19th annual Great North River Tugboat Race AND Competition

The first four fotos here come thanks to Marian Hyman, who took them from the pier at 69/70th Street. Not a hint of the froth and exhaust to come until . . .

the signal comes, and then there are

pair matches as well as

whole field headed south to the finish line through silt that has floated down from every creek within the entire watershed.

This foto is mine. Notice the man with the camera above and behind the right side of the crewman about to throw line.

The photographer is David Boone, and here’s his view of the events. I was just off camera extreme left, standing just beyond the far side of the green tent. Check out David’s fantastic artwork here.

David and others like bowsprite do watercolors; actually every boat during the race was dabbling with

water colors.

For Rick “Old Salt’s” video, click here. For Bonnie Frogma’s post, click here.

Working Harbor Committee win an award for perpetuating this event and calling it race AND competition. And at the expense of making this post almost as long as some of those cinema and music award shows, I’d like to add some aditional awards . . .

like for “best improvised bowsprit on a tugboat” . . . Ross Sea, [doubleclick enlarges all fotos]

“most spirited better-late-than-never” . . . The Bronx, [more The Bronx soon]

“best press boat disguised as a tugboat” again, The Bronx,

“best connection to the cliff at Weehawken” Sea Wolf,

“best crew-to-crew face off . . .

. . . over a series of two fotos” to Pegasus and Ross Sea,

“most crew rallying on the foredeck” Maurania III.

Next we have many line handling awards. First up, “best right-hand follow through form” to Quantico Creek,

“best send the whole coil at once” to Sea Wolf,

“best hand and leg follow through form” also to Sea Wolf,

“best mascot with cute purple antennae” also to Sea Wolf . . . might this BE THE sea WOLF?

“biggest line-thrower cheering section” Maurania III,

“best facial expression” to Susan Miller,

“best overall posture award” Ross Sea,

and now a break from line-throwing awards . . . best photographer-aloft . . . Shipshooter on Ross Sea.

“best ’make-that-line-walk’” . . . also Ross Sea,

“most earnest line thrower expression” . . . Catherine C Miller,

“best ‘looks-like-that-was-overhand’” Freddie K Miller,

“best ‘over-the-bollard-and . . .

…put-turns-on-the-quarterbitt’” Pegasus,

“best and longest lariat twirling followed by the

longest throw” Growler. Note for next year . . . the Growler crew might decide to dress as rodeo folk, given that the 30-second lasso-demonstration prompted a comment from some unnamed person behind me . . . “Next year for Growler we should replace that bollard with a fiberglass cow.” Great showmanship!!