Errant Ferry 2

Here was the first in this series.  I’d also thought of this as prodigal ferry.  Strangely enough, the Staten Island ferries travel all the way to Colonna Shipyard in Norfolk for maintenance.

Molinari returns!

 

Towed by Eileen McAllister, Molinari returned this morning.  Note the twin lights near Sandy Hook in the background.

Standing by here, it’s Charles D. McAllister.

I’d heard once that a wooden “dam” was built on the bow of the ferry to keep water from coursing through during these open-sea transits, but that’s not the case here.  Notice the missing lifeboat?

Once inside the Narrows, Charles D gets a line on the stern.

I’m told Newhouse will be next to visit Colonna.  Does anyone know if there’s a “riding crew” on the ferry for these transits?

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Errant Ferry

You’ve heard about Flat Stanley and Carmen Santiago?    So, let’s play . . . errant ferry, Staten Island ferry (SIf) in particular.  We’ve seen a SIF here, here, and here . ..  so thanks to Birk Thomas, enjoy these new installments.   Where is this?

Well  . . .  the location is the Chesapeake, and the answer is not really that vessel had chosen to go way offcourse;  rather, it’s that maintenance is done in Norfolk,  the result of bidding, I suppose.   And that’s Colleen McAllister doing the tow.   No matter how capacious the SIf’s appear when you are onboard, they seem to shrink

when juxtaposed with other traffic in the sixth boro.  Thanks to John Watson for this foto of a busy harbor;  foreground ACL is unidentified and the cruise ship is Crystal Serenity.

Thanks to Birk and John.  And now, I’m heading out to get re-acquainted with the sixth boro myself.    Remember . . . to vote for Pegasus/79 daily AND if you see an errant SIf, please snap a foto or several.

Caption Contest #2

With 29.2% of the votes cast, 7 votes out of 24, the grand winner of the first caption contest is . . . Buck . . . whose caption was “The GPS said this was the fastest route!”  Great job, Buck, and thanks to all for submitting captions and to all of you for voting on them.

As fortune would have it, Capt. Allen Baker sent in a foto that lends itself to the second caption contest.  See below.  If the spirit moves you to send in a possible caption, please do.  I’ll put some up in a few days for a vote-off.

Click here for another  foto showing Colonna Shipyard posted last year.

So please, send in your caption either as comment or email, named or anonymous.

Thanks to Allen for this foto and to Buck for proposing the winning caption for our first contest.

By the way, I’m on Day 6 of my workshop on the Brooklyn waterfront, learning a lot, and having a blast.  Today it’s Coney Island.  Report later.  What’s happening today is unrelated to the parade  fun eight days from now.

Here’s a sneak preview of my work-in-progress.

Meditations R

R . . . rare sights in this fascinating place called the sixth boro and its surrounding waters.  First rare foto comes thanks to Jed:  clearly it’s a Staten Island ferry, but the question is where.  Answer below.

Next . . . of course it’s the Samuel S. Coursen aka Governor’s Island ferry.  But . . . are they now transporting animals onto the island to graze there?  After millions spent in studies, a conclusion has been reached that Sheep Meadow in Central Park is no longer adequate for the City’s population, and Governor’s Island will assume the new pasture role?

R could be for rust, rust busting, and restoration, but don’t

offend this tug in Newburgh, or it might just give chase.  This SUV barely escaped being shifted into the river.  Anyone know the story of this tug, just south of where the retired DEP sludge yacht awaits its own fate?  I was told this is the location of the former Marvel Shipyard.  Anyone confirm?

Here’s a rare sight just north of Poughkeepsie yesterday:  rowers from Cleveland on their way to . . . Key West, raising $$ for Habitat for Humanity.  Don’t believe me:  check this out.  Go Tom and Jon.  They even have a blog.

Patty Nolan was the mystery tug a week or so ago.  I’d like to see this 1931 tug up closer, but I had no idea she had a figurehead . . . er . . . headless figurehead . . . er . . .er . . . figure!    That’s even more fantastic than when seen from afar.

Put a sign like this on the side of your vessel in mid-sixth boro, look up a lot, and you’ll generate some excitement, I’m sure!

Rarities are not so uncommon as you think.  I believe I’m a particularly wide-eyed gallivanter, but seeing the rare and unusual right around you generates a thirst to discover more.  As wonderful as it is to travel to exotic and uncommon places–one of my dream destinations is Timbuktu–rare gems pass before us every day, wonders catch our rye and jostle us to get that last seat of the E train . . . sights and people to treasure, tantalizing and then slipping out the door.   Summer . . . it’s the time to savor those moments, make eternal memories, hear the music of the spheres, listen for echoes of songs long ago sung . . .  To modify the title of a book I like:  Everywhere lies magic.

All fotos but Jed’s by Will Van Dorp;  all taken this Friday.

Oh . . . that Staten Island ferry . . . made a wrong turn and ended up high and dry in Virginia, Norfolk, Colonna’s.