From the Line Locker 14

Here were 11, which clarifies the title . ..  I hope.

I’ve had these fotos from Seth Tane for quite some time.  I looked at them today while culling fotos from my library.  Foto shows Foss tugs moving the Sauvie Island Bridge span into position near Portland, Oregon.  Foss tugs visible are (I believe)  the larger PJ Brix and Jim Moore.

This foto also shows Daniel Foss. The bridge move happened in late December 2007;  see page 6 of this Foss publication.  Looking up info on the Sauvie Island Bridge, I stumbled on the clever Flickr assemblage of fotos with the string “island bridge” in the name.  Try playing with it to see bridges with those two words juxtaposed from everywhere.

Like I said, I was scrolling through and culling my 2008 fotos.  Joan McAllister . . .  haven’t seen it in a long time.

Ditto Crow.  Has she been scrapped?

Here’s a summer 2008 treat, tandem pushing Aegean Sea and Caribbean Sea, although still on Roehrig colors.  The K-Sea colors on both have yet to come and by now both have been repainted.

Later in summer 2008 I took this, M/T Great Gull . . . now operating near the Panama Canal.

And  . . . last one for today, Odin passing the stern of ITB Groton, also sold foreign. ITBs like Groton, obsolete now, were technically catamaran tugs.  Just forward of where the stream of water is exiting the hull is the “bow” of the tug;  look above it and you’ll see the “seam” where tug and barge conjoin.   I posted about ITBs here back in late November 2007, and since

I’ve been enhancing my fotos on this blogs, let me add a few to that post here.  Here I’m looking between the “hulls” of the catamaran and toward the stern.  Note the portside prop.  For scale, note the size of the “lift basket” and yard worker.  The aftmost portside portion of the “barge” fits into the groove.

Here’s the aftmost port starboard side of the barge.  These two fotos were taken in the Brooklyn Navy Yard GMD November 2007.

Thanks much to Seth for starting this 2007/08 flashback.  I feel like a veritable John Titor after this glance back at how much the harbor has changed in five years.  All fotos except otherwise attributed, are mine.

And totally unrelated . . . prepare to laugh yerself buttless  bad lip reading the NFL.   This one is a guaranteed laugh-producer too . . . what they really said in the first debate.

Pink

like bubblegum.  And the transition from the previous three posts to this one is abrupt:  battleship gray to petunia pink.  Like cement to hybiscus . ..  or (later).  Now pink’s not a color you’d imagine to find on this blog.  But why not?  It’s a beautiful color.  Of course, when I commented on my Colorado sister’s wearing a pink helmet as she rappelled down a cliff, she stopped: “It’s faded red,” she announced, fighting gravity until I relented, abandoned using the P word.

Anyhow, a lot of ships seem to use this bubblegum-color faded red bottom paint, not

that you’d know it from their names.  Golden Charlotte?  The only gold here might be around some parts of crew anatomy.  Call her Pinkblue Charlotte?  I love the oxidized anti-fouling painting on this tanker above carrying a deckload of limestone skyline and wearing Robbins Light as stern illumination.

Golden Venus . . . have to be careful here.  Would I even want my Venus to be gold?  Wasn’t  that a large part of Midas’ malaise?

No, I’ve no idea if Caribbean has any pink parts (like ex-Thornton Bros’ engine block?) , nor do I know if the surface under  the

sand does.  But, beyond the tow, it’s FR8 Pride, with that same hue of bottom paint:  pink!  Something’s going on here.

King David of Scorship . . . looks more pink than red to me . . . no matter what my sister wants to call her helmet.

All fotos, Will Van Dorp.

And back to the transition similes:  gray to pink . ..  like flying through a fog only to be engulfed by a massive venus flytrap, overcast light on still water supporting a lotus bloom, graysilver wrap around some wild carnations, alpine blossoms eking out an existence among rock, or seeking shelter from a torrent on Lexington Avenue in Bloomingdale’s lingerie department . . . (Did I write that on THIS blog?  Can I do that?  Does my editor allow this?)

Divers

Until recently, I’d noticed divers only near bulkheads and in graving docks.  But then in Howland Hook one afternoon I noticed Samantha Miller moored beside the enormous 903′ hull of APL President Jackson.

A set of hoses running underwater suggested that someone accompanied whatever happened at their end.

Then a blue machine emerged and

so did a man in black.  I couldn’t say exactly the name of the machine or the nature of the job until Les commented:  “it’s a Phosmarine BrushKart. It has rotating brushes for cleaning the underwater hull. The machine is powered by hydraulics from the service vessel, and the diver rides it and steers it along the hull. This may have a routine cleaning, or there may have been a section of hull that needed cleaning before inspection for damage.”  Thank, Les . . . I couldn’t imagine they were  looking at coral or tropical fish.

Samantha turned, exposing the contents of her after deck.

Randive’s truck parked dockside provides some clues. Check out their interesting website with great stories and pictures of recent jobs.

All fotos by will Van Dorp.  More divers soon.

Fireboat

Unrelated:  See a new blog on my blogroll:  the Newtown Pentacle; Newtown, as in the Creek.  Also, another swimming post from Capt JP on swimming with urchins.  Oh, the stories I could tell about my close encounters with fire coral in the Red Sea.  Leave it to Frogma (I added this late the other day) to tell a pleasant tale about the swimming with parrotfish and their friends.

All fotos but the one directly below were taken yesterday, but what you see below is what John J. Harvey, ex-Engine 57, Engine 86, and Marine 2, does:  in its prime, it pumped up to 18,000 gallons per minute.  And  now, the vessel and crew get invited from near and far to pump these prodigious amounts of water;  I’ll call it the wet equivalent of fireworks . . . waterworks!!

Yesterday, thanks the the Harvey crew and Bernie & friends,  I traveled Harvey the 6.5 hours to Poughkeepsie, queen of the Hudson.

Seven a.m. sharp departure was delayed by sizeable traffic in the middle of the channel (just forward of Bel Espoir 2) , but

other traffic–Comet southbound and Patapsco north–kept to the Jersey side.

At the Passenger Terminal, Taurus and Caribbean Sea stand by with a bunker barge for the sizeable traffic, shown earlier,  delivering a morning load of travellers.

Lucy Reinauer waits at anchor with RTC 83,  as Patapsco trails us, pushing fuel northbound.

Local traffic moves south with any serviceable conveyance.

Off the Palisades across from the Yonkers sugar mill,  Falcon waits.  Note that two Falcons at least inhabit the sixth boro, one is K-Sea and the other is green.  Anyone know who operates this Falcon and Socrates and where the sugar comes from?

Just north of Tappan Zee we encounter Glen Cove, pushing stone.

Patrolman Walburger Launch No. 5 greets us in that same stretch of the river.

Harvey purrs and rides very steady in minor river chop, here passing Newburgh.

Poughkeepsie is almost in view.

The captain explains the difference between the larger and smaller diameter wheels (the smaller serves as a switch to trigger the larger).

Deck crew demonstrate their impressive  line toss skill.

With only a short break before Harvey is called to perform, some crew (Carl, Huntley [captain], and Lucy) kicks back.

I wished I could have stayed but .  .

before the water fest began, many of us took the train back to Grand Central.

Waterworks, fireworks, or just plain working, Happy Independence Day.  John Adams, one of the luminaries of this day 233 years ago, suggests the following celebratory events:   “pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”  Harvey, a bell boat, brings pomp, show, water guns aka monitors, puts out bonfires, and entertains during illuminations.  I think Adams would come aboard with enthusiasm.

As you recall in enjoyment your 4 July BBQs, consider Henry Hudson’s grub of a then-insignificant-date, 4 July 1607, Gregorian calendar, bacalao, hard tack, and genever after watch.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 40

Unrelated for starters:  Watch nytugmaster travel the entire East River in under four minutes!  Love it.  Do more, Capt Brucato of Nicole Leigh Reinauer.  A second thought on that:  not only is it related to what I try to do, but it does something so much better than I can.  Bravo!

These really are random, taken Sunday and Wednesday this past week.  Some, like Morgan Reinauer, push water, chasing fish into range of the egret;

Caribbean Sea pushes sand past boxes that may contain vital imports like plastic beach toys ;

and then there’s this mash-up with Gramma Lee T Moran, Irish Sea, and Seacrown . . .

made even more congested if you add Apostolos and Margaret Moran in foreground.

By the way, Irish Sea is ex-Clipper.  I’ve not seen much of Irish Sea in the sixth boro.  I wonder where it has been.

Speaking of my favorite boro, lots happening:  Onrust has already arrived for tonight’s “blessing of the fleet.” Here’s a description of said blessing from the organizers:  “When you pass the orange buoy, you will be blessed by the spiritual leaders.” I wonder if this works with any orange buoy.  And what does one do to get the blessing of the spirits themselves?

River Day begins tomorrow;  I say that day “begins” tomorrow . . . because it lasts a whole week as in “The final day for River Day is Saturday, June 13.”  Long day!

Next week June 13 from 6 through 9 Portside holds a fundraiser to promote their mission of hosting visiting vessels (tugs, historic vessels, charter and excursion boats, government boats of the FDNY, NYPD, USACE, DEP, NOAA, and more. It all happens at Brooklyn Lyceum.  Tickets are $50, raffle on site.  An online auction offers a wide array of things and experiences (like a dinner with Bowsprite and your truly.  Tickets to fundraiser here and more info here.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Finally, check out my other blog . . . Henry’s Obsession, the projected thoughts of the troubled master of the original Half Moon, illustrated by the inimitable Bowsprite.

Fog 6

Caribbean Sea, above, heads into the obscuring fog.  Only on clear days do I appreciate the fog.

Atlas Navigator emerges from it, like a gift.

Bowsprite witnessed Monge, large and camouflaged in the color of the fog, depart.

The next fotos bear no relation to the previous although I do imagine that somewhere beyond the fog a “gorgeous” waterfall realm beckons.  It beckoned and I followed a crowd last month.  Any ideas where?    Answer revealed below.

New York.  Click here after you guess where in NY.  It’s St. Lawrence watershed.

PS:  Tugster tells stories/shows fotos in the Melville Gallery at South Street Seaport Monday, November 10, at 630ish pm at Ship Lore & Model Club, NY.

Four

days left til the race . . . and Specialist II sprints about,

Laura K flexes line,

Vera K. holds station,

and Dean does what Dean needs to do . . .

Here’s a nose-to-nose contest foto from last year: Nathan E. Stewart v. Lucy Reinauer.

Four is also the number of K-Sea tugs in this foto: from left to right, Adriatic, Baltic, Caribbean, and Aegean.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp unless otherwise stated.

Surprises

Hmm . . . I thought . . . a McAllister tractor decked out in flags. I wonder who . . .

Rosemary? Anyone know when she arrived?

Wonder where she’s headed?

And next came the new Seas with a novel way of working too, two tugs and four sand scows.

In tandem, like horses on my grandpa’s 20th century farm, except somehow underwater this Seas team represents 4800 horses.

At a certain point, Caribbean took them alone and Aegean returned to base.

Let me see . . . a flagship and lots of sand . . . might they be going where Rev. Billy is going?

Photos, WVD.