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Here was 7 in the series.
ABC-1 is a harbor supply boat, restocking the larder and spare parts lockers while load shifting happens in port. Click here to see her high and dry a few years back.
BB 163 . . . is a still used antique, up on the Canal that connects the Great Lakes with the sixth boro. Some day, when it’s warmer, I hope to learn much more about these BBs, buoy boats. I’ll do more on BB 163 later. For now, I can’t look at this and NOT see the flag of Colombia or Ecuador.
Gabby has been featured here many times.
Miller Boys is a crew boat.
But really the focus here is the line boats operated by Ken’s Marine.
It might be 5 above zero or 5 below 100 F, these crews are shuttling lines from ship to shore, negotiating with crews on a vessel as well as crews on shore.
Note the ship line handler chief watching the line boat and signaling to his crew to pay out line.
Once the line boat gets to the shoreline, the shore crew takes over. Given the ice I know is on those rocks, this is a job requiring concentration and sure-footedness as well as strength.
Once lines are on, the line boat stands off until they get snugged. Then there are lots more lines to get on.
“All fast” needs to be done quickly and thoroughly. Not long after this vessel was snug, two container ships passed between Medi Osaka on this side and UACC Masafi on the other side, creating tremendous lateral pressure on all vessels, straining the lines.
But all fast is all fast. Bravo, guys.
All Fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Rhine is currently in port offloading salt given the reported shortage of the material.
Lines were made fast Monday midday, just after Balder had left.
In the past six days, Balder had come and discharged its dozens of thousands of tons of the stuff and gone. As Corey Kilgannon reports in the first sentence of his recent NYTimes article, “Pass the salt, please” describes the business plan here.
This is what international trade looks like, whether it be Islandia heading out under a leaden-gray afternoon or
these unidentified vessels departing recently at dawn. In the photo above, the dry-docked vessel in the background is USNS Pomeroy, T-AKR 316.
The first three photos are used with permission of Brian DeForest. The others are by Will Van Dorp. And obviously, none of these photos were taken today, as another type of white stuff descends upon the harbor.
Count’em . . . three! Becky Ann and two of Ken’s boats.
Click here to see a post I did a few months back on crewboats exclusively. Miami River shuttles in here past Charleston in drydock.
Becky, Doris, and Maria T.
Wolf River has returned to the sixth boro after some time away. Brazil maybe?
A few weeks ago, here’s Julia assisting as Freddy K Miller prepares to move a construction barge away from Governors Island.
Miss Ayva in the straits of Gowanus down under the BQE is one of the workhorses . . . work ponies of the harbor, not unlike
this unidentified vessel off Happy Dynamic‘s stern and
Gabby . . . here staying ahead of Sarah Ann and her clutch of barges and
Julia fearlessly speeding out the flat Narrows to run someone out to Gravesend Bay.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
It’s appropriate that this was Salt 6. You’ll understand as you go through this post and the next one.
Just like it’s appropriate that this Cat is prowling.
Wonder what’s the relationship between this dark shape arriving and safe driving and even on safe walking on streets in the lit-up Manhattan in the distance?
Balder is in port with almost 50,000 tons of crystals from the deserts of Chile aka road . . .
. . . salt.
She drifts in silently and crews make her fast.
Can you imagine doing this in a February or any other cold month sixth boro?
Well . . . it happens
again and again, ship after ship, with utmost concern for safety.
Balder (2002) features a self-unloading system.
Once all lines are secured along with customs check and other paperwork, partial crew change . . .
While some of the city sleeps, Balder’s arm stretches forth and the Cats get to work.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who is very appreciative for Atlantic Salt terminal manager Brian DeForest’s permission to be in the yard.
Think of the sixth boro as a destination/origin as well as a crossroads. WMEC-905 Spencer anchored in that point of convergence as of midday.
In points not far from Spencer and the Statue, cargo destined for/originating in this port was moving only if it could transfer in the harbor, petroleum liquid, like here, congress happened between barges powered by Pati T Moran and Sassafras as Meagan Ann passes by with a scow. For debris?
Kimberly Turecamo stands by with Long Island itself . . . well, a fuel barge by that name. The spirit is greatly willing to move fuel to faltering consumers on the shore, but the distribution system is broken, for now.
Nicole Leigh Reinauer awaits the green light.
St Andrews with barge on this side and Kimberly Poling on the other . . . like thirsty twins on their mother, Glory Express.
Traversing the sixth boro . . . Marion Moran pushes LaFarge barge Adelaide to points south.
Supply boat ABC-1 passes tanker Favola.
Diane B waits with a barge. A problem is that debris like blowaway and sunken containers may lurk unseen at the transfer docks.
Doris Moran, with another LaFarge barge, makes a power turn from the North River into the East River.
A cluster of DonJon vessels–tugs Mary Alice, Thomas D. Witte, and Brian Nicholas–attend to crane barges Columbia NY and Raritan Bay on some “unwatering” project just west of the Battery Coast Guard station.
Transiting the sixth boro from south to North is Apollo Bulker. More fotos of her later. She may be headed to Albany.
Ken’s Booming & Boat Service tug Durham passes the “seeing boat” Circle Line Manhattan.
Over by the Brooklyn Navy Yard, schooner Lynx heads for the Sound, past an East River ferry.
And–this just in–as of 1900 hrs tonight, APL Sardonyx became the first container ship to enter Port Elizabeth,
escorted in by McAllister Sisters and Barbara McAllister. Interestingly, see the foto here of her as one of the first into the port post-Irene!! Here’s another shot almost exactly two years ago of APL Sardonyx.
And a bit later, APL Coral came in, escorted by Elizabeth and Ellen McAllister.
Outside the Narrows waits USS Wasp, recently here five months ago for Fleet Week. A pulse has been re-established.
I am mindful that many residents of the area are hurting. My prayers go out for relief for them soon. Folks who suffered through post-Katrina are also sending along their prayers and encouragement, their solidarity with Sandy-afflicted.
We went through a “reboot” here 14 months ago, but this one is going to be much tougher.
x
Le vie navigabili . . . is what you could call “sesto borgo” or “the sixth boro.” And it’s navigated by creatures small as these canadagoslings,
greater,
numerous . . . unwanted or
scruffy but perennially utilitarian.
Say hello to 3/4 of the painting crew on Pegasus last Saturday. Vote daily for Pegasus here–so that she might benefit from a huge grant of $250,000–and
starting from THIS weekend, come and visit Pegasus on board at Pier 25 in the boro called Manhattan. The schedule now calls for Pegasus to leave this “canale” within the sixth boro tomorrow . . . Thursday, pick up Lehigh Valley 79, and move back over to Pier 25. In reference to the canales di venezia, Pegasus would look good exploring there . . . By the way, here’s a log of Pegasus’ last visit to the drydock for work.
Here you’re looking east at Manhattan and its tallest building from the Morris Canal in New Jersey. Il canale di morris è una delle vie navigabili del sesto boro.
See you some hours this weekend on Pegasus at Pier 25. And please . . . vote daily, no mater which continent you are on.
Parting shot . . a foto of Pegasus leaving the tour dock in Yonkers 11 months ago.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
By the way, the tugboat shown most completely in the 4th foto is the 1943 46.5′ Linda G. I don’t know where she was built. Pegasus is 96′ and 1907-built in Baltimore. The goslings, hatch of 2012, were about 4″ long.
Here was the first in this series.
Size matters. I love watching the line handlers shift 
lines over to the bollards.
As a vessel arrives at a dock, lines are at ready so that no time is wasted.
Trust and communication are a must, even if 
no common language exists. And as winter approaches, this work becomes less and less comfortable or forgiving.
Kudos to the line handlers.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Coming home from work, I overheard this conversation on New Jersey Transit last night between Newark and New York.
She from West Virginia: Oh this is so exciting. Soon I’ll walk through Penn Station, just like I saw in movies and TV. Even the train ride is exciting.
She from NYC: Thank you. Thanks for the reminders. I’m always tired coming from work on this train, and I forget how exciting this is. Thank you!
The latter sounded sincere, and I’ll bet it was. Taking fotos helps remind me of the exciting place the sixth boro is. I took all these today while showing a friend around. Like Captain Zeke urging a scow
through the Cut into Erie Basin as crew calls in from his vantage point.
Like encircled bollards lorded over by a frozen crane not far
from silenced shipyard tools.
Like a scow with dredge spoils . . . or is that a steel portal into Poseidon’s realm?
Like the melange of upriver silt mixing with flooding seawater?
Like a tanker bound for sea, leaving
the busyness of the Upper Bay.
Like the solitary exertion of kayaking or
the collaboration of USCGC Campbell heading outbound through the Narrows.
Or like an osprey showing his next-fish-meal the heavens.
Like the aesthetics of coating and oxidation and friction.
Like the osprey invigorated by the fish-meal.
Like the dance of tug and ship and the
tools of egress.
Thank you. The sixth boro never ceases to tantalize and refresh and motivate another look.
All fotos today by Will Van Dorp.
A lot has happened here in 10 days, although the fotos here reveal none of it. The sixth boro has its way of obscuring change, seasonal or otherwise. I know folks within 10 miles of this waterway who have no power yet and who have tossed to curb-side trash picker-uppers most of their water-befouled furniture, appliances, books, etc.
But along the KVK, Chem Antares (ex-Sichem Unicorn) transfers fluids, while
Torm Sara waits to do the same. [Doubleclick enlarges most fotos.]
Kings Point Liberator inspects other vessels along the KVK. I’d never guessed she had a wooden hull.
Sarah Dann froths eastbound.
My shot is a half second late as splash dissipates from this Ken’s Marine boat.
Note the water color here from Marie J Turecamo and from
Ellen Bouchard.
Anyone identify this crew boat?
To get a sense of scale on ATB Freeport, note the two crew outside the wheelhouse.
So far, Freeport is the only of the US Shipping Partners 12,000 hp ATBs. Some years back, I was fortunate to have caught one of their ITBs–Philadelphia- high and dry, here and here. For an update on Philadelphia‘s current location/status, read Harold’s comment below. Thanks, much . . . Harold.
Skiff in the foreground seems to be capturing flotsam planks for reuse.
Oh, by the way, four days from now will be the sixth boro’s 19th annual tugboat race. See you there?
All fotos today by Will Van Dorp.
Any guesses? Something new at Coney Island?
Here’s a slightly different angle.
Different vessel but this foto’s dedicated to Paul Strubeck, who may just decide he needs to go shopping, eh, Paul?
Those horns signal the approach of Remember When, yesterday docked in North Cove, Manhattan. That’s the Winter Garden just beyond the bow. Thanks to Harold Tartell, see her invisible parts here.
Here’s Remember When entering the harbor a few days back.
I’m intrigued about this vessel; when it entered the harbor two weeks back, I couldn’t find a name or anything anywhere. Anyone know?
Enter yacht Kiwi, from Boston.
This was my first time to see this stylish boat by Ken’s Marine. Seriously, in this post, this is the first vessel I could truly envy. Bravo, Ken. Name?
And this orange vessel . . . it was too far away to identify when I spotted it and took this foto. Anyone identify? It was headed for the George Washington Bridge when I took this.
So back to the two first shots . . . they showed the spars of the dynarig aboard Maltese Falcon, built in Turkey. Maltese Falcon sports 15 square-rigged sails stored in and automatically deployed from the three free-standing masts.
You might call Maltese Falcon today a “used yacht,” not that that would diminish the vessel: it was completed for Tom Perkins in 2006, who in turn sold it to Elena Ambrosiadou in 2009. I’d love to see it under sail. If I put details together in those links, Perkins launched the vessel in 2006 after investing about $200 million and sold it three years later for about $100 million? Depreciation? Poor math on somebody’s part? Has anyone read Mine’s Bigger. . about the building of this vessel?
Maltese Falcon’s presence in town brings to two of the three largest sailing yachts in the world bathing in the sixth boro in May 2011. Word of the sixth boro must be getting out there. Now you can call Maltese Falcon a yacht, or a second-hand houseboat . . . but it does rank right up there with the most exotic houseboats in the world, those on Dal Lake in India.
Bottom foto here thanks to Saskia deRothschild; all others by Will Van Dorp.
Unrelated but tied to yesterday’s book tip post, gCaptain’s John Konrad has been doing some fantastic posts recently–as most of you probably know. My favorites related to the anniversary of Deepwater Horizon tragedy and great fotos on the ice in the Arctic.
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