Retro Sixth Boro 24 B

Some things like winter fishing in the harbor appear not to change in a decade, but

Houma will never again move Mary A. Whalen.  Houma, built at Jakobson in 1970, was scrapped in 2017.  PortSide NewYork currently has a berth for the tanker and many other activities in Atlantic Basin, Red Hook.

B. E. Lindholm, built in St.Paul MN in 1985,  is alive and well, currently dredging off Fire Island.

This Kristin Poling was still working 10 years ago, definitely a survivor from before WW2 and also definitely then in her home stretch.  Byearly 2012 she was scrapped.

In March 2010 I also had a chance to gallivant off to Baltimore, home of NS Savannah.  If my calculations are correct, she was in service for 10 years total, and now in mothballs for 48!! Truth be told, she was a prototype, a demo ship with limited cargo capacity but also passengers.  Her beautiful lines were designed by George S. Sharp.  Recently she was at the end of a towline,  a sight I’m sorry I missed.  A wealth of info and video as well as smart comments can be found on this demo vessel here in a publication called Atomic Insights.  Let me quote a small section to tease you into reading the article:  “By technical measures, the ship was a success. She performed well at sea, her safety record was impressive, her fuel economy was unsurpassed and her gleaming white paint was never smudged by exhaust smoke.”

Cajun stood by Chios Voyager near the Inner Harbor Domino Sugars plant.   Cajun still works along the east coast US.  Chios Voyager, built 1984, has been scrapped.

And a somber last photo . . . I caught El Faro in Baltimore 10 years ago.  Little did I expect then what we all know now.

All photos, WVD, in March 2010.