Retro Sixth Boro 68

I really enjoy putting together this monthly feature, opening the archives from a decade back to see what I did and saw.  I just happened to walk past South Street Seaport that morning and caught Lettie G. Howard returning from repairs in Maine.  See more from the set here.  She turned 130 in the Great Lakes this year.

The 1977 McAllister Sisters continues to carry that only name she’s ever had.  Two changes, though, are she’s lost the upper wheelhouse and she’s moved to Baltimore.

It’s the time of year for clamming in the sixth boro.  I’ve not seen Dutch Girl yet this year, although I believe I spotted Eastern Welder . . . the nearer boat.

The 1997 Ever Decent was scrapped in Alang in 2020;  the 2012 Evening Star has become Jordan Rose and continues to operate through the sixth boro.

This Mount Saline in Port Newark has been replenished several times, and its granules may have kept you safely on the road.

The 1963 Crow, high in the water here, would never again move on its own power and was scrapped in 2015.

These two Thornton boats–Gage Paul and Bros— are gone as well, one scrapped and one growing into undersea habitat deep in a Caribbean trench and will likely never be seen again.

The 1951 Twin Tube here squeezes in between the pier and Balder as Balder discharges more Chilean salt.  More on the surprising contents of Balder‘s belly here. She may now be laid up as Ventura in West Africa.  Check out the harbor supply boat on her mission that day here.   Twin Tube continues to operate in the boro.   

I don’t know what has become of the 1954 Ticonderoga;  she may still be behind Prall’s Island.

I don’t have any updates on this government boat, said to date from 1929.

The 1966 Patrick Sky has long left the boro.  Summit Europe is now Myra and is anchored near Istanbul.  Indeed, the sixth boro is connected to the rest of the watery parts of the planet.

If you want to breeze back through the entire month, click here.  And I do hope you enjoy these glances in the rearview as much as I do.

Happy December.

 

Retro Sixth Boro 50 B

Ten years ago, the WTC was incomplete, no supertalls/superskinnies were up, and Taurus was not yet Joker.

Miriam and the archway at Sailors Snug Harbor are all the same, although that dock is gone from there.

The 1969 Barbara McAllister is now Patsy K, operating out of the Gulf coast of Florida.

The 2003 Jane is now Anna Rose, and I’ve seen her in the boro a few times.

Amy Moran is now John Joseph.

Crow was in her last days here, and has been scrapped more than a half decade already.

Charles D. McAllister has now been five and a half decades in service and still working in the sixth boro. 

Gage Paul was lost in transit after being sold overseas.   Note the seaplane on the East River.  

Last I knew, Buchanan 10 was laid up upriver.

In June 2012, I had the opportunity to tour USNS Apache near Norfolk.  A few years later, Apache was the vessel credited with locating the black box of El Faro, after its tragic sinking.

Sharing the dock with Apache that day was USNS Grapple.

All photos, ten years ago, WVD, who is currently traveling again, out of tugster tower for an indefinite period of time, getting more indefinite every day.  I have re-activated the robots, but we’ll see how reliable they are this time.

 

Retro Sixth Boro 48

Does equipment ever change in the sixth boro?  Of course.

Thornton Bros, the 1958 Matton Shipyard product, was scrapped in 2014.

The 1971 Maria J is now Nicholas Vinik.

USACE Hudson, the sweetest Corps boat I’ve ever seen, got transformed into a fish house in 2019.   Advance Victoria, 2006, is now Kition M, anchored in the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

The 2002 Labrador Sea is now Vane’s Brooklyn.

The 1944 Gage Paul inadvertently became a very deep fish house in 2015.

The 2002 Gramma Lee T is now in Norfolk.

Does the US Navy still have airships?  If ever I have the chance to ride in one of these, I’ll take it in a heartbeat!

Bruce A brought in the 1970 Crowley Mars and

Michael J brought in the 1975 Crowley Pioneer;  both Crowley’s were shipped off to Africa later in 2012.  The 1971 Michael J. was scrapped late in 2021. Christine was working for Reinauer.

The massive 1970 Penn No. 6 is now the massive Vinik No. 6.

The 1972 Catherine Turecamo is now on the Great Lakes as John Marshall. 

Do you still want to tell me nothing ever changes in the sixth boro?

All photos taken by WVD during the first SIX days of 2012.

 

Retro Sixth Boro NYC Tugboat Races 6

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve not been to the Great North River Tugboat Race since 2014, but in normal times, September 5 would see the next race.  But we’ve dispensed with the “normal times” concept for the time being.

In selecting the batch for this post, I wanted splash, froth, bubbles, and the effervescence the river can react with when tons of steel and thousands of horsepower push through the ever changing water.   The next two photos are from that 2014 race. 

It was overcast during the race, but an hour or so later, when pushing contests were happening and

the wakes flattened out and we sized up USAV MGen. Anthony Wayne, patches of blue appeared.  I should leave you in suspense about how this push went.  Let me put it this way;  they left town not long after the push-off.

2013 was an equally overcast day, and again, not to identify every tugboat in that lineup, it appears that W. O. Decker has either jumped the gun or activated its jet drive and will soon rise up out of the Hudson on her hydrofoil assists. I’d guess the latter.

See what I told you . . . Decker has gone so far ahead that it’s already over the horizon.

Second lap maybe for Decker?

It’s starting to appear that in 2012, as in ’13 and ’14, it was overcast.

It was great to see Buchanan 12, usually burdened with a half dozen stone barges, disencumbered and frothing up the river.  That’s the 1907 Pegasus back there too.

In 2011, I was able to get a photo of the racing craft along with sky spray by one of the fireboats present, likely 343.  What’s remarkable comparing the photo above with the one below is the color of the water;  hurricane Irene had dropped a lot of rain upstate and all the tributaries sent that into the Hudson with tribute in the form of silt.

Quantico Creek and Maurania III did an excellent job of stirring up the water.

But again, it was overcast and hazy over silty water.

However, in 2010, we had blue skies that really accentuated the DonJon boats like Cheyenne and

the harbor colossus, Atlantic Salvor.

In 2009, there were wispy clouds, allowing the “queen of the day” to be Ellen McAllister. But look who else showed up!!!!

Urger.   Urger would EASILY have won the race, but she was doing what she does best . . .  urging all the other boats and crews to be fleeter than she, holding herself back, allowed herself to be that day.

All photos and commentary, WVD. See you at the races in 2022.

 

 

Retro Sixth Boro NYC Tugboat Races 2

I’ll devote a whole post once again to the 2012 races, since I have a  lot of photos.  What I did was look for the most dramatic or interesting photos and, in some cases, re-edited them.  What I didn’t do is go back through the 2012 posts, but you can here if you want.

Again, you can identify these, or I’ll help you if you can’t.  I call this the pre-race cluster, with some even pointing upstream, as if Yonkers would be the finish line.

The cluster continues as more boats arrive.

And then there’s the burn-out, or in this case . . .  froth-out as two Cat D-399s crank out over 2200 hp.

The pack spreads out quickly.  This was almost 60 seconds into the race.  If this were a terrestrial drag race, the contest would already be over and the smoke clearer.

I’m not sure I’d want to be in a kayak, particularly a double, as all this wake translates into wave motion.

A full five minutes into the race, Quantico Creek‘s two Cat 3512 3000 hp power plants take her past the finish line with sturm und drang . . .

Seven minutes into the race . . . they’re still coming.

At the 19-minute mark, the race is over, but the bulls appear to have scores to settle . . .

and next thing you know . . . it’s tugboat rugby!

Tomorrow . . .  how about returning to 2013.

All photos, WVD.

 

Transitioning 2

Here was the first in this series.  And from this morning, what spring cleaning and repainting is this

being done with such high spirits?

Here’s the former Roger Williams getting a springtime makeover.

To me . .  it looks like an Edward Hopper green  . . .

Click here for the transitioning tugboat now Eric R. Thornton in ruby light a few weeks ago.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Really Random Tugs 20

Here’s a range of photos from the present to the unknowable past.  Gage Paul Thornton . . . 1944 equipment working well in adverse 2014 conditions.   Photo by Bjoern Kils of New York Media Boat.

In 2007, McAllister Responder (1967) moved Peking (1911) across the sixth boro for hull inspection.  Photo by Elizabeth Wood.  That’s me standing on port side Peking adjacent to Responder house.

1953 Hobo races in Greenport Harbor in 2007.

A glazed over Gulf Dawn (1966)  inbound from sea passes BlueFin (2010).

Deborah Quinn (1957) awaits in Oyster Bay in 2010.

HP-Otter and HR-Beaver . . .  said to be in C-6 Lock in Fort Edward yesterday.  Photo by tug44 Fred.   New equipment chokes on ancient foe but no doubt will be dried off to run again.  Compare this photo with the fourth one here.

Unidentified tug on Newburgh land’s edge back in 2009.  I’ve been told it’s no longer there.

Unidentified wooden tug possibly succumbing to time in August  2011.

Ditto.  Wish there was a connection with a past here.

Thanks to Bjoern, Elizabeth, and Fred for their photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

 

Landmarks 5

Here was 4.

So I ‘ve had a problem today:  I tried to do a portrait of Gage Paul Thornton, and that tall building and confederates jumped in the way.

I took another . ..  and the green lady interrupted.

I attempt a solo shot of James Turecamo, and the green lady AND the orange ferry need to get involved.

So I thought I’d try it again . . . a bowshot of the 1930 charter yacht Diplomat . . . same effect.

Ditto . . . Dorothy J.  Well, maybe background context is important  . . . like to show that the New york York Media Boat is timely as well as punctual

or

maybe it’s time to listen what the woodchuck told me yesterday, go home, polish my lens, have some really hot tea . . . and wait for warm sunshine.

All photo by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 124

Huron Service (1981) sailed into the springy morning it was.

Chesapeake Coast (2012) lit up the dawn this morning.

McAllister Responder (1967) and Gage Paul Thornton  (1944)  met in the KVK last Saturday.    Click here for Gage Paul‘s long history, during one part of which she carried the name Elizabeth McAllister.

Joyce D. Brown (2002) passes Stolt Jade.

HMS Liberty (1978)  . . .was originally a freshwater tug, one of two operating in the sixth boro for Harley, a company mostly based on the west coast but expanding.

Houma (1970) like many of the vessels in this post, has operated under a long list of companies.

Gulf Coast (1982) enters the KVK from the east this morning before 9 a.m.

A parting shot of the vessel that started today’s post . . .  Huron Service, headed to refuel.

All photos taken the last few days by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 123

It’s Margot, last included on this blog here.  Guess the location?

And a former fleet mate of Frances, it’s  Catherine Turecamo . ..  with Gage Paul Thornton way in the background.

Here’s a closer-up of Gage Paul with Robbins Light in the background.

New York Central No. 13 . . . changing at a glacial pace and probably regressing, not progressing.   My last photo of this boat might be here.

Here’s Robert leaving the sixth boro this morning with a tow that

includes dredge McCaskill, which I previously featured here high and dry  and here from the inside.

East Coast meets west coast this morning alongside Corossol.

The newer Dean headed eastbound on the KVK and

and finally . .  another configuration of Marjorie B. McAllister.

All photos taken this week by Will Van Dorp.

Oh . . . Margot‘s location in the first photo is Tottenville NY, with Outerbridge Crossing in the background.