April Fish 2

 

Well, maybe your subscription to something has expired, but reading tugster requires no subscription, and no lucre flows into tugster tower from your –I hope–daily habit of checking in here.

It is April first, and I quite like the day. Here was what I did April 1, 2010, and here  . . . .   the day in 2009.  I don’t always mark it, although once I shifted focus of the blog entirely to trucks, the first time.  That generated a bit of hate mail . . . which led to a whole new division of tugster, i.e., trickster. which autocorrect always wants to spell incorrectly.  Truckster it is.

Since you’re here, let me share some miscellaneous photos.  Sea Hunter has recently turned up near the McAllister yard.  I posted my photos of Sea Hunter as she appeared in Boston three years ago here.  Anyone know what fate she’s hunting for in the sixth boro?  Also, on the photo below, there’s the Atlantic Trader barge.  That’s  the short-sea shipping hull I last saw in 2015 here.

Here’s a dense shot:  near to far, the far tugs are Crystal Cutler, Jacksonville, Navigator, and another unidentified Vane tugboat.

So while I’m at it, let me share some mail.

From Phil Gilson, an article about fast US Navy vessels converted into shallow draft speedy banana boats, and that’s no April Fools joke.  See it here.

And finally here’s an oldie-but-goodie from Steve Munoz.   Jane McAllister (1968) and Margaret M McAllister (1928, converted from steam to diesel in 1957)  assist a Sealand ship in Port Elizabeth back in 1986.  Note the Old Bay Draw is still bissecting Newark Bay in that shot.

Thanks to Phil for the story/link and Steve for the photo.

The other photos by Will Van Dorp, and inscribed in tugster tower by invisible watermarks.

 

Random Tugs 197

Kirby Moran here seems to have some symbiosis going on with the gulls,

and Jonathan C comes in for a closer look.

Zachery Reinauer repositions light under the parking lot forming on the lower deck of the Bayonne Bridge.

Diana B moves another load of product, likely to the creeks.

 

Thomas D. Witte is on the paper recycling run, I think.

Does anyone have a photo of her working up in the canals?

I’ve not yet seen Sapphire Coast light.

And finally, the unique paint scheme on Balisco 100 

moved into the Kills by Navigator.

 

 

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 181

A random gallivant around the sixth boro the other day showed these boats, starting with Iron Mike (1977) under the Williamsburg Bridge.

a trio of Navigator (1981), Susan Miller (1981) , and Quantico Creek (2010) over by Con Hook,

Robert IV (1975) a little farther north and east,

Scott Turecamo (1998) headed for the Kills,

HMS Liberty (1978) in the anchorage,

Amberjack (1981) facing Yonkers,

Barry Silverton (2015) swinging toward the Palisades, and

Rhea I. Bouchard (1982) making way for a point up north.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 158

As you know, tugboats do all manner of work on the water.  They push train cars, increasingly these years–according to Peter D’Amato— after quite the plummet.

Tugboat here is James E. Brown with barge 278.

Christine M. McAllister is a 6000 hp tug that usually

wired to RTC 502.

Ditto Evelyn Cutler, usually working with Noelle Cutler.

 

Mister Jim here is pushing sand (or aggregate?), and

Gateway’s Navigator is pushing a newly painted GT Coast Trader dredge scow, in the same time/harbor as

 

Balisco Marine Service’ Navigator pushes oil.

 

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who offers this bonus below.