Thanks to Great Lakes Mariner 3
Well . . . a couple of Great Lakes mariners who prefer to remain nameless . . . but let’s start with a photo of Joel B from a few years ago. She’s quite the attractive boat! Thanks so much to a GL Mariner for responding to Saturday’s post by sending another of that boat […]
Something Different 56
Thanks to Isaac Pennock, who took this photo on the hard in Muskegon MI. The name Joel B and the port of registry New York is recognizable in the metal. Does anyone remember Joel B in NY? She’s not large, 30- to 40′ and a beam of less than 15′, wide load sign notwithstanding. […]
Lake Loop 3: Muskegon
The photo below may seem an unlikely choice on tugster, especially as lead photo. I post it here because this is where Urger in 1901 was designed, built, and launched at 300 Pine, on a finger of the Grand River and not far from Dornbos Island. I mention that because Urger was initially called Henry J. […]
Paul Bunyan
Long before Marvel comics and their several versions of rebirth, a crop of folk heroes existed, with stories that originated in the oral tradition, at least so it seems to me. And was the Paul Bunyan legend based on Saginaw Joe Fournier? No matter. Here’s the first workboat I can recall aptly named for one. […]
Retro Road Photos
These photos I took on a road trip 10 years ago. Revisiting some photos from this trip underscores how little I know about the inland waterways. Let’s start in Pittsburgh with Consol Energy’s Gabriel. Farther west at Pike Island locks, Brenda Rose pushes some large components up the Ohio. Downstream across from the stadiums in […]
Government Boats 47
I missed the sixth boro fleet week this year, so here’s my compensatory post. A French FREMM visited the port a few years ago, and here’s the first Italian one I’ve seen, built by Fincantieri. FREMM . . . well for the French frigate it would expand to Frégate européenne multi-mission. The Italians would call […]
Seats of Power 2
Edda Fram runs back and forth, it seems, from shore (Scotland) to various oil platforms in the North Sea. Rough weather operation necessitates seats hard to fall out of. Solomon T, once operated by Elbert Felton (shown), is a 1938 restored inside the Outer Banks fishing vessel, with seat and wheel appropriate to 1938. MV […]
Really Random Tugs 40
Remember the December 2016 saga involving Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister? Note the blackout painting where the stack rings once were? Thanks to Krystal Kauffman, here’s an update from Muskegon. The photo below comes from Jake Van Reenen as they were departing Frink Park in Clayton near the 1000 Islands. It’s a moody photo. […]
Lake Express
aka, trans-Michigan and not Badger. More on Badger later. Lakes Express entered service in 2004, max speed at 34 kts., and has capacity for 44 cars, 12 motorcycles, and 248 passengers. It crosses the Lake between Milwaukee and Muskegon in 150 minutes with up to 8 crew. Until 1970, this run was made […]
Mariners to Muskegon 2
Back on December 4, two formerly McAllister tugboats departed the home base in Mariners Harbor (typically referred to as “Mariners”) for Muskegon Michigan. Word is that they have now safely arrived. A few days after they departed NYC, Nelson Brace caught this photo of the two traversing the Cape Cod Canal. On December 19, Michel […]
tugster: a waterblog 