Here are previous posts in this series.
Below . . . could that almost be a dawn or twilight background? And is that a canot a glace aka ice canoe –with oars instead of paddles–maybe? Ice canoeing, some would say, is the real Canadian winter sport . . .
Well, no matter how much you squint, that is convincingly a small craft. The 751′ Espada does a successful job of obscuring the small craft. Without looking it up, I’d never have guessed that this Desgagnes tanker appeared in tugster here back in February 2013 as Stena Poseidon!! This connection clarifies to me my often-felt question: why do some ships call in the sixth boro once or a few times and then disappear forever? They just get repainted, rebranded, and show up here or elsewhere….
This one was hard to understand until I learned it was started life as a warping tug built 1946. Click here for some posts I’ve done about warping tugs, aka alligators.
To me, this runabout is the water equivalent of a 1950s sports car like these, in case anyone wants to buy me one . . .
This drift boat, I’m guessing, and I had to shoot it from a bridge through chain link.
New York State Bridge Authority? I can’t find evidence they own such a boat . . .
This one’s truly intriguing, given the approaching season, but I suspect this is as simple as a pair of hunters with supplies to conceal their duck blind. I did not however see any armed punts or sneak boxes.
And since we started with a human-powered small craft, let’s end here…
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is happy to post any photos of unusual small –or any sized–boats you may come across.
6 comments
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October 26, 2017 at 11:41 am
eastriver
The epic all-star event for canots à glace must be the race across the St Lawrence during Québec’s Winter Carnival, from Lévis to Québec’s Old City. Best seen from the battlements of the Cháteau Frontenac, hot rum in hand.
October 26, 2017 at 1:55 pm
tugster
Sign me up. Here’s the 2018 dates: https://carnaval.qc.ca And rather than a rum, I suggest this more appropriate spirit: http://www.mapleliqueur.eu/ourstory.html
October 26, 2017 at 3:20 pm
eastriver
There’s a more traditional Carnival drink:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribou_(drink)
Warning: can be lethal…
October 26, 2017 at 4:09 pm
Lee Rust
Never heard of a warping tug until today. What a concept! Here is an online archive by a Canadian builder that shows many details:
http://stevebriggs.netfirms.com/osmrm/blueprints.html
October 26, 2017 at 4:22 pm
tugster
check out this book, Lee: https://www.dundurn.com/books/Alligators-North
October 27, 2017 at 2:02 pm
Lee Rust
Imagine the working conditions around and aboard those Alligators. How else could the huge anchors be positioned thousands of feet ahead without a gang of crew members lugging them there? Ditto the log rollers I presume had to be constantly shifted under the advancing hull.