Riverbanks 9

This is looking down an 18% grade at L’Isle-aux-Coudres.  Note the two ships–Algoma Mariner and an orange-hulled bunker called Federal Tyne–in the narrow channel.  The river is much wider on the far side, but shallower.   A photo of Federal Tyne appears at the end of this post. Tide is out.

Tidal fluctuation here is about nine feet.

See the stack markings on that tug?

It’s Felicia, built 1923 in Sorel, and hasn’t been McAllister since 1965.

I couldn’t get into the shipyard here, but I recognized these two boats . . .

Lampsilis (research) and Theodore (relaxation) from

June 2015 in Trois Rivieres and

Montreal.

 

Meanwhile, farther along the riverbanks but clearly for reflection, these shanties

accommodate folks who fish through holes.

Federal Tyne . . . I caught up with her here.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

And L’Isle-aux-Coudres, I have to get back there in summer.

 

Small Craft 15

Hats off to the small boats that work all year round . . . crew boats,

patrol boats,

fishing boats,

line boats,

pilot boats,

dive boats,

more fishing boats,

more crew boats,

government boats,

more —soon to face major cuts--government boats

more line and boom boats,

and here’s a special . . . a historic life boat, long atop Binghamton, which is still intact as far as I know, and a bit longer ago had

guys in hazmat suits doing the last ever lifeboat drill aboard the 112-year-old condemned ferry.

And finally, of course there’s the New York Media Boat. 

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who gives a hat tip to all the crews in small boats on the big waters.

 

Fishing February

I’ve done lots of fishing posts, mostly about this unlikely estuary, where I’ve never fished.

Here’s Virginia Sue heading past Sakizaya Champion and out

 

the Narrows.  By the way, I’m planning a post on that fort in the distance some day soon.

Dutch Girl is a regular here,

as is the unlikely named but frequently seen Eastern Welder. 

 

Speaking of fishing, here’s my most recent Professional Mariner story on a group of guys who catch-and-release great big white fish.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Here and here are some related posts from six years ago. And why not another about a boat I’ve not noticed yet this year, Miss Callie;  keep in mind, I’ve not been out that much myself.

 

Random Tugs 188

If you squint, you can almost imagine Ellen McAllister is out at sea, with a big blue sky beyond her.  But that blue is

also Maersk blue;  to know how to create that blue, read through this thread and you’ll get the mix.  And this name . . . I couldn’t get the echo “sheer maerskness” out of my brain.  There’s also this port town by that name.

It’s fishing season in the sixth boro again, and here Eastern Welder is at work as Kimberly (oops!) JenniferTurecamo tows Portland out toward the Lower Bay.  It looks like Timothy Reinauer farther off.

 

Also, in the anchorage at that moment, were Weddell Sea with DBL 83,

launch Grace D, Mediterranean Sea with DBL 84,

Dylan Cooper, Joanne III, and Matthews Tibbetts.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

 

Where There’s Pigs . . .

ooops, new pigs, there must have been an incident.

A little background . . . .  A conductor of the The Timbuctoo, Khartoum & Western Railway Marching Band & Chowder Society emailed me yesterday about what they said was “strange small boat activity” just north of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.   Since I was in the area, I thought I’d check it out, and what I saw would be

considered at very least unorthodox nets on small boats, now that we are in harbor “fishing” season.  Pannaway is dredging for critters, I believe, although I’m puzzled by her New Hampshire registration, if I’m not mistaken.

See the rig with “sock” skimming the surface?

These rigs are designed to soak up stuff that should not be in the water, as opposed to critters that find it acceptable habitat.

Ken’s Marine does a lot of types of work, and

responding to spills is one of them.

 

The news had nothing I could find, but I’m guessing

there was something under-reported here.  By the way, a flat oil absorbent product is often called a diaper.

Again, thanks to the good conductor for the tip.

All photos and speculation by Will Van Dorp, whose already taken but too few rides on the Timbuctoo, Khartoum & Western Railway.

An added plus of my trip here was to have another look at Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which I’ll feature in an upcoming post.

 

Critters 4

A news story I read this morning prompts this continuing of the critters series.  I link to the story at the end of this post.  All the following photos I’ve taken since September, and filed away until I feel there’s a story.   Let’s start here in a New Jersey marsh creek,

go to the North Fork,

the KVK,

more of the KVK,

still more there,

and finally to the freshwater in the Erie Canal.

 

 

 

So here’s the story about a laker captain and his floating forests  . . . .  Click here for more info on part of Pittsburgh Steamship Division fleet.

All critter photos by Will Van Dorp.

Off Gallivanting Again

By the time you read this, I should already be in Quebec, and once we get under way, we’ll reverse the trip I began six weeks ago in NYC’s sixth boro here. From Quebec City we travel up the Saint Lawrence, up as in upstream.  The waterway is truly beautiful, and although I have defined tasks on the ship, I get to spend a lot of time watching .

 

 

 

The photo below I took from the NE corner of Lake Ontario looking toward the port of Oswego.

From the Lake, we cut in at Oswego via the Canal, bypass all the fishing, and

make our way via the grand canal back to saltwater.

Here’s the 1899 Buffalo-built steam tug Geo E. Lattimer (loa 59′ x 16′ x 4.5′) exiting the low side of Lock 17.

Given the pain of finding enough of a signal to post, I can’t tell you when and what you’ll see next.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, including the photos of photos from Canal signage.

Go West 15

As we follow the west side of Lake Michigan, we see evidence of lots of fish and folks who say yes to catching them.

 

 

 

And there’s a boat building tradition and

regular visits by an iconic vessel . . . Badger, which I’ve done a number of posts about before now.

 

Badger is a BIDO and carries a lot of vehicles, including this sub.

BIDO?   Back in, drive out.

 

 

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Springtime on an LCM 2

Here was the previous installment.  And here were the cargos and places of summer.  And if you missed it previously, here’s an article about Seaway Supplier I published in Professional Mariner last year.  The first six photos are used with permission from Seaway Marine Group.

Trucks like the ones with the white tanks transport stocks of fish from hatcheries to water bodies, in this case Lake Ontario.  Here’s the first time I noticed one of these trucks on the highway.

Off Oswego, it’s ready, aim,

swim!

Elsewhere at sites determined by the DEC . . . fish are brought in.

and the truck returns to shore for the next load.

The photos below all come thanks to Cathy Contant, who

works in the inlet and bay where I learned to swim almost 60 years ago. Back then, when a coal ship came in here, everyone had to get out of the water.  But I digress.

How could I not recognize the lighthouse AND Chimney Bluffs way in the distance.

 

Here’s what Seaway Marine writes on their FB page:  “We have transported 40 trucks, via 6 port locations stocking over 500,000 fish into Lake Ontario aboard our USCG certified landing craft, Seaway Supplier.”

Many thanks to Jake and Cathy for use of these photos.

 

Essex-built Schooner and the Huge Gray Haze

With a tip of the hat  to Hildegarde Swift and Lynd Ward, the title that came to mind as I shot these, and you’ll see why by the end.  See the road signs up there intended for drivers on the Triboro Bridge?

Rewarding my wait, it’s Jaguar towing Highlander Sea into the Gate,

past the Ward’s Island Footbridge, and

past Archibald Gracie’s cottage on the point. Click here for peers of the 1978 Jaguar.

Westbound the tow came at almost slack water and past

RTC 104 and

the Twins bound for Riverhead.

More on the brick building there with romanesque windows and green roof at the end of this post.

And here, when they were under the Queensboro Bridge,  the title occurred to me . . . having the same syllabication and cadence as the Swift and Ward title.

Now we need a story, one that starts as hundreds could in tiny but huge Essex.  Click here for my previous posts on Essex.

Maybe one about a fishing schooner design turned pilot boat turned yacht turned school turned . . .

fish market and restaurant/bar in the sixth boro.  I hope they sell monkfish.  These photos are compliments of my brother taken in Zwolle at a

pop-up market.

Thanks bro . . .

All other photos here by Will Van Dorp.

So, thanks to identification by Jonathan Steinman, the brick building there is ConEd’s cogeneration plant at East  74th St.  And this is a digression, but 74th Street has long been quite the interesting place.