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The event is called Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival, so indeed, it’s a water festival, a river fest started by a folksinger, now 93, who cares deeply about
the river that flowed past his birthplace. A river festival means boats.
Of course, Clearwater in the distance is the flagship of this festival, and the big sloop spawned the smaller sloop Woodie Guthrie closer in.
The festival takes place on a peninsula where you see the tents in the middle of the foto.
It’s called Croton Point Park, about 30 miles north of Manhattan’s north tip.
But this location is surrounded by shallow water, so temporary docks are needed, which means small shallow draft tugboats like Augie (1943 and on the first job of her new life) and
Patty Nolan (1931 and available for charter). . . And the red barge is Pennsy 399 (1942!!) .
Also taking passengers during the festival is Mystic Whaler, here with Hook Mountain in the distance.
Here’s the northside of Croton Point last evening looking toward Haverstraw.
Exactly five years ago I took this foto from a small boat just off Pioneer‘s bowsprit. Here are more fotos from that day.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who might go back for some music tomorrow.
The first time I saw Patty was on the foto here (fifth one) although when Jed sent that foto, neither he nor I could identify it. Ultimately I met Patty and her guardians (She accepts no other terms.) About two years ago I had the good fortune of crewing for a similar tow. Sunday I happened to glance at AIS and saw this blip just west of SeaGate/Norton Point, which told me to mobilize the hot air balloon/photography team**.
As we zoomed in, we caught Patty and tow . . .with West Bank Light in the distance, and …
the Parachute Jump off to port her port.
This has all the appearance of a “Patchogue floating home” coming across
the west end of Jamaica Bay, with its antipodes Breezy Point to the left and Norton Point to the right. For a post I did two years ago about the fascinating but incongruous wildlife in Jamaica Bay, click here.
For you outatowners, Patty and house are traversing the sixth boro, that central previously-unnamed core
of New York City, with its Barren Island-turned-airfield-turned-Barren Island Park and
its distant views of Manhattan cliffs, and its
other 32 islands in Jamaica Bay alone. This too is Brooklyn!
And looking over into Queens and then Long Island, that in the distance is JFK (ex-Idlewild) Airport. After delivering its tow, Patty races
back upriver with a favorable tide.
**Oh . . . I lied about the hot air balloon. A total fabrication . . . a shameless bit of dissembling that was, but it sounds so much more exciting than the prosaic “I hurried to southern Brooklyn for a shot from Gil Hodges Bridge.”
The final shot here of Patty in stealth mode trying to blending into April foliage . . . thanks to bowsprite. All others by Will Van Dorp, virtual hot-air balloonist photographer.
Someone asked why Patty has an awning: in addition to commercial tows, she does picnic charters!! A virtual Patty-of-all-trades.
I did this post just over a year ago; note the prominent change happening in the Manhattan skyline, as seen from the north coast of Rockaway Queens. The last time you saw the tug shown here was December 2011. Any guesses what Patty was towing yesterday? Answer tomorrow.
Most of my views of the rising tower come from my “office” on the north coast of Staten Island. It looms there, beyond these McAllisters,
Na Hoku,
Caitlin Ann,
Magothy,
Penn No. 6,
Thomas J. Brown,
Norwegian Sea,
JoAnne Reinauer III,
Hayward,
Elk River,
and Resolute.
Unrelated: Following their own landmarks, a new crop of aeons-old silvery slime has reportedly returned to sixth boro waterways. What . . . you ask? Click here.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Maria J. Turecamo (1968) and Hercules (1961), side by side, and my psychic tells me Hercules may be about to set out on a long cold journey, over water. Given the name, I’m inclined to wonder what Hercules 12 labors were/are and where on that list this journey fits.
Scott Turecamo (1998) and
Reinauer Twins (2011) wait with their respective barges. Twins holds the distinction of being the newest tug in the sixth boro.
Norwegian Sea (1976) waits, but
Meredith C. Reinauer (2003) is on the move, as
is McKinley Sea (1981).
And most of them could carry Augie on davits as a tender. Anyone know the age of Augie, here at a dock upriver?
Finally, another foto of Byrce Kirk operating Patty Nolan (1931) and still running.
Foto of Augie by Dave Williams, Patty Nolan by Seth Tane, and all others by Will Van Dorp.
Hercules . . . (keel was laid in 1915) has never visited the sixth boro and never will, but some rough water
she appears able to handle. You saw Hercules on this blog a few months back burning some coal to set a towing record here. Read the narrative here in the July portion of the log here.
The body of water in question here is between Zierikzee (marked with the red balloon with capital A) and Veere . . . on the island off to the southwest. Also notice Rotterdam, Antwerpen, and Brugge on the map.
Speaking of Brugge, notice what they call this Brugge-registered vessel working on the Rhine?
Top two fotos used with permission from Kees (pronounced “case”) and Ingrid van Trigt; bottom foto thanks to Patty Nolan‘s own Capt. David Williams.
Finally, tugster made the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and . . . no ATF, FBI, IRS, EPIRB . . . no handcuffs, no raincoat covering my face, no sex or financial scandal, no announcement of an imminent run for office. Running FROM office to pick up a copy of the paper sounds like a much better idea. Lots of thoughts there from Cornell‘s Capt Matt Perricone there too. See “Old Salt” Rick’s post on the article AND the upcoming 19th annual Great North River Tug Race here; watch the video and you’ll see some of Rick’s and my footage from a previous race.
Unrelated: This weekend tugster has dispatched me on assignment/hazardous duty at the Pageant of Steam.
But first, see this fabulous set of Flickr fotos of Cangarda, which by now must have passed through the sixth boro . . .
and . . from Old Salt Rick, let’s remember today is International Day of the Seafarer.
The waters aka the sixth boro provide the best vantage perpective on many aspects of New York: the bridges, the architecture, the skyline, even shoreline traffic congestion. In this shot, Margaret Moran (1979) steams southbound beyond the GW and its red lighthouse as it approaches the Upper West Side. Dominating the scene for many seafarers, the Empire State Building (ESB), the city’s premiere landmark, señal numero uno, for the better part of a century. Anyone know what a premiere Moran vessel assist tug was in 1931 when the ESB was built? Did you realize the ESB drawings were generated in just two weeks because it had a prototype . . . the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, NC? (Doubleclick enlarges.) Some part of the ESB appears in every foto here except the last one, which I didn’t take.
With never-retired Patty Nolan (1931!! same vintage as the ESB) westbound on the East River in the foreground, the background shows the towers of LaGuardia Airport to the left and
ESB immediately to the right of the house. If you’re wondering why this rear view of Patty, well, she has not yet received her new bikini and–in the interest of tugster’s temporary prudishness, I couldn’t possibly reveal her nudity. For bikini donations, please email me.
Adirondack II (1999) scuds along while sails get trimmed.
Miss Yvette (1975)–now fully red–heads eastbound on the East River.
A. J. Meerwald‘s schedule shows them in Bivalve, NJ, two days ago, but I’d identify them as northeast bound entering Long Island Sound, leaving a gray smudge of ESB way behind.
Blue Marlin is 13 days out, as of this posting; her image will stick in my brain until she returns. Here the loading that seemed endless about three weeks back.
Dawn foto taken just south of Miller’s yard captures night lights still blazing on Manhattan.
Leaving Chelsea Piers southbound, it’s replica vessel Manhattan.
Another foto of Dominican cocoa being unloading from Black Seal. For an excellent set of fotos of the entire project, click here for an inimitable Flickr set.
To round this post out, let’s back to Margaret Moran, making her way south along the Upper West Side.
All fotos taken in the past month by Will Van Dorp.
This “foto” is a capture from Carlito’s Way, the 1993 De Palma film. This Kosnac tug passes in the background as the Sean Penn character leaves the prison barge Vernon C. Bain. Can anyone identify the tugboat?
If you must travel this weekend or summer, be safe. And you might consider taking your house with you . . . either the actual house or some some of it. You house needs to get out. It might be tired of the same scenery all the time, or
the same neighbors, lawn, or landscaping.
Your house walls hear you talking about the big city . . . well, it may just want to see it once.
It may have heard you talk of large elegant houses that float . . . like Norwegian Epic, and might desire to catch a momentary even blurry glimpse of such miraculous things.
Your house might seek adventure and stay out all night! See where the wild side leads.
It might crave a sunrise in a most unimagined location.
If so, get in touch with Patty Nolan . . . the tugboat with the figure figure. No, she didn’t get a new bikini for this season, but who cares. She’s one prodigious guide.
More later. I’m away, and so may be our houses, hausmann and hausfrau. Please be safe whatever the reason for your travel . . . be it distraction, catchup, business, work, pleasure. See you soon.
Any resemblance to events or persons or houses is only coincidental. If you saw something like this, it was possibly a mirage.
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