Thanks to JG 1

Know that boat below?  Answer follows.  It’s recently been in the news.  This trove of photos comes from JG, an out-of-towner whom I sometimes meet along the KVK.  This photo was taken between 2001 and 2007.

Seguin (1972, YTB-816 Campti) has been sold foreign.  Anyone know where? The photo below was taken in 2003.

Hercules (YTB-766, Wapakoneta) has also gone foreign, to Nigeria, as documented on this blog here.

Natick (YTB-760, Natick) was completed at Jakobson’s although construction began elsewhere.  The photo below was taken in 2009.

This photo of Phoenix LT-1975 was taken in 2007 in Constellation Maritime colors.  She’s currently in Maine as Fournier Brothers.

King Philip, shown here in 2007, currently works as Olon in Panama.

Chicopee, shown here in 2007, was built in 1952 by Higgins Industries as Army tug LT-1966.  Anyone know where she is today?

Ludwig E., which became Nathan E. Stewart in 2007, sank in October and was raised earlier this month.  Anyone know if she will be refurbished?

Many thanks to JG for use of these photos.

 

Trackster

You may recall that back in 2014, I often juxtaposed  canal&river/rail in photos like the one below.

This post was originally going to feature only photos of the river and canal from the rails, like the one below, but

then I decided to pair photos from the train toward the water with the opposite:  photos from the water toward roughly the same land area where the rails lay and the trains speed.

Train shots are difficult because of speed, coatings on the windows, trees and poles along the tracks . . .  but I’m quite sure a letter that begins “Dear Amtrak:  could you slow down, open windows, and otherwise accommodate the photographers” would not yield a positive response.

I hope you enjoy this attempt on my part.  And if you ever have a chance to ride Amtrak along the Hudson, Mohawk, and Lake Champlain . . . sit on the better side of the car; switch sides if necessary.

Here we’re on the Livingstone Avenue Bridge looking south and

here we are south of it, looking north.  Yes, that’s Crow, Empire, W. O. Decker, and Grand Erie passing through the open swivel.

Here’s the pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam

as seen from both vantage points.

The 1766 Guy Park Manor from a speeding train and

from the Mohawk River/Erie Canal, where post-Irene repair has been going on since 2011.   Here’s a photo taken soon after the unusual weather.

Schoharie Aqueduct from Amtrak,

a slow boat, and

the east bank of Schoharie Creek.

Little Falls onramp to I-90 from rail and

below.

The rail bridge at Lock 19 from the span and

from west of it at Lock 19.

And these all east of Utica I can’t pair, but decided to include here anyhow:  a dairy pasture,

a construction yard, and

a truck depot.

Maybe if I write that “Dear Amtrak” letter, I could just ask if the window could be cleaned a bit.  If you’re going to try this, take amtrak when the leaves are off the trees.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who embeds this post from “Good Morning Gloucester” to reveal a bit of my past . . . 1988.  Scroll all the way through to see a piece of shipwreck “treasure.”

Tagster!

I blame my dear friend Christina Sun for this post.  Well, “blame” is the wrong word, but I’ll use it. She started it many years ago with this post on her blog, a project which I believe is “under re-powering and life extension,” to borrow someone else’s phrasing, and needs some encouragement, although she’ll blame me now for speaking that.

I’m impressed by murals, official and otherwise.  Mayor Steven Fulop in Jersey City  has promoted this public art in the city on the west side of the sixth bor.  Enjoy these.

I like the wave here, but even more, love that copper sheath on the cylindrical corner to the lower right.  It reminds me of a firecracker, or old-fashioned “rocket of the future.”

Near FIT in Manhattan, folks were painting

these as I passed.

Here are some on 9th Street in Brooklyn in the block directly south of the Gowanus Canal.

Back in Manhattan, here’s one seen from both ends on the west side of the Maritime Hotel, a once-maritime related building that was left as on the high tide mark when the port receded and left Manhattan.

 

Upriver in Troy and under the Green Island Bridge, it’s Troybot, who in the third panel of four

appears to be saving a sinking passenger vessel.

Also in Troy and under the Route 7 Bridge, someone summoned the spirits of some exotic sirens.

This is a unique form of tagging, drawing on the algae-covered walls of a lock chamber as it drains.

Oswego invites its high school students in.

That Great Lakes city also has this mural about an event in another Great Lakes city that inspired this quite profound hymn.

Here’s a mural visible from the Cuyahoga and under a bridge in Cleveland.

Ann Arbor’s Huron River has never known these faunas, but someone still imagined them.

But it was in Montreal this fall that I saw the best murals, as on this wall, with a variety of influences.

 

 

 

This one commemorates an actress from the Beijing opera. Click here for the back story and the artists.

Here are some in Beacon NY a few years ago.

 

And this brings me back to Staten Island, and Lina Montoya’s projects, these over along the tin sheets screening off Caddell’s.

 

Philadelphia is where I first encountered the result of the city organizing a murals program. See some here.  I’ve heard about the Oakland project, but I’ve never been there.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp, whose point here is that he takes photos of other things while focusing boat to boat.

 

Truckster! 2

In celebration of the beginning of the 11th year of blogging, I’m licensing myself to change course a few days.  Two things I want you to know are 1) I’ve posted approximately 90% of the days since November 26, 2006, and 2) my eyes always search for details other than tugboats to photograph.

I’ve gone here in the past, and retreated.  Tugboats and ships have a lot in common with trucks, and my eye is always attracted by an unusual truck, so in the effort to show that I DO take photos of things NOT on the water, let me revive this line.  Should I go over to this side?  Call this R&R, rambling and rumspringa.

Admit . . . this is a cool truck, eh?  And I took the photo right atop Penn Station, too.  Can anyone tell me if this is the same one that lives near the Newport PATH station?  And might there be three of these on the banks of the sixth boro?

Less well cared for, in Jersey City I saw this rusty Divco van next to a dumpster.  Anyone know if it’s for sale?  It might make a good camper?

 

Now where along the sixth boro banks (SBB) these days might one find a Mammoet field car?  Answer follows.

The other day I stopped to admire the calm and skill of a Shepherd Enterprises rig as he negotiated the streets under the south end of the High Line.  The driver told me it was a brand-spankin’-new Western Star.

 

Here he’s about to back into a dock to his right.

I was told this is a 1928

Graham Brothers truck.

Yes, it’s an Element and not really a truck, but if I were hitchhiking and this red head stopped, I’d run the other way, no matter what she might say.  I hope you’re convinced by now that I see a lot of strange stuff.

In the port of Oswego, might this be waiting for a cargo for Fort Drum?  If I cropped this in a certain way, you might think the ingots are on the trailer?

And we’ll end this digression here . ..  said to be a 1946 Dodge truck.  Cool!

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

And the Mammoet field car was over by the NYWheel.

Tugster Post 3287

Fire off the free foton fireworks!

For 3286 times before today I’ve posted since

November 26, 2006.  My very first post was here.  In the big scheme of things, 10 years is a short time, yet I have seen a fair amount of change in my beat–the sixth boro–in that time, particularly shore features, bridges, and some of the actual vessels afloat.  I certainly have learned a lot since 2006.

It does take some time every day, and I’ve thought to discontinue many times . . .

but I continue.  Thank you all for reading, commenting, correcting my errors and typos, answering my questions, suggesting ideas, sending along photos, offering me jobs, giving me work, inviting me to stuff, indulging my made-up words, recognized me, alerting me of events to shoot, unlocking doors, sending me gifts, buying me elixirs, sharing company, entrusting me with secrets, keeping me off the partisan shoals on FB, and generally being friendly.  You all have kept me going, have convinced me all this needs to be documented, and therefore, I’ve put at least 25,000 photos into the public domain.

Digital cameras make this documentation easy and the internet lowers the cost.  So I hope you continue to read the blog, respond, send along photos, and more.  If the photo enlarges well and it fits, I’ll use it, crediting you by name or pseudonym.  (Cell phone photos do not often work, unfortunately.)  The boro is complex, perspectives infinite, and the “gallivants beyond”  just plain innumerable.

Will I keep it up for another 10 years?  Who knows whether anyone will be alive next year . . . although I hope we’ll be.

Again, I am humbled and thank you.

Here was post 1000.

Here are anniversary posts from select previous years:  2008     2010    2011   2012   2014   2015

 

Government Boats 41

Let me start to play catch up here, since I have not done one of these posts in over half a year.  Anyone know why HMCS St. John’s (FHH-340) steamed into the sixth boro yesterday, Thanksgiving Day?  To assist this 45′ USCG response vessel and all the land-based law enforcement in keeping order on the so-called “black friday” chaos, perhaps?

USNS GySgt. Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017) was waiting in the anchorage,possibly for a berth at GMD Bayonne. The vessel namesake had an interesting set of deployments.

Icebreaker Penobscot Bay (WTGB-107) headed upriver a half month ago, but there was no imminent ice formation at that time, unless one traveled  well north of Inukjuak, but it would take some extraordinary turn-of-events for WTGB-107 to deploy there.

The sixth boro has a number of these 29′ patrol craft.

 

And to close out today’s post, USACE Moritz passes the evolving Rockefeller University campus expansion just north of the Queensboro Bridge.

All photos in the past month by Will Van Dorp.

 

Other People’s Photos 58

Here’s a short but motley set of photos.  Can you identify the tug below sporting the Canadian flag?  Answer follows.

Below it’s Barry Silverton, pushing Fight ALS eastbound on the East River.   Big Allis identifies the location, where Don Jon folks/equipment have recently placed the platforms to the lower right side of the photo.

And finally, from the Port of Toronto, it’s Mr. Kane, who first appeared on this blog here, although it is not identified except in the comments thanks to Isaac Pennock.

So the top photo, it’s Cheyenne, quite possibly the last vessel to traverse the Erie Canal this season.  I’m not sure if they have already reached the Hudson River.  She’s flying the Canadian courtesy flag because she had just exited the Welland Canal at Port Weller at that time.  Here’s a photo taken by fire girl two seasons ago, Cheyenne doing the part of the Canal at the east end of Sylvan Beach.

Thanks much to George Haynes, Jonathan Steinman, and Jan van der Doe for these photos.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  Thanks much for continuing to read tugster.  If there’s interest in the proposal below, I’ll try to fashion a post from your contributions soon if not tomorrow.

Proposal:  If you are working [today] Thursday and therefore having lunch and/or dinner at work–whether on a vessel or in any other work setting–and you choose to take a photo of the dinner–any aspect of the meal–and send it to me, please do and I’ll try to devise a post with it on Friday this week.  Thanks for the consideration.

Whatzit 35

I hope you’ve enjoyed the “whatzit” series as much as I do.  The photo below I took on October 22, 2016.  A minute or so earlier, I was thinking we were about to meet some traffic.  At this point I realized there were islands where I’d no recollection of seeing islands.  So what is it?

Here’s a similar “island,” photo taken on November 14, 2016.  In the Thousand Islands, such a small island with at least three trees would not have been out of place, but here . . .   ?

Until I saw this, and a few seconds later . . .

this.   By the way, these photos were taken not far north of Saugerties.

These camouflaged hunting platforms reminded me of some hunters we waked a few years back on Urger.  You can’t slow down if you don’t see the reason to.  Once we waked a few in a boat right along the bank–no photos because we didn’t see anything until we had passed by–we learned to “see” them and respond.

Here are a few we spotted in time.

 

We saw this guy, but he kept paddling madly as if to race us, all while keeping his face turned away.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who reiterates his suggestion from yesterday here:

“If you are working Thursday and therefore having lunch and/or dinner at work–whether on a vessel or in some other work setting–and you choose to take a photo of the dinner–any aspect of the meal–and send it to me, please do and I’ll try to devise a post with it on Friday this week.  Thanks for the consideration.”

Random Tugs 183

On the cusp of wintriness if not winter per se, the Hudson Valley is spectacular.  Let’s start with Fred Johannsen pushing this crane barge northward.  That’s the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge aka George Clinton Memorial Bridge (DeWitt Clinton’s uncle)  in the distance.

Here Treasure Coast urges Cement Transporter 7700–one I’ve never seen before–the last mile to the cement dock.

This reflection was so magical, I needed to include this closer-up.

Emerald Coast pushes a fuel barge downstream.

Sarah D moves a motley pair of scows upstream.

Eastern Dawn moves a fuel barge downstream.

Mr Russell shifts a barge near the TZ Bridge.  What is in those tanks?

Might that be Marion Moran pushing sugar barge Somerset up toward Yonkers?

I believe this is Doris Moran moving cement barge Adelaide downriver.

And as a last-but-not-least photo today, here’s Cornell conducting a TOAR sign off session.  Here’s a post I did three years ago with the same activity but using a different barge.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who has a proposal below:

If you are working Thursday and therefore having lunch and/or dinner at work–whether on a vessel or in some other work setting–and you choose to take a photo of the dinner–any aspect of the meal–and send it to me, please do and I’ll try to devise a post with it on Friday this week.  Thanks for the consideration.

Also, you may be “choosing” ed out by now, but here’s a set of thoughtful, well-reasoned and -articulated perspectives on the Hudson anchorages question that is open to public discussion until early December.

Also, if you’re planning to be at the WorkBoat show in New Orleans next week,  I’ll be wandering around there, maybe looking for some extra work.  I hope to see you.

 

 

Margot 2

If Margot were a fish, I guess you’d classify her as catadromous, sort of.  And no tug that I’ve followed has switched between salt (where she was launched) and fresh (where she frequents as a working niche) water as often as Margot does.   Last week she was sixth boro bound and exiting the low side of lock 9.  Here’s a post I did almost two years ago about some very unusual bollards at the top side of lock 9.   But I digress.   Recognize the cargo on the barge?

It’s a different barge, but those are two more fancy Canadian shoes–size 110-tons– for the legs of the NY Wheel, that repeat of what George Ferris built for the big Chicago fair in 1893.  And George Ferris . . . where did he get his inspiration to build such a wheel?  Well, it’s a Troy and Hudson Valley concept from the start, from Henry Burden and his industry.   Here’s a post I did in 2010 related to the dock Mr. Burden built upriver for his metal export.

The lower Mohawk has a stark beauty this time of year, so different from its beauty in other seasons.

 

 

I wonder why so many components of the NYWheel are sourced outside the US.  I guess I know, and it’s NOT my intention to make this a political post, and there’s no Jones Act for shore shoe/leg structures.

Bravo to the crew of Margot.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.