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Thanks to a friend for passing along these photos, which follow on Other Peoples Photos and Chancellor 2 from several years ago. File this under . . . not many machines live forever or even for a century. In the photo below, you almost get the sense that an 85-year-old tugboat is about to get some much needed TLC aka spa treatment, but
as seen from the other side,
it looks like strike 3 for keeping her intact. She’s been opened up, prepped as an organ donor, I hope.
Thanks for these photos . . . MK. This is not the ending I expected after the auction.
Related only in concept, organ donation info can be found here.
A one-year-older “shipyard sister” of Chancellor –currently called Patriotic–can be seen here. Does anyone have recent photos of Patriotic?
The first time I used this title, although with a pretentious spelling, was here, more than 12 years ago, a collaboration I immediately liked. This year I’ve posted quite a few, especially in the first three months of 2022, all related to the Barge Canal.
Here’s one I’ve not posted. I wish more text existed on the image, but all I can make out, other than STEAM BOAT COAL is Chas. C. Wing, the steamer tug to the right. Wing came off the ways in Poughkeepsie in 1894; it makes me wonder when the last tugboat was launched from Poughkeepsie. She measured 50 x 15, registered in Albany, and according to MVUS, had a crew of one. That makes me wonder about a number of things. Here she tows at least three dry bulk barges up to lock E-3. This photo was likely taken by George Michon. The Michon Collection (of photos) is in the NYS Museum. Thanks, George, since you were taking photos on the Canal 30 years before I was born.
Delta Fox has been in the boro around for a while, but I’ve never seen her work. I’m told she’s been sold foreign. The 1980 tug measures 66′ x 24′, built in 1980, and has 1200 hp. That looks like a substantial Little Toot beside her. This photo and the next two were taken by Tony A.
This is the Hudson-Athens Light, in the early 00s of the watch. I’d never put together until now that this light’s twin sister is in the LI Sound: Stepping Stones. The photo shows a whole different meaning to “lighthouse.”
James Turecamo came out of the shipyard not far to the north of this photo: Matton, 1969. She ‘s 92′ x 27’ and brings 2000 hp to the job.
The next photos all come from the erudite George Schneider, And rather than paraphrase, I’ll just verbatim quote his inimitable wit and style: “U S ARMY RET ST 893 was originally the Army ST 893, built by J K Welding in Brooklyn NY in July 1945. At some point (apparently in the 1980’s) she was transferred to Humboldt State College in Eureka CA, still named ST 893 and undocumented. They added additional deckhouse to her for use as an oceanographic research and training vessel. Sold in 1998, she was documented about 2004 with the painfully long name she now bears. Her home port was changed to Kings Bay GA by a Florida owner, but she is now owned by someone in Anacortes WA.” It makes me wonder how and how often she’s transited the Panama Canal.
Next, it’s Gina as told by George: “GINA (1247922), formerly CATAHECASSA (YTB 828). She is owned by Basic Towing of Escanaba MI, but with the death of Papa Kobasic a few years ago, the company is streamlining and it’s unlikely this tug will return to the Lakes, where she was built in 1974.” She’s another Panama Canal transiting tugboat. Other YTBs on this blog, other than the sixth boro’s Ellen McAllister, can be found here.
“TIOGA (1021169) no longer has her red hull and red stacks. One might guess she’s in the process of being sold, but you’ll also note the Crowley logo is freshly marked on her, also with the blue highlights. Is the company we knew half a century ago only as “Red Stack” becoming Blue Stack? “
George shares lots of photos, and I really should pass more on for you all to see.
Next I’ll interject a photo I took a few years back. If you don’t immediately know why I post this photo of a NRofHP plaque, see the next photo.
This photo from Kevin Oldenburg shows Edna A pushing Chancellor, the “landmarked” 1938 tug to the location where she’ll be “dismantled,” a somewhat archaic word that I find preferable to “scrapped.” Preferable words of not, many wanted to see Chancellor live on, and now she will only in photos. Edna A has been featured in some momentous projects the past few years. For some of Kevin’s other work, click here.
Thanks to all of you who send in photos now and then. As blogster-in-chief at tugster tower, I sometimes post when I feel I can do justice to you and your photo.
A bit more reflection this anniversary week . . . I’m reminded we all see everything through our unique eye/brain/personality lenses. That could lead to conflict, but here, other perspectives help motivate me to devote time to this desk every day. And the value of collaboration, that goes without explaining. So thanks. Thanks for the comments as well. Today’s photos come thanks to George, Tony, and Kevin., but other days . . . other people. You know who you are.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I suppose if you are bidding, you might not like this post. As of this posting and with one week left for the auction, the high bid on 1912 74′ x 19′ x 12′ draft Grouper is $145. Period. That’s not $145k; it’s as much money as you might be carrying in your wallet right now.
These two photos by Jason LaDue and Troy Wilke date from 1989, a long time ago in boat years. Also, I realize that whoever has the winning bid next week either cuts it up and sells steel when it’s high, or begins a process that’ll cost more than $145k several times to move it out of the Canal and then restore it.
High bid right now for the Bushey 1938 76′ x 21′ Chancellor is $310. I took the photo below in September 2010. Since then, it sank briefly once in September 2017. If you want to see Chancellor pushing other boats around back in September 2010, click here; all the footage is great, but Chancellor comes in at 1:40.
High bid for the 1942 Quarters Barge, aka “houseboat sans propulsion” is $210; the one for sale is 63′ x 21′, has six bunk rooms, and a huge kitchen that can serve 20.
A good friend asked if I was bidding in hopes of creating a “tugster clubhouse . . .” Well, it’s an idea and with the bicentennial of the canal approaching, it would be a great way to see the waterways of upstate NY. You could experiment towing it with 1000 kayaks, or get a tugboat, maybe one of those for sale to move it around the state. As much as I like the idea, nope . . . it won’t be me. I don’t think the photo of a Quarters Barge #14 below is the same vessel. I took this photo in Little Falls NY in 2017.
The highest bid for the 1972 Higgins USACE Bridge Erection boat is $800; the one auctioned off is 27′ x 8′ and is twin screw. The vessel below is a smaller version and dates from 1952.
May the highest bidder win and . . live happily ever after.
All photos, WVD.
The 2010 post had a photo from 2009, so let me start this one with one from 2010. This photo made the cover of a NYS Restoration publication devoted to boats, but I lent my copy to someone and it’s never returned. If you know the publication, please let me know.
OK, let’s see one more from 2010, taken from the same bridge, but closer to the bank and less zoomed. Lots of folks come to these Roundups, but the number of working boats that can get there is decreasing because of increasing air draft and the inflexible 112th Street bridge, which also wiped out the viability of Matton shipyard.
The Roundup always begins with a parade, and that used to be always (in my times there) led by Urger.
Cornell and spawn named Augie waited on the wall in Troy.
Buffalo is now in Buffalo, and in less good condition. Here‘s more info on her. She’s 53′ x 16’ and worked for the Barge Canal from 1916 until 1973. Originally steam, she was repowered after WW2. See her engine, a Cooper Bessemer, running here back in 2007.
Wendy B was the show stealer in 2010. She looked good and no one I spoke with knew where she’d come from. She’s a 1940-build by Russel Brothers of Owen Sound ON, originally a steam tug called Lynn B. More info is here but you have to scroll.
8th Sea is a staple of the Roundup, probably has been since the beginning. She was built in 1953 at ST 2050 by American Electric Welding. That makes her a sister to ST 2062, now in the sixth boro as Robbins Reef, seen here if you scroll. Here‘s a tug44 description of tug and captain.
Small can still be salty, especially with this innovative propulsion . . . . Little Toot.
As I said, one of the traditions of the Roundup is that Urger leads the way. Here, above the federal lock, the boats muster. And traditions are important.
The active commercial boats line up at the wall nearest the Hudson River, but when a job needs doing, they head out.
Since the Roundup happens just below lock E-2 of the Erie Canal, the thoroughfare for the Great Loop, it’s not uncommon to see some long distance boats pass by. All I know about Merluza is that it’s the Spanish word for hake.
What happened to 2011 you may ask? Irene happened and the Roundup was cancelled. We’re indebted to tug44 for documenting the damage of that hurricane in the Mohawk Valley.
All photos, unless otherwise attributed, WVD.
Here was a Chancellor post I did in 2013, and here’s a photo I took of her on September 15, 2017, and
alas, here are some photos taken September 24, 2017–yesterday morning– by a responder to whom I’m grateful and used here with permission. And yes, that’s Urger in the upper righthand corner.
Boats float, until they don’t . . .
but inattention catches up with all boats. If Ben Franklin had been interested in boats, he’d have said the three certainties were taxes, death, gravity.
I’m not sure who currently owns Chancellor, but this is a sad sight. Click here to see her Bushey lineage.
Here’s a video I did of her and other tugboats at the 2010 Waterford Tugboat roundup. Chancellor first appears 1:40 in… and is the star at the end.
GWA is “going west again,” and here we start at about 130′ above sea level. We’ve just passed the road sign included in a post here in 2006. Ahead of us is lock E-2, the beginning of the flight of five, located in the town of Waterford.
Above E-3, my former vessel waits, along with Chancellor. Those two boats alone have a combined total life of 196 years between them. In the foreground is the business end of a cutter suction dredge.
Recreation boats come from everywhere.
Beyond the guard gate atop E-6 is Grand Erie, who also came from away, the Ohio River in her case.
Locals know how to enjoy the 200-year-old waterway.
Below E-11, we get a green light in the early morning drizzle.
Squeezing a 183′ x 39′ vessel through the locks involves a skilled crew and vigilant lock master.
Drivers on the Thruway at this point are 42 miles from Albany, 190 from NYC.
At E-15, still in the drizzle, a Florida boat —Sharon Ann–waits as we lock through.
Above E-16, the 90-year-old Governor Cleveland attends dredge pipes, maintenance dredging being ongoing. Yes, the canal needs maintenance, and so does the Thruway, any street, RR tracks and infrastructure, my car, my body . . . .
A boxer takes its human for a run . . .
More guard gates–width is 55′–to squeeze through.
Lords of the air watch all along the waterway.
At E-17 we share a lock with Tender #5.
Since we tie off above E-18, Lil Diamond II has to maneuver around.
An SPS lands a crew on the bank for preventative maintenance … keeping dead trees from falling into the water and jamming lock gates.
More recreational boats from far-off ports.
More maintenance above E-19, this time with dragon dredge and the electric tender . . . #4.
Reinforcement of the canal walls is a canal priority this year.
I always imagine the mythical Utica lies beyond the berm marked by the open tower. Central NY was once included in the “military tract,” land distributed to Revolutionary War veterans.
Above lock E-20, we are at the high point of this portion of the Erie Canal,
and Rome was the original high point/ portage in the Mohawk portion of the waterways that pre-date Europeans settlement of North america.
We are now 456′ above sea level, where we’ll pick up the journey tomorrow.
All photos by and any errors attributable to Will Van Dorp.
Unlike the sixth boro waters, freshwater New York changes state. As illustration, here is a color photo I took yesterday, and
below is roughly the same view (looking down from E-5 in the Flight) taken in late September 2016, almost five months ago. What’s departing lock 4 was reported here.
But I digress. Here’s what tenders look like in February.
And the long-suffering Chancellor, after the pool level has been lowered.
Floating and working, it’s the art deco tug Syracuse. She has been working since December 1933!
And can you identify the vessel in the foreground?
Indeed, it’s the 1912-launched Grouper sustaining yet another season in Niflheim.
All photos taken by Will Van Dorp this week except the first one.
From George Conk . . . it’s Ahoskie, taken in Rockland, Maine.
from Jonathan Steinman, it’s Franklin Reinauer at sunrise on the East River, passing under–I guess-the Manhattan Bridge.
From Allen Baker, earlier this week, it’s Eagle, once again in the sixth boro.
From Bjoern Kils . . . it’s Kalmar Nyckle . . . taken by his mom in Lewes, DE.
From Zwaan Casasnuevas, it’s Half Moon in her current berth in Hoorn, NL, one stormy day last week.
From eBay and identified only by date, a view from 1946 featuring Chancellor and an unknown tug, probably NYC. Anyone help with identification?
And finally from the same ethereal realms, it’s an unidentified Dalzell tug,
Thanks to George, Jonathan, Allen, Zwaan, Bjoern, and the webworldlings .. .
Chancellor . . . built pre-World War 2 in Brooklyn. This post is timed to satisfy a request from Bob Price . . . as follows: “as part of a group working to restore the tug boat Chancellor, I am trying to find any extant engineering documentation regarding her construction details. Built by Bushey & Sons in 1938, it is currently in the keeping of the Waterford Maritime Historical Society and my group of volunteers recently arranged to have it moved into dry dock at Lock 3 of the Erie Canal where we laboriously winterized it, pumped its bilges dry and a making plans to create a very thorough hit list of things to do. If you would be so kind as to point me in the direction of any person or entity that might have access to drawings or any engineering related stuff pertaining to the Chancellor I would be most appreciative. Thanks for your time.” Bob Price Knox, NY 518.xxx.xxxx The first three fotos below come from Bob.
The next three I took in 2010. Here she’s cruises north on the Hudson headed for Troy.
Here’s she’s downbound following W. O. Decker into the Federal Lock.
House down, she prepares to depart the bulkhead in Waterford.
And in my foto from either 2006 or 2007 she goes nose-to-nose with Gowanus Bay.
If anyone knows the whereabouts of construction drawings or other plans for Chancellor, you can also email me and I’ll pass the info on to Bob and his group. Click here to see Fred tug44’s video of Chancellor being pushed upstream by the tagteam of Ben Elliot and National.
Unrelated to stacks: as of this moment–8 am local time sixth boro–Flinterborg is off Sandy Hook inbound for Albany to load the Dutch barges for return. Through Narrows by 9 at this rate?
Stack logo on an independent boat like Shenandoah reminds me of nose art on WW2-era airplanes. I’m surprised nose art– way forward @ waterline — hasn’t emerged as a trend in tugboat painting, given the pivotal (yea . . . pun intended) role of noses in much tug work.
Stack art could proclaim regional pride like Buffalo does,
although the conflict between the Canal’s western terminus city and eastern gateway town needs to be resolved.
Stacks on steamers like Hestia–I’m still working on getting info together on her–eject some many particulates (count them) that anything painted here would soon be . . . coated.
Always iconoclastic Patty Nolan –“mystery tug” shown in the fifth foto down here–borrows an idea from trucks . . . with a stainless steel (?) stack.
Pleasure tugs, of which Trilogy is a paragon of style, might proclaim a family coat-of-arms, faux or genuine.
Mary H carries some sporty lines on her stack.
Empire sports the most squared off stacks I’ve ever seen.
The Chancellor demonstrates classic passenger liner–think SS United States–arrangement: longitudinal.
Last one for now . . . Samantha Miller . . . packs her stacks as widely spaced as possible to free maximal work and supply space astern.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
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