Something Different 49*

*I could have called this “ports of ___” because I’m not telling you yet where this unexpected location is.  Not yet.  Tomorrow.

These photos were sent to me yesterday.  And I’m asking for your help if you chose, later in this post.

Here are the wares delivered by the “french bakery” boat.

In tomorrow’s post, I’ll tell you where this is.

All photos sent from afar.  Again . . . where?

Now . . . I said I’m asking for your help.  Here’s why:  it turns out that in much of February and a part of March I will be very occupied and way inland.  So I’m asking for some relief crew posts.  Here are ones you have helped me with in the past.

Guidelines:  One to five related photos that you have permission to share; can be contemporary or historical; a short paragraph or caption for each but not too much text; no politics or religion; must be boat or truck topic; might be commercial … as in selling a book, CD, painting, service, vessel, idea, project . . .    There can always be exception, but it MUST be photo-driven, sparse text with embedded links . . . . as in the tugster format.

Don’t worry about creating the post or embedding links;  just send me the photo(s) and explanatory text to my email or PM on FB, and I’ll remain the editor.  You can choose to use a nickname.  Here’s your chance for some free publicity.

I’ll have access to wifi, just tied up and inland.

No . .  I’m not infirm, getting rehab, going to prison, expecting to be kidnapped, entering the witness protection program, or becoming a fugitive .  . . I just have some business to attend to starting in early February in a place of snow and ice.  If you want to ask some questions first about your relief post, I respond promptly.

 

 

Other Peoples Photos 78

. .  or I could call this Scale, the next number in line.

Directly below, it’s Commander, the 140′ x 54′  escort tug on its way to Alaska in 2018.  Photo comes from my sister, of ketch Maraki.  She caught the tug off the east end of the Panama Canal.  More on Commander here.

And on the other extreme in size, here’s a cute little tugboat from Jerry Rice, who runs the Pirates on the Pungo races in Pamlico Sound . . .  more specifically in Belhaven, where I was born.  This tug reminds me of the very popular tug here from over 12 years ago.  The info on the “for sale” sign says “Francis Cox, 252-702-0623.”

And finally, from Jed, and taken a year and a half ago, it’s a Damen RSD 2513 tug.  RSD expands to “reversed stern drive.”  Specs are here.

photo date 17 june 2018

It shows some innovative design.

photo date 17 june 2018

Many thanks to Lucy, Jerry, and Jed for these photos.  I’m also happy to share other folks’ photos.

Laissez Les Merrily Merry Temps Rouler

A truly unique take on the the elf and his conveyance towed by three reingators  comes from Louisiana.  I’ve read here that the lead gator is called Rouxdolf.  Those reingators will need some bonfires to guide their way through the bayou.

Bravo Morgan City, and from Emily Ann off Sandy Hook as seen only from onboard in the wee hours during a time of year when there are more wee hours than anything . . .

 

And from Lake Superior a year ago

the lights and Detroit slim wearing red aboard Erie Trader and Clyde S VanEnkevort.  Both Emily Ann and Clyde S will be working today, Emily Ann in greater sixth boro and Clyde S, as always, conveying Mesabi ore toward the mills in the southern Great Lakes.  Cheery thoughts to all the crews–Emily Ann and Clyde S and all the other boats–out delivering gifts or anything else across the waters.

And finally from this spot down between Wavertree and the shop barge . . .a tree grows in the sixth boro…

. . . and for a vessel named St. Nicholas, see what bowsprite has wrought. May the spirit of all the Christmases whisk you up and up and away.

Cajun Christmas photo borrowed from Jim Taylor;  Hank Beatty for the Emily Ann photos, and the Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader photos and W. O. (Willys Overland???} Decker photo by Will Van Dorp.

For more info on the reingator tow and who did it and how, click here.

Sixth Boro Solstice Surveyors

Let’s start with one at Brooklyn GMD, thanks to Mike Abegg, whose previous photos can be seen here.  I’d seen NOAAS Hassler before, but I’d never realized she was a catamaran.  Might she be NOAA’s only large multi-hull?  And the horizontal inboard-pointing fins, I’d not expected those, although they may be standard stabilizers on a cat like this.  Her dimensions are 124′ x a broad 61′ x 12′, and you can find more info here.   As to location, notice WTC1 in the background.  Sharing the graving dock with Hassler is Timothy L. Reinauer.

I caught some shots of Alpine‘s RV Henry Hudson, yesterday in the

welcoming and balmy waters of Brooklyn.  Notice the single person standing in the park above?

 

Many thanks to Mike for sharing the Hassler photo;  the Hudson photos were taken by Will Van Dorp as she headed east in the East River in yesterday’s temperate December NYC weather, thermometer as evidence.

An interesting aspect of these two survey/research vessels is the fact that both namesakes are foreign.  Hassler, for a time, taught math at West Point.

Seeing these vessels also reminds me of the comparison of NOAA and NASA spending.

For a quite long but fascinating article on the unexplored majority portions of our own planet, click here. I’ve started but will finish reading it tonight.

 

Thanks to Kevin Oldenburg

. . . or I could call this another unusual tow or unusual cargo, but Kevin took these photos, as he did some of those here.

Megan Beyel has towed cargo down the Hudson before, as these two posts, but she’s hardly a regular.  I’ll bet that unit weighs upwards of 150 tons.

The other striking thing I find about these photos is their depiction of some of the variety and beauty of the Hudson River.  Many folks are familiar with the Hudson as it appears flowing through the sixth boro, but farther up, as it defines the edges of the Catskills, as here at the Hudson-Athens light, it’s a gorgeous river.  By the way, if you’re wondering why there’s a light there, it marks what was once referred to as Swallow’s Reef, and if you’re wondering why it was called Swallow’s Reef, well . . . there was once a steamboat called Swallow and it had an encounter on a reef there.

Many thanks to Kevin for taking these photos.

Related:  Another GE related cargo was depicted here, headed for lock E8.

And, a half hour or so after Kevin took the shot above, Megan Beyel and Paisley Alice would pass under the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and within sight of Olana.

 

 

Unusual Tow

You’ll excuse this poor quality lede photo once you realize who/what took it:  the Statue of Liberty has functioning eyes and watches everything that passes through this sector of the sixth boro.  Think about that:  she’s big and she witnesses!  And yesterday it was raining here, so those are water droplets on the lens.

But the point of this post is the tug with an unusual tow just entering from the right.  I know it’s not very clear, but bear with me . .  or us.  It gets better.

A bit later, Phil Little was at the ready from the cliff across from the Manhattan passenger terminal, but who knew which side of the tow to watch until this point.

A bit later, Luis Melendez, NYC Parks dock master at Dyckman Marina,  was on the optimal albeit rainy side of the tow to see schooner Pioneer well defined against the scow.

Here’s a little bit of history if you’re not familiar with Pioneer:  she was built in Marcus Hook PA in 1885 as a sand sloop, operating between Delaware Bay and the Delaware River. So think of the photo this way, and I’m paraphrasing someone else here: she was a sand sloop converted to a sand schooner (and other configurations) now made to a sand or aggregate scow and headed upriver pushed by the mighty 1957 Frances.   Pioneer was hitching a ride to Albany for engine work.

A few dozen miles later, Kevin Oldenburg was ready to get even clearer pics.  It was still rainy but not yet dark.

 

After she rounded Jones Point,

she was soon visible from the Bear Mountain Overlook along Hwy 202.

That’s Iona Island off the port side and

sand sloop/schooner that Pioneer was, she had clearly a small fraction of capacity when compared to her 21st century scow descendants.

Many thanks to Justin Zizes, Jonathan Boulware, Phil Little, Luis Melendez, Kevin Oldenburg, and the Lady of the Harbor for their contributions–made in rainy December conditions–to this post.  By the way, did anyone get photos from W. O. Decker?  Anyone else from any other vantage point?

A previous time we had this many collaborators watching traffic was just over a decade ago and involved sailing barges and a mothership named Flinterborg.

Getting back to the Statue of Liberty cam, “girl with no eyes” made a great song, but it could certainly not be said to refer to our Lady of the sixth boro.

Since I mentioned Dyckman Marina, whatever became of Mon Lei, the Chinese junk formerly owned by Robert “believe it or not” Ripley and recently docked up there at the now defunct-La Marina for a few years?

Lady Liberty called me up last night to apologize for the poor quality of photo she delivered and asked why Pioneer had not hitched a ride on a nicer day.  I was speechless, because what does one say when the Lady calls you up on your personal number??!@#?

 

 

Exotics Convergence

Polling has not yet ended, the clock goes on for two more days now, since I got a bunch of votes last night. With all certainty, though, polls will close on December 21 . . .  earlier if two days elapse without a single new vote.  Your votes and suggestions –in comments and in emails–have already influenced the design of the calendar.

Many thanks to David Silver for this photo . . .  can you guess where it was taken?

You might want to see where previous photos shared by David Silver were taken here.   You can find the answer at the end of this post.

While you’re trying to figure out the answer using the title and the night pics, have a look at the project of converting a Responder class OSRV into a new Sandy Hook Pilots “mothership”.

For a complete Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) equipment list, click here.

As I understand it, Maine Responder was sold out of MSRC because it was considered excess.   Maybe someone can confirm that.

Here’s the wheels.

Have you guessed where David took the top picture?  The answer is .  . . Elizabethport, NJ.  In the darkness are three exquisite exotics:   Regulus, Kelly Ann Candies, and Highland Eagle.  Kelly Ann came into the sixth boro yesterday just before dark, but it was so foggy in the Narrows that in the 500′ or so visibility she was as invisible to someone there as she’d be 500 miles at sea.  And then, she left before good light this morning.  I caught Kelly Ann entering Guanabara Bay almost six years ago.  Regulus I caught in Bayonne earlier this fall, and Highland Eagle I caught in northern Lake Huron this summer, where she was doing some sounding work.

Many thanks to David for this photo.  The others by Will Van Dorp, who is eager to see how the ex-Maine Responder evolves.

 

Polling 4 of 4

Thanks so much for voting.  This post will end the “candidates”  soliciting feedback for my 2020 calendar.  The calendar is now a “go,” although voting will stay open until December 21, ie, if you are just hearing about this and have not yet voted–one winner for each month–you can still express your choice, carefully telling me which choice is for which month.

The options for October follow:

A

B

C

D

E

The November possibilities are

A

B

C

D

E

And that’s it.  The December photos have mostly yet to be taken, so the onus for that month is jointly on you all and me.  To repeat, here are the guidelines for a December photo:  a qualified photo for polling must involve a vessel and a non-verbal detail(s) identifying it as having been taken in a December.

Thanks for your help.  I’ll keep you updated on the calendar.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp.

Polling 3 of 4

A big thanks for reading and VOTING.  Once again, see the December 5 post for instructions. Today’s post has only two months, so your vote will be two letters.  Ask your friends to vote.  Voting hasn’t closed for previous installments, and I won’t close the voting until  December 21.

Here are the August choices.

A

B

C

September was a hard month to whittle down to three.  So I offer more choices here than for any other month.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

And that’s it for today’s voting;  remember that today’s vote will be only two letters, one for August and one for September.

To complete the calendar, there’s one more post of options coming tomorrow.  I’ve received proposed photos for the December page, but photos are still solicited.

All photos in this post by Will Van Dorp.

Polling 2 of 4

Thanks for responding to the poll.  Some trends emerge, which made me give the photos a second look.  If you missed the rules from yesterday’s post, click here.

I’m astonished by the top vote getter:  the January photo B, a shot I took on  . . .  and one I almost withdrew from the set at the last minute because I’d taken it outside my usual range.  It might interest you to know it shows the 1949 Wilfred Sykes, named for the president of Inland Steel for most of te 1940s, a few miles below the Soo locks.  Sykes is considered a streamlined [I call it art deco] bulk carrier, the first built after WW2 on the Great Lakes, according to the erudite folks at boatnerd. For more info, click here on the Duluth Shipping News site.

Here’s what I propose for the December calendar photo:  you send a photo to my email.  See left navigation bar for the email address.  Here are guidelines:  a qualified photo for polling must involve a vessel and a non-verbal detail(s) identifying it as having been taken in a December.  I hope that’s ambiguous enough to keep it interesting.  Whoever sends in the chosen photo . . . to be determined no later than December 21, also gets a photo credit and a free calendar.  Another option is for me to choose a December photo from a previous year.  See what I’ve done in the previous 13 Decembers in the archives;  the location near the bottom of the leftside navigation bar allows you to select any month going back to November 2006.

Here are the May choices.

A

B

C

June offers

A

B

C

D

July can be

A

B

C

D

Again . . . see yesterday’s post on the easiest format for feedback . . .