Retro Sixth Boro 59 B

Since I’m currently riding the long rails, including this one, I’ve queued up a few posts.  More on the rails soon.

But let’s go back a decade and a month in this case, and see some happenings in the sixth boro in 2013.  Diane B was already around, and here she was taking advantage of the high tide to make her way with a light John Blanche downstream from the head of navigation on the Hutchinson River to the East River tidal strait.

Americas Spirit came in with assistance from Barbara McAllister and McAllister Sisters.  Barbara is now Patsy K, and sisters is still Sisters.  Spirit is still Spirit.

Marquette’s Miss Emily made a run through the KVK, likely in connection with some dredge work.

Vernon G was already Mary Gellatly then.  Now she’s a very busy Mackenzie Rose.

Catherine Turecamo retrieves a docking pilot.  Catherine is now on the Lakes as John Marshall.

Harry McNeal moves Clyde along by the hip.  Work was just months away from the old version of the Bayonne bridge.  Both boats I believe are still in the boro.

Lincoln Sea was the biggest regular in the boro, and still occasionally comes through.

Gramma Lee T. Moran still worked here, and I’d not yet met her namesake. 

You know it, of course, this photo is about the Mini Cooper, not the RORO that delivered it here.

Mixed traffic worked here, as it still true.

A very rusty Horizon Trader-  a 1973 cargo ship now long scrapped-–passed through the port with its 2325 teu capacity.

Back then an occasional tanker with this type of Cyrillic writing could be seen. 

And around this time I started to use the tag “collaboration.”  This photo comes from Capt. Fred Kosnac on an “excessively windy” day.

All photos here, as attributed.  Thanks to Fred for the photo above. 

Really Random Tugs 49

Call this the seldom-seen version of RRT.  I love that blue and the name on this 1954 tugboat.

Kenny G …. I caught her tied up on the south side of Hudson River Pier 25, but by the time I got back there, Kenny G

had moved tow elsewhere. 

And here are a few maybe never before seen in the sixth boro from Capt. μηδέν, who sends along the next four shots.   Meet the 1981 Marcella G. Gondran, which autocorrect insists incorrectly must be Honduran.

Also from the peripatetic sailor, here’s H. J. Reinauer and Iron Salvor, the latter certainly being an unusual vessel.  I know some stories, but i’d love to learn more about this global nomad. 

 Here’s H. J. with the more familiar Diane B in this framing.   H. J. is a 1979 Jakobson-built tug that appears to be headed to a new life in the very far south. 

This version of Little Toot . . .  is another I’ve not seen in ages.  Often that moniker goes to any much-smaller tugboat. This 61′ x 21′ 1977 tug came from the Blount shipyard.

And to close it out, here’s another shot of William F. Fallon Jr. over by the KV buoy.   The the former J. George Betz from 1995.

Unless attributed to Capt. μηδέν, all photos, WVD.

Random Tugs 358

I’m posting early today and can’t guarantee I’ll be able to move this on to FB the next few days because I’m traveling.  So, sign up to get new posts straight to your email.  Also check the note at the end of this post.

Here’s one that got away:  the tug to the right is the 1975 Mary Emma, ex-Evening Light.  I’d been waiting in St George hoping she’d move from Mariner’s Harbor eastbound.  Finally I gave up and boarded the ferry.  Partway to Whitehall, I noticed she was headed east, right past where I’d been.  Once in Whitehall I boarded the next ferry south, hoping to get photos near the St George side.  It’s not a great shot and it would have been if only I’d stayed put . . .   but life is full of as many missed opportunities as fulfilled ones. 

Sarah Dann (1983) recently made a big move of a crane from Wisconsin to Maine, a longer trip by water than by land.   Two years ago, she made another long tow with components for a refinery.

Franklin Reinauer (1984) has been based in the boro and carried that name since she came out of the shipyard.

Osprey (1961) is a recent newcomer to the sixth boro.

Christian Reinauer (2001) is the most powerful of this batch, with 7200 hp moving her payload.

A year ago Eastern Dawn (1978) was still painted white.

Andrea (1999) came here without the upper wheelhouse.

Thomas D. Witte (1961) and James E. Brown (2015) pass each other in the Back Channel.

Diane B (1980) seemed to drift through this part of the channel the other day. 

And finally, I believe,  Morton S. Bouchard IV (2004) is the only remaining Bouchard tugboat over at the stack in Stapleton. When will her transformation to Jesse Rose begin?

All photos, WVD, who has left the boro for a while.

By the way, a few days ago I made up some 2022 calendars, of which 17 are left for sale. I used a subjective process for selection this time. More details later but if you’re interested, email me your interest and your address. Send no money at this time, please, but prices will likely be up a tad because, of course, politics.

Random Tugs 357

Quick photo tribute to the variety of the sixth boro . . . with Kirby and Jonathan C. heading for an assist,

Diane B moving petroleum product to the creek terminals,

James E. pushing a mini scow,

Durham moving a scow named Wheezer,

Curtis returning fro the base to her barge,

Gregg assisting Lady Malou, now heading from the sixth boro to Panama,

B. Franklin returning to her barge,

another shot of Durham pushing Wheezer,

and here, finally my first close-up view of this Osprey.

All photos, last week, WVD, who found this story of a bizarre deal involving the Canadian CG buying a light icebreaker from Turkmenistan!!?

 

Random Tugs 337

Because the name and focus of this blog is tugster, you’d expect to see a lot of tugboats, both within the confines of New York harbor, aka the REAL sixth boro, and I hope you are satisfied that you find a plethora of tugboats in installments of this blog.  So here’s Random Tugs #337, post 4877, and the tugboat is Foxy 3 moving an aggregate scow.

In the foreground, it’s Crystal Cutler;  off in the distance it’s Normandy.

Diane B here heads east with a cargo in John Blanche.  I did an article on this unit some years back.

Joyce D. Brown pushes an empty scow east.  Notice anything on the scow that identifies it?  See the end of this post.

James E. Brown passed sister Joyce D. that morning in the Kills.

Franklin Reinauer that morning may or may not have been under control of the author of a tugboat captain who shared his tales a few years back.  I will stay mum. Off to the left, that’s Capt. Brian A. McAllister.

HMS Liberty muscled a barge full of bunkers to deliver to a thirsty ship over in New Jersey.

Centerline operates both Liberty above and HMS Justice below.

Susan Miller moves some material and equipment over to the project just west of the St. George ferry terminal.

Brendan Turecamo heads over to the next and the next and the next job.

Bruce A. McAllister assists a container ship into port.

Bergen Point came off the ways at Blount Shipbuilding way back in 1958.

So that scow Joyce was pushing above is called Maria and

this logo says it was once in the Disch fleet, now sold off in many directions.

All photos, WVD.

Glimpses of Gowanus 3

Here are earlier installments of this.  And if you’re not familiar the the location of Gowanus or its history, check the links embedded.  If you live in the NYC area and drive or take Brooklyn subways, you have no doubt gone over it.  If you’ve wondered where the name comes from, check this alphabetical listing with great old photos.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel up the waterway, thanks to James Stasinos.  Gowanus Bay is marked by the grain elevators, (built in 1922!!), and the storage ship Loujaine.  For a full history of the cement carrier originally called Bahma, click here.

The tug was headed up the canal, as it does several times daily, is the cleanup, which has recently begun in earnest.

A bit farther in, Diane B turns John Blanche before heading across the Upper Bay. 

As we head in, we first head through the Hamilton Avenue  bridge and under the Gowanus Expressway flyover. The passage is narrow and located on a turn.

Here’s the view to port.

Once through there, we weave between a scrap yard and Lowe’s parking lot.

Above and below, that’s the Ninth Avenue bridge.  Like the Hamilton Avenue bridge, passing involves a conversation with the bridge tender.

Here we look over the bridge  and beyond while waiting for the bridge to open.

This is the view to starboard as we wait.

Once through, we arrive at the pickup site.  Note the excavator that could tell stories

 

of sifting through and removing the “black mayonnaise.”  Nuggets of historical interest are being collected for future display.   It’ll be years before this project is complete.

 

Many thanks to James for the trip.  All photos, interpretation, WVD.

Once I rowed to the head of the Canal here.  And in November 2013, I traveled up the waterway, and photos of the cargo are scattered throughout posts from late November that year. 

Christmas Eve 2020

Having seen the forecast for December 25, I did my watch on Christmas eve.    These are the latest sunrises of the entire cycle . . . photo taken around 0745, and the sky was still reddish and offering very little light.   Fort McHenry and survey boat Christina cross. Yes, Christina . . . namesake you know who. 

Diane B was pushing John Blanche deep in the water with heating fuel.

Fort McHenry passes my station.

Ocean Endeavour was heading in ahead of the strong winds . . . or maybe just to be at the dock for Christmas.   Note the Staten Island ferry off her starboard and a tip of Twin Tube off port stern.

 

By now, it’s a little after 0800.

Twin Tube is the ultimate sixth boro Christmas boat;  there’s no Santa or reindeer, just a competent captain and enough horsepower to get alongside ships.

The reindeer . . . they’re atop the tarped salt pile.   Santa may have abandoned the sleigh, however.

All the above photos were taken before 0900.  The photo below. . .  it’s W. O. Decker, currently getting work done upriver, but ensconced between Wavertree and  work barge Progress a few years ago . .  .

All photos, WVD, who wishes you all Merry Christmas and gifts of life, health, and happiness however you find it.  And one more . .  . bravo to the Normandy crew for the decorations.

Random Tugs 316

Bobbie Ann departs the sixth boro with some GLDD equipment. 

Little did I know at the time that Bobbie Ann had left the sixth boro a decade ago, then as Vera K.

Ernest Campbell wrestles along a double hull bunker barge. I wonder why the Centerline Logistics lion has not yet been added to her stack.

When tugs like Mary Turecamo assist a deeply laden tanker, the perspective from the upper wheelhouse is so much different than when assisting a ULCV, with their much higher freeboard.

Sometimes the 46′ x 15′ Rae is just the right size.  Recall Rae‘s role in getting Wavertree back into her berth after the big renovation?

One of the newest tugboats in the boro, Cape Canaveral, 105′ x 36′ and generating 5000 hp, has the most evocative name.

She has two siblings, Cape Henry and Cape Lookout.

Again, is it me?  I don’t believe I’ve seen Justine in a long while. She’s also 105′ x 35′ and 4000 hp.  She has an elevating wheelhouse, which you can see here, scroll.

This is crowded:  (l to r) Diane B, Saint Emilion, Meredith C. Reinauer, Lois Ann L.  Moran, and Pathfinder.

 

Escorting from a distance astern, it’s Kimberly.

And finally, a photo from some time back, Vane’s New York, now working on the Great Lakes, Vane’s only freshwater unit . . .  that I know of.

All photos, WVD.

Diane B 3

Here are the first two.

I saw her first as Irene Frazier here in the sixth boro.

I was onboard John Blanche here, when I learned the reason for the scale.  The Creek in thoe photos in that link was once navigated by Coral Queen.  I’d surmised that even the goose here knows she’s safe navigating beside the unit.  John Blanche pre-launch was covered here in January 2015.

 

The other morning I caught them as the sun rose,

the best time of the day.

All photos, WVD.

 

Really Random Ships 1

Let’s try a variation:  I’ve random tugs and random ships, in which I’ve confined most pics to a single general location and a a single photographer . . . me.  “Really random tugs” combines locations, eras, and photographers.  So why not do the same with ships, although in this case I’ve taken almost all the photos but in a variety of locations and times.

But this first one launches the concept.  What can you surmise or identify about the photo below, not taken by me?  Answer at the end of this post.

Spring brings the Great Lakes back to life. Here is a March 11 AIS capture of traffic on the Lakes.  The “arrows” are US and Canadian CG doing ice ops.  The rivers system around Chicago has some traffic.

The NOAA satellite image below provides the explanation . . .  what looks ice covered IS.  With the Soo scheduled to open on Monday, March 25, icebreaking carries high priority.   Note Green Bay as well.

March 22 marked the opening of the Welland Canal.  The first upbound ship this year was Thunder Bay;  this photo I took in Quebec in October 2017.  The first down bounder through the Welland was Algoma Spirit, but I’ve never gotten a photo of her.

Kaye E. Barker was the first springtime vessel out of Duluth;  I took this photo in the last week of navigation before the Soo closed on January 15.  The Soo is scheduled to open on Monday, March 25.

The KVK is a busy place all year round, although it’s not uniformly busy.  On this day last month, Alpine Maya followed Port Richmond, which  followed Atlantic Sun.

Stolt Integrity here stemmed while waiting to replace the tanker in the distance to leave the berth.

Tankers come in a variety of sizes;  Selasse is a particular small one.

By now, have you figured out that first photo?  I’ll give you a clue:  vessel name is Nggapulu and as of last night she was in BauBau.

Traffic moves at all hours;  night photos turn out quite unsatisfying, but golden hour ones I enjoy.  Can you guess the hull color on this one?

Foreshortening belies the amount of distance actually between the stern of the Evergreen ship and Diane B/John Blanche.

The colorful Stena tankers, bears and all,  seem to appear mostly in winter.

So here you have the answer, sort of.  Indonesia, being a far-flung archipelago supports a ferry system called Pelni, an acronym.  As an example of distances here, find Jakarta lower left.  From there to Makassar roughly in the center is 1000 miles!  Pelni operates about two dozen ferries of various designs.  Ngga Pulu has classic lines and was launched in 2002.

Here’s an English language site about traveling the archipelago.   Restless?  Aye peri!

Many thanks to Hannah Miller for sharing the photo of Ngga Pulu.  I’m not sure how that’s pronounced, but it’s named for a mountain.  Learning about Pelni and seeing this map gives me a whole new appreciation of Dewaruci.