19 | April | 2021 | tugster: a waterblog

Steve’s uncle Bob was a captain and pilot on the Dalzelleagle/McAllister Bros from 1968 to 1985. That makes for a special connection and lots of vintage photos. Enjoy these thanks to Steve. I’ll use his captions.

Dalzelleagle assisting ship in East River in September 1968.

Dalzelleagle heading down Buttermilk Channel-from pier 12 Brooklyn in September 1970. The tug is interesting, but so are the details in the background.

Cook Ralph Andreason waves from the stern on Dalzelleagle departing 69th St pier Brooklyn in September 1970.

McAllister Bros in North River off Hoboken pier on August 24, 1973.

The is the same time and place, roughly. The Twin Towers had opened earlier that year.

Tug McAllister Bros leading Atlantic Champagne thru Newark Bay Draw on July 5, 1976. This picture brings to mind a story that my Uncle Bob Munoz told me. Bob was a captain and pilot on the Dalzelleagle/McAllister Bros from 1968 to 1985. One time he was piloting a ship in Newark Bay toward the Newark Bay Draw Bridge and a woman passenger came over to him on the bridge of the ship and asked him if the ship was going through that little opening in the bridge. Bob said that they were. She then asked how he did that. So he looked at her and said, “When we get real close I just close my eyes.” Atlantic Champagne, an ACL vessel, was launched in 1969 with a teu capacity of a dazzling 882 teu.

McAllister Bros in Newark Bay from a ship on June 26, 1987. That CRRNJ bridge was used starting in 1926; I saw some remaining piers about a decade ago, but it is entirely gone now. Given the raising of the Bayonne Bridge, keep in mind that vertical clearance here was 136′. Maybe someone can tell me the width of the channel.