Whatzit 48

Yesterday I mentioned novelty.  This is mid November in this part of the sixth boro.  For outatowners, this photo looks eastward from Liberty Landing Marina (aka  the Morris Canal) toward lower Manhattan.   Mid november!  And there are sailboat lessons happening.  But the “whatzit” is SeatheCity, a boxy catamaran with scant rearview vision.  Note the attitude of the vessel . . . attitude in an air/water craft technical sense.

See the black “water line.”  See what happens as you follow that black stripe from stern to bow.  She’s a bit down by the nose.

Earlier in the day I’d seen the boat at the dock.

I couldn’t quite figure out what its specialty was.

Platforms . . . flimsy ones, I wondered.  Finally it came to me. 

To my good fortune, I happened to be back at the marina later in the day to see the activity now happening there.   It’s a startup, I believe, that launched during the pandemic!

It just goes to show  . . . novelty is everywhere.  Call me speechless.  Here‘s the website. Other cities like Seattle and San Diego have variants.  I guess the Dutch came up with the Hot Tub Hot Tug.  I suppose these are manufactured versions of hot springs, which are open all year round.

All photos, reportage, WVD.