What does 1887 look like on 2009?  Feast your eyes below.  Further may we feast our eyes in a while when she splashes back into her element.  It’s New York Central No. 13;  boat and owner are aching to see much of the the iron hull (originally all-iron) back in the water.  Eric showed me around, showing me around No. 13, but also treated me to a view of the land-log crawling lumber tug Bertha, still in the chrysalis stage.  Eric blogs about the day way better than I can.

If you check out his site, enjoy following the links to find the name of the yard in Camden that built No. 13 and the name of the 1907 tug also built at that yard.  It may not be what you think, although I’ll say it performed a herculean task of towing its sister through the Strait of Magellan.

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While visiting Eric, I got a closer look at Disch Construction’s Little Bear, built 1952 in Jacksonville, FL.  By the way, the bridge in the background is Outerbridge Crossing, named for Mr. Outerbridge.

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I visited the yard because Eric told me the Groninger tjalk called Livet, former Dutch mystery of the Hackensack, was hauled out for some work.  Unfortunately, the 1901 flatbottom experienced some misfortune when welding ignited the wooden interior.

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Platbodem or flat bottom . . . this hull is anything but all flat.  It’s as flat, I guess, as the so-called flat belly of an athlete is flat, and I love all the curves

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and more curves.  In fact,

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seeing these lines . . . I can imagine only a human posterior, as lovely

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as that is.  Think tight-fitting leather britches!

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Bow thruster tunnel.  Help me out here . . .  I can’t come up with an analogous part of human anatomy for this.

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Two closing notes:  A new Henrysobsession post is up!!  Henry, 400 years ago, dejected and sullied, heading back east, giving up on Cathay for awhile.

Livet came from the Netherlands some years ago–I’d like to know more about this–but is not headed back east with the fleet that danced and sang up the Hudson recently.  That fleet will be loaded aboard Flinterborg in Port of Albany starting tomorrow.  So here’s a proposition:  if you’re anywhere near the Hudson Tuesday into Wednesday . . . please take fotos of the 15-masted motor vessel as it steams southbound. I’d love to see pics.  I’ll share departure time from Albany as I find it out.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.

Unrelated:  See what Joey from Gloucester thinks of the sixth boro.    I like it;  I’ve added you to my blogroll.

Also unrelated:  See Kimberly Poling push a barge 212′ beneath the new Walkway at Poughkeepsie.