Really Random Tugs 13

This NYPD officer of the peace got tugged right into a recent parade.  When that happens, you know all things could get downright disorderly.

This last June post is a melange of Pegasus and Lehigh Valley 79 in a setting rays irritating my camera,

Patuxent in the Philly dawn,

Sea Hawk approaching the St. John’s Bridge,

Patuxent redux,

Natoma docked in the Columbia,

Caspian Sea in the Delaware,

Surrie Moran in the same waters,

Aries in Portland,

Madeline,

Black Hawk,

more Black Hawk, 

Cape Henry,

again Madeline,

and finally Lewiston.

Rounding things out, it’s Siberian Sea in palm trees country aka the sixth boro, taken about a year ago.  I will resume the blog as soon as I can in a land with more palm trees

Thanks for reading the blog and sending comments either here or via email.  Sorry if I haven’t acknowledged everyone who’s sent along a tidbit or nice word.

If you’ve never taken a Working Harbor tour in NYC’s sixth boro, here’s info.  If you  know the sixth boro pretty well–especially the contemporary commercial aspects of it, you might even propose to them to narrate a tour.  That’s just me suggesting that, but there are folks who want to better understand the role of shipping and its interaction between the sixth boro and the five terrestrial ones.

Thanks to Seth Tane for the fotos of Aries, Black Hawk, Lewiston, Nahoma, and Sea Hawk.  All others by Will Van Dorp who hopes to next post from the obscure January River.

Delaware Traffic 3

River traffic travels in all weather and times of day.   So at first I was dismayed to be without my camera, but fortunately Elizabeth had hers when Timothy McAllister came past and got

really close.  Thanks to the crew, whose demonstration probably inspired some young’uns to want to grow up and be mariners.

Earlier Madeline had moseyed past, checking out Gazela and all else along the PA side while

Captain Harry did the same on the NJ side.

While the rain fell, Caspian Sea headed out as

Teresa McAllister headed upriver.

as did Reid McAllister.

Art and reality mimic each other.  At the Independence Seaport Museum, you have just over a month left to see the exhibit of friend and marine artist Dave Boone’s work and wit.

You’ll be thrilled by the paintings and the biographical materials.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, except the first two by Elizabeth Wood, who had a charged phone.

Delaware Traffic 2

Quick post from the Delaware.  Can you guess the tow?

Sentry tows El Rey.  Next stop . . . San Juan?  Note the crewman in the way upperhouse on the barge.  Is the barge crewed for the entire trip?

Photos of the Delaware?

Escorts down the river include Surrie Moran and

Cape Henry.

Recognize the vessel to the right?

All fotos this morning by Will Van Dorp.

Inside Beaufort Inlet 2

Inside Beaufort Inlet is quite the archipelago, the largest island of which is Radio Island.  Let’s start from Front Street in Beaufort and circle.  Wild horses are there,

as well as really minimal truckable tugs.

And a fishing fleet in port includes Jessica, Jonathan Ryan and

Colton Scott and Miss Sandy V.

Note the means to keep the fish deck free of fumes.

Over on the Morehead City side, prominent are to phosphate storage domes.  I presume Beaufort Belle pushes the barges from the mine in Aurora to here.  Anyone know how large the Potash corp fleet is.

On the oceanside of the Route 70 bridge, the Moran ship-assist fleet parks between jobs.

Fort Macon, Fort Fisher, and Grace Moran.

Salamina1 loads phosphate.

Jack Holland prepares to move a barge of scrap aluminum bales.

They arrived on this vessel . . .

Sea Baisi.

Robert Burton does the same.  I’m not sure where these bales will be converted into aluminum products.

Over behind Fort Macon, WLB 204 Elm is docked, more or less

across the chanel from the landing zone on Radio Island.  That’s Na Hoku in the background.

Parting shots include this outbound fishing vessel and

an idea about alternative housing . .  if you visit.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Other People’s Fotos 23

You may once have ridden this vessel.  Thirty months ago you could have made a bid on it.  Eighteen months ago it was topheavy and listing.  Two weeks ago Paul Strubeck caught this foto.  Might you call it a major haircut.

Around the same time, Paul caught this vessel in Verplanck. That looks like Cornell to the left also.   I don’t know what Cormorant‘s future will be.

I caught Planetsolar on my way outatown, but bowsprite studied the first solar-powered circumnavigator up close and impersonal and shares these fotos.

Inside these caps are props.  Click here and here to see the props.

Enjoy these views starting with this view looking forward along the portside and moving counterclockwise around the boat.

Click here for a compilation of clips taken over two years on Turanor PlanetSolar.  And if you have 40 minutes to watch this video from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, you could like it.  I especially liked the  Singapore dry dock section beginning around 31 minutes in.   And from yesterday’s NYTimes, here’s a story about the boat’s current research mission.

Many thanks to Paul and bowsprite for these fotos.

Speaking of bowsprite . . .  if you’re local and free on Saturday, come  down to Pier 25 where she has organized the craft market called Radio Lilac, named for the 1933 lighthouse tender there.

Inside Beaufort Inlet

Click here for an account of gallivants in and around Ocracoke and Hatteras Inlets as well as my connection to these waters.  Beaufort Inlet–near Cape Lookout–is scheduled for some depth maintenance these days with Marinex Construction excavating what McFarland count not extract.  Katherine Weeks enters the inlet from sea with a light scow.

The only USACE presence I saw was Snell.  USACE awarded Marinex the contract to subtract a half million tons of sand from beneath these waves.

I believe this is cutterhead/pipleine dredge Savannah, connected by pipeline to this

scow and loading equipment.

When Katherine tows the loaded scow out–here past Sea Quest II, a dive boat (more on that later)

Na Hoku-formerly a K-Sea vessel—

tails.  The Sea Knight helicopter

just happened overhead.  I’d love the view from a helicopter here.

Once through the narrow inlet, Katherine heads out for the dumping area and Na Hoku returns to its holding station.

Who knew the inlet could be this busy . . . l to r:  Grace Moran, Aurora, Na Hoku, and Salamina1.  More on the last one on that list tomorrow.   Aurora, listed as a sulphur carrier, carries PotashCorp colors.

Potash Corp has their big mine about 35 miles from here, as the pelicans fly.

Chief is clearly a Marinex tug.

I’m not sure the ID of the inbound vessel here passing Chief, here heading out to the dredge.

I can’t say for certain about that dive boat early on and whether the divers had been on Queen Anne’s Revenge, but there’ve been lots of salvage activity around the Inlet in recent days.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Mermaid Parade 2013 b

It can only be midsummer for a few long days.  Store up on the color, frivolity, music, and laughter the mermaids bring ashore for the rest of the year.  When they come through the intersection and turn down Surf Avenue, everyone stops to watch them pass.

 

And then, the hoop stops spinning and drops.  Tails and scales return and mermaids hurry back to their occupations beneath the waves, leaving us to return to our pursuits.  The moon wanes, as the music fades, replaced by raucous horns of frustrated drivers stuck in traffic.  Days shorten.  Temperatures oppress.  And we have only memories of this to get us through another year.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

And if you think this is an NYC-unique event, check out the zeemeerminnen.

Mermaid Parade 2013

Sinuous lines of body paint . . . can mean only one thing:  the Coney Island mermaid parade.  Click here for a Daily News profile of parades going back to the 1940s.

Dick Zigun, mayor of Coney Island,  starts out the beat, as he always does, but

then recognition went to those folks who contributed to make the parade possible.

Enjoy the color, imagine the sound of drums and laughter . . .

and frisson along some new ideas.

Happy summer.  Troubles be banished for a while.

It’s called the mermaid parade, so what would you expect.  And their marching bands make loud festive music.

Some bring consorts.

Frogs and politics crept in too.

But otherwise it was music and dance  . . .

a walrus or two . . .

and bright curvy colors.

Happy summer 2013.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Here are some posts from parades in  2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 . . . .

Road Fotos 34

Even 600 miles away, I can feel the pull of Saturday’s gathering.  Signs point north even

atop Carteret Academy.

Feral horses can try to hold me here, but after one last look around this area of the Outer Banks, I’ll head north.  This last look will show

Robert Burton,

Jack Holland,

Grace Moran and Fort Fisher,

Beaufort Belle,

and Odell.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Road Fotos 33

Heard of Morehead City?  Know much about it?  It turns out to be quite the bustling port, with Grace Moran,

Na Hoku . . . previously of the sixth boro,

a pilot named Able,

Fort Moultrie and Matamoros,

Snell,

and Aurora.  More on this later.

All fotos today by Will Van Dorp.  More soon.

And the population of Morehead City . . . less than 10,000.