Day Peckinpaugh

As a kid living near Lock 28 of the then-Barge Canal, I might have seen this strange looking vessel. If I saw it as a 9-year-old in 1961, a) I’ve forgotten it . . . but b) it was already 40 years at work in 1961. Day-Peckinpaugh aka Richard J. Barnes and Interway Lines 101, progenitor of a now-scrapped fleet, does present an unforgettable face. Bart might call it ugly, but its design conform to its niche . . . kind of like a flounder.

Throughout the Working on Water events, which ended recently at Cohoes, NY, she was driven by John Callahan, in green shirt adjusting docklines here with the capstan. John is a driving force behind the annual Waterford Tug Roundup, an annual event started in 1999.

See this view from high on the stern looking forward 259′ between the stacks. Actually, I find it’s difficult to to get a clear shot of DP because of its size. In the distance off DP‘s port bow is tug Hackensack, her stack no longer quite as delightfully be-colored as it once was.

Here’s the hold looking astern. Companionways, added as part of the retrofit to transform DP‘s hold into gallery space, obviously were not in place when she worked as a bulk carrier. With a carrying capacity of 1650 tons, she took –at least–100 tractor trailers of her era off the roadways.

Detail of hatch cover.

Spare prop.

Well, DP is a big ship, and I didn’t get to see it all this year. No matter, she is the largest exhibit in the New York State Museum . .. will be for years to come, I suppose. Final shot below shows more audio than overall image of DP docking in Lake Champlain this past summer.

I’m playfully ending on a snarky note . . . I’m curious about the name. What comes to mind from “day peck & paw…” is how it might differ from “night peck & paw . . . .” Is that a first and last name . . . a certain Peckinpaugh named “day” maybe short for “Davidson.” Another option might be “day peck ‘n paw . . . yes day do!”

All fotos . . . Will Van Dorp.