Retro Sixth Boro 55

As remnants of  Hurricane Nicole pass through the sixth boro, we might have a look back to details of aftermath of Sandy exactly 10 years ago, like this undecked pier over on the NJ side of the Arthur Kill, across from Howland Hook. 

USCGC Spencer came up for the cleanup, as did

then-USCGC Gallatin, now NNS Okpabana. 

NASA’s Enterprise saw some damage as well, leading to installation of a more robust pavilion. 

McAllister Sisters assisted ACL Atlantic Concert past the damage to the park shoreline just west of St. George while  

National Guard units staged in the then parking lot area. 

And I have to digress here to rant about a shoreside issue:  hundreds of millions have been spent in preparing this area for the ill-fated “NY Wheel,”  and in the process transformed what had been a simple but pleasant park into a wasteland behind an unsightly green wall and guarded chain link.  Hey mister mayor and mister SI boro president, clean it up and reopen it for the public.  The “wheeler-dealers” and the NYC EDC did more damage here–and allowed it to fester–than Sandy.  Is the small wheel next?

APL Cyprine, then flagged US and carrying USMC vehicles, has gone to Alang flying the flag of Comoros. Ditto ACL Atlantic Concert, shown up the column. 

Patrick Sky was still working back then, and Happy Delta brought in one of the first loads of NYC sanitation cranes. 

That year, by November 9–the date of this photo–we’d already had a dusting of cold, white stuff here. 

Cashman’s TSHD Atchafalaya was in the boro.  She’s still afloat in Florida. 

On black Friday 2012, the high point of my day was seeing Atlantic Salvor return to the boro with Witte 1407 carrying segments of what is visible today as

the antenna atop WTC 1. 

All photos, any opinions and all errors, WVD. 

 

Road Fotos 2021 F 1

For some context, Road Fotos 2021 E left off in September here, and I’ve not caught up with road fotos for November.  But let’s jump ahead to December, and a trip we could start in New Iberia, about 150 miles west of New Orleans.  It was a reconnoitre, a gallivant to investigate what to spend more time on in a subsequent trip. More on that at the end of this post.

New Iberia is a low lying settlement, epicenter for the lift boat fleet.  Click here for an image taken after Hurricane Ike.

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From the raised deck of a lift boat, I had this perspective on a ship yard across the waterway.

Some lift boats are for sale, others–like Jane below–in the yard for inspections, and

and still others are being dismantled, scrapped, like

the one that has these lift motors removed and possibly in triage for either recycling or rehabbing.

Heading by car for open water at Cypremort, we passed this church on stilts.  With greater time, I’d love to attend a service here.  With more time, Louisiana black bears might be spotted here.

I’d have to be there on a Sunday morning at 0900.

Taking the trip slightly out of order, let me add this moody photo bowsprite took from a low bridge over Bayou Black.  A thousand more photos like this would have reduced travel speed to a saunter pace. 

Here the intrepid bowsprite is recording the mosses in the trees, maybe collecting some for a multitexture project.

Like I said, I have many more;  selecting is tough, like this old tree.

The road and bridge system across this whole Atchafalaya region, half the area of the state, is quite impressive. The rest of these photos are thanks to bowsprite.

I love the higher bridges on these roads when less trafficked because they provide high points, great for taking photos, like this of the GIWW and other waterways of Louisiana looking west and

this, looking east.  With an entire other lifetime, I’d love to travel and explore this all the only way possible, by boat.

You may have heard of the disposal of the RORO Golden Ray, the car carrier that capsized outside Brunswick GA;  final cutting up is happening here, and over by the cranes, what you’re looking at is slices of the ship at M. A. R. S., Modern American Recycling Services in Bayou Black.

High bridges also facilitate a view of the an industry I’d not known was so visible this area, sugar cane production.  In the lower half of the photo, that’s a newly planted cane field.

Swaths of cane of different stages of growth were everywhere. 

In the foregound is newly planted, and beyond the machinery, that’s a crop ready to harvest with

large tracked machines like this. To see these machines at work, click here.

In large transports like this, you see the chopped cane

heading for the refinery.  This one below–the Enterprise mill— in steamy operation near New Iberia is one of many.  Definitely, a return trip would involve seeking permission to see all steps in this process closer up. 

Photos by bowsprite when indicated.  All others, WVD, who believes that you only halfway smell the daisies on the first time to determine what to spend more time at if and when you return.

 

Names 30

This Dutch Girl might be lost . . . parked along the Calcasieu (CAL-ca-zew) River in Cameron, LA.  Anyhow, she’s not to be mistaken for the Dutch Girl that fishes the sixth boro in the cold months.

Pretty Jewelry . . . getting caught by false promises can be trouble . . .  Click here for the rest of the Pretty  . . .  fleet. Thanks to Ashley Hutto for this photo.

Overdie .  . sounds frightening, even for a scrapyard.  But here’s the context . .  it’s not English.

On The Rocks, not an auspicious name for a boat, ever.  Yet, a glance at the Coast Guard records shows over 40 boats in their registry with this name!!   Thanks to Justin Zizes Jr. for this.

And Atchafalaya, although it sounds like Louisiana, well . . . I took this photo on the Kills about two years ago.  I’ve no idea whether Atchafalaya has headed south to its namesake wetlands.

Names . .  are just . . . names.

Recently, great names like Herman Hesse, Ever Lasting,  . . .

ACL 3

Here was 1 and 2.  Twelve minutes elapses in the set of fotos.  In the distance beyond the pipelines, Siteam Explorer (more on her later) and ACL Atlantic Compass pass.  The green vessel center right is Atchafalaya, foto at the end of this post.

Tailing Atlantic Compass around Bergen Point is the vessel currently known as Elizabeth McAllister.  Click here for her long history, including a quite serious mishap almost exactly 25 years ago when she was called Elizabeth Moran.

Atlantic Compass–like some of her fleetmates–is 29 years old, built at Kockums in Malmo, Sweden–right across the water from Copenhagen.  Click here for some great archival fotos of this generation of ACL ROROs.

Atlantic Compass‘ green-faster-bigger replacement will come from near Shanghai, China . . .

That’s McAllister Responder now tailing portside.

Note the folded-down mast.

Unrelated:  Here’s a closer up of Atchafalaya.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Sixth Boro Maintenance

Like a galley or head or deck, the harbor itself needs maintenance of the routine as well as the extraordinary sort.  Given the amount of oil that’s found its way into the sixth boro the past two months, the latter sort is going on.  The bird sanctuary mentioned in the first sentence of this link is Shooters Island .  . whose history I spoke of here about a year ago.

A routine removal of silt from shipping channels is performed by the vessel below–Atchafalaya–as well as Padre Island, which I got closeups of here two and a half years ago.

Here’s shipspotting info on Atchafalaya (1980, Minnesota Twin cities along the river built!!) which I’ve yet to catch close enough for many details.   Here’s still another link on Atchafalaya.

Back to a different set of  post-Sandy extraordinary cleanups involve this vessel, with the appropriate name Driftmaster . . . not that it drifts around the sixth boro.  Rather, it collects and either removes or secures large floating materials drifting in the harbor.

These fotos come compliments of bowsprite.  What I believe is going on here is Driftmaster securing floating docks that in the highest of the surge floated right up off the pilings.  I’m not sure where this Driftmaster was built . . .  It may date from 1947.

Ditto here.  This floating dock needs to be locked back into the pilings.  The crane barge here is moved around by 1965 tug Harry McNeal.  In the bottom foto, notice the square holes through which the cylindrical pilings must fit.

All but the first two fotos (mine) were taken by bowsprite, whom I thank.