Retro 27 Gallivant

Nothing says the Delaware River up around Philadelphia and Camden more distinctly than a group of Hays tugs, here Big Daddy, High Roller, and Purple Hays.  That’s the stern of Grape Ape to the left. No company, I gather, has had more fun naming their boats than the Hays Tug and Launch folks.   I hope Ed Roth got photos of these boats.

And I’ve never had so much fun on the Delaware River area than I did the day my friend John Curdy took me on a tour there.

Timothy McAllister was docked nearby.  She’s almost a twin of the sixth boro’s Ellen McAllister.

Amberjack (1981) was still in gray. She’s now the latest Thomas Dann, but I’ve not seen her yet.

Jack Holland was pushing a scow. Today’s Jack‘s in Norfolk.

I’m not sure where the 1967 Jakobson-built Grace Moran is,

but Helen D is now Sarah D, and is regularly seen on the Hudson.

Active, a 1956 Blount product, has been sold south and is now Chandler B, operating out of Virginia.

Soon after I took this photo, Coral Sea was sold to a Nigerian company and, at last report, was operating off Nigeria as Uganwaafor 2. I suspect she’s currently inactive.

Texan here is mostly out of the notch of Ponciana. She’s currently near Beaumont TX on the Neches River.

And finally, it’s USS Arthur W. Radford (DD 968) getting prepped for reefing. About a year later that reefing happened about 30 miles offshore, which appears to be out of range for most fishermen.

All photos, June 2010, by WVD, who will be in and on the Delaware River later this week, way in in the wild part of the river in NYS, trying to commune with the wild.   Don’t be concerned if no new posts appear for a spell after Wednesday.