May 2010 . . . I took my first trip to see the thrills of the southern Arthur Kill, thanks to Bonnie. Back then the hull of Astoria (1925-1967 on the East River Line) was still there. Since then, I believe it’s been removed . . . said to be an eyesore. !@#$?!! Here’s more from that paddling trip. Keansburg Steamboat Company operated it until it ended up here. If I read The Boats We Rode, Roberts & Gillespie, p.13) right, I’m wondering why it spent so many years before being broken up. And why isn’t it listed here?
ABC-1 was hauled out back that month. I know some of you are happy to see what she looks like below the waterline.
OSG Vision was new, and spent some time at the Bayonne shipyard. Here she’s nose-to-nose with Horizon Discovery.
I recall vividly this spectacular spring morning before work . . . Irish Sea went by pushing DBL 103, passing NYK Rigel at Howland Hook. Mornings like that tempted me to skip work.
I’m not sure where this boat is today, but I did manage to get close-ups out of the water here, three and a half years later.
Heather M II here passed NYK Rigel. I’ve never seen Heather M since, I believe, but she has classy lines and a great bow pudding.
Colleen was still in salt water back then. I’m not sure she ever thawed out after a late December transit to Lake Michigan six years later.
Janice Ann, here pushing RTC 28, was still around here. If you want to read about life aboard Janice Ann, I did a review of a book written by one of her captains here.
Niz C. Gisclair was an exotic in town, likely here working on a dredging job. She has a Marquette logo on her stack.
Sorry about the backlighting here, but it’s Allied’s Falcon in the Kills. She has since appeared on this blog as Carolina Coast.
And finally . . . a sad shot of sister ship of Day-Peckinpaugh, launched as Interwaterways 101. The vessel below was launched two months later as Interwaterways 105, and from 1936 until 1976 operated as Michigan. She’s languished in the AK for decades, possibly since 1976. She’s an Eriemax, tailored to the dimensions of the Barge Canal locks, built in Duluth 99 years ago!
Here’s the same vessel on the Erie Canal, date and photographer unknown.
Yup . . . after 18 days of virtual Erie Canal touring, I needed to sneak another Erie Canal pic in here.
All photos except the last one by WVD.
7 comments
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May 10, 2020 at 11:10 am
Arthur C Hamilton
Michigan looks a lot like Mobil Chicago
February 5, 2023 at 11:34 am
Bob
Built to do the same work…My dad was on the Chicago a lot in the 70s into the 90s.
May 10, 2020 at 12:43 pm
Jim M
The Day-Peck isn’t looking to good either, this was from September 2019:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ZqPsfXiNJAVJrdOskO1tPaOg
She was looking so good when she attended the NYC tugboat races a few years ago.
May 10, 2020 at 1:22 pm
tugster
no T. L. C. might suggest R. E. E. F. . . .
May 10, 2020 at 3:03 pm
Jim Gallant
That old USCG double ender brings back a lot of memories. 40 years ago when I was attending Suffolk University in Boston, there was one of these as an outdoor exhibit / family play area at (of ALL places,) a sheltered small outdoor elevated piazza on the east end of Boston City Hall. They had cut several crawl holes through the hull so that visitors and their children could enter and crawl around inside the boat. Even by 1970’s standards I thought this was sacrilege to butcher such a rare old boat; but even so, being a ten minute walk from school it soon became one of my favorite spots to hang out and eat lunch on many days when the weather was agreeable to do so. That motor lifeboat has been long gone for years, and I always wondered about her fate. Hopefully, she was preserved someplace…perhaps somebody out here knows?
May 11, 2020 at 7:06 am
Glenn Anderson
Excellent Canal Montage! I spent 4 summers on the Champlain canal never the Erie.
May 11, 2020 at 7:47 am
tugster
Thx, Glenn. Since I’ve never been on (only along) the Champlain, I’d love to see photos of the sights, if you’re interested in sharing.