Scrapper 2

Scrapper 1 focused on loading scrap from scows onto a bulker anchored in the Upper Bay.  Since then many posts, such as this one, have shown loaded scows pushed hither and yon in the harbor, and like this one, even down an ice-encrusted river.

Today’s post features a unit and a crew heading out bright and early to load scrap that once was the machinery of daily life.  In the shot below, I get the sense that the heat exhausting out the stack has just erased a segment of the Bayonne Bridge roadbed, cauterizing it.

Cauterizing is an extreme first aid term I’ve read about and grateful I’ve never had to perform.

I use the term here because this crew, small company, and 1960 machinery engaged in commerce illustrate how like a single organism really are the sixth boro and by extension the supply chain they fit so smoothly within.

Happy harvest, gentlemen.

All the rest could not happen without your part being played.

All photos and sentiments strictly by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 175

The first two photos–showing the newest and fastest (??) ATB to arrive in the sixth boro– were taken by Randall Fahry.

Tina Pyne is one immense mover, and Kirby 185-02 is one of two 578′ ocean going tank barges with 185,000-barrel capacity built by Gunderson Marine for Kirby.   See her christening here.

Zachery Reinauer is a Hudson River-built tug from 1971 one of the last 10 built at Matton, and she looks as good today as new!

This was taken a few seconds later, and this

as she stands by, while Haggerty Girls finesses RTC 107 into position.

An occasional sixth boro visitor, it’s Rhea I. Bouchard with B. No. 284.

 

As I began this post with another photographer’s photo, so I’ll end.  Thanks to Gerard Thornton for this rare catch of Ticonderoga assisting Pleon (?) into the Kills, possibly the last float for Pleon.     That’s also Barry Silverton in the distance.

 

Thanks to Randall and Gerard for use their photo.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

People on the Boro 19

For context, let’s look back here. And last year among some of the great photos shared by Harry Thompson, here (scroll) was a crowded harbor photo I really liked.

Last Saturday saw threatening weather; even so, lots of small boats and crowds braved the possibility of rain to see the races.

Vigilance prevailed and I heard of no incidents.

And yes, I paid a lot of attention to the Bath Maine-built 1906 Mary E, but that’s because I haven’t seen her in 9 years . . . obviously I was looking in the wrong places.  Click here and scroll for a photo of Mary E in Greenport almost 9 years ago.

Harvey was there.  Scroll here for one of my favorite photos of the 1931 Harvey, cutting through the pack at the 2013 tugboat race.

The 1885 Pioneer was there. Click here for a sail I did on Pioneer a few years back.

A raft of small boats clustered yet kept orderly.

The 1935 Enticer  . . . well, enticed, spectators as a platform.

as did a range of people movers. 

including the 1983 Arabella.

The captain of the heavyweight out there, the 2014 Eric McAllister, treaded lightly through the crowd.

Of course, out in the mist along the Jersey side there are more heavyweights, a Moran tug and its huge NCL gem.

And as for my ride, Monday morning it was earning money going for a load of scrap.

Another tall old ship that might have been present–the 1928 Bivalve NJ-based A. J. Meerwald had other missions to perform.

All photos by will Van Dorp.  And for photos of some of the people on the boro who were working during the race, check out NYMediaBoat’s blog post.

 

 

ACNY1: “There is No Second”

So were the words of a bold attendant to Queen Victoria when the royal yacht was bested by a strange-looking upstart vessel from the former colonies called America.  As the Queen revealed her ignorance of the rules, I too must confess that–like a an inhabitant recently retrieved from a remote island and watching a MLB or NFL game for the first time–I was largely unaware of what I was seeing.  No matter, I enjoyed it and hope you enjoy these photos.

First, the muster. If you want the instructions, click here.

It certainly appears the Japanese boat here is being towed.  Is this to demonstrate the foiling or train for it?  Here’s an explanation of how these 3000-pound vessels fly .. . or foil.

 

 

If it seems that all the boats are identical except for the sponsors, you’re right.

The logo at the top of all the mainsails is for Louis Vuitton.  Can someone explain why a trunk maker chooses to sponsor this race?   Isn’t it somewhat like an Indy car race sponsored by Victorias Secret, Epifanes,  or Penguin Books?

No matter, notice the throngs along the shore and the ledge of the building to the left?  I think of the third and fourth paragraphs from Moby Dick:

“Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?—Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster—tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?

But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses Battery Park City will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand—miles of them—leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets avenues—north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?”

The answer to that last question, it seems, is Yup!

 

I’m intrigued by this power cat .  .  .  the timing vessel.  Is its work called telemetry?  Anyone tell me more about what instrumentation it contains?   I’m wondering if this will be the official timer for the larger boat race next year in Bermuda.

 

 

I’m posting these photos earlier than usual today in hopes that they may prompt anyone who missed the race yesterday to brave the weather and watch today.

 

I’ll post some more tomorrow.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is grateful to Gerard Thornton for this platform.   Click here (and scroll) for a photo of Eric R. Thornton.

 

Green Tugs 3

Here . . . from a long time ago were 1 and 2 of this series.

This 1960 tug has gone from green to red and back to green.

In fact, just over a year ago, I caught it here transitioning from red to green . . . like watching a butterfly leave its cocoon.

Bravo, Eric R. Thornton . . . it’s good to see you working.

All photos recently by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 134

On a cold winter’s morning, what’s going on in the harbor?

The usual . . . .  Kathleen heads out with a scow,

Eric R. Thornton muscles scrap,

Evening Tide reconnects with an oil barge,

Diane B disconnects from John Blanche for a spell,

Joyce D. Brown heads out to a job,

Red Hook, wreath still in place, shuttles between barges,

And Ellen McAllister

shows Performance out to sea.  And in response to my cuz . .  JS . . . Ellen performs her magic on the container ship . . .

And tugster, who took these pictures, needs to warm up and get to work himself.

 

Scrap Saturday

I did a post about a scrapping before . .  in early 2007 here.  Warning:  Disturbing images follow.  This post focuses on a tug built in Matton Shipyard,

one of four tugboats that were originally christened John E. Matton, not the one below.

It could get confusing, but vessels were launched as John E. Matton in 1939 (which seems to be this one and still afloat as Atlantic 7 although I’ve not found a photo), in 1945, in 1958, and in 1964.

Below are photos of the 1958 John E. Matton.  The first one is from 2007, when it was known as Thornton Bros.

It changed names–and colors–after 2007, and that’s confusing too,

 

but by 2012 it again was Thornton Bros.

But earlier this year, time had run out, and I got some pics as it awaited the scrapper.

The following photos–taken while I was up on the canal–come compliments of Gerard Thornton, to whom I am grateful.

As I look at these, I’m eager to get into canal related archives to see what photos exist of the area around the Matton yard in the 1940s and 1950s.

 

And might there be photos of steel sheet and rod transported by canal from the Great Lakes steel plants to the Matton yard?

Again, thanks to Gerard Thornton for the last four photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

By the way, the John E. Matton (1964) became one of the vessels named Helen J. Turecamo and sank in 1988.  Does anyone know details about that sinking beyond 1988 and that it happened near Norfolk and involved a submarine? I get nothing from googling.

 

Transitioning 2

Here was the first in this series.  And from this morning, what spring cleaning and repainting is this

being done with such high spirits?

Here’s the former Roger Williams getting a springtime makeover.

To me . .  it looks like an Edward Hopper green  . . .

Click here for the transitioning tugboat now Eric R. Thornton in ruby light a few weeks ago.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Really Random Tugs 20

Here’s a range of photos from the present to the unknowable past.  Gage Paul Thornton . . . 1944 equipment working well in adverse 2014 conditions.   Photo by Bjoern Kils of New York Media Boat.

In 2007, McAllister Responder (1967) moved Peking (1911) across the sixth boro for hull inspection.  Photo by Elizabeth Wood.  That’s me standing on port side Peking adjacent to Responder house.

1953 Hobo races in Greenport Harbor in 2007.

A glazed over Gulf Dawn (1966)  inbound from sea passes BlueFin (2010).

Deborah Quinn (1957) awaits in Oyster Bay in 2010.

HP-Otter and HR-Beaver . . .  said to be in C-6 Lock in Fort Edward yesterday.  Photo by tug44 Fred.   New equipment chokes on ancient foe but no doubt will be dried off to run again.  Compare this photo with the fourth one here.

Unidentified tug on Newburgh land’s edge back in 2009.  I’ve been told it’s no longer there.

Unidentified wooden tug possibly succumbing to time in August  2011.

Ditto.  Wish there was a connection with a past here.

Thanks to Bjoern, Elizabeth, and Fred for their photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

 

Really Random Tugs 19

Name this tug headed for sea as the sunset bathes it in ruby light?

I guess this could turn into a precious materials post.  Hobo, this gold tug at the Costello shipyard in Greenport, appears to have been built 61 years ago by Caddell’s Drydock & Repair.  At this dock, it waits under the protection of this exotic creature of the winds if not waters.

This 55-year old  . . . despite the distant port name carried on its escutcheon, is where?  Check the skyline.

See the Chrysler Building off her port side?  Charlsea is currently in Weehawken.

The ever-wandering Maraki  caught up with Kathy M recently in Eleuthera.

And now . . . back to the ruby-red tug of the lead photo . . . . known as it leaves this port . . .

as Roger Williams, a name soon

to change.  Here she passes Castle Hill Light . . . as I said, bound for sea  . . .

Credits here go to Rod Smith for photos of Roger Williams, Maraki for Kathy M, and all others . . . Will Van Dorp, who is expecting to make a comment about the laurels above the Graves of Arthur Kill cover . . . upper left side of this page  . . . soon.

Thanks again, Rod and Maraki.