First of all, my hat’s off to Jim, Harold, and Jed–all of whom correctly identified the “mystery towboat” as Buchanan 12 approaching Haverstraw. “Haver,” by the way, is Dutch for “oats,” so, approaching oats straw.
Thanks to Jed, here’s a vessel in KVK with an intriguing name for this past week: Ice Fighter in KVK, paradoxical given our heat wave and its port of registry–Monrovia.
New York place names–like those in many locales– are intriguing. Not quite 50 miles north of the Battery is World’s End, just north of West Point; Target Point and Storm King appear along the port side. Along starboard are Magazine Point, Little Stony Point and Breakneck Point with Pollepel Island (aka Bannerman’s Island) dead ahead. Maybe it was the cartographer in some cases, but someone decided each of those names. According to my favorite resource for place names, the 1940 Guide to the Empire State, the Federal Writers’ Project book on New York, the island was named for Polly Pell “who had two suitors, a farmer and a young minister. She preferred the former; her parents favored the latter. One day the minister took her sleigh-riding on the river; the ice broke and they fell in. The young farmer raced across the ice, jumped in, and brought them safely to this island. Polly embraced the young farmer so ardently that the minister saw the futility of his suit and married the couple then and there.” Now I suspect that minister turned pirate.
By the way, from where this foto was taken, World’s End, the Hudson is deepest, dropping to 180-200 feet.
One of my favorite place names is Danzkammer Point, north of Newburgh. No, it’s not bad-mouthing someone named ‘Dan” as a “scammer” by someone who doesn’t know how to spell. Rather . . . it’s Dutch for “dance hall.” Kammer in Dutch means chamber or room, as in “slaapkamer” for sleep room, bed room. I’ve no idea about the double “m” on the chart. Anyhow, Henry‘s Dutch saw the Indians dancing there around fires, and so that event lives on in this Newburgh place name.
Speaking of dance halls, Coney Island this coming Saturday is one big “danzkammer” . . . for mermaids and all who dance with them around camp fires or amid bioluminescence. For me, this can’t be missed. The dancers above and below are from a Calder statue. Anyone guess where? Which Calder?
So, finally. . . what are your favorite place names along whatever river you know best? most ironic? most mysterious? I’d love to start a series on place names. Max at “sailing south africa” had a great example here with “house of sin.”
Photos, WVD.
tugster: a waterblog 
4 comments
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June 15, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Mage Bailey
But dear Will, you gave us the answer. That wasn’t fair. I had to have seen the Depew Memorial Fountain, Indianapolis, Indiana when I lived there, but I don’t remember it. Shallow of me, but then I again I was 18.
Personally here in our harbor, I like Ballast Point. We would have had a far wider mouth to our harbor but for the acres of ballast dumpted in one spot near the entrance by sailing ships heading in to pick up cargo. Today Ballast Point holds a light house, Navy Sub Facilities Base, and sticks out there quite away in the channel.
http://www.rudyalicelighthouse.net/CalLts/Ballast/Bllst28.html
http://www.sdmis.org/chart/chartpop.html
June 15, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Jed
Of course just below Constitution PT and above West Point is WORLD’S END. I’m here to tell ya that in ZERO visibility, it IS the END of the world…
On Lake Champlain there are two (of MANY) rocks that come out of the water enough to be visible even from a distance. One, just off Juniper Island is [b]Rock Dunder[/b] and to the North is [b]Carleton’s Prize[/b]. Both have the particular honor of being fired upon by Revolutionary Warships.
[b]”That’s no ship, that’s a rock, by Dunder!”[/b] So the story goes and the other is named for Major General Sir Guy Carleton, Commander of British Naval Forces on Lake Champlain. Not [i]quite[/i] the posterity Carleton aiming for I would imagine.
Jed sends
June 16, 2008 at 7:07 am
jeff s
there was a bulker named ICE TRADER II inbound on June 14, as well.
June 16, 2008 at 7:21 am
will
ship names . . . they can tantalize. in summer we get ice names, and on the coldest winter day vessels named surfer rosa and lepta mermaid. oh the joys of living in a harbor with international traffic.