Checking Back 2015 a

Here’s what I did two years ago.  And here’s what I did last year.

This time I’ll do it differently, as post –more or less but close–the first and last photo I took each month, starting below with Buchanan I entering the Narrows on January 1 not long after sunrise.

And I won’t mention each date, but this was January 28 just before midday, Durance entering the KVK with Laura K Moran taking the stern.

Winter sees fishing boats like Eastern Welder in the Upper Bay, adding to the regulars in the anchorages like Asphalt Star and Emma Miller.

If you’ve forgotten how cold it stayed throughout the month of February, here are two photos from just off the Battery

taken on February 28.

James Turecamo ushers in March, actually that was March 6, and there’s still snow on the ground.

At the end of the month, Grey Shark was in town for repairs, an extended stay.

April 1 saw Margot continuing to extend NYS Marine Highway right through the sixth boro . . . the same day that

Kismet enters the cold waters after leaving its lair in the Caribbean.

April 29 . . . I finally caught Simone in the harbor . . . here tailed by MSC Monica.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.
 

Really Random Tugs 28

This is the series with tugs from all over.  So let’s start in Miami last month with photos by John “Jed” Jedrlinic.  Miss Niz was in the sixth boro some time back.

Also from Jed . . .it’s Akashi Maru in Yokohama, 2008. He has more photos of Japanese tugboats.

Darrin Rice sent along this photo of the classic Hercules, built at the John H. Dialogue yard in Camden NJ but having worked its entire career on the West Coast, which it arrived at by circumnavigating the southern tip of South America.   The Camden yard of John H. Dialogue also built these classics.

Previously, Darrin sent along some photos of decaying classics here.

From Jan Oosterboer via Fred Trooster . . . what appears to be a just delivered (March 2015 just!) German-flagged tug FairPlay IX operating in the Netherlands.

Brake is also an almost new boat.

And  . .  yes, I do get out and take photos myself . . . here is Robert E. McAllister passing RORO Grey Shark . . . which it towed in from sea half a month ago after the RORO experienced mechanical difficulties. Beyond the dry dock buildings is Quantum of the Seas.

Here Freddie K. Miller passes Robbins Light.  This vessel first appeared on this blog going on nine years ago here!

And last for today but certainly not least, from Rich Taylor, it’s Chale, a classic tug at the half-century mark.

Rich also sends along Istria, Italian-built . . . almost the same vintage.  Istria has been featured on this blog about two years ago here.

Thanks to Rich, Jan, Fred, Darrin, and Jed for this look at a diverse set of vessels all referred to as tugboats.

 

Random Ships 36

How many more folks in the cold first months of 2015 would have slipped on walkways or skidded off roadways had it not been for our annual salt infusion?  Spar Spica is the most recent vessel emptied here.

How many old trucks and cars have a second life in the Caribbean islands because of this trade conducted by Grey Shark?

What kind of petroproducts does Pula transport?

The classic Ellen McAllister escorts her in. . .

as another tanker . . . Arionas heads for sea

guided by Elizabeth McAllister.

Deep Blue–named for this??– lingered in port a few days as

did NS Lotus, here a few weeks ago when this ice drifted beyond the Narrows.  And what did the crews think of the ice drift?

I really have lost track of the number of salt ships that have delivered anti-ice properties to the land sides of the sixth boro. There was at least one between United Prestige–shown here in mid-February–and Spar Spica.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is ecstatic to be in a warmer sixth boro this morning.

For a Caribbean take on a salt pile–production and ship-loading side, see here, here, and here.

 

Whatzits 15

. .. that gray vessel on the Jersey side just north of the Outerbridge, we know what it is, and

that’s Vulcan III at its stern, but what is it doing in the Arthur Kill portion of the sixth boro?  Just curious if anyone out there knows . . .  Here and here are more sites on IX 514.

And this from l’amiga . . . Frances pushing north and Captain D pushing south . . .

kind of a reminder me of a Dr. Doolittle character . . .  pushmi-pullyu . .

I hope a reader can clarify above vessel and procedure.

The first two fotos come compliments of Tony Acabono, and the last two by l’amiga, both of whom I’m grateful to for passing them along.

And to paraphrase the former vizier of defense, there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns . . .  as in these two additional fotos from l’amiga.

I know this is Grey Shark, but will the trucks onboard come back?   What if anything is in them?  If they return, will they be empty?

Any answers to any questions would be quite satisfactory.

Sixth Boro Random Delights 5

After a low of nearly single digits a few days ago . . . today temperatures came close to 50, and I felt invited to ride across the harbor.

New to me . . . landing craft Jennifer Miller.

Grey Shark, loaded and waiting clearance to leave the harbor?  Here and here are previous fotos of Grey Shark.

Lined up like chorus girls in a Radio City Music Hall revue, it’s Freja Dania, Miss Lucy, and Sti Ruby.

How can I fail to mention Megan McAllister . . . .

All fotos taken this foggy afternoon by Will Van Dorp.

Grey Shark

But first, some odds ‘n ends.  It looks like this is the same inflatable that appeared in the squall fotos here a few days back . . .    Also, it appears that the destination for the cattle transported by Shorthorn Express is Bandirma, Turkey, a hundred of so miles southwest of Istanbul.  Further, in the wee hours into this Sunday, Angus Express may arrive in the sixth boro, although I’m not sure sunrise will still find her here.  Can a Jersey Express be far behind,  not that Jersey would suggest similar bovinity.  And given this list, over 900 cattle variety names are waiting for adoption by this fleet.

VHF mention of Grey Shark “bound for sea”  thrilled me yesterday;  I’d caught glimpses of her several times, the earliest about four years ago here.  And I’d seen vehicles lined up on various quais waiting to load her, but I’d never seen her loaded before.

She’s (ex-Fast Navigator) not that old, but

she certainly needs some paint, especially

forward.

Her visible cargo is

an assortment of cars and trucks all bound–I believe–for Saint-Marc,

Haiti.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who found these stories interesting in the NYTimes this morning:  Hudson River sewage, Bronx River baptism, and Herkimer “dig-yer-own” diamonds.