Random Tugs 410

Enjoy a few more from that day it was raining and I was waiting around.  Another detail is that I was charging the battery on my camera #1 and used my older #2.

Jason Reinauer looks just as good with this camera, but I’ve developed a new interest, harder to satisfy, seeing their hull design.  It was built here in 1968 as Walton.  Cabot [now Harold A. Reinauer] and Daley [now Vincent D. Tibbetts Jr.] were likely the same plans.  Correct me….?

As for the next two boats once part of the same fleet, close to 40 years passed between the two, their superstructures are quite similar although their actual dimensions are slightly different.  The Beatrice has more power and slightly larger dimensions.

Susan Rose has less powerful but lower emissions engines.  As recently as four years ago, Susan Rose looked like this, and before her transformation and intermediary livery looked like this.

I like the current livery but I still wonder how different these two boats are below the waterline.

All photos, any errors, WVD, who bases his info on tugboatinformation.com.

Speaking not of hull design but fuel innovation, I’m curious about the latest on the Amogy project.  Anyone help?

From the Line Locker 42

Only a few days remain in this year, and I’m far inland in a hollow.  Checking my “drafts” hopper, I find I’ve a number of posts left incomplete, so it’s high time for me to consolidate them, a perfect fit for an “line locker” aka “odds ‘n ends” post.

This one I started on December 22, intending to use it for a new post under barge names.  Flaco translates as skinny in Spanish.  I thought I’d never seen this one before, but it turns out that Centerline purchased it from the Bouchard dispersal as B. No. 264 launched over a decade back in Louisiana.  It measures 350′ x 70′, and was being moved here by C. F. Campbell.

In late October, I never completed a new installment of  St. Lawrence tugboats, so here are some photos from that. Ocean Clovis T, 

Ocean Henry Bain tailing a tanker Cap Corpus Christi, 

and another with Bain and ferry MV Lomer-Gouin.  

Here are a few from eastriver, beginning with a photo from April, showing USS San Jacinto and Zim Bangkok and taken in Wilmington NC.

Here’s a post I began in early February 2023.  It shows Signet Reliance approaching LPD-29. which was christened as USS Richard M. McCool Jr., a San Antonio-class “landing platform dock.”  USS New York (LPD-21) is of this same class. I believe McCool is still being fitted out. 

Also from the batch are the next two shots of USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), currently in service, I believe.  

More on Lucas here.   All those were from eastriver.

From January 2023, begun and never completed, here are some photos Lewis Cobb Jr. took in Seattle’s Northwest Seaport Museum, showing (l to r) Virginia V and Arthur Foss.  Virginia dates from 1922 and, Foss–possibly the oldest wooden tug afloat, a product of 1889!!  

Foss is 120′ x 25′, and like other boats in the boro such as Pelham, Decker, and Cornell, has been a film tug.  No doubt there are others as well.

All photos as credited.  And my explanation . . . I sometimes begin posts with photos you all send in, but once started, I feel like I lack key information, so rather than look it up right away, I postpone posting in hopes that more info will trickle my way in the immediate future.  Then life or a gallivant or some other distraction gets in the way, and then . . . months have gone by.  I do appreciate photos you send in, even though I don’t always use them right away.

For this we have a year’s end and a moment to catch up or make amends.

Happy, healthy, prosperous, peaceful 2024, especially a peaceful one.

Any errors, WVD.

 

 

Old Hulls, Old and New Names 3

Long shadows, rocky bank, a moody sky, and

recognize that unit?

Marc N is not a familiar name . . .

It’s a lion boat, and 

 . . . oh yeah, Adeline Marie has had a couple of earlier names as here. Marc N was previously B. No. 284, I believe. 

All photos, any errors, WVD.

Random Nola Tugs 7

“What do you like about New Orleans?”  A friend asked me that recently.  Different answers exist: ubiquitous and diverse music, unique architecture, history and present through all the senses, spicy and delicious food, free spirits, bons temps roulants…  this list can be even longer.  But for me, the traffic on the river is without rival .  . . that I know of.  That’s what calls me back.  I can even skip the music, merriment, and tastes, but the river always attracts and satisfies.  From my recent stay, here are some photos.

I’m thinking this may be a formerly Bouchard boat, but I really don’t know who this is getting spa treatment.

Any help?

Mary Moran was there too.  She’s of the same general class as Miriam and Margaret.

A. Thomas Higgins is not as new as I thought, but still, she’s not yet at the 5-year mark.  

Here’s a recent article on her from ProfessionalMariner, which among many other things mentions her namesake.  It makes me wonder if this Mr. Higgins is related to Andrew J. Higgins, the “new Noah”

Turquoise Coast, formerly Barbara E Bouchard, was in.

Rodney, the former Sheila Moran, came through with a barge, heading upstream.

Michael S I thought was newer, but she’s from 2009. 

More info can be found here. 

Know this unit?

A clue is the name . . . well, number . .  of the barge, 1964.

It’s Millville, the WaWa . . . THAT WaWa, tug, which I saw under construction in Sturgeon Bay in 2017, which seems like a lifetime ago.  My friend Jack caught the unit in Nova Scotia here,  as she was first headed into salt water.  Take a close look at the last photo in this post from 2017 . . . yup that was what would become 1964. 

All photos, WVD, who wonders if you’ve noticed what type of tugboat I’ve omitted here.  This is not-so-random a selection, as you’ll see in an upcoming post. 

 

Thanks to Kyle Stubbs E

Many thanks to Kyle Stubbs for sending along these photos.   Recognize these tugboats below?  Answer follows.

He saw and took this photo of Osprey  in Vallejo CA in November 2022.

Osprey above is 125′ x 38′ and propulsion power of 6140 hp .  Sun Spirit below is 122′ x 37′ and the same hp as Osprey.  Ring any bells?

This photo of Sun Spirit he took in Seattle a few days ago. 

?

?

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And here they were in previous livery, Linda Lee in May 2020 in the sixth boro, and 

Robert J. in December 2021 at Algiers Point, a picturesque curve on the Mississippi.

Again, for today’s photos, thanks to Kyle, whose previous contributions A through D can be traced here.

 

Tugster Retro 2013 B

The first half of January 2013–a decade ago–was one long gallivant, taking in New Orleans to St Louis to Pittsburgh and then back home.  In the spirit of these retro posts, let me start here, shooting right off the Algiers ferry. Barbara E. Bouchard is now Dann M’s Turquoise Coast, which I’ve not seen.

No stroll in the night life of Nola is complete without a stop at Igor’s Checkpoint Charlie, combo bar, music venue, and laundromat!!

Following the river by car, we next stopped in Baton Rouge, and among the dozens of boats, enjoy this one–Ned Ferry–with a sixth boro connection:  It was built in 1959 Pittsburgh for Pennsylvania Railroad, which in 1968 merged with the New York Central to form Penn Central.  In 1974 it was sold to Crescent, which repowered and rebuilt it . . .  Find more in Paul Strubeck’s Diesel Railroad Tugs Vol 1.

The river is quite busy;  here Creole Sun works on a fleeting job.

Richard‘s pushing a set of tank barges. You might imagine I’m toying with a Mississippi River cruise this year.

American Pillar is a good example of a line haul boat:  195′ x 54′ and working with 10500 hp.

Fort Defiance Park in Cairo IL is a good place to see the Ohio and the Mississippi River refuse to mix for a while.  Note the difference in water color.

I never mentioned that my car was broken into in East St Louis in summer 2021;  Malcolm W Martin Park right across the way is the place.  I left a review on tripadvisor in September 2021 here if you scroll through.

Leaving St Louis in 2013 we made a stop in Kampville to catch the ferry across the Illinois River.

 

Then it was a lot of dry until we got to the Monongahela River at Belle Vernon PA, and the port of registry on these boats tell you where the nearest port (to the north) is.

We’ll leave it there.  If you want to peruse the archives for January 2013, click here . . .  they are in reverse chronological order.  There were obviously many many photos.

All photos, WVD.

Non-Random Tugs 14

A big thumbs up to the team for the appearance of this boat.  The livery really pops, especially in the early morning sun.  Silver–if that is the color between the lime green trim lines–this glossy silver is rarely used for tugboats that I know, and I, for one, would love to see it more widely used.

If you’re unfamiliar with the boat:  107′ x 32′ and 3000 hp.  EMD 12-645-E6 x 2.  

Built in 1976 but looking brand new, it used to be called Evening Mist.

See it reflect the early morning almost winter light.

 

All photos and opinions, any errors, WVD.

Something Different 72

Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and the Port ‘Liz had ships aplenty, 

but the very next day it was almost empty.  

In a different part of the US, TS Empire State, which just two months ago was alive and lurking beneath Throgs Neck bridge, has delivered itself to the breakers in Brownsville. 

Heading back to the sixth boro . . . go to the infrequently–it seems–updated google map satellite view for the east side of Staten Island, and you ‘ll see this impressive flotilla . . .

ten tugboats and eleven tank barges.  I know some of you might be able to identify some or all of these 21 vessels, now scattered to the seven seas.

While I’m posting about online visuals, I enjoyed Sal’s discussion here yesterday on the current state of piracy around the world but particularly off West Africa.  This reminded me of how long ago already the Maersk Alabama aka Captain Phillips incident happened;  before clicking on the link, guess which year that vessel was held.  USS Bainbridge, which visited the sixth boro in 2016, was involved in retaking the ship.  Here’s a helpful site Sal mentioned that tracks incidents of piracy around the seven seas.

And one more . . .  can you imagine spending 11 days and nights on an open boat at sea?  How about that period of time riding the top of a tanker’s rudder!!?  Read about it here. 

 

Old Hulls, New Names Redux

I’m following up here from May, this post.

I won’t tell you the name yet, but here are some hints:  she carried the same name for 40 years and it was changed only in this fall.

More clues:  106′ x 35′ and 5100 hp.

This is a deviation from her new livery, but if you’re not ready to paint, slapping on a sticker might be a quick solution.

Her previous name was used once before in 1952 by her previous company.  That 1952 boat was reefed off NJ in August 1996 after going through a half dozen names here.

And here you have it:  tugster readers, meet The Beatrice.

 

 

All photos, any errors, WVD.

 

Old Hulls, Old and New Names 2

I can’t say if more than unusual number of changes are in fact happening these days, or if my radars are set to detect change.  In either case, I privilege novelty on this blog, so here we go, the first of the series.

April 2016 this was Ellen S. Bouchard alongside Bouchard Boys.

Also in 2016,  Ellen S. was in a crowded channel meeting another fleetmate, Evening Light.

From yesterday coming through Hell Gate I saw this. Name the tugboat pushing B. No. 282?

wearing a Centerline livery and now

carrying a new new.

It’s Jeffrey S,

here slowed down because of the work over near Blount-built William Brewster and the Manhattan side 79th Street bridge.

She’ll round the bend at the Battery and head up to Albany.

All photos, Halloween, WVD.

Happy November 2022.