock,

Crow joined in at its place of work,

Governor Cleveland, Grand Erie, and W. O. Decker traveled down from the Waterford wall,

some traveled in pairs like Chancellor and Decker,

Grand Erie and Decker,

and Gowanus Bay arrived from the south.

Some folks and boats worked en route in one way or

another.

Lots of folks and some vessels worked during the Roundup.  The fireworks barge would not have been  in place without the efforts of Mame Faye.

(Sound version)

Wind roar, spray, hiss, deep pitched throb, horns tuning up, whistles, pipes, percussion, more horns, and whoopnhollering of the crowd on Saturday night.

Fotos and video by Will Van Dorp.

More from the Roundup tomorrow.

Related:  World Canals Conference starts next Sunday in Rochester, NY.

Pushing Through

Just north of Union Street in Newark, NY, the Canal narrows.  And given the foliage on either side, the engine approaching echoed as in a tunnel.

Tender #1 headed east toward Lock 28B right past the still-waiting Grouper and

into the gate, which closed

once the tow was inside

guided by a steady hand on wheel, not joystick.

Once the westside lock door shut, water spilled out

lowering 12′ in less than 5 minutes.

The Lyons-side door opened and

the tow pushed through

towards Lyons.

So here’s my agenda.  Click here and you’ll see that voting has already started for the favorite tug at the 2010 Tug Roundup in Waterford.  What if I’d like to vote for Tender #1?  There’s no place for “write-in” candidates.  I’d like to vote for this Canal Corporation tug as my favorite because it just appeared when I needed to hear and see something like Tender #1.

And what a great name!

If you enjoy research, here’s one that stumped me:  Tender #1 is reportedly listed as built in 1928.  Where?

On my way to searching for this info, I located this image site and this timeline site with lots of follow-through links.  Of course, Fred Tug44 has fotos of other tenders, but not Tender #1.

All fotos taken this week by Will Van Dorp.

Oh, and be sure to vote ASAP. And tell your friends and friends’ friends to vote.  Use Facebook and the telephone book, but within your network, you really can make ANY boat win if you try.

Bittersweet 2

Three years ago it was my father;  now it was my mother:  she passed on last week at age 83, and I will miss her.  This foto was taken two days ago at Pultneyville, looking north toward Kingston, where her parents are buried.

Near these waters was her home–and mine–for 55 years.  And they shaped us.

Ma, you will be missed, and you’d tell us to push on.

All fotos taken this week by Will Van Dorp.

Urger Cold and Dry

Over a dozen posts already have followed Urger, the most recent last November.  I caught up with the old fishing tug in Lyons this week, not high and dry but low and frosted, down at the Lock 28A drydock.  And I mean down,

hibernating below high-water level

down in the dry dock, behind the lock about 300 miles from where Urger spent Labor Day (see 6th foto).

I’ve a whole new understanding of Urger’s stability, now that I’ve seen her deep draft.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Urger in November

Labor Day in the sixth boro . . . and now at Lock 28A, Urger‘s winter port.    Near Lyons.  Near my “grow-up” years, where I enjoyed my 40th high school reunion last night.

Urger from the other side of the lock.  Notice the plastic hoods over vent and mast and

weather cap added atop and bronze plaque removed from the stack.

Nose to nose with Urger is HD-1, the cutter head dredge that sank last July in Palmyra and was raised by Titan.

Closer and

closer-up shot of that head.

Lyons . . . farm country.  I just had to.

Here are some fotos I took last spring in the Lyons Canal Corp. yard.

Last foto by Elzabeth Wood;  all previous by Will Van Dorp.