Rhythms 3

Here was Rhythms 2.

And the tugboat with the travel trailer on the afterdeck–anyone wish to help C. E. Grundler speculate about why it’s up there?–is Nancy Ann on the Willamette River in Oregon.

Last night my question was “to post . . .  or not to post,” and  . . . I think I made the right choice.   Here . . . at dusk was Gramma Lee T Moran, light east bound in the KVK, and

less than an hour later, westbound with a tanker–like a trophy–alongside.   The tanker is Kimolos, two weeks out of Denmark.

A view of a Bouchard barge notch, and

a different Bouchard barge inside the “notch” of Caddell’s big floating drydock.

Taurus light, and

slinging a barge.

Asian King delivering cars to NYC Bayonne, and

Radiant Sky taking their dismemberments away from Claremont.

Meridian Ace crew getting their last fotos in NYC before geting their next fotos in  . . . who knows . . .

Philly.  By the way, click here and scroll down to see where all they’ve been in the past quarter year . . .

All fotos by Will Van Dorp last night, with thanks to JC for getting me there.

Random Tugs 91

Whatzit??

It’s the shadow of the gangway as Laura K. sidles in for contact on the vessel with the illustrious name . . . Great Eastern, practically panamax 150 years ago.

And Buchanan 12 sports some

new color design.    Lots of paint seems to be getting applied in the sixth boro this spring.

I’m not sure how long Bouchard boats like Jane A. have borne these colors. Notice Hayward in the distance.

Here’s another shot of Laura K. east and southbound with her usual determination.

Buchanan 10 rounds up some heavy stone scows.

Here Turecamo Girls assists at Great Eastern‘s bow for

some serious rotating.

And finally a foto with a question . . .  what has become of Rae these days?  I took this foto about two years ago.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Really Random Tugs 10

Ryba’s Tenacious (1960 Mississippi-built) in lower right, then barge Great Lakes with tug Michigan (1982 Wisconsin), and USCG Mackinaw (not WAGB 83 but WLLB 33).

Durocher Marine’s tugs from near to far: Ray D (1943  ?), Joe Van (1905!! Buffalo, NY) , and Champion (1974 Louisiana).

Barbara E. Bouchard (1992 Mississippi)  afloat and

araised and dry.  Those props are at least 10′ diameter . . . I don’t know the exact number.  Barbara E. first appeared here in 2008.

Kirby’s

Davis Sea (1982 Florida).

Danielle M. Bouchard (1997 Louisiana),  who first appeared on tugster

three years ago but I hadn’t seen since.

And of course with the gray training wheels and hard in pursuit of APL Spinel, it’s

Ellen McAllister (1966 Wisconsin), here neck-n-neck with Amy C. McAllister (1975 Louisiana).   Ellen may have appeared on this blog more often than any other tug;  here … with some additional lettering on her flanks … I believe is her debut post.

The tug only visible as an upper wheelhouse is Potomac.  The bridge just beyond the flottage is the Queensboro . . . memorialized in this song.

Potomac (2007 and built along the Bayou Lafourche . . . third foto)  moves neck-n-neck with . . .

Resolute (1975 Oyster Bay, NY), she currently with the most fibrous fendering in the sixth boro.  In between the two is Weddell Sea (2007 Rhode Island).

And of course you recognize the tallest portions of Manhattan, a few miles across the Upper Bay looking across the southeastern tip of Bayonne, NJ.

Fotos here credited to Kyran Clune, Allen Baker, and Birk Thomas:  thanks much.   All others by Will Van Dorp.

Considering the shipyards mentioned above, I’m wondering why–so far as I know–no active shipyards remain on New York’s Great Lakes shore, and when the last one on that shore closed.

Random Traffic March 2012

I just hoped the weather forecast was wrong, that the sun would appear.  Instead  . . . a lot of overcast.  But no matter, the sixth boro is a space of many moods, like a lot of people.  And beauty or at least points of interest can be found even under brooding skies.   Like Mississippi-built Brendan J. Bouchard . . .

or Maine-built Laura K. Moran . . . both less than an hour after sunrise.

Before 0800,  Miriam Moran and Kimberly Turecamo, both built in Morgan City, LA, prepare to

prepare to shift Chang Hang Tan Suo, built in Huludao, China.   Note the spare prop on deck.

Bering Sea moves DBL 27 out the east end of KVK, as

Brendan Turecamo (like Bering Sea . . . built in Houma, LA) moves west.  Note the distortion of distant lights right above Brendan‘s exhaust gases.

By 0900, clouds have turned the harbor colors many hues of gloomy, and Kimberly has moved on to the next assist.  By then, the local constabulary have asked me to move on . . . possibly wondering why I’d be taking fotos of of such a somber scene . . .

Chang Hang Tan Suo moves to an anchorage, and

Taurus (also out of Houma) moves into the Upper Bay.  And for me, second breakfast and some really hot tea.

So is my restlessness showing?  All fotos this morning by Will Van Dorp.

Chang Hang Tan Suo has appeared on this blog before.

Totally related:  Here’s random traffic from December and August.

Dense Traffic

But first, bowsprite’s talked about her online art store for some time, and yesterday . . . officially, she launched it.    Please traffic it.  I wouldn’t want her till to look like the one I found along the KVK yesterday.  See the jam-packed cash drawer below.  Come spring it might be full of green.

I love it when traffic in the KVK is dense:  here (l. to r.) Mediterranean Sea, Siberian Sea (?), Margaret Moran, and Cosco Tianjin.   In the distance is Robbins Reef Light and the old Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower in Brooklyn.

Dubai Express, Austin Reinauer, and Brendan Turecamo.   Invisible on the starboard side of Dubai is James Turecamo.

Here a small Triple S Marine (Aren’t they based in Louisiana?) boat bounces past Lucy Reinauer.

APL Japan, Elizabeth McAllister, Marion Moran, and McAllister Sisters . . . I believe, with the Brooklyn skyline in the distance.

Meagan Ann and OOCL Norfolk . . . with cables of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in the distance.

Sea Lion pushes a barge of equipment ahead of MOL Endurance.

Among the pieces of equipment on this Mobro barge, what intrigued me was this Caterpillar designed to operate in wet places.

Finally for now . . . Beaufort Sea tails Maria J and Frederick E. Bouchard.

With traffic this heavy, I can see bowsprite will be very busy drawing and sketching while the robots staff the store.   Or maybe she could have robotos out sketching while she keeps the rust off her cash register?

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Saltwater Colors 2

Here was SWC 1, and before that there was watercolor 4 (thanks to a burst of sunshine) and 3, 2, and 1 . . . you can seek out if you wish using the search window to the left.

What strikes me about the foto below is how hard it is to distinguish where metal ends and water starts.  Also, the black streaks on paint caused by docks and tugs in ports literally around the watery parts of the globe create a variation on the accidental beauty of Jackson Pollock.

The real beauty is in the water.  By definition it doesn’t exist.  It’s manufactured only

by the camera;  otherwise, it couldn’t be shared this way.  The top vessel was MOL Endurance; this is Twinkle Express.

These rusty love bites are pretty, but if were sailing this, I’d like to have a metallurgist’s reassurance.

The fendering here always reminds me of baleen.

Sunny days on the water always give me joy.  Nearer here is Barbara E. Bouchard with Capt. Fred Bouchard in background, and here

on a glassy Upper Bay is a fairly new Maersk Katarina.

In contrast . . .  fotos taken same day of Manistee off Detroit.  Maybe these are freshwater colors, the non-uniform

shades of gray normally associated with January.

Many thanks to Ken of Michigan Exposures for the counterpoint winter shots.  Today is the last day of January and it’s in the mid-50s!!  Someone told me this morning we’d better watch out in February because lots of snow’s been piling up in the sky ready to surprise and catch us up.

All sixth boro fotos by Will Van Dorp, last Saturday.

 

Saturday Morning KVK

Saturday mornings are slow in some places, but not in the shipping channels of the sixth boro, Pearl River 1 enters the Narrows, passes Morton S.  Bouchard Jr., arcs to port into the ConHook Range,

and navigates the KVK with assistance from Ellen McAllister.

At this moment, opposing container ship traffic about 15 minutes away appeared under the Bayonne Bridge, behind Stephanie Dann and an unidentified tug.

It’s a heavy-laden Cosco Osaka, tailing Catherine Turecamo.

As Cosco Osaka aka IMO 9400291 passes the Green 7, it crosses Jane A. Bouchard.

Fifteen minutes later, Ance enters the KVK.

That’s A-n-c-e . . .  not A-n-K-e, which came through the harbor a mere two weeks ago.   Ance . . .

or “Ants,” as I heard it.

Less than 10 minutes behind Ance was this beautiful-orange vessel, here flushing out the starboard hawse.

I wrote about Twinkle Express here a mere two years ago, but that time I didn’t get as close.

And ten minutes behind was this vessel.  Doubleclick on any foto to enlarge;  if you do that here, you’ll see the builders plate proudly announcing this vessel as a June 2010 product of Yangzhou Guoyu Shipyard.

Now . . . given the name and given the frequency of  livestock carriers in the harbor like Shorthorn Express near the end of this post, what do you suppose this vessel carries?

Answer tomorrow.  All fotos (except Anke . . .  sounds like the end of  Yanqui )   taken today in a short two hours on the KVK by Will Van Dorp.

For a distinctly unglamorous view of shipping cleanups after “stuff goes wrong,” watch the slideshow on the TitanSalvage page.

Bayonne Tower

So  . . . the bright sunshine and 45+ degree temperature coaxed me out to take some fotos, and soon I’m having a conversation with a gentleman whose first thought was wind power device was deck-mounted equipment on the reddish tanker.  Clearly here . . .  t-o-w-e-r   rhymes with power and not lawn mower.  I’m guessing it to be the tallest structure in Bayonne.    Any idea what Manhattan’s first skyscraper was and where?  It lasted only three years (1853–6) before it burnt down.

It’s definitely land-based.  But I thought I could have some fun creating

some alternative-powered shipping, like a wind turbine barge  DoubleSkin 303.

How about a Jane A. Bouchard with a huge air prop, or

this on an extra-tall Quantico Creek?

Ditto Greenland Sea?

Or a turbine atop the tower of the newly-minted Mediterranean Sea?

Closer up, this is what the hub looks like.

Some of the parts are US-made;  others come from Austria.  Here are some introductory  technical details.  If I read Leitwind’s homepage correctly, this is their first turbine delivered to the US.  Here are even more technical details, again from a New Jersey publication.

Northern New York state has a surprisingly large number of such turbines, as documented in tugster here, and “salties” have been delivering components into the upper Midwest through the St. Lawrence and into the Great Lakes, as Marlene Green, shown here . . . although I caught her running empty.  The five states that currently have the highest percentage of their electric power generated by turbine are:  Iowa, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Kansas.  Atlantic City has five turbines.  Are there others in NJ?  And Staten Island . . . the idea of wind turbines atop Fresh Kills has certainly been discussed.

As of this writing, I’ve not seen any NY papers mention the Bayonne tower.  Hmm.

Oh, the first “skyscraper”  was Latting Observatory, standing 315 feet.  To learn more, click here.   This bit of erudition comes compliments of Tom Flagg, who is also responsible for this great but maybe slow-loading document of the bygone era of marine rail on the west side of Manhattan.  Thanks, Tom.

Ceremony and Traffic 2

UPDATE:  If you want to see in real time developments from the waterfront in Giglio, click here and here for two webcams Giglio Porto Panoramica, each from a different perspective.   Thanks to David Hindin for these links.  David sent these fotos along last year from San Francisco.

Less than a half hour after waking up this morning, drinking coffee, reading the paper and wanting to find out who “James H. Thompson” and “Pridi Banomyong”  were, I encountered this page.  Countless times today I met it again.  I support wikipedia’s opposition to SOPA and PIPA and urge you to tell your congressfolk too.   Or at least find out about the issue.

But of course, I’m not darkening this blog.  Especially when I can share such colorful fotos of Sand Master yesterday before the rain.

Sand Master looks a lot like Greenland Sea and Na’Hoku, but  . . .  surprise, each comes from a different shipyard although all at one time belong to Otto Candies.

Sand Master was built by Swift Ships in Pass Christian, MS in 1983.

Amboy Aggregates uses Sand Master in their sand mining activties, and as such, she spends most of its time off Sandy Hook, a presence on AIS but not so commonly seen.

John P. Brown is always a delight to see, as

is Thomas J. and yesterday

was no exception.  It was worth my while to get my feet wet taking this foto.

As I said yeasterday, I got the sense that the flag raising on Mount Hope was a signal for all manner of activity to commence.   Capt. Fred Bouchard moved into the notch of B. No. 275 and  Barbara McAllister (ex-Bouchard Boys) (see the upper wheelhouse on the far side) added her 4000 hp to

Capt. Fred‘s 5750 . . . and the waters started to churn.

Meanwhile, what or who can make the slack waters of the KVK rise up like this?

Barbara E. . . . with her 6140 hp.

Some minutes later, Barbara E. and Capt. Fred Bouchard round the bend to exit the KVK.   Interesting guy, the original Cap. Fred.

All fotos yesterday by Will Van Dorp during less than a one-hour party.

Please do something about SOPA and PIPA.

Unrelated:  Click here for the “hugest” set of links to cruise vessels that I’ve ever soon.  I’m lamenting the loss of life, but I’m not speculating about what transpired off Giglio.  But for an eerie foto of the Costa Concordia appearing to  “float in clouds,”  click here.  Here’s a portentious video from the vessel’s launch.

Meanwhile in the Sixth Boro 2

The sixth boro must have such a reputation for  . . . beauty that cutters like Seneca come to admire it, especially in late afternoon setting sun.  1535 hrs.

And I might construe this as an old bulker named Nassau, registered in Nassau Paradise, came to the sixth boro for

the same reason as WMEC-906.

1605 hrs . . .  I was out for that reason myself, to see Linda Moran eastbound, or

Pati R. Moran westbound at 1630.  I tried unsuccessfully to run to get closer for a better shot.

1644 . . . Laura K. heads northbound for a job.

1645 . .  Ellen S. Bouchard heads westbound past Barney Turecamo.

Parting shot of Ellen . .  a few seconds later.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.