Something Different 4 Follow-Up
You likely heard about the Hong Kong floating restaurant that sank recently while being towed “somewhere.” No one was hurt, and it sank in a deep part of the ocean, so it will remain at the bottom, maybe as a venue for the mer-creatures. Second lives for vessels as restaurants, etc., are tough. Here was […]
Something Different 67 C
Parts A and B are here. Today’s post concludes this story of my Congo River trip, 1973. Wednesday midday the ITB and all the barges finally stopped for the first time in a place called Bolobo. No dock per se existed, but the lead starboard barge was near enough the bank that long planks were […]
Something Different 67 B
Part A was here. Here is the start of the actual trip on the Integrated Tug Barge (ITB) that led to this blog. Giant pusher tugs like the ITB Major Vangu were sometimes referred to as K-boats, because they ran between key river cities of Kinshasa and Kisangani. Waterfalls above Kisangani and below Kinshasa blocked […]
Something Different 67 A
How did I get interested in tugboats? Here is an autobiographical and long response, even though it’s only part 1 of 3, or in this case, A of A B C. Bear with the scintillating prose, but I possess nary a single photo from this period. To answer the frequently asked question above, I’ve […]
Something Different 64
If I knew then (pick a date in the past) what I know now, I’d do things differently. This is a universal story involving 20/20 hindsight. In this specific case, I’d have used the tag “Great Loop” whenever it would have applied. In less than a short nine minutes, you can meet an unforgettable guy, […]
Something Different 63
Philadelphia Express came into the sixth boro yesterday with stated destination . . . . Karachi!@#! Made a wrong turn? More on Karachi later in this post. But here’s my question . . . see that flag to the left of the name? That’s the country of registry. Recognize it? Here’s more of a clue […]
Something Different 62
Here are the previous 61. A novel idea is floating in the East River, or was. My spin on it is this. Name three of your favorite “maritime” books, or works, to put into a maritime collection of books . . . Don’t overthink it . . . they can be obvious or obscure or […]
Something Different 61
Here’s the source for this photo and info below. My question is . . . where might it be now. I have no answer. This is only a portion of the history you’ll find if you click(ed) on the link in the paragraph above. A friend just sent this. Guess the location? Full Steam‘s the […]
Something Different 60
Let’s try this: which boat and where. Some of you will quickly identify the tugboat and a bit later say the location. Some of you might guess the company by the color of the tug. Others of you will have no association at all. I took these photos Tuesday of this week. The boat […]
Something Different 59
See the draft numbers? Here‘s a good definition of and discussion of their usages. I pay attention to these just because I’m a curious layperson. These appear in multiple locations around the hull because draft varies longitudinally. The markings here I’ve read near the stern, as below, or the bow. This bulk carrier had discharged […]
tugster: a waterblog 