Random Tugs 247

Take a camera and an hour and a half,

hang out at some point along the KVK,

if it’s cold then bring some hand and boot warmers and a thermos with hot tea,

monitor the scan function on your hand held,

and wait.  Soon there’ll be some traffic. Snap away.

Winter is a better time than summer for photos because of the clarity

of the air.

A wise man once told me that New Yorkers don’t really have to travel, because the world

travels past them.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Moving Fuel 6

When the cold makes it less pleasant outside,  it’s heating season in the sixth boro and region far and wide.  I’m not sure all these units are moving heating oil, but they are all moving fuel of one sort or another.

Can it be that Crystal Cutler has been working here for almost 8 years now?!!  Here was my first time seeing her back in 2010.

 

Here’s a larger unit for a different niche than Crystal.

When I was first paying attention, the tug here was called Huron Service.

She’s been Genesis Victory for about five years now.

 

Diane B does some creek work once she leaves the main channels.  Here’s an article I did on Diane B and John Blanche some years back already.

 

All photos and any errors here by Will Van Dorp, who wishes anyone out there to be safe.

 

Random Tugs 192

Genesis Energy likely has more boats on inland waters than offshore.  I saw the first two boats in today’s post first when they had Hornbeck livery.

Genesis Victory used to be Huron Service  (and further regression is found at that link) and

Genesis Liberty used to be

Liberty Service, and here’s more regressions on both.

A lot of boats in the harbor have worn other names previously.  It’s true of Mary Alice.  

Here’s her history, thanks to Birk’s gold mine site.

Jonathan C, however, is brand spanking new, having been christened less than a year ago.  But starting from week one, maintenance needs doing.

 

Ditto Janet D, she’s less than two years old.

 

And here is Labrador Sea as I saw her last week, but when I first photographed her she looked

like this. And although I have none of my own photos, here’s what I first saw.

I hope you enjoyed this look backwards.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 180

Random means random, and I challenge you to come up with a more random set . . .

Let’s start with a Gmelin photo from 1930.  I’ll give the name of the tug later in this post so that all experts of arcane sixth boro history can play.  Since today is the V-Day, let me mention that Herbert Hoover was POTUS, and not very popular at that time, post-crash, in spite of his 1928 campaign slogan “A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage.”  Well, that did not work out so well.  A few things impress me about Hoover though, like . . . in what language would he and the First Lady–Lou–converse privately when guests were in the White House.  By the way, why is the 2nd Tuesday in November Election Day?  Answers at the end of this post.

Here’s a photo from my archives, Surrie Moran (2000 built) assisting with a big south-bound Crowley barge El Rey (1979) in June 2013 on the Delaware River.  I was shooting against the morning sun.   You see a little of Cape Henry (1967) on the stern also.   Any guesses which Crowley tug was towing?

And another photo from 2013, January,  in the KVK.  It’s Rebel, built 1976, with her odd hull.  Is she now scrapped?

So now a few from the past week . . . James D. Moran (2015) passes the KV buoy heading for the North River.

Genesis Victory (from 1981) heads into the Kills.

The 2002 Labrador Sea comes in from somewhere out east.

And over on a waterway I don’t get to see that often, I stumbled onto the 1940 Ireland,

1958 Bergen Point, and

the 1947 basic Harbor II.

And since a lot of things are cyclical, we’re back at the mystery tug.

With my magnifying glass, I read enough to make me think this is Richard J. Barrett, which would have been 11 years old in 1930.  Here’s Birk’s info. The ship is the 1925-launched MS Gripsholm, significant as the first transAtlantic liner powered by a diesel engine.

And Hoover and his wife spoke Mandarin for their secret asides when guests were in earshot.  I’m impressed.

And towing El Rey, here’s Sentry  (1977).

And we have our 19th century agrarian roots to thank for the 2nd Tuesday being election day . .  . here.

 

 

Random Tugs 139

This might be the “newest-named” boat in the harbor, although you’ve seen Genesis Victory here before as Huron Service both with blue trim and orange.

Laura K Moran first appeared on this blog back in 2008 here, as the sixth boro’s newbie.

I’m not sure the story here, but Laura K holds station off the stern of MSC Sariska, who still has the hook down.

Brian Nicholas and Evening Mist head out on assignment.

Here’s an entire post I devoted to Brian Nicholas over four years ago.

For a frontal view of Evening Mist, click here and scroll.

Here Miriam Moran escorts Hoegh Inchon.  ROROs’ cargo is quantified not in teus, but ceus, and Inchon is a 21-year-old floating parking lot with 4300-car equivalent capacity.

Maryland and Franklin Reinauer meet, with missions taking them in opposite directions.

And with Red Hook we end.

Happy springtime, like it was in the photo below, showing Huron Service about seven LONG years ago.

All photos taken in the real maricentric sixth boro by Will Van Dorp.

Unrelated:  The post about the documentary Graves of Arthur Kill seems to be getting a lot of attention the past few days.  Gary Kane and I can always figure out a time when one or both of us could do a screening for a group you put together.

 

Names 28

Here are the previous posts in this series.  In today’s post, one word appears in every photo.

That word–Neutrino— seemed unlikely, given its New York harbor context.  Some of you might remember Town Hall and Son of Town Hall, creations of Poppa Neutrino, inhabitants of Pier 25 a mere few decades ago.

It was all before my time here.  But if you have stories and/or photos, please share them.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp.