Really Random Tugs 23

The difference between “really random” and just “random” is that with the former, I include photos taken in different waterways and ports.  Guess the ports/waterways here?

All these photos have been taken during the past 30 days by Will Van Dorp, who needed to do a random __ tugs post to dispel notions that this blog has succumbed to focus creep.  Soon, maybe tomorrow, I’ll return to my zoning of the canal.  I’ll also return to some background vessels in this post.

Oh . .  the first four photos were taken near the Delaware River in Philly, the next two were in the KVK, the following was the Hudson river across from the mouth of the Rondout and the now-derelict Delaware & Hudson Canal, and the last one was between locks 7 and 6 in the Erie Canal.  I included the KVK pics to show that although I’m mostly gallivanting these days, mu roots still remain emplaned in the sixth boro.

Waterford Tugboat Roundup 2013 a

It’s the weekend after Labor Day in Waterford, time to call a muster.

And stuff starts happening.  Atlantic Hunter arrives via the highway.

Tug-of-the-Year Gowanus Bay travels from the south.

Buffalo parades from Waterford back to Waterford.

Grand Erie travels as the dais.

As the parade approaches the Waterford Visitors Center, a water salute awaits Eighth Sea,

Frances, Margot, and Benjamin Elliott . . .

as well as Cornell and Iron Chief.

Parts B and more soon.  All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who met great people, missed many others, and heard fabulous stories to be followed up on soon.

Here are parts A   B   and C from 2012.    More links to past roundups tomorrow also.

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Waterford 2009 Details

A truckable tug named Mame Faye and her tow anchor outside the current near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers.  Idyllic . . .  serene, sleepy upstate river banks .  . . eh?  She’ll be back.

Here tugs Empire and Shenandoah tie up on the opposite bank of Mame Faye and along the bulkhead.

Farther east is The Chancellor, with twin stacks arranged longitudinally.

Still farther east inside LehighValley Barge 79, speakers like Jessica DuLong and Don Sutherland mesmerize with their tales and chronicles of the river.

Captains Bill and Pam park their powerful machines to rest and enjoy the quiet of oars moving in and out of the fresh water.

Rain showers come and go and no one cares.  Lined up behind Empire are Little Bitt, Gowanus Bay, Benjamin Elliott, and Margot. It’s another lazy day at the Roundup.

What’s this on the foredeck of Bill’s Eighth Sea?  Looks like PVC, hairspray, and  . . . radishes?

And Captain Fred has gotten involved.  This looks  . . .

ominous, especially after he went to the supermarket for 50-calibre radishes, the most lethal kind.

As dusk falls,  that same Captain Bill boards Mame Faye to maneuver the barge into the middle of the stream, which is now closed to traffic, for it will soon be time to

see the scene change and

How to describe that:  part night harbor scene, rock concert, traffic jam, railroad crossing, cacophony, simulated war zone, kaleidoscope, popcorn popper, video game, confetti, aquatic bioluminescence gone wild, volcano, apocalypse .  . .   Oh, and I’ve always preferred seeing the flashes reflect in water to seeing them in air.

Now who do you suppose Mame Faye was?  Elizabeth toots Mame‘s horn here.

All fotos and video by Will Van Dorp.

Unrelated . . .  the Dutch barge flotilla probably moves through the Hudson Highlands and northward today;  if you get good fotos and want to share, email me.

Convergence 2

More ships pass. Like strangers on the sidewalk or cars on the highway. Significant differences could make all the difference, especially in the approach.

Certain contacts are to be avoided.

And then they pass with possibly only a glance, a wave of the arm, forgotten.

Still others, stay locked in struggle or maybe engagement and might even escalate.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.