12 Tugboats a

Kudos to Ginger, who guessed what the anniversary alluded to yesterday was.  Today begins year 12 of this blog.  So in the midst of all the references to CYBER- this and that, I’ll be my default contrarian self and call the next series a CYPHER series, lots of posts beginning with the number 12.  In today’s I took a photo from the top “hit” month in each year since 2006.

So in 2006, December was the top month, and the photo below (or one like it)  appeared in KVK.

In 2007, September was the top month, and this was from Historic Tug.

In 2008, June, and this was from Transitioning.

September in 2009 and from Divers 2. 

In 2010, November, and this is from Pilot and the Princesa.

June 2011, and context is Like Groundhog Day 3. 

2012, May, and Blueing Beyond the Sixth Boro. 

2013, March, and Looking for a Ship.

2014, March, and Botruc Plum Isle. 

March again in 2015, and this has context in Highway 4. 

March yet again, 2016, and Backing Down Heina. 

And finally, the greatest number of hits in 2017 was in July, likely because of the posts related to Peking‘s move. 

A reason to glance backward periodically is to see what has changed.  The corollary then is that a reason to do a daily waterblog is to record what was present when. And doing that permits me to see changes in myself and my tools.   Blogging, as you might guess, takes a fair amount of my time and guides a bulk of my focus, but it rewards me enough to continue.  I can’t say for how long, nor do I have to.  I’ve always refused to sign my boss’s multimillion dollar contract, although that might cost me the cover story on some high-profile magazine . . .

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

And let’s hear some applause for Ginger.

 

Dole Ships

Dole has a lot of ships.  Capt. Neftali Padilla took these three fotos from his office, evident in foto #3.  Enjoy the fotos and ponder this question:  which fruits does Dole export from Puerto Rico?  Answer later.  Dole Asia meets Dole Europa.

Here’s the office . . . Z-One.

Here’s a foto I took of Z-One at the dock last spring while working on an article about its fleet sister, Handy Three.

Thanks to Capt. Padilla for use of his fotos.

Random San Juan 2

San Juan Pilots see big waves while still inside the Bay.

These same huge rollers fail to discourage fishermen, but

sabalo . . . aka tarpon attract!

Midnight Coast is another short-sea shipper of containers.

That’s assist tugs Honcho and Handy-Three with tanker Freja Taurus.

Pelicans perch in trees for plume-maintenance after doing

dives like this and

adding a splash to stun prey.

Time to move back to the sixth boro, but Puerto Rico . . . I’ll be back.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Tugs of San Juan

Here’s the entrance to San Juan Bay . . . Freja Taurus passing the #2 red under rain driven by 15+ knot wind out of the north.

OK . . . Elizabeth snapped this foto . . . that’s my “focused” look as I huddle–like the ghost of a century-ago Spanish soldier– out of the rain behind  the bottom level of El Morro.

Here’s the aforepromised foto of Beth M. McAllister (ex-YTB-805), three years and two months younger than the sixth boro’s own Ellen McAllister.  Both Beth and Ellen were built in Wisconsin.

Don Raul came out of an Ohio shipyard exactly five years ago . . . now operating for Borinken Towing and Salvage .  .  .

drifting in and

towing a fuel barge.

Getting back to the first two fotos, once inside, Handy Three takes Freja Taurus‘ bow.

OK . . . another view of Beth at the dock.

PRT’s Triton  (ex-AT-77) is a 72-year-old Texas-built workhorse, just recently involved in the rescue of ex-Smit Rotterdam . . . foto later in this post.

And here’s my quite-poor foto of ex-Smit Rotterdam. . . .  now called Global Destiny.   Here’s more story on the rescue that brought Global Destiny into San Juan harbor.    She’s since headed south and east, but I really wish I’d caught this monster headed out the mouth of the Bay past El Morro.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Unrelated . . . here’s a foto of a Smit tug in the sixth boro of NYC a few decades back with a quite famous tow called Peking.

Looking for a Ship

OK . .  I stole am borrowing the title from what I’d call a “must-read” book by John McPhee . . .  from two decades back.  But this small boat, identified

here–double click–is

doing just that, no matter the stormy weather.

See the pilot boat here . . . approaching the incoming container ship, which is looking for a port.

The pilot boat descends into a trough starboard the vessel, SS El Morro. . . .      Sun Shipbuilding launched . . . 1974.   See hull # 666.   Here it approaches its namesake. . . .

where–standing off a sentry box–aka–una garita waits Honcho, a 1975 tug, also looking for a ship, along with

its newest fleetmate, Handy Three.   By the way, does anyone have a foto of Handy Three passing through New York City  . . . the sixth boro . . .  late last spring on its maiden voyage between Cleveland and San Juan?

If so, please get in touch . .  see email along upper left.

All fotos yesterday by Will Van Dorp, in the last half hour before catching a ride back to NYC . . .  aka the sixth boro.