USA, USA, USA

I’ll explain this photo and the title at the end of this post.

The big move began yesterday on schedule, timed with the tides, I was told, to fit the cargo under some of the Hudson River bridges . . .

The cargo was gussied up with sponsors much like you’d see on a NASCAR racer.

 

Three tugs accompany the Mormac 400 barge.

On the stern were Daisy Mae and Mister Jim.

Underneath the entire cargo were tires;  I counted about 32 “axles,” each with with duals, and I’m not sure how many sets of duals across there are.  Maybe someone has the correct number.

 

After getting photos in New Baltimore, I crossed the river and got the rest of these in Hudson NY.

On the bow, CMT Pike (1979) guides the load.

Mister Jim (1982) and Daisy Mae (2017) power the tow from the stern.

Here, unfortunately backlit, the tow passes the Hudson-Athens Light.  

Hudson has quite the interesting history, and a spectator I talked with said the port missed becoming the state capital by three votes.  The architecture of the town is visit-worthy.

So you might still be wondering about the title and the top photo.  Here’s the story:  as I focused on taking the photos in Hudson, on the shore with a dozen other folks, I heard a chant.  “USA USA USA” from a group of kids who were in the park enjoying the beautiful spring weather.  I can’t say how the chanting started, but they were certainly looking at this large cargo and noticing the “union made in the USA” sign, and pumping their arms, dancing, and chanting loud enough to get a reaction from some folks on the tugs.  My guess is that it was spontaneous.  As a friend of mine would say:  “Neat!!”

And the cargo, here’s an informative article from Workboat.  It’s a heat-recovery steam generator bound for Bridgeport CT;  as of this writing (0515 Tuesday), the tow is approaching Newburgh.  The schedule has it at the GW at 1700 this afternoon and anchored at the Statue by 2000 (8 pm), departing for the East River at 0300 Wednesday.

The photo below offers a view from the stern of Mister Jim, thanks to Ashley Hutto.

For some previous interesting cargoes moved by CMT tugs, click here (for beer) and here (for a previous HRSG).