Under wraps last summer, this new build in Cleveland was ready for the intended client, but  . . .

“we have a problem” finalizing the deal, so there had to be another deal.

So finally a month ago, San Jose got under way from Cleveland getting through the Saint Lawrence and around Nova Scotia bound for eastern US.

Jack Ronalds caught the next two photos as the tug and crew sought refuge in Port Hawkesbury after having ridden out gales from the mouth of the Saint Lawrence to the Strait of Canso.

When the stormy seas lay down, they left port again, rounding the point at Canso, but southern coast of Nova Scotia was still rough and required sheltering again before making the jump across to Portsmouth NH,

arriving in the wee hours at this lovely spot on Ceres Street up the Piscataqua a ways.

I have long history with the Piscataqua going back to the mid-1980s.  As a much younger kayaker, I used to ride its current all the way around New Castle . . . .  Here, here, and here are some previous tugster posts mostly showing Portsmouth.  Note the Christmas tree of Drum Point?  To her port side is Mary M. Coppedge.  More Moran photos from Portsmouth will be included in an upcoming post.

Here’s a closeup of San Jose, with an

even closer up here, showing the location of its intended client.

And finally, here’s a view of the Moran yard from Badgers Island, Maine, a short distance across the Piscataqua.  What these last few photos fail to convey is the inviting smell of lobsters, shellfish, and other delightful fruits of the sea.

San Jose COULD be called Handy Four, as its largely the same vessel as Handy Three shown below, as taken in 2013 in the process of my writing this article.  San Jose will soon be painted to match the other Moran tugs in the photo above, as Handy Three has already been since PRT has been purchased by Moran.

 

Thanks to Jack Ronalds for use of his photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp, who just has to find some good lobster for dinner today.