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The sixth boro, like any location, offers infinite perspectives, compounded by equally countless nuance of season, hour, weather, and activity variation. This view of Kimberly in the stalls at Caddells the other day differs considerably from the dynamic ones of the past 18 months.
Kust a few days different but quite different location and atmospherics . . . Weddell Sea came into the Narrows the other day as we began feeling the effects of Fay. She had Penn No. 90 on a wire.
Further to the west in another spot, Discovery Coast was on the outside, mostly blocking Brooklyn, who’s been in here for a few months already.
In clear weather, land would be visible beyond the tug, but Fay changed that for a while.
Dace Reinauer was high and dry in Dry Dock No. 7.
And finally, just west of Dry Dock No. 7, stacked up were at least seven Bouchard boats, sadly waiting.
All photos, WVD, who’s starting to think about random tugs three hundred. If you have a photo of a tug never depicted on this blog, send it along. The big three hundred COULD be all never-here-before tugboats.
White, blue, and red comes in different contexts, and
this one along with the name on the trailboard does give pause.
Glenn Raymo took these photos in Poughkeepsie Sunday, and they were my introduction to an ambitious sailing project. The best I can tell this project began in Petrozavodsk, a city on the western shore of Lake Onega, in northwest Russia, a few hundred miles east of access to the Baltic at St. Petersburg. Lake Onega is connected to both the Baltic and the Arctic Ocean via the White Sea Canal. As a person who fancies himself somewhat well-versed in canals, I was ignorant of the White Sea Canal until now: mostly hand-dug by prisoners of the USSR in the 1930s
Pilgrim is a lodya, a traditional sailing vessel of this area. Along with the koch, the lodya is an ancient Rusian polar exploration vessel.
If you follow along on the “news” link, you see their step-by-step voyage from Russia. Exactly two years ago, eg, they had just crossed the Bay of Biscay! News articles go all the way back to 2006.
To my friends along the Erie Canal, once the waterway is open, keep your eyes peeled.
Many thanks to Glenn Raymo for this catch. Previous posts with attribution to him can be seen here.
It reminds me of all the memorable vessels that have transited the Erie Canal: Bounty*, Draken Harold Fairhair, Pinta, Sequoia**, Hokule’a, Ra, When and If, Amarah Zee, the future Oliver Hazard Perry, Lois McClure . . . I have no doubt left some out.
*I have photos but I’ve not posted them on tugster. **One of the planned but not realized posted is a review of Capt. Giles M. Kelly‘s book; any volunteer to write a review? You’ll get a free book.
And to the crew of Pilgrim, попутный ветер, друзья мои I hope I spelled that right.
I’ve been social distancing in Queens, but this didn’t prevent me from telecomexchanging the news with my sister. She took these photos and told me about her experiences sailing in the Sea of Cortez. You can click on the link to the article at the end of this post.
I hope to get to the Sea some day; parts of it are designed a UNESCO World heritage site.
Isla del Carmen is a refuge for bighorn sheep whose future was threatened in mainland areas of Baja California.
The plethora of wildlife notwithstanding, the gist of the article was . . . the Sea for people in the time of COVID. That is the link to the article. I’d been arranging to get to Mexico a few months back, but it’s not going to happen for a while.
All photos, John and Lucy Knape.
For more of their photos, click here.
I counted a dozen wind farm and other offshore construction project-related vessels in a triangle defined by NYC, Nantucket, and Atlantic City. These are vessels of a sort not previously seen here, or rarely seen here. Two of them came in through the Narrows yesterday just in front of the 2020 tropical storm Fay. The name “Fay” was also used for a deadlier storm in 2008.
The first was Royal, a DP2 platform supply vessel. She’s a Jones Act workboat, 2004-launched in Mobile AL by Bender Shipbuilding.
The 252′ x 54′ vessel has accommodations for 22 crew.
I don’t know what she’s been doing in the several months she’s been in the triangle, but prior to coming in yesterday, she’d remained in an area outside the Ambrose seabuoy for the better part of a week.
She’s part of the huge Tidewater fleet, which includes Highland Eagle as well, which is also in the triangle now.
Following Royal was Fugro Brasilis, non-Jones Act.
She’s 219′ x 46′ and has accommodations for 42.
She’s been off Atlantic City for over a month, but this is my first time to see her in the sixth boro.
Fugro is a Dutch multinational, operating in 61 countries. I’ve mentioned before here that “fugro” is an acronym for “Funderingstechniek en Grondmechanica, Dutch, translated to “Engineering Company for Foundation Technology and Soil Mechanics,” which would make a much less-pronounceable acronym.
Note the rain here?
I mentioned above that over a dozen vessels of this sort are in the triangle. I’d love to see them all at some point, but most intriguing three for me are Deep Helder*, GoLiberty, and Aqueos Splash.
* “helder” is Dutch for “bright.”
All photos, WVD.
The other vessels in the triangle are Kommandor Susan, Kommandor Iona, Horizon Geology, Fugro Explorer, Fugro Searcher, Commander, Ocean Observer, Ocean Endeavour (now in Elizabethport). If anyone has taken photos of any of these vessels recently in the triangle, I’d love to see them.
What’s visible for now is Pegasus and Maersk Seletar, but behind the container ship and soon to emerge
is Mukaddes Kalkavan. A few hours later, I saw Seletar doing 22 kts heading south along the Jersey coast. Seletar is an area in Singapore.
Ava escorts Mukaddes Kalkavan into the port from the starboard bow.
Scot Munchen is a relatively small tanker ( 383′ x 59′) with an unusual superstructure design. Here‘s the fleet of this Istanbul-based company, all incorporating the same stack design.
Here’s a photo from about 0500, Ava is assisting Hyundai Smart into Bayonne. The name Hyundai Smart connotes automotive to me.
Ever Liberal heads out to sea.
with Jonathan Moran assisting past the Bouchard flock.
And finally, this is the Laura Maersk that back already a month ago was towed into the sixth boro as a fully loaded dead ship due to an engine explosion.
Light in the water, this container ship shows a different profile.
All photos, WVD.
Blessings of summer heat, if you don’t have to work out in it, are best relished right after dawn, or from the shade. I chose the first option here as Barney Turecamo, made up to Georgia,
gets an assist in rotating from Turecamo Girls.
Once pointed, a burst of power from its 5100hp EMDs commits the ATB to its course.
Foxy3, with its bright trim ribbons gleaming in the dawn, is off to the job.
Doubleskin 57 arrives from somewhere in the Kills and Elk River
waits to assist Wye River
in placing it alongside the dock gently.
Marjorie B is off to some work, followed by and Poling & Cutler and Vane units.
The P & C unit was Kristin Poling pushing Eva Leigh Cutler.
On another day, Mister T was arriving from outside the Narrows
just as the sun cleared Bay Ridge.
And yet another day and different place, Curtis Reinauer waited alongside RTC 82 during cargo transfer.
All photos, WVD.
The whole trip, dock to dock, lasted almost exactly 24 hours, although given some delays, it could have been a few hours shorter. Call this post “day and night,” or more accurately, “day, night, and day.” Here was part a.
Let’s start some hours later on day 1. Most river traffic does not draw spectators like this did.
Even the family dog came out.
Twelve or so hours after that, a blistering summer sun had given way to the Thunder moon, here lighting a path northeastward from Staten Island. I took this photo before 0500.
After biding time for a few hours here,
Nathan G let go lines and Slater began the final leg of the trip to the yard; Sarah D is over there, but the illusion is almost that Slater is underway on her own power,
watchman mimicking deck gun, pointing the way.
Once in the KVK, a blazing summer sun returned, replacing the Thunder moon.
Pier assignment received, the tugs eased the destroyer escort into the dock.
Many thanks to Bill Stolfi and Steve Munoz for the first three photos; the sixth boro harbor photos by WVD.
Here , here, and here were posts from the 2014 dry-docking.
In July 2020, she heads down to Staten Island for another dry-docking, partly to address issues other than in 2014. The photo below captures an 0600 view. Today’s post covers the first three hours of the next 24, as it makes its way down to the Staten Island shipyard. Tug Sarah D (roughly 90′ x 29′ and rated at 2000hp) arrives. It’s a spectacular morning.
The ship and museum are located near the “U-Haul truck on building” which you may see driving through Albany NY, and have no idea what lies below on the river.
By 0730, Nathan G (roughly 73′ x 24′ and 1200hp) has arrived, and both tugs and all three crews are ready to move; a series of unheard commands, a burst of power, a foamy wake, a tensing of the towlines, a hint of expended fuel . . . and
away they go. The wealth of spectators reported farther downriver is already evident here. Does anyone have photos showing the crowds on the shore? Please get in touch if you are willing to share photos showing this.
Sarah D rotates Slater 180 degrees to point her downstream toward the tank farms and grain silos of Port of Albany. The dimensions on Slater are 306′ x 37.’ Her engines are “cosmetically maintained” and she has an operating generator.
By the time the tow passes the very Dutch place name of “Paarda Hook,” or Horse Point, it is already 0830, and we, aboard the warm and elegant Dutch Apple II, turn back.
More tomorrow. Here’s Slater‘s history. Her namesake is Frank O. Slater, a USN seaman who died near the Solomon Islands during an attack on USS San Francisco in November 1942. Here’s an extensive history.
A bit more detail I learned, and hopefully noted accurately, aboard Dutch Apple II: Slater is one of 479 destroyer escorts built that remained in the USN, 44 of which were named for seamen from New York state. She’s the only one preserved in the US. Her mission, with her 216 sailors, was to accompany the North Atlantic convoys, of which she performed five; no vessels were lost to U-boats during those five crossings. After four years in the USN, she was sold to the Greek Navy, where she served forty (!) years; hence many more Greek seamen served aboard her than US seamen.
The dazzle paint reproduces her appearance during WW2; it was intended to confuse U-boats of her type and direction so that any torpedoes fired would more likely miss their targets. After the U-boats were equipped with acoustic (sound homing) torpedoes, she and other DEs would tow foxer (or FXR) cables [aka Kreissäge (circular saw) or Rattelboje (rattle buoy)] to lead the torpedoes off course.
For more info on the museum, click here. If you use Facebook, they are here.
To repeat, I’m interested in photos of the crowds along the river Sunday to greet the ship; I’m also interested in photos of Slater alongside Intrepid from 1993 until 1997 and the initial tow upriver in 1997.
Slater, later, but for now . . . birds!
If I could paint a picture of these elegant BB red old English bantams strutting around my brother’s garage, I’d put it on my wall.
If ever there was a bird that deserves to inspire a cartoon figure with swagger, the oyster catcher should be right near the top of the list.
If I appeared as a threat to this mallard, he certainly did not let on.
Caption time: “Hey you, mister paint prepper, you call this sanded, primed, re-sanded enough for paint application? You are delusional!@@# a-doodle-doo.”
“It’s a mussel, stupid. So this muck makes it tastier.”
(thinking) “Don’t move, honey, but there’s a pervert with a camera over there taking our picture. If he doesn’t stop, I’ll fly over and ruffle his puny feathers.”
Interpretation: Keeping 360 degree watch for the fox but missing the hawk.
Oyster catcher olympic running race.
The trio analyzing what improvements to make in the garage.
Your turn . . caption or interpretation.
All photos, WVD.
This is not your typical sixth boro scene.
Back in January 2018, I posted photos of Fugro Explorer. I recall it was cold cold, and my fingers hurt holding the camera. Now you can sense the heat by the amount of moisture in the air already just before 0700.
She’s not a new vessel at all, launched in Singapore in 1999 and refitted just three years later.
She was in port for about 12 hours; I can relate to someone wanting to profit from this wifi.
I’m re-inserting the link from above, in case you didn’t look at it then, to show what all she has for equipment.
I did notice that since the January 2018 photos, she’s had more telecom external gear added. My guess is that she’s working on the wind farms offshore, as is Royal, who was in the sixth boro briefly this week, and I missed her too. Did anyone catch photos of her?
All photos, WVD, who is chasing the “spectacular warship” today, and of course alternating between 101.5 and 90.9 . . . and 93.9.
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