Retro Salish Sea 2

In July 2010, the 1968 Black Hawk was one of two sister tugs operated by Sound Freight Lines.  Since then, the sister Seminole has been sold foreign, and Black Hawk has been sold to Sause Brothers Ocean Towing.  Sause refurbished her and for an account of Black Hawk towing a barge from San Francisco to Vancouver, click here. Details on Black Hawk are 112′ x 34′ and 3700 hp.

Chief, 1999, is/was one of Crowley’s Harbor class tugs.  She’s 97′ x 36′ and 4800 hp.

James T. Quigg is no doubt now wearing Centerline Logistics colors.  She dates from 1971 and measures in at 98′ x 30′ and 3000 hp.   Since launch, she’s worked the US East Coast, once called Fournier Boys,  and Hawaii, as well as the West Coast.

Alaska Titan came off the ways in 2008.  She’s one of a half dozen “titans” operated by Western Towboat.

Currently following the waterway through the islands of the Alaska panhandle, she measures in at 112′ x 35′ and 5000 hp.

Westrac, 1987, is another Western Towboat vessel, measuring in at 63′ x 28′ and 2500 hp.

This Triton, launched 1965, now goes by Wycliffe.  She’s 115′ x 31′ and 2500 hp.   She’s currently in Ensenada MX.

Dixie, 1951, has a history in towing log rafts on the Columbia River hundreds of miles above Portland OR. She’s 46′ x 15′ and 575 hp.

Pacific Star, launched 2008, now goes by Signet Courageous.  She’s 92′ x 40′ and 6610 hp. She’s currently in the Gulf of Mexico off Corpus Christi.

On Lake Washington, Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain were out sailing.  The two vessels are now outside the Puget Sound in Gray’s Harbor, and Hawaiian Chieftain, as I understand it, has been “laid up.”  The two replica vessels have a waterline length of 72’and 62′, respectively.

Island Packer puzzles me a bit.  It seems not be cost effective to operate the 1943 converted landing craft between here and the Aleutians, where Chernofsky is located.  I suppose it was in Seattle that day for service.  I don’t know.

Katie Ann, launched in Baltimore in 1969, almost 300′ loa and powered by 8000 hp,  is one of six processing/packing/freezing vessels operated by American Seafoods.  She operates with a crew of 75.  As of this writing, according to AIS, she’s in exactly the same location I photographed her in July 2010, but only because she’s between seasons.

Viking has the lines of a converted oiler, like these.  She could be the 120′ crabber/trawler built for crabbing/fishing by Marco in 1975.

All photos, WVD, in July 2010.

 

 

Retro Salish Sea 1

Garth Foss, launched in 1993, is huge: 138′ x 46′ with 8000 hp and 80 tonnes of bollard pull.  Robert Allan says of Garth and sister Lindsey, ““They were really the first true purpose-designed tanker escort tugs in the world.”

Pacific Pride, launched in 1976 and measuring 84′ x 28′ and 2500 hp, is now Panama-registered D Dog.  She’s currently anchored off Callao Peru.

Next to her is Sirius, launched in 1974,  126′ x 38′ and 5750 hp, and currently laid up in Hawaii.

Guardian was launched in 1970, measuring 136′ x 37′ and 5750 hp, and is laid up.   Gladiator dates from 1975, measures in at 129′ x 37′ and  7200 hp.    She’s now Vanuatu-registered Resolve Gladiator, currently in the Irish Sea.

Over in Bremerton, I saw YTB 828 aka Catahecassa   101′ x 31′.  She was launched in 1974 in Marinette WI.  One source says that In 2013, she was sold to Basic Towing and renamed Gina.  Basic does own YTB 827 Chetek now known as Nickelena. Of course, all of this could be out of date.

Western Ranger was launched in 1968 as Oio, a Hawaiian Pineapple, then Dole tugboat.  In 1992 she came to Western Tugboat.  She’s  101′ x 31′ and rated at 3420 hp.  As of now, she’s on a run from Nome to Dutch Harbor.

Flyer was built in 1981.  She’s all of 37′ x 16′ and 400 hp.  Hornet was built in 1966 and the tape says 42′ x 14′ and 360 hp.

Pathfinder was launched in 1970, 136′ x 37′ and 5750 hp.     Now she goes by Island Explorer and is off BC on a run from Seattle to Anchorage.

Valor was launched in 2007 and chartered to Crowley.  She’s  93′ x 40′ and 6772 hp.  Currently she’s in San Francisco Bay.

Andrew Foss was launched in 1982 as Andrew Foss, measuring in at 107′ x 38′ and 4290 hp.

The trip to the Seattle area in July 2010 produced lots of photos I posted here.  Maybe I should get updates on more of the boats I saw there.  I was invited to be there in August 2020 for a wedding, but like so many things . . . that’s not happening.

All photos, WVD.

Other People’s Fotos 19

Here was 18.

The following two fotos come thanks to Joseph Graham, a New Yorker who pilots a Kirby boat among various ports in the Gulf and on the Mississippi.   Study the six tugs below  . . . yes six.  Recognize the one on the left?

Sure!  It’s Odin, featured here and here and many more places.  Right now she’s in the vessel equivalent of Sailors’ Snug Harbor, in Kirby’s reserve yard in Houston.    Odin . .  you’re not forgotten!

Notice anything unusual about this staple?  It may be common elsewhere, but I’ve never seen one with a stainless steel insert. This foto comes compliments of Allen Baker;  here’s one of his many fotos on this blog.  And the vessel . . .

is three-year-old Delta Billie, 6800 hp and built in Washington state.

She was docked here on the San Francisco Embarcadero . . . below the Tower there named for “Firebelle  Lil’ Coit.”

And finally, from Lauren Tivey, whose foto of a lion figurehead on a Shanghai barge appeared here a year and a half ago,  a fisherman working on Er Lake in Yunnan . . .  using

these birds we know well in the sixth boro.    I love the paint job on these fishing boats.   Quiz:  Can you name three of the six major rivers that drain Yunnan province?

Poor foto . . . I took on Sunday, but I was fascinated by this KVK cormorant struggling at least two minutes to swallow this sea robin.  Cormorants must have throat tissue like a rubber tire!

The rivers flowing out of Yunnan–which borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam– are the Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Red, Pearl, and Yangtze.

Thanks again to Joseph, Allen, and Lauren for use of these fotos.

x

Random Ships 21

Chain link fence topped by accordion razor wire coils stand exposed only after a solid steel door is raised and an even heavier drawbridge lowered . . .   what is this?

And what lurks toothily below in the moat that’s most certainly there?

Salish Sea water, of course.  Many thanks to John Van Staalduinen who snapped these fotos at the port in Tacoma.  Both vessels were launched in Bath, ME in 1976.

Unrelated . . .  Grande Marocco left not quite a week ago for  . . . Dakar.  With all those cars up on the top splash deck (monkey deck??), I’m left wondering  . .  among other things . .

about a North American portion to a Dakar Rally.  I know some people who would welcome the addition of a North American component to that race.

I’m wondering what Grimaldi ships to places like Cotonou and Banjul in West Africa.

Graphics on ships . . .  if Charles Fazzino has been designated official artist of OpSail NY 2012, I wonder if we can expect designs like these on tall ships in less than a month . ..   How did he get chosen?  By whom?  To what end?  Who else was considered?

And one more from the north coast by Michigan Exposures . . . who might be planning a foray into the sixth boro . . . it’s Arthur  M. Anderson.  If Titanic had its Carpathia, then Edmund Fitzgerald had its Arthur . . . unfortunately too late.  I love the mild-dazzle paint on these vessels.  Arthur is a product of the American Ship Building Company yard in Lorain, OH . . . another manufacturing center transformed into  . .  housing.   If you don’t know the Lightfoot Fitzgerald song, here’s the link.   Otherwise, check out this supremely moody foto of a laker.

Thanks to John, John, and Ken for these fotos.  There are even two here by me.

Other Peoples’ Fotos 11

Here was 10.

And here, from John Van Staalduinen,  are fotos of Legend, a sibling of the virgin tug Liberty I posted about a month ago.  Doubleclick enlarges. The size of this behemoth can

measured using the load line (draft markings) on the stern.  Eyeballing it, I’d say that from the top of the stern bulwarks to the top of the brownish bottom paint is almost 20′.  I.e., if (post-launch obviously) I dove from the bulwarks into the water, it would be a long way just to the water!  ??  Stern anchor is already in place.

Also at the shipyard in Anacortes, John got this foto of a dry-docked Nanuq, a 301′ loa oil recovery/platform supply vessel build by Edison Chouest.  Nanuq was delivered in May 2007; here’s a youtube of its launch.   Click here for a foto/info on the newest vessel Edison Chouest is undertaking for Shell’s Arctic drilling.

And from Isaac of the tugboathunter blog, this foto taken in Toledo. OH, (it reminds me of those shots taken by “future car spies”) of the former tugboat Cleveland, possibly headed for the sixth boro as the new (and third) Patrice McAllister.  Another shot of the future Patrice can be seen in the last foto here on this post from Isaac’s blog.  For archival shots of the vessel, check out Birk and Harold’s site, of course.

Thanks again John and Isaac.

Related:  If you haven’t seen Jed’s blog, Cumberland Soundings, check it out here.

Also related:  I’m suddenly thinking seriously about visiting the Panama Canal.  A site like this one gives me the impression that there is an Canal/shipping enthusiast-friendly tourist infrastructure in Panama.  Can anyone who’s been there comment?  Would it be better to use Panama City or Colon as a homebase for a four-day trip?  The “screen capture” below is interactive but time sensitive.  When I studied traffic just now, I quickly recognized a half dozen vessels I think I know from their transit through the sixth boro.   One is NYK Meteor, which I got fotos of eight days ago exiting the KVK.  Is this possible?

Non-Orange Ferries

Bowsprite’s rendering of the orange aka ġeolurēad Staten Island ferry John F. Kennedy feels like a sip of warm cider on a cold autumn evening.   The Staten Island ferry adopted this color–clever . . .  they picked a color that both promoted visibility/safety and nodded to heritage–in 1926.  Before that, the color was basic white.    So here’s my question:  are there large ferries elsewhere that are not mostly white?  And this takes me way out on a limb, but can anything be read into the fact that a national eating/drinking establishment uses a similar orange color?

Cross Sound Ferry’s Cape Henlopen is mostly

a color that would blend into snow and fog.  That’s Joan Turecamo in the background, off New London.

The same is true also of Susan Anne, here off Plum Island.

Yes, that’s Manhattan in the background.  Can you guess this ferry white vessel?

It’s Twin Capes . . . a Delaware River and Bay Authority vessel, on a special mission in the sixth boro.  DRBA has its own vessel named Cape Henlopen, a geographic feature located in Delaware.

My other ferry experience this year introduced me to the Washington State Ferry system, with green trim, but otherwise

mostly the color of snow and fog.

Here is a Tugster post on Champlain ferries.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.

Please send fotos of non-white ferries . . . or non-sixth boro orange ones or banana yellow or plum . . . . two-tone green?

So it doesn’t take long:  Capt. Bill Miller sent this undated foto (late 1940s?) of what could be the green CNJRR ferry Cranford (launched 1905 from Wilmington), which ran in the harbor from Jersey City.  Cranford has served as a reef since 1982.  A slightly older vessel formerly known as Lakewood (1901) served as the last CNJRR ferry until 1967; then renamed Second Sun it served as education center for the Salem nuclear power plant until 1992, when it  had a third life as a fancy Philly waterfront eatery called Elizabeth, which transitioned into a Hooters venue until 2002.    Today, the vessel is probably the only Hooters-logoed reef in the universe.  How can I nominate ferry Elizabeth for induction into the Hooters Hall o Fame . . .

Related:  The Washington State Ferry system uses 22 vessels to move 23 million passengers per year;  the Staten Island Ferry uses 10 vessels to move 20 million passengers per year.  Hmmm!

Unrelated:  a stealth sub losing its stealth on a Scottish mudbank.

Really Random Tugs

Thanks to Amy Bucciferro for the first two fotos here taken in San Francisco in early May.  From left to right here, Japanese training barque Kaiwo Maru II, unidentified AmNav tugs, and SFFD fireboat Guardian.  The AmNav tugs are either  Independence (farther) and Patricia Ann (nearer).

Below is 1914 tug Eppleton Hall, seaworthy enough in 1970 to travel from the North Sea to San Francisco via the Panama Canal.  For a foto of “Eppie” under way, click here.   (I love the “save the Eppie” art, for the aesthetic of the late 1960s.  Anyone know of a larger, more detailed version?)

Crowley Valor is bow escort for Vancouver Express into Seattle.

Foss Pacific Star awaits the signal to ease Cosco Antwerp off the pier, bound for sea.

Andrew Foss glides northbound toward bulker Tian Yu Feng.

Log bronc Skillful finds haven on Lake Union near Center for Wooden Boats’ Northwest Seaport.

Truckable tug Lynx stands by in Newcastle harbor.

In Bremerton and behind a fence, it’s YTB 828 Catahecassa.  Read the sign on the fence?  Catahecassa was a Shawanee chief.

Also behind the fence is YTB 779 Manhattan.  When I thought to try to get a closer, unobstructed foto, I

saw another sign, clearly, that reiterated what I couldn’t quite read on that other sign.

First two fotos by Amy Bucciferro;  all others by Will Van Dorp.

Not random but unrelated:  at PortSide NewYork in Atlantic Basin on July 22 (830 pm), the movie Random Lunacy will be shown, featuring a transAtlantic crossing by Poppa Neutrino aboard Son of Town Hall.  Read about Bonnie’s encounter on Jamaica Bay this weekend with a vessel made with parts of Son of Town Hall.

Salish Sea 6

Once back in the sixth boro, we realized our phone chargers got left in Seattle . . . which brought to mind songs like Tony Bennett’s and Bob Dylan‘s.   It is a fact that–especially with the bright sun I saw in Seattle and the overcast days since returning here–I’m not ready to be here.  Rainier hangs over the city  like a moon, here beyond bulker Tian Yu Feng, possibly waiting for a load of grain.

So back to the waterfront, starting along the Canal.  Discovery Star is a fish processor that started life as a GOM mud boat, and we’ve heard way too much about mud and the Gulf these past months.

Fishing and processing vessel Courageous is another vessel that started life in a different game . . . a 180′ buoy tender named Tupelo launched in Duluth at Zenith Dredge in 1942.  The government builds their boats and ships to last.

Another case in point:  Assertive, now part of  Seattle Community Colleges’ Maritime Academy, began life as a Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship aka T-AGOS, like our local Kings Pointer and (dock-bound?) Stalwart.

I loved the number of wooden boats in the Salish . . . like GloryBe, well-cared-for since 1914, and recently

rebuilt as part of a . . .  community college carpentry program.

Currently docked nearby are Lady Washington and . . .

cool figurehead … and

this tiny steamer and …

this 1928 water taxi.  See an urban sketcher’s rendering here.  A wooden vessel that was not saved is Wawona, whose final journey is shown in a youtube clip here.

And occasionally . . . a visitor ties up  (and later casts off) , like Coot.  By the way, to see almost four years of building Coot, click here.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Belated joyeux Bastille Day and happy birthday HRH Prince of Tonga!

Salish Sea 5: The Canal Mostly

July is officially “gallivant month” this year, but as an update on yesterday’s “Bridge” post . . . the tow got somewhere out of foto range before daybreak;  when I got up to check progress on AIS at 5 am local time, it was already south of the Holland Tunnel vents.  I guess we’ll have to catch the mobile bridge when it heads from the Weeks yard up to its home over the Harlem River . . . later this month?  Also, since I’m out yon and hither this month, check Bonnie’s blog for sixth boro events.

Not on the Canal . . .  check out Royal Argosy . . . and find something strange about her design.  My answer at end of post.

Crabber Wizard, 1945 built by Brooklyn’s own Bushey yard, and one of the feature vessels of “Deadliest Catch,”  served as a YO-153 Navy oiler and a molasses tanker before its transformation into crabber in 1978.  Some YO-153s are now local reefs.

Another Bushey oiler-turned-crabber is Blue Gadus, launched two years earlier than Wizard.  Brooklyn’s yards have sent boats to the seven seas, above and beneath.

Like Wizard and Blue Gadus, Sahara hopes for a second life.  Any guesses about her previous life from this stern shot?

She was a also government ship,  R-101 Oceanographer, launched from Jacksonville, Florida in April 1964, now possibly transforming into a yacht.

Freemont Tug Co.’s Blueberry began life in 1941 in Tacoma as a 65′ buoy tender.

Ranger 7 was originally built for the United States Forest Service in 1926, but I’ve located no vintage fotos.

Maris Pearl is a repurposed 1944 Navy tug.  This foto was taken outside the Canal.

Amak was built in Goble, Oregon in 1916 and worked in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Newt, 1924.

Skillful?  Maybe, I just have no clue about her past.

And this returns us to Royal Argosy.  Notice what feeds into the forward stack . . . or rather, what does not feed into it.  It’s a faux-funnel, maybe-smoke from nowhere, a mild form of “amelioration.”

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Salish Sea 4

I leave Seattle today, reluctantly.  But days to come will feature more fotos I took here.  From this angle, can you guess this one?

If you couldn’t read the name or recognize the clipper-bow profile, it’s Garth Foss with all her 8000 hp moving through her VSP.

And Pacific Star, between ship shifting jobs.

Shifting from green to orange, it’s Chief and

Valor, lying in wait for

Vancouver Express.

Ocean Titan, second foto in a few days, is a thing of beauty here shrunk by the snowcapped Olympics.

And along the Ship Canal, here are Western Ranger and

(left to right) Flyer, Hornet, Wasp, and Fearless.  For more info, see the Western Towboat site here.

Closing shot for now:  Arthur Foss (ex-Wallowa, 1889), movie star and much much more.  I don’t know the small vessel beside her.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.