You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘NYS Canal Corp’ category.
Now in the Erie Canal, Tender #3 was above E3,
BB 109 encountered an unidentified SPS,
Dragon dredge worked over in Crescent Lake,
an unidentified tender worked with two barges, one was QB #14,
Tuulen Tupa intrigued and I’ll tell you my understanding of that name at the end of this post,
At Fonda on the wall stood an SPS and
tug Lockport.
Will Van Dorp took these photos, and this is the end of this post.
And Tuulen Tupa is an excellent name for a sail boat, since in Finnish–at least–it means “wind hut.”
Rebecca Ann, shown here just above E28A, has served as Donjon’s Erie Canal tug recently. Nearby is Witte 1407, which she delivered, and [Daniel] Joncaire, formerly of the Niagara River.
My question was . . . what will this “reef run” on the Canal pick up for the reef? Here’s the background on this reef business.
This question is especially acute since the dry dock is fairly empty. Although the large rectangular openings make it clear that this barge in the foreground will go, currently between that barge and Rebecca Ann is the venerable [and vulnerable] Grouper.
While I was at the lock, these canoeists appeared from the direction of lock E28B, and when the lock master opened the gate, I concluded I might witness my first time seeing canoes lock through.
Without fanfare,
valves allow about two million gallons of water move downstream and lower the water level for these paddlers.
Happy trails!
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
Many thanks to Bob Stopper for the heads up.
Several minutes ago astronomical summer began in the sixth boro, and that means tomorrow the mermaids arrive, which means I may or may not post . . . . on time.
Locations here will remain unnamed, unless you try to guess, but photo 1 here to number 4 represents an approximated 15 miles of central New York, where
time warps can be fallen into.
Geographical discontinuities . .
exist as well.
All photos recently by Will Van Dorp, who will identify the locations and then do the mileage calculations afterward if needed.
If you’re new to the blog, I’ve done lots of blog posts on a NYS Canals tug called Urger.
For the past 5+ years, I’ve freelanced for a great publication called ProfessionalMariner, and this month have my first cover story. I didn’t know my photo was on the cover until it came out!! You can read my Urger article here.
Another piece of Urger news I have not reported elsewhere is below. At the 2018 Waterford Tugboat Roundup, the 1901 built tug was voted “People’s Choice Favorite Tugboat,” winner of a dark horse write in campaign! Below is the trophy. Too bad the trophy has no boat to display it in for the public to see.
Now for big news on the political though primarily ceremonial end of things, Assembly member John McDonald III, District 108, has sponsored a bill to designate Urger as “official tugboat of the State of New York. Read it here.
You can leave a note of thanks and support for Assembly member McDonald here. If you vote in NYS and want to leave a note for your own rep to encourage him or her to join with McDonald in supporting this bill, you can start the connection here.
You can also write the Preservation League of New York and encourage them to continue their efforts to save this boat as a moving, floating ambassador from our state’s history. Click here for more on their efforts.
And here’s yet another idea . . . a 1/12 expired Urger fundraiser calendar.
And finally, consider attending the Canal Society of New York Winter Symposium in Rochester NY on March 2. I’ll be there. Urger will surely come up.
And SCOW (State Council on Waterways) . . . too bad you’ve dissolved! There’s a reference of their Urger role at the end of this post.
Here are previous posts in this series. Other titles with the word hulls can be found here.
I’ve taken all these photos since the start of 2019. The one below is a leap forward: that’s my first view of the 1912 hull of the oft-mentioned tug I know as Grouper. This might be the year of destiny for this 107-year-old boat, although I’ve thought that many times before. If plans are to emerge from the foundry of all possibilities, this is the time to forge them.
A decade and a half younger at 90 years young, Kentucky illustrates the draft on these tugs.
Tender #1 will also be 90 years in service this year.
Fairchild is the youngster in this set . . . launched in 1953 at Roamer Boat in Holland. MI
And finally, I don’t believe this is the 1938 Kam. But what boat is this? And why are those square openings in the hull just above the waterline? And is this the Purvis scrapyard?
All photos by Will Van Dorp, in Lyons NY and the Soo.
According to the archives, tug Syracuse was splashed in late 1933 and completed in spring 1934 in Syracuse Inner Harbor. The tug was certainly the oldest entity in the Lyons area of the Canal organization.
The clipping below connects the splash to early December 1933. Some numbers on the boat: 77′ x 20.8′ x 9 with a 6′ 6″ prop. She was first built with a 250 hp steam engine from the previous tug Syracuse; in 1970, a Caterpillar 510 D379 8 cylinder was installed. I don’t know if there was an intermediary power plant. Her 1933 $40,000 cost would be just over $750,000 in 2018 dollars.
Here’s a photo of Syracuse of Syracuse NY in Oswego in July 2014. The laker in the distance is Capt. Henry Jackman of Sault Ste Marie.
I’ll do another post on Syracuse soon, but for now, let me share my favorite photos of this veteran, which I took in October 2014 as we passed her with Urger.
I don’t believe there’s ever been a tug that looks quite like Syracuse of Syracuse, except maybe Reliable of Utica, now owned and operated by Mr. Davy Jones. Check out these trains, cars, and even some boats of this same era here.
So . . . eighty-five years working and still looking great!!
Click here for a post about a 90-year-old canal tug.
The top photo by Bob Stopper; all others by Will Van Dorp.
Here are previous installments.
Let’s start with a shot from Oswego. To me, it captures the magic of the Canal in that city and the stately buildings that surround it. The photo is by Jennifer Mays, who calls it “Old man Winter is on his way #headedsouth #oswegocanal. It shows research vessel DelMor (ex-Kaho) upbound in the Oswego Canal between lacks E-8 and E-7. DelMor is in the “canalized” portion of the Oswego River; the wild portion of the river–divided by the ruins of central dock–distinguishes itself by its obvious current. The yellow building farthest left is the 1913 Pontiac Hotel. For more sights along the Oswego Canal, click here. Pontiac, the Odawa leader of his confederacy post-French & Indian War, signed a peace treaty in Oswego in July 1766.
The next two photos come from Patrick Gallagher. The shots taken from the East River show the Brooklyn Bridge and Clipper City beyond that. The colors are the magic of sunset as recorded by a smartphone camera.
Clipper City is a 158′ replica of a Great Lakes schooner built in Manitowoc in 1854. The image below comes from the must-have book The Freighters of Manitowoc by Tom Wenstadt.
And last but certainly not least, Paul Strubeck got a close-up photo of a newcomer in the sixth boro, a floating electronic billboard created by Ballyhoo Media. A floating billboard . . . would that be a bill boat?
Matt OHara caught the billboat departing Morris Canal, leaving the NJCRR terminal to starboard. If you do FB, you can see a sped-up version of it being built here. Since that shipyard is upriver, it must have escaped detection by river watchers upstream. Glenn?
When I saw the billboat Sunday, the image/advert changed every few seconds. The vessel size is estimated at 72′ . . . with 65′ screens. What’s next . . . a billboat that carries sports events, political debates, feature films, documentaries about the harbor? What else?
Many thanks to Jennifer, Patrick, Matt, and Paul for use of these photos.
Meanwhile, I’m waiting for a sunny day and for a certain pink-hulled ship called ONE Stork to either arrive or depart in bright daylight. She arrived in the sixth boro and departed again, twice . . . in the dark hours.
Here’s an expanded view of a photo from yesterday’s post here. What you see in the distance is bridge inspection unit, 2018.
The small tug is Seaway Maid, and it’s hard to believe I’m posting a photo of it today for only the first time. Last year this bridge inspection unit was moved through the Erie Canal by Arnold D. Actually, Seaway Maid used to be Lil Joe. Here is a complete page of Seaway Marine Group equipment.
Once the tugs had full facilities and transportation to and from the job site was arranged network-wide, but this is a new era.
The primer painted barge, here Fort Plain, has floated around the NYS Canals for a long time. Note the rivets?
Judging by the dimensions of the barge, it was once Dipper Dredge #1 aka Fort Plain a by the NYS Barge Canal. The dredge was acquired by the state in 1931. As acquired, she was Derrick Boat #10, shown below 95 years ago!
I’m wondering what tug that was moving the derrick boat around. Any help?
All photos by Jake Van Reenen and the archives.
And another reminder . . . the NYS Canal Conference is happening on Staten Island next week. I will show Graves of Arthur Kill and speak on a panel about the hidden places of the sixth born this coming Monday and Tuesday.
As the canal boat reefing process goes on, new equipment is working. Since my fortune has been to stumble onto both new boats, let’s have a look. Unit 1 was in amsterdam the other night, and
Unit 2 was at the Genesee Crossing. Both have been integrated into the work schedule.
Here’s Unit 2 on the Gradual, with Lockport–endangered–alongaside. I’m told the wheelhouse on Unit 2 is telescoping.
Back to Amsterdam . . .
where Unit 1 is on a sectional barge whose
raked sections were on the bank.
All photos by will Van Dorp, who is Chicago bound, hence the title CB. .
Click here for one of many posts on buoy boats. Just recently I learned the first three wooden buoy boats were built in Tonawanda by the Richardson Boat Company. That explains why they have lines that hint at yacht origins, no matter they were designed for maintenance tasks on the Canal. The next two photos I took back in 2014.
And here’s Cookie’s story:
“I started about 18 years ago taking care of the flower bed that was in front of the boat. Over the years the bed was falling apart. This year I decided to build a new flower bed. I am currently working with our local Boy Scouts. I designed the flower bed and they will build it as an Eagle Project along with helping me paint the boat. As for the boat over the years I have watched the boat deteriorate and thought what better time than now to update it. It is a piece of our history that was just rotting away and I didn’t want to see this happen, especially since the boat faces one of the main entrances to our city.
Here is Cookie’s task list:
The flower bed and dirt were removed. Ditto the “Welcome to Lockport” sign to be cleaned and repaired.
The boat was sanded and scraped.
Holes in the boat were patched.
New paint applied. Old windows removed, holes caulked, old door replaced, windows made and painted, and new windows cut from Lexan.
Inside there are a couple tanks that are being cleaned and rust proofed. The inside the hull is scraped and debris removed.
Tasks remaining: rustproof paint the interior, re-install the tanks, install new marine decking, rebuild the flowerbed and plant it, re-install the welcome sign, install a “Thank you” sign to individuals and businesses that have helped in the project.
Put on new BB 110 sign. Raise three flags: US, NY, and NYS Canals.
Hats off to Cookie and her crew.
And while we’re on the western end of the Canal, check out this excellent addition to blogs about the NYS Canals. It’s called Travels with Tug DeWitt Clinton.
Meanwhile, up in central New York, here’s an article about a floating protest of Canal vessel reefing from the Finger Lakes Times.
Recent Comments