Really Random Tugs 35

So the difference that makes the “really” is that several folks have contributed these photos.

Starting in Toronto with Jan van der Doe, here’s M. R. Kane, which has appeared here and here previously on this blog.  In the first link, you’ll see Kane towing the hull that would become tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry.

Next three photos came from Allan Seymour, who took them as he traversed the Cape Cod Canal recently.  This Independence is rated at 5400 hp.

Bohemia and barge wait to pass.

And Buckley McAllister shares escort work on the Canal with Independence.

The rest of these photos I’ve caught recently, all of tugs I’d not previously seen.  Miss Ila came through the sixth boro Saturday,

Miss Lizzy I saw Friday, and

 

Performance I saw in Massena earlier this month, and

Robinson Bay.  These last two are operated by DOT’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC), which is looking to replace these aging tugs.  Robinson Bay (103′ loa and built in Wisconsin in 1957) and Performance (50′ and Indiana, 1997) do maintenance work on the US portions of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

 

Thanks to Jan and Allan for the first photos here.  All the others are by Will Van Dorp.

Between Bayonne’s Tanks

Click on the image below for an interactive map of this portion of the sixth boro.  Right now at about the 9 o’clock position you see two small white specks.  They

are the huge spherical tanks seen off Barbara McAllister‘s stern.

Consider the size of the wraparound stairs and you’ll understand why locally they’re called “gorilla’s balls.”.

So here’s what the tugboat fueling station looks like from the north bank of the KVK, and

here looking west.

Here’s looking NE across the tank farm, and

from the landslide looking eastward across Robbins Reef Light to Brooklyn.

Off the bow of Oleander–the incoming small container ship, would be the Staten Island ferry racks,

and here’s looking south across tanker Navig8 Spirit toward the salt pile. But here’s the surprise, inside the fence and between the tanks,

there’s a very old cemetery, which pre-dates the use of this land for oil.

It’s Constable Hook Cemetery, founded by Pieter van Buskirk.

Who knew?

All photos by Will Van Dorp.  Many thanks to Jack Kennedy for arranging for this tour.