Random Tugs 205

And random perspectives, like this of James E. Brown approaching the W’burg Bridge, whose namesake was an engineer you’d never guess.

 

Yes, that’s Manhattan.

Marty C is a Weeks tug I’ve never heard of, here assisting Weeks 500 modify shoreline.

If you’re wondering, you’re looking into the Bronx.

 

And finally, with queens in the near background, it’s the workhorse Ellen McAllister.

 

 

And that reminds me, I saw Prentiss Brown this morning, although she was way down on the horizon, so far off I couldn’t even force my camera to focus.  You may recall Prentiss Brown as Michaela McAllister.  And Chicagoans know her barge as the “jinx ship,” back when she was still self propelled.  Now I’m keeping my eyes peeled for the former Katie G and Colleen McAllister.  Have they been renamed?

All photos, etc. by Will Van Dorp.

 

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SUNY Sea Term 2017 Ends

Click here for previous SUNY sea term posts.  I’m grateful to SUNY for an invitation to ride along from the Upper Bay to the SUNY Maritime campus yesterday.  What a homecoming this must be for the cadets, and their friends and families.

Families and friends were already there off Staten Island.

For cadets–aka college students–the sense of preparing for a bright future must be palpable,

a reward for study and practice.

And the welcome comes from strangers all along these last few miles.  Airports and airplanes just don’t afford this grand arrival.

Those were construction workers at Rockefeller University’s River Campus above, and ConEd workers below.

Small boats followed us.

Folks at the Vernon C. Bain Maritime facility paid attention.

Workers on the Whitestone stopped to watch.

 

NYPD came to greet and

be greeted. “Selfie taking” gives a whole new meaning to turning one’s back on a subject.

McAllister’s Ellen and

Amy C came to greet and assist.  SUNY grads work in many different industries, including the towing industry, maritime services, pilots’ associations, law enforcement, fire departments . . . and the list is much longer.

But on the SUNY Fort Schuyler campus, the welcoming is most intense.

 

 

After 17 days at sea since their last port, this one is probably the best.

 

All photos and sentiments by Will Van Dorp. Hats off to students, families, staff, and of course the 57-year-old ship. 

After a few more catch-ups, I’ll return to the account “Go West Again.”

Random Ships 56

The top photo here comes from Brian Thigpen.  Last Monday, the first 13000 teu container ship–OOCL Berlin— entered port, and I missed it.  Bravo to Brian for photographing it.  I suspect soon the 14000 teu and then subsequent records will be set. Escort visible here is Eric McAllister, I think.

With larger ships, escort procedures seem to be changing also, like tugs coming in sets of three and meeting the vessel outside the VZ Bridge.  Just a few years ago, nothing of the the size of Northern Justice–8400 teu–was calling here.

 

I really should get more photos of the ships passing through the sixth boro and heading anywhere from Yonkers to Albany.  Here’s Western Aida along the cliffs of the UWS, 

leaving the Palisades to port once under the GW.

Here’s Spottail westbound on the KVK, assisted by Ellen McAllister and  Bruce A. McAllister,  and soon to pass

Stolt Pride, 2016, showing a new look for Stolt.

Thanks again to Brian Thigpen for use of his photo.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

 

Illuminations 2

Happy 4th of July!  Here’s the first post by this title with a story of what John Adams wrote Abigail around this time 241 years ago.

So why do we celebrate this day?  Uh . . . the British surrendered?  It marks the first battle for independence?

DDG-55 Stout  (photo taken May 20, 2015)

We got freedom to say what we want, pray to whomever we choose, buy as many guns as we want, refuse to be unreasonably searched, charged too much bail, have access to lawyers in court, and things like that?

The founders of the US signed the Declaration of Independence?

Nope!  Nope, nope.  None of those is correct.  The British didn’t surrender for another 6 years and didn’t vacate their occupation force from the sixth boro–the only boro then–until 1783.  The Constitution wasn’t written for another decade and some!!

Here’s a good quick “not fake” read for today called “9 Things You May Not Know About the  Declaration of Independence.”

I’ll get back to that . .  but what is that military gray ship over there trying to camouflage itself against Staten Island ferry orange?  I took the rest of these photos about 24 hours ago . . .   The flag at the stern is NOT US…

It’s French.  So maybe they’re here to help us  celebrate the contributions of Rochambeau, DeGrasse. and Lafayette?

Nope, they helped after 1776 . . ..  In fact the Alliance had not even existed yet for a few years .  . .

Well, maybe the crew of the French L 9032 is here to ride the NYWheel?

Nope.  That’s in some turmoil.

See the billboard there?  Maybe they’re here for “the lowest cost health plan?”

Maybe they’re here for Macy’s !!?  Rowland Hussey Macy WAS a sailor, after all;  the red Macy’s logo star was the tattoo he wore on his hand . . .

 

Actually  I have NO idea why FS Dumont D’Urville docked over at the old homeport yesterday . . .  maybe someone can illuminate us . . .?

But to get back to 4th July . . . here was the response of George III–the accused– to the Declaration:  I’d never read it until now and it’s short and precious and defensive!!

Here’s another 4 July tugster post from the archives . . .  And if you still have time to read, here are “Six things you (probably) didn’t know about the 4th July. . . .”  And the flag of that year?  Maybe here.  And the drink of choice to fete the day back then . . .?  Well, it was not beer or rum.  Rick Spilman has it here.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp, who offers another link to the big document of the day here, and wishes you a happy independence day.

 

Random Ships 55

The other morning I got to the Narrows at sunrise, and in the next two hours, eight large ships passed inbound or out.  Here are six of them . . .

Maersk Seville,

CMA CGM Elbe,

 

 

MSC Vidisha R.,

Mustafa Dayi,

Parana, Zim Shanghai . . .

 

plus Elbabe and BBC Aquamarine . . . .  That’s a lot of tonnage.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 202

Patricia was built in 1963 and works in the sixth boro here and here, and last I knew worked for C.H. Phoenix LLC of Green Cove Springs, Fl. . . .   I like the racing stripes.

Caitlin Ann was built in 1961 and has worked for DonJon since 2011.   Here, she and

Sarah Ann appear to be moving coal.  Sarah Ann is from 2003, working for DonJon since 2009.

Marion Moran has worked by that name since 1982.  I think that’s Katherine Weeks on the far side of the barge.

Bruce A. McAllister, 

Eric McAllister, and

Alex McAllister were all working from the Narrows the

other morning.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

 

What Xena Augurs

aka Names 34

What??

Xena, Lady Tara, one of exactly three barges squired in by Foxy3,

Denise A. Bouchard, 

Silver Cindy,

Elbabe . . . El Babe? . .. with Bruce A. minding to port,

Turecamo Girls, and I’ll bet more than just one British Sailor or sailor of any of the seafaring nationalities . . .

along with a high voltage shore connection . . .?!@#!    That can mean only one thing…  there might be a Debbie around soon too . . .

See tomorrow’s post, for which the photos have not even been taken yet, but it’s June fishing time.  All photos taken in the past week by Will Van Dorp.  Here’s a previous Xena reference on tugster.

Narrows Dawn 2

It’s been a while since I used this title.  I went there yesterday morning to have a long walk but beat the impending heat.  Besides, a setting moon over Staten Island beckoned, and I had to be up early anyhow to milk the cows . . ..

Well, that was a kink in the time continuum.  But Eric McAllister had work,

as did Sarah D . . .

and Fidelio had arrived from who-knows-where over the horizon, a string of US ports but the voyage beginning in Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico.

 

 

 

For Sarah D, once she’s past High Power, likely she’ll go to Inwood and then upriver.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 201

Enjoy this sampling of boats and the dates associated with their launch starting from Arabian Sea (2007) on Dry Dock No. 7,

Stephen Reinauer (1970) nearby on 4,

Miss Circle Line . . . (1954 as ST 2124 and later Betsy) ,

Alex McAllister (1985),

Joyce D. Brown (2002) headed home after completing the daily chores,

Crystal Coast (1983) and Justin (1981) heading south into the Chesapeake,

JRT Moran (2016) holding onto an argosy,

Ivory Coast (1967) waiting on the next job,

All photos by Will Van Dorp (1952).

Unrelated, for a long interpretation of Moby Dick (1851) and connections between “grammar school literature” like the Odyssea (est. 1000 BCE) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) and connections with folk songs, listen to Bob Dylan (1941) making his Nobel Prize acceptance speech (2017)  here . . .  It’s the best 27 minutes of listening you’ll do today, I believe.

 

Bouchard 2

This post follows on one I did seven and a half years ago, here.

The first photo--Donna J. with B. No. 272— comes thanks to Jed, whose Caribbean tugs you may recently have seen here.   Donna J. is moved by two EMD R20-710G7C-T3 generating 10,000 hp.  Also notable is her fuel capacity of 301,504 gallons of fuel, which if I used the right formula, converts to 1055 metric tons of diesel.

Here are more recent Bouchard units photos starting with Jane A. with B. No. 225 on the North River,

Evening Star passing IMTT Bayonne,

Boys crossing the southern tip of Newark Bay,

Buster with B. No. 255, 

Ellen with B. No. 280 in the same anchorage same day,

Buster and Evening Mist . . . and how about the one to the left?  Guesses?

It’s Doris Moran last week.

Thanks to Jed for the photo of Donna J;  all others by Will Van Dorp.