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Like a galley or head or deck, the harbor itself needs maintenance of the routine as well as the extraordinary sort. Given the amount of oil that’s found its way into the sixth boro the past two months, the latter sort is going on. The bird sanctuary mentioned in the first sentence of this link is Shooters Island . . whose history I spoke of here about a year ago.
A routine removal of silt from shipping channels is performed by the vessel below–Atchafalaya–as well as Padre Island, which I got closeups of here two and a half years ago.
Here’s shipspotting info on Atchafalaya (1980, Minnesota Twin cities along the river built!!) which I’ve yet to catch close enough for many details. Here’s still another link on Atchafalaya.
Back to a different set of post-Sandy extraordinary cleanups involve this vessel, with the appropriate name Driftmaster . . . not that it drifts around the sixth boro. Rather, it collects and either removes or secures large floating materials drifting in the harbor.
These fotos come compliments of bowsprite. What I believe is going on here is Driftmaster securing floating docks that in the highest of the surge floated right up off the pilings. I’m not sure where this Driftmaster was built . . . It may date from 1947.
Ditto here. This floating dock needs to be locked back into the pilings. The crane barge here is moved around by 1965 tug Harry McNeal. In the bottom foto, notice the square holes through which the cylindrical pilings must fit.
All but the first two fotos (mine) were taken by bowsprite, whom I thank.
Here was installment #21.
This foto was taken from Front Street in Stapleton, Staten Island. The gray vessel is docked at the pier now used by Firefighter II. What’s remarkable about this foto–I think–is that Hurricane Sandy has brought together here (l to r) a re-purposed C5 and a repurposed C4, two old-fashioned but reborn American built ships. Let’s take them chronologically. The black hull is T/S Kennedy, a C4-S-66a originally built by Avondale Industries as Velma Lykes, has been activated to serve as housing for relief workers. Thank you Mass Maritime. The gray hull is SS Wright, a C5-S-78a originally built by Ingalls Shipbuilding as Mormacsun, was quite some time ago reconfigured as aviation (helicopter) logistics support ship T-AVB-1.
Here’s as close as I could get, and
here’s a view from the south.
RIBs are a common sight here, and
Is this the Moose boat that sank off Breezy Point back in September 2012?
And finally . . . I know Patrick Sky is not a government boat, but she was posing here yesterday with a snmall UACE vessel.
While looking at this list of MARAD design vessels, which include Wright and Kennedy, I notice E. A. Fisher, built in 1963 and donated to NYC in 1993. Of course, I’m new on this scene, but has anyone heard of this vessel? What became of it?
Small craft to come, but first . . . the missing foto from yesterday’s post . . . how DID the heaving line get through the eye aka “closed chock”? Hope this foto helps; I do believe I see the monkeyfist flying upward from the crewman at the rail; crew on the upper level passed it to the crewman forward of the chock?
It’s been over two years since I’ve used this title. Small craft come in many shapes,
are operated by professional mariners,
respond to emergencies with versatility,
and shuttle specialists between shore and much larger craft.
This one I first thought was transporting booms but now I think had some festive mission, given what appears to be a sizable bouquet over the engine compartment.
They operate for many agencies,
commercial entities,
government services, and
and law enforcement groups.
They work in diverse
weather, all
year round.
Enjoy a few more:
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who apologizes for not knowing who operates some of these small craft.
First foto comes thanks to William Hyman, who took it eight days ago. Resolute waits along the dock in MOTBY for its next assist. In the background is a lesser-known 9/11 monument, a Tsereteli statue given to the US as an official gift of the Russian government only six years ago. Putin himself came here for the dedication. Resolute is six times older than the monument, and when it was launched, no doubt no one would have imagined a Russian-donated statue would stand anywhere in NYC.
Ireland dates from 1940; she first appeared on this blog only five months ago here.
No vessel makes more noise as it passes as OSG Vision. And if you don’t know her power in “equines,” check here. I guess that partially explains the throbbing, only partly since President Polk is rated at 57,000!
Amy Moran (1973, 3000 hp) assists OSG Vision and OSG 350 through the Kills.
Amy C McAllister (1975) follows McAllister Sisters (1977) to the next assist.
Bruce A. McAllister (1974) here assists Baltic Sea I (2003) rotate and then head outbound.
A few seconds earlier, McAllister Sisters used noticeable force to push Baltic‘s stern around.
There was once a Baltic Sea that belonged to the same fleet as Beaufort Sea (1971), but that other Baltic now works out of Lagos, Nigeria. I’ve written the new owners to ask for fotos, but . . . so far, in vain.
Bering Sea (1975) and Jane A. Bouchard (2003) spend some time at the fuel dock.
No tug appears on this foto, but some of you just know which tug is mated to RTC 135. Cruise ship, I believe, is Explorer of the Seas. Answer about the tug follows.
Gelberman (1980) may look like a tug, but USACE call it a “debris collecting vessel.” More info on her can be found in this post from three and a half years ago.
Thanks to William Hyman for that first foto; all others by Will Van Dorp. And the tug mated to RTC 135 is Nicole Leigh Reinauer.
I did this post just over a year ago; note the prominent change happening in the Manhattan skyline, as seen from the north coast of Rockaway Queens. The last time you saw the tug shown here was December 2011. Any guesses what Patty was towing yesterday? Answer tomorrow.
Most of my views of the rising tower come from my “office” on the north coast of Staten Island. It looms there, beyond these McAllisters,
Na Hoku,
Caitlin Ann,
Magothy,
Penn No. 6,
Thomas J. Brown,
Norwegian Sea,
JoAnne Reinauer III,
Hayward,
Elk River,
and Resolute.
Unrelated: Following their own landmarks, a new crop of aeons-old silvery slime has reportedly returned to sixth boro waterways. What . . . you ask? Click here.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Gusts last Saturday were over 40 mph, but work on the harbor, as always, went on. Here Joan Turecamo pushes barge Bridgeton upriver between the Battery and Ellis Island.
Might that barge be loaded deep with coal?
Notice the whitecaps all around Joan Turecamo, built north of Albany in the last years of the Matton Shipyard, possibly the penultimate vessel out of that yard .
Aegean Sea (1962, ex-Francis E. Roehrig, Jersey Coast, John C. Barker) pushes up river.
Driftmaster heads south, and from this vantage point, you can see into the hoppers where
debris it fishes out of the sixth boro gets stowed. Driftmaster dates from 1948, but I can’t locate its place of construction.
Virginia (1979, ex-Bayou Babe) shuttled between shore and the “mat-laying barge“.
In the distance, the long, low James Turecamo assists Pati T Moran and barge Charleston into the KVK.
Also, way in the distance . . . the new dredge in town . . . one I’ve never seen closer up than this: Atchafalaya, one I hope to meet again on a less windy day. Maybe she’s in town for repairs?
All fotos taken by Will Van Dorp last Saturday from a lower Manhattan cliff from which much of the sixth boro can be seen in a single glance YET little or nothing of its complexity can be divined. Like my attractive muse, the sixth boro does not give up its secrets at a finger’s snap or with any degree of haste. Any attempt to unlock the story or tales of the harbor with a single key is like trying to catch the wind.
Fotos here were taken last Friday, much colder than today.
Conflicting jurisdictions? It felt so cold along the water the other day that I totally understand a chase for no other reason than . . . to speed up blood flow and heat, not that I’m saying this is happening here. By the way, in blue, it’s Launch #4, the 55′ 1994-launched Kenny Hansen. In yellow, it’s the 1980 Arkansas-built 85′ Gelberman, named for Jack Gelberman, who was chief of operations of NYC-area USACE until 1973.
I move from “office” to “office” too, simulating chase maybe, staying warm. And I track down Zachery Reinauer and the great Herbert P Brake.
A quick dash further east, I catch Sassafras with DoubleSkin 36 in push gear and Rhea I. Bouchard light, passing on the north side of the KVK, Bow Architect and LaFarge barge Adelaide.
Still not quite out of breath, I spot Cape Cod spritzing past Theo T.
Moving again . . . jogging to keep warm . . . I espy (l. to r.) the bow of Bow Architect, a light Norwegian Sea, an approaching Conrad S, and (possibly) Davis Sea.
Three things about Conrad S give me pause for reflection: the last name initial, the seriously tubular bow deck (not sure that’s the technical term), and the containerized tanks belonging to R. M. I. Food Logistics. Here’s what I found. So . . . alcohol, oils, syrups . . .. ?
It seems my day for single-letter last names, as in Gunes K, which
enjoys a bridge with big glass for perspicacious watch-keepers.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who really needs to rest in the shade of a palm tree for awhile listening to sweet music and honeyed conversation.
Unrelated: For a look at shellfishing and much more happening around Nantucket, check out Martie’s blog: http://nantucketwaterfrontnews.blogspot.com/
Just back from the Roundup, but before I can relax, I want to download my fotos and put a few up. Below is a lineup as seen from the 2nd Avenue Bridge to Peebles Island.
Another lineup, as seen from the fotog boat–Tug 44–loitering just north of the 112th Street bridge. Many thanks to Fred and Kathy.
Left to right inside the Federal Lock, the Erie Canal’s largest and newest tugboat, Grand Erie (ex-USACE dredge tender Chartiers, 1951!!) and Urger, (1901!) a frequent focus of this blog. Type Urger into the search window.
Throngs crowded the waterfront in Waterford this weekend all day.
Just after dawn on Saturday fog rises from the calm waters.
W. O. Decker won the “people’s choice” vote.
Empire wins my prize for the most altered color from last year.
My thanks to the sponsors. I appreciate your sponsorship.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp. More Roundup fotos and videos this coming week.
In previous posts we pondered winter fishing and puzzled about East River fishing. Yesterday I caught wind of a fishing competition between Gelberman and Hayward, two vessels operated in the New York District of the US Corps of Engineers.
The fishing began the very instant the echo of the starter’s signal boomed across the boro. Gelberman was first out the KVK with
Hayward right behind. But the first rod to tilt upward belonged to Hayward . . . aware of what all drifts beneath the surface.
After what seemed an epic struggle worthy of Santiago’s, Hayward gained the upper hand, raising the crane skyward although
the prey twisted and turned, prolonging the fight, clawing back to remain in the murky fluff.
The quarry now secured, two helmeted Junetime fisherfolk posed with their trophy, which gets classified
by a dear fellowblogger as Junk. I sincerely hope bowsprite has kept her eye open for other junk, infiltrating the boro and threatening our way of life. Junk is junk after all, whether it be Detritus rectangulus furnitureus or Detritus rectangulus aluminumensis.
Thanks to the Corps of Engineers for their efforts in many domains.
Unrelated: I’m happy but shocked to read about Coast Guard plans for Deepwater oil washing towards . . . . Long Island! Plans are good, but . . .
FireFighter at the Narrows, Fort Wadsworth side . . . rainbow effect of spray . . . must be doins’ … big stuff going on or about to . . . .
Waiting on the Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn) side, I espy a huge shape some five or six miles off, here between FDNY’s not-yet-in-service 343 and the venerable Driftmaster. Iwo Jima (Mississippi-built) has returned! See fotos I took on board last year here.
The first fleet vessel through the Narrows was PC-4, Monsoon, Louisiana-built, commissioned in 1994, here passing Ellen McAllister. Scroll through this link to see a sampling of fotos of Monsoon‘s adventures.
Next visitor in was WMEC 909, Campbell, the sixth cutter to bear that name, here with helicopter above and USACE vessels all around, from left, Moritz, (I believe that’s the stern of Dobrin … barely visible), Driftmaster, and Gelberman. Campbell’s homeport is Portsmouth, NH. See a previous appearance of Campbell on this blog here… last foto).
Next in, sibling of Monsoon . . . was Squall, commissioned in same year and state.
As Iwo Jima approached the Verrazano Bridge, a gun salute from Fort Hamilton drew
Iwo Jima‘s response. By the way, the bit of land on the lower left side of the foto above is Hendrick’s Reef, on which the Brooklyn pillar of the Verrazano Bridge stands, an island that from 1812 until 1960 housed Fort Lafayette. I wonder which Hendrick that was.
Ellen McAllister followed Iwo Jima in. Is that Catherine Turecamo over on Iwo Jima‘s port side?
Next in was DDG 95, destroyer James E. Williams, named for a sailor who served in both Korea and Vietnam. Read about her namesake here.
Then it was FFG 45, frigate De Wert, named for a sailor who died in Korea in 1951.
And then Bath, Maine-built CG 58, Philippine Sea.
Closer up . . . I can’t identify the Coast Guard 47-footer other than 47315. By the way, see this type vessel’s capabilities as filmed in the mouth of the Merrimack River in all its fury. The Merrimack was my obsession during part of the 80s and all of the 90s.
I didn’t see where Miriam Moran assisted (probably up at the Hudson River passenger terminal) but a while later I caught her headed to home base as Laura K. was out to Red Hook for an assist. Check out the two crew on the afterdeck.
Hmm . . . I wonder what the story is.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
By the way, “Government Ships 5” is the short title; a longer version is “Their crews and all those sixth-boro based supporters.”
Welcome to New York.
A century ago, a parade of ships featured the Cruiser Olympia, now in very real danger of being reefed.
Staten Island Live has an excellent schedule of events planned the next few days on Staten Island, where most of the fleet vessels are berthed. See the schedule here.
Final note: I plan to cross the Merrimack aka “merry mack” tomorrow headed north for some canoeing. See foto here. The Pow Wow flows into the Merrimack.
tugster: a waterblog 
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