You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘W. O. Decker’ category.
If it seems I’m doing a lot of redux, etc. these days, my explanation is that 2012 was a great time for my being out there taking photos. It was entirely by chance that I walked past this scene on July 17, 2012 before 0900. I can’t even remember why I was there. Now it matters no more because as soon as I saw this, scuttlebutt told me what was happening. A towline on Helen‘s stern after all those years meant
she was moving. I raced around Peking to get a different perspective. She was indeed being towed out and made fast to the car float with the green spud.
I saw McAllister Responder there, but I had’t figured out why, yet.
After spinning around (does Decker have z-drives?!!) [just kidding], deckhand made up head to head with Helen on Decker‘s port side, and
began to move astern.
At the same time, Responder crawled astern on the far side of the opening. Now it wasn’t until today, studying these photos, that I noticed the crewman about midships on the stern deck. Would that have been the late Capt. Brian?
But as I said, I hadn’t noticed that person until today. He shows up in another photo.
Once Decker had Helen out of the “anchorage” enough that Responder could take Helen alongside, Decker threw off her lines and
Responder took over as dance partner for the the 1900 Helen. Notice the crewman on the stern deck?
Away they went on
might have been Helen‘s last transit of the Buttermilk channel.
All photos, WVD, who last posted photos of Helen here half a year ago.
One of the photos from this July 2022 event was memorialized here, I’m happy to report.
The “4” here refers to the dry dock, not the fourth post in this series. The last post on Caddell was Something Different 57. And in the “high and dry” series, this would be number 11. I’m just trying to anchor this post in the previous body of work. Also, I believe this dry dock was originally built as an auxilliary floating dry dock (ARD) by the USN to lift submarines out of their watery habitat, but I can’t corroborate that.
In Dry Dock 4 a half dozen years ago was the pilot boat New York. I put this first so that the vessels in the rest of the photos can be compared against a standard, the dimensions of the same dry dock.
See above for scale. On this date, winter 2014, Dry Dock 4 was shared by W. O. Decker and schooner Pioneer, currently both in Albany getting refurbished and improved.
This boat’s a mystery to me; the livery on upper pilothouse says it’s a Reinauer boat, but I took this photo over 10 years ago and have lost track of its identity. You may know?
McAllisters Brothers was originally called Dalzelleagle. I believe it’s currently in the sixth boro but mothballed.
The Fireboat John J. Harvey had some work done in Dry Dock 4 . She has a long and storied career.
Doris Moran is a 4610 hp tugboat that does some sixth boro work, although she’s currently in Louisiana.
East Coast has not appeared on this blog very often. She used to tow the sugar barge, and she may well still do so.
Let’s get to the end of this post with Clipper City, having some bottom work done on a cold winter’s day eight years ago already.
All photos, WVD, who’d love to know more about the history of Dry Dock 4.
Back in 2010, I did four posts about the weekend, which you can see here. What I did for today’s post was look through the archives and just pick the photos that for a variety of reasons jumped out at me. A perk is each of the four posts has some video I made. One of these photos is from 2006.
Again, I’m not listing all the names, but you may know many of these. In other cases, you can just read the name. If you plug that name into the search window, you can see what other posts featured that particular vessel.
Below, here the pack that locked through the federal lock together make their way en masse toward the wall in Waterford.
You’ll see a lot of repetition here.
The photo above and most below were taken earlier than the top photo; here, Chancellor and Decker head southbound for the lock to meet others of the procession beginning in Albany.
2020 is Decker‘s 90th year.
Nope, it’s not Cheyenne. Alas, Crow became razor blades half a decade back.
Technically, not a tugboat, but Hestia is special. We may not have a functioning steam powered tug in the US, but we do have steam launches like Hestia, with very logical names.
You correctly conclude that I was quite smitten by Decker at the roundup back 10 years ago.
All photos, WVD.
And Shenandoah was not from 2010. It was 2009.
That big “300” is beckoning, so although I had other posts planned . . . let’s increment closer to that 300. I’m inviting your participation here so that i can make it the best “non-random” random post. Random Tugs 001 was here. Random Tugs 100 was more than seven years later, and 200 was about four years after that.
What better way to start than with these two photos of W. O. Decker, taken yesterday by Glenn Raymo. Yes, that’s the Walkway over the Hudson. Decker is taking a freshwater cure.
Many previous posts featuring Decker can be seen here.
Kimberly Turecamo assisted an MSC box boat in recently. A less dynamic photo of Kimberly appeared yesterday. The founder of MSC, Gianluigi Aponte, is alive and well in Italy.
Sarah D was on this blog recently with a unique tow; usually she pushes vessels like this. But hey . . . it pays the bills.
Andrea follows a box ship to the NJ portions of the sixth boro.
Reaching back into the archives a bit, here was Honcho in San Juan PR. I took this photo in March 2013. She’s been all around. I’ve forgotten, though, whether she actually worked on the Great Lakes. I need to find out also what she looks like now that she’s a Moran boat.
Back in April 2012, I caught Bruce A. McAllister bringing in Mars, marked as registered in San Francisco. Mars went onto a heavy lift ship over to Nigeria. The photo makes me curious about traveling to Mars.
See the tugboat here? Name the bridge in the background?
Between Algoma Olympic and CSL Laurentian, it’s Leo A. McArthur, built in Penglai China in 2009. Believe it or not, Penglai was the birthplace and boyhood home of Henry Luce, the magazine guy!
Did you recognize the last two photos as the Detroit River, and the bend between Detroit and Windsor. The reason I asked about the bridge . . . the Ambassador Bridge is that the owner died yesterday. Manuel “Matty” Maroun was 93. The 1929-built bridge, as well as the duty-free stores in its vicinity, have been owned by Maroun since 1979.
Many thanks to Glenn for use of the Decker photos. All others by WVD.
Preface: There’s a new heading at top of the page called “virtual tour.” Covid-19 has changed everything. Now it’s not alarming to walk into a bank or business establishment wearing a mask. Many people commute from bedroom to desk, and a really long commute is one that involves stairs. I’ve been to a few remote concerts already this week, and virtual travel is happening without getting beamed up or down. Webinars and Virtual guides are popping up everywhere, and zooming has a whole new meaning.
Today I begin posting a “virtual tour” across New York state by the waterway that changed our national history. You don’t need a ticket or a passport or a subscription. We’ll take some zigs into the surrounding land, and some zags into history because we don’t need to stay between the channel markers. Transit from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario will take ten posts, ten days. Also, to avoid confusion, click here to find the distinction between 1825 Clinton’s Ditch, the 1862 Enlarged Erie Canal, and the 1918 Barge Canal, today often referred to as the Erie Canal. I’ll point out some vestiges of the 19th-century waterway. That distinction and other terms are defined here. Yes, some parts of the canal have been filled in, but those parts were obsolete already. Sal would certainly saunter along if he could, but he’s got other duties. Besides, Sal’s been replaced by Cats and Cummins and other mechanical critters.
Here’s a good place to start: a weathered and water-stained distance table I saw in the wheelhouse of 1932 Canal tug Seneca. Although I don’t know the date of printing, the table clearly comes from a time when commercial traffic on the Canal made runs between the sixth boro to Lakes Erie and Ontario routine. I’ll refer to it for distances now and again. In this series, we’ll head to Three Rivers Point, and then take the Oswego Canal/River to Lake Ontario.
We’ll begin just south of Waterford, the eastern terminus of the current Canal. Approaching from Troy on the Hudson, you’ll see
this sign in the town of Waterford indicating the entrance to the Canal, branching off to port.
Waterford, a town of just under 9000, is a fantastic stopping point for boats even today. Note the red brick visitor’s center and just to the right, the bridge leading over to Peebles Island. That Second Street/Delaware Ave bridge links this to a few photos farther below, taken decades apart.
Before plunging into history, have a look at where these boats come from. Double click on most photos to get larger version. Often recreational boats,sometimes loopers, tie up there for information and provisioning; international yachts . . .
Great Lakes work boats,
and self-described slow rollers. We’ll roll quite slow too, to smell the flowers and avoid . . you know . . what Sal might’ve left behind.
To this day, commercial vessels that can squeeze under the 112th Street Bridge congregate in Waterford in early September each year for the Tugboat Roundup.
Can you spot the one tugboat that appears in both photos, above and below, taken more than a half century apart? It’s Urger, whose story is long and involved and can be deciphered here. The self-propelled barge, aka Eriemax freighter, on the wall to the right is Day-Peckinpaugh, which transported cargo on the canal from 1921. She’ll come up again later in the trip.
Note the same Peebles Island bridge? Judging by the barges, I’d place this photo at about a century old, back when the Barge Canal-iteration of the Erie Canal opened. The archival photos throughout the series come from the Digital Collections of the New York State Archives, and this is my credit. Visit the New York State Museum also virtually here.
In the next post, we enter the flight. For now, let’s hail the lock master on VHF and see if he’ll open gates. Click on the link in the previous sentence, and scroll, to see the friendliest lock master in my experience; as with anything, your experience maybe different. .
Consider this a work in progress. Nycanals.com maintains extensive info about every lock in the journey on their site.
Any additions, corrections, or other comments are appreciated. I have literally thousands of photos of the canal, but would welcome your best as well. I’d love to make this an ever-growing communal project. Let me add one more from the 2008 Waterford Tugboat Roundup.
Again, black/white photos from New York State Archives, Digital Collections. Color photos WVD, unless otherwise stated.
Fred of tug44 created a systematic tour here several years ago. Sally W went through the same itinerary from June 11 until 22 in2012.
The blog is called tugster, and not tatter, taster, tagster or truckster, as much fun as those digressions may be, being able to be a bit obsessively focused, this is the 249th installment! If you add in the non-random tug posts, it’s even more than 249.
W. O. Decker, the only wooden-hulled tug in this post. Built in Long Island City in 1930 and 52′ loa.
Christian Reinauer, built 2001 in Mobile AL and 118′.
Haggerty Girls 2013 built in North Kingston RI and 110′, and I think, Dean Reinauer 2013 in North Kingston RI and 112′
.
Ellen McAllister, … 1967 in Sturgeon Bay WI and 102′ and she’s been a staple in the sixth boro for as long as I’ve been paying attention. A former YTB, she works–it seems– every day.
Paul Andrew, … 1968 in Loreauville LA and 63′. She too has been working the harbor since I’ve been paying attention.
Jill Reinauer, … 1967 in Houma LA, and 91′ loa.
And to round things out with a photo I took in September 2017–all others have been since mid-February–it’s Sarah D, built 1975 in Palatka FL [Mary Kay, 1973 in Palatka FL] and 90′. She has appeared on this blog fairly recently.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who wishes you warmth today.
Now about tats and tasting . . . those might be franchise expansion ideas . . .
. . . and beyond. Let’s start with August 7, 2008 . . . up by the Iroquois lock of the Seaway. And Canadian Provider . . . well . . . in 2013 she was towed to Aliaga as OVI, and scrapped. Note that she’s a straight-decker . . . no self-unloading gear.
August 14 . . . reef-making consisted of sinking subway cars. These went off Atlantic City. To see their condition now, click here.
August 16 in the Arthur Kill, Volunteer was off to remake the tow. Built in 1982, she met the scrappers earlier this year.
August 20 . . . Laura K and Margaret–I believe –have just helped Glasgow Express to Howland Hook terminal. Glasgow (2002) is still at work, and so are Laura K (in Savannah) and Margaret in the sixth boro.
August 23 . . . Colleen McAllister and Dean Reinauer bring a barge through the Gate, reading for the Sound. Colleen is now owned by for Port City Tug Company of Grosse Point. Has anyone seen her in operation? Dean went to Nigeria aboard Blue Marlin.
Christine M McAllister stands by in Erie Basin on August 24. This 6000hp tug is currently working down south of here.
August 27 . . . the reclusive Susan E. Witte eastbound and Adriatic Sea westbound. Beyond Adriatic, that might be Aegean. Adriatic is currently on a tow on the 2000+ stretch of Ocean between Honolulu and Kwajalein! Can someone confirm this? Nine years ago, I caught Adriatic near the Bear Mountain Bridge here (scroll).
August 29 . . . Coral Sea westbound, while later in the same day,
the scarcely-seen up here Paul T Moran heads for the Bridge while Maryland approaches from that direction. Coral Sea has gone to West Africa, Maryland has become Liz Vinik, and Paul T stays mostly around the Gulf.
The Tugboat Races and other contests were on the 31st that year. Here Justin shows good style hitting that bollard.
HMS Liberty mixes it up with some real history. Edith went down to Trinidad and the venerable Dorothy Elizabeth (1951) was scrapped the next year. Liberty is still in the sixth boro.
And to close it out . . . the 1907 Pegasus made a showing at the races that year. She’s laid up on the morris Canal so far as I know.
I hope you enjoyed these walks through waters no longer here.
Now my big announcement: as this posts, I’m on board Grande Mariner for the next seven weeks, Chicago bound. I will post when I can with what photos I can. But I’ve done that before. GWA (Going west again) was my series title last year. You have to read this one about my role on the vessel. GW was the title I used in 2016.
Maybe this year it should TGWYA . . . thank god i’m going west again . . . Anyhow . . . this is my version of a “gone fishing’ sign.
Since W. O. Decker may soon be seen albeit briefly in the sixth boro, let’s start with this photo from July 2008, as she chugs past the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge, thanks to an Icelandic-Danish artist named Olafur Eliasson.
Reinauer had some of the same names as now assigned to different boats here a decade ago but now no more on this side of the Atlantic, like Dean.
Some names have not (yet) been reassigned like John.
Now for some that are still here, though some have different paint and names: Juliet is now Big Jake. Matthew Tibbetts is still all the same, externally at least.
Stena Poseidon–a great name– is now Espada Desgagnes, and Donald C may still be laid up as Mediterranean Sea.
The long-lived, many-named Dorothy Elizabeth has been scrapped.
Rowan M. McAllister is still around, but the Jones Act tanker S/R Wilmington has succumbed to scrappers’ tools in Brownsville TX.
Falcon has left the sixth boro for Philly and Vane, and Grand Orion, as of today, is headed for Belgium.
And finally . . . June K here assisting with Bouchard B. No. 295 . . . she’s still around and hard at work as Sarah Ann.
All photos by Will Van Dorp in July 2008.
Naming the setting is easy, but can you name this tug? I thought it was Emerald Coast with a modified paint job.
It’s a newbie in town from the Harley Gulf fleet, appropriately named Lightning, given that sky. .
Iron Salvor I’d seen before, but at the dock. The other day she loaded some fuel at the IMTT pump. Her intriguing history was commented on here from two months ago.
I don’t believe I’ve seen Kodi before.
She comes from across Raritan Bay, from Belford.
Let’s mix things up with a photo from about 10 years ago . . . Swift, a 1958 tug out of New Haven.
I’ve never seen Miss Circle Line away from the dock, but getting this photo on a stroll along the Hudson the other day led me to discover (maybe again) that she’s a 1955 product of Matton’s shipyard, although she doesn’t appear on this shipyard list, unless my eyes fail me or the list is incomplete.
To go over to Europe, from Jed . . . it’s Union 5.
photo date 15 JUNE 2017
And a rare shot from Jed, it’s Japanese tug Azusa. Since then, she’s been sold to Indian concerns and operates as Ocean Marvel out of the port of Krishnapatnam. Scroll down on that link to see a drawing of elephants being loaded . . . likely more than a half century ago.
photo date 16 Jan 2008
And in closing, here’s Decker and Matilda, photo I took on May 26, 2008. Where does the time go?
Thanks to Jed for use of his photos, many more of which are in the hopper. All others by Will Van Dorp.
Sea Power has been lurking in and around the sixth boro the past few days, and I will continue trying to get some good photos of her, but on 9-22-16 Jack Ronalds up at the Canso Canal caught these photos of her as she headed into Lake Erie to pick up her barge constructed in Erie PA.
Remember, if you need photos of a vessel traveling between the Great Lakes and the west Atlantic Coast from the Maritimes southward, Jack’s your guy. See some of his work (2440 photos) here.
4-24-08 Dean Reinauer passes NYK Daedalus. This Dean left NYC for Nigeria in June 2011.
6-16-08 Juliet Reinauer pushed oil a decade ago. She’s still in the harbor working as Big Jake.
6-23-08 Odin . . . no longer has an adjustable wheelhouse and may be laid up, and ITB Groton, single-hulled tanker, . . . was sold in later 2008 to Nigerian interests first to ship grain and then returned to petroleum trade. It was sent to Alang and scrapped in late 2013.
9-13-08 Viking seen here out of the notch has made its way to Kirby and is currently very busy on the Hudson.
9-05-10 Here’s another showing Viking out of the notch and all gussied up, and (it seems) terrifying W. O. Decker.
And finally, another from 9-22-16, a shot of Sea Power heading north through the Canso Canal and ultimately to Lake Erie to pick up its mated barge. In the background is the 60+ year-old quarry now operated by Martin Marietta Materials in Aulds Cove, where vessels like and including Alice Oldendorff pick up the aggregates. Last year, four million tons worth of rock was shipped from here.
Many thanks to Jack for use of his photos. All others by Will Van Dorp, who has learned that as of this morning, Sea Power is sailing for Charleston SC.
tugster: a waterblog 
Recent Comments