Whatzit 50

What made this stand out was the mostly horizontal member quite high off the water.  So I started snapping.

I’d noticed a few days back that Pelham had headed unusually far east in the Sound, and had run

sometimes tandem with Captain Willie Landers.  So this must be the tow.  

Any guesses?  

Names are always a clue. 

McInnis is a name that has appeared on this blog previously.  Here’s their network;  in that link, click on the map enlarger.  Below that, Van Aalst is another clue, given what they do.  So if you looked up both links in this paragraph, you can identify what this is. 

Put them altogether, and you’ve solved this whatzit puzzle:  it’s a dry bulk ship unloader built for McInnis.

Where it is headed and why . . .  

now I’ve no clue. A decade ago, I saw an antique specialized barge like this on the Maas (or Meuse) River;  the barge was named “graanzuiger no. 19,” which is pretty explicit Dutch for what it was designed to do:  graanzuiger translates literally as “grain sucker.”  This barge Resolute might be called a cementzuiger. A similar vessel called a floating grain elevator incorporating some of the same principles used to be quite common in the sixth boro, back when our watery boro was a major grain transshipment point. 

All photos, WVD.

 

Random Tugs 381

Marjorie  moves her train cars.

Nathan G goes for fuel.

Crystal Cutler pushes her barge.

Paula Atwell travels light for a change. 

CMT Pike does her harbor rounds. 

Mister Jim here looks brighter than usual in the morning sun; in cloudy weather, that gray livery

obscures details. 

Robert IV assists at the stone anchorage.

Cape Henry leaves her barge to take care of some business. 

Captain Willie Landers makes a pass through the boro. 

And a rare sighting, Sea Crescent transits the boro on her return from Port Hawkesbury NS to Fort Eustis VA.  It’s likely that Sea Crescent originated this voyage from a port on the Saint Lawrence or even the Great Lakes.

All photos, any errors, WVD, whose 380 in this series was posted here.

Random Tugs 374

All these tugboats have a common design feature.  I’ll let you figure it out. 

Eastern Dawn pushed a load of scrap westbound in the Kills.

James William showed off her bow as she traveled light toward the Upper Bay.

 

Ditto Buchanan 12, usually confined to pushing up and down the Hudson with a train of rock scows.

 

Robert IV does a plethora of jobs, spot work I think it would be called, from her base at Caddell’s.

Eastern Dawn returns from Newark Bay with a light scow.

 

And finally . . . where’s the tug pushing this deck barge with a boring machine?

It’s the shorty but mighty Jimmy!

And what they have in common is the squared off versus model bow, with knees designed for pushing.

All photos and any errors, WVD.

 

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Dana Alexa is another seldom seen tugboat in the sixth boro of NYC;

although painted DonJon blue, she’s now a Breakwater Marine boat, I believe.

It was good to see the 1958 54′ boat with a barge of what appears to be sheet piling.

William F. Fallon Jr. has appeared here several times recently.

Robert IV has worked in the boro for over 30 years.

 

Linda L. Miller originally was called Frog Belly.  I like that name.

And finally, you most likely by now have heard about the barge carrying scrap metals that caught fire on Delaware Bay and you may have wondered how scrap metals could burn.  What follows is a series of photo I took in mid-April of a similar load.

This load was towed by Mackenzie Rose;  the one that caught fire was towed by fleetmate Daisy Mae. Loads like this have been fairly common on the run from the sixth boro to the Delaware River.

Of course an investigation of the fire, which was confined to the barge, will take some time,

but scrapyard fires are fairly common.  Here‘s an unrelated though germane article from the BBC.

All photos, WVD.

Spring Giddiness 4

They say the devil is in the details, but so are the delights.  I often take photos without knowing what delightful details I will uncover.  Like the photo below . . .  what caught my attention was that it was the first ketch I’d seen in the boro in 2022.

When I looked closer, I saw it flew a French flag.  Unfortunately, I can’t make out the vessel name below; maybe you can.

Lion’s Paw looks to be a non-winter boat as well.  

Aluminum hull and red flag caught me here, and no, I don’t mean the tugboat, which is obviously Frances. 

Is this “flag” called a “red duster”?

I saw the name on AIS, but have forgotten it;  it started with an A and had an X, I recall.  I do know that it’s a Boreal 47 though. 

And on this gusty day last week, she appeared to share the wind with a local sail school boat, I believe. 

I’d taken the next photos earlier and couldn’t quite figure out why the tug–clearly Pelham–-and the party boat were so close together.  My first thought was that Pelham was towing a party boat that had possibly broken down. However, there was no tow line.  

Later I thought these folks clustered on the bow of the party boat hardly looked like they were going fishing!

Have you figured it out?

Look closely at Pelham.

Nope!  That does not say Pelham.  I imagine I’m a good reader, given how much of it I do, but because I recognized the profile as that of Pelham, I never bothered to read the name boards, which clearly say . . .  Katrina.  It took me two and a half weeks to notice that.  OK, I know that spring gives everyone giddiness, but let’s settle down here.  My conclusion now is that Sound Bound Star was the camera crew boat and Pelham/Katrina, the talent.  Anyone know the project, the movie?

All photos, WVD, who’s likely to get even more giddy along with the rising temperatures. 

Random Tugs 368

Five tugs are grouped in the photo below.

Let’s follow these two.

Ava and Ellen are off to assist a tanker into a berth at IMTT.

Shortly afterward, Kimberly Poling passed by with Noelle Cutler and 

Evelyn Cutler followed

with Edwin A. Poling.

 

Beyond Energy Centaur, that would be Kimberly heading upriver.

Meanwhile, Ellen and Ava muscle Lillesand into her berth.

All photos, WVD.

Unrelated:  Ever Forward, the more distant vessel here, is currently aground in the Chesapeake, for some reason outside the channel since Sunday night.  She was headed from Baltimore to Norfolk and then would have come to the sixth boro of NYC.  Speaking of tugs, watch this story evolve, since large tugs may be necessary to get her off.  If you have 17 minutes to spare, here’s Dr. Sal. 

Random Tugs 363

We alternate back to Albert Gayer (1897-1976) tomorrow, but to maintain connection with the contemporary sixth boro, especially in the cold, crisp January light, enjoy these five varied boats from this past week.  Name the one below?

Pelham, of course.  The mighty Pelham was launched in 1960, loa is 80.4′, and has 3000 hp.

Who was rotating Marjorie K?

On the bow was Miriam Moran, 1979, 99′ loa, and also 3000 hp.

Name that boat?

Harry Mcneal is a busy boat launched in 1965, 53.3 loa, and 800 hp.

Which boat is this crewman on the bow of?

It’s the robust Rae, launched 1952, 46′ loa, and packing 450 hp.

And this one?

It’s the unmistakable Charles James, which started as a GLDD tug in 1985, 77′ loa, and 2400 hp.

All photos and any errors, WVD;  numbers from tugboatinformation.com

More Albert Gayer tomorrow.

Random Tugs 361

Photos from the sixth boro . . . although I’m a thousand miles away and in the eastern mountains…  1974 ex-Exxon Ocean State and

and slightly smaller 1975 ex-Exxon Granite State, now Marjorie B. McAllister and Brendan Turecamo.

The 1999 ex-Crosby Knight now Stephen Dann was pushing a Centerline barge. 

The 2009 ex-Allison Crosby is now Mount St. Elias, is one of the Kirby boats in the boro that I perceive as a winter boat.  Where was she all summer?

 

The 1975 Robert IV has been in the boro since 1989.  Where was she for her first decade?

And finally, the 2020 Janice Ann Reinauer is the newest,  largest, and most powerful tugboat in this post, here overtaking the 2010 6589-teu Maipo.

All photos, WVD.

 

 

Random Tugs 355

Happy 31st, aka Halloween, World Savings Day, Day of Seven Billion, National Candy Apple Day, Annual visit a cemetery or graveyard day . . . and more.  If you need suggestions for a graveyard, consider this one.  And just yesterday, I learned of this one and this one.  Who knew?!!?  Want to revisit a tugster ghost post?

For this post, there’s a quiz.  The first part is … name the oldest and newest boat here.  The second part … identify the only two boats here NOT built in Louisiana.  Of course, building is one thing, and designing is another.

All photos taken this October.  Susan Miller,

Miriam Moran and Pegasus,

Andrea,

Gregg McAllister,

Robert IV,

Buchanan 12,

Navigator,

Robert Burton,

Shawn Miller,

Pearl Coast,

Miss Ila,

Mary Turecamo,

and the always seasonal Kimberly Turecamo.

There you have it . . . And I’ll give the answers tomorrow.

And my question is . . .  who is Miss Ila‘s namesake and what do you call that shade of red?

Random Tugs 341

A quick post today, since I’ll spend most of the day without computer, signal, or free time.  The varied and unsettled weather of the recent weeks is evident here as well, the diverse days of summer.

Here are some of the usual workhorses or work oxen of the port.

Brendan Turecamo, 

Normandy, and

Evening Breeze and a couple Bouchard barges.  There must be a shortage of locations to stack the idle Bouchard fleet, still in limbo no matter what engrossing negotiation is happening behind closed doors in advance of July 23, according to this article. 

Continuing with this threat, there’s Normandy and Pelham,

Fells Point, 

Justine McAllister,

Marjorie McAllister with Bulkmaster, 

Sea Lion and a sailboat under sail, 

Brendan Turecamo

Kirby Moran and Miriam Moran, 

Miriam and a fishing skiff, 

and Kirby, James D., and Miriam, all Moran, and all following an incoming ship. 

More soon . . . WVD.