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These photos I took back in September 2011.
This boat became Bouchard Boys and is now in Red Hook waiting to be repainted as Stasinos Boys. She’s 100′ x 31′ and 3900 hp.
North Sea has had many owners; currently she’s Sause Brothers North Sea out of Portland OR. She’s 120′ x 34′ vessel with 4200 hp moving her.
Growler used to be one of my favorites during the years I went to the Hudson River tugboat races. She’s changed hands several times recently and last I saw her she was in the Arthur Kill. She’s a 1962 Jacksonville-built WYTL, as the others, 64′ x 19′ powered by a 300 single Cat D-375 V8, or once was.
How about another shot of another attempt . . . with Maurania III and Ross Sea looking on.
Since coming off the ways in 1979, Miriam Moran has worked in the sixth boro of New York under that name. From my outsider’s perspective, she has paid off handsomely. At 99′ x 32′ and with 3000 hp, she has just assisted Seabourn Sojourn into the passenger terminal.
Sassafras then was three years old; she’s since been sold out of the Vane fleet and now wears colors of Norfolk Tug as George Holland, at 90′ x 32′ and 3000 hp.
Thornton Bros. here was just a few years away from the scrapper; she began life as John E. Matton at the shipyard in Cohoes in 1958. Her long run is profiled in a tugster post here. The “shipyard” link is a couple hours’ good history reading, including a surprise about a well-known naval architect who once worked for Matton.
As part of the 10-year commemoration of 9/11, USS New York came back to the sixth boro after having made her inaugural visit here two years before. The yellow/brown water reveals the aftermath of Hurricane Irene that gorged all the streams upriver. USS New York has a FB page here. Escorting her here is Ellen McAllister.
Yacht Black Knight made an appearance passing the tip of Manhattan while passing from the Sound to the North River in mid-month after theb hurricane. She’s a 1968 product of Goudy & Stevens, an East Boothbay ME yard that has done a wide variety of vessels.
I’ve got a few dozen pics from this month in the archives, but let’s call this the end of this post; all photos, WVD.
In fall 2010, deepening dredging was happening in the sixth boro to prepare for the ULCVs now so commonplace here, after Panama Canal enlargement and Bayonne Bridge raising. These operations afforded me the chance to see a cutterhead close up. The crewman wielding the hammer was trying to loosen a worn tooth. By the way, those teeth weigh 35 pounds each. Teeth . . . dentist?
Then as now, Layla Renee was in the dredge support trade. Right now she’s in Charleston. She was only two years old at the time of the photo.
It looks that way, but W. O. Decker is NOT a dredge tender in this photo. Here five people on Decker are catching the stare of the one dredge worker in work vest.
The entire K-Sea fleet has disappeared. As of 2020, Falcon has become Carol and I’ve not yet seen her latest livery. Houma was scrapped in 2017 in Baltimore.
Here are two of the McAllister tugs involved in easing MSC’s USNS Sisler (T-AKR 311)into Bayonne drydock as then-John P. Brown manages the door. For many more photos of the event, check out “floating the door,” where you also see Allied’s Sea Raven, unlabelled.
I caught Growler at Mystic Seaport that fall. Rumor has it that Growler has returned to the sixth boro under a new name and sans teeth, but is under wraps.
Also in Mystic at that time, 1885 steam/sail vessel Amazon (has nothing to do with Bezos), the 2000 Amistad, and the 1908 steamer Sabino. Does anyone know the whereabouts of Amazon today?
My reason to be in Mystic that October was to work on Pegasus, seen here with Araminta and Cangarda. What works of beauty all three are!
Deborah Quinn here is docked near where Jakobson Shipyard used to be located. I believe that’s her location as of this writing.
Under the old Bayonne bridge, Maurania III assumes position to ease the 1997 Maersk Kokura around Bergen Point. Maurania III is currently in Wilmington NC.
Back a decade ago, Day Peckinpaugh had some good paint on her, and Frances was like a cocoon in Turecamo livery. There’s scuttlebutt of a new lease on life for Day Peckinpaugh.
Let’s end with dredging, as we began. Terrapin Island was one of the regulars in the navigation dredging effort. Terrapin Island is currently in Norfolk.
All photos, October 2010, by WVD.
Big announcement soon.
Call this “thanks to Steve Munoz 20: the 9th Annual North River Tugboat Race September 2, 2001.” As Steve writes, “The tug race on 9/2/2001 was nine days before 9/11/2001. I was on board the tug Janet M McAllister for the race. My son was on board a Seabulk oil tanker docked in Bayonne and he could see the Twin Towers from his cabin porthole. As the tug headed up the Upper Bay I was going to take a picture of the Twin Towers and decided not to since I had so many already. Little did I, or anyone else, know that they would not exist nine days later. I wish I had taken a picture.
[Participating] include tugs McAllister Bros, Janet M McAllister, Empire State, J George Betz, Mary L McAllister, Irish Sea, Dory Barker, Powhatan, Dace Reinauer, Beaufort Sea, Resolute, Growler, Z-TWO, Janice Ann Reinauer, Katherine, Amy C McAllister, James Turecamo, Kathleen Turecamo, Emil P Johannsen; also, includes fireboats John D McKean, John J Harvey.
I’ll not identify all the boats here. As you know, some of these boats, like Dace Reinauer, look quite different now. Also, many boats here, like Janet D. McAllister and Powhatan, are no longer in the sixth boro,
Z-Two is now Erin McAllister, and in Providence RI.
Emil P. Johannsen is laid up, I believe,
in Verplanck NY.
Beaufort Sea has been scrapped.
There were tugboats to port and
tugboats PLUS a fireboat to starboard. Two things here: I love the water thrusters deployed from Z-Two. And Powhatan is now a commissioned Turkish naval vessel known as TCG Inebolu; as such it was involved a month ago in the tow of a Bangladeshi corvette, BNS Bijoy, which had been damaged in the explosion in Beirut harbor.
Again, many thanks to Steve Munoz for taking us back to September 2, 2001 with these photos.
A different series of tugboat races happened decades earlier, as attested here. An indicator of how different the world then was is the fact that back then, a rowing contest was included, and crews of ships in port took part. Those days of break-bulk cargo had ships in port for much longer periods of time, and “port” included places along the Hudson.
Like lots of things, the Great North River Tugboat Race is, as ws said in a comment yesterday, “alas . . . cancelled this year.” So here’s some consolation, ws. . . If you need a dose of racing, you can click here and get all the way back to tugster post 2006, or for a sampling from 2006 until 2011, follow along. In 2006, I followed from W. O. Decker and had this view. I’ll let you try to identify these; if the group-source gets stuck, I’ll help out.
In 2007 . . . of these, only Lucy Reinauer is still around here.
HMS Liberty is still around.
In 2008 . . . throttling up releases some smoke . . .
In 2009, two of these are still running around the sixth boro staying busy. The third was involved in a scandalous grouding and has been scrapped.
Meagan Ann has unique safety headgear, inspired by an ancient design.
In 2010 . . . this was a motley armada, ranging from Atlantic Salvor to The Bronx.
Catherine C. Miller and Mary H were hurrying to the starting line here.
That year saw lots of pushing match-ups.
Vulcan III could be matched up with Viking later.
In 2011, THIS could be called the heat . . . actually, it was a misting from one of the fire boats.
Pushing around happened all over the field for spectators on deck and photographers up high.
As always, getting a line on a bollard . . . just another event in the sixth boro games.
USMMA’s Growler is closing on the bollard as a crewman demonstrates a rodeo-influenced style.
More to come . . . all photos, WVD. And if the last four photos above suggest a muddy Hudson, remember that 2011 had just seen Hurricane Irene flood the valley creeks feeding into the Hudson.
This 1962 WYTL has looked like this ever since I first saw her, which was likely 2005. She was built early in the string in WYTLs, earlier than the ones still used in the sixth boro and upriver by the USCG.
The photos above and below I took in 2010 in Mystic, and
this one below at the Great North River tugboat race, 2009. Move over, Growler, who’s reabsorbed into the James River fleet. And get ready to welcome . ..
. . . that same smile !@#!
Undaunted! Details later.
The last three photos come thanks to Jonathan Kabak of the USMMA Sailing Foundation.
aka GHP&W 7. Kings Point (KP) is to the United States Merchant Marine Academy as Fort Schuyler is to SUNY Maritime College or Traverse City is to Great Lakes Maritime Academy. Today’s post is intended to introduce some of the KP boats; if you’re interested in the buildings that have expanded beyond the former waterfront estate of Walter Chrysler, click here for a fabulously detailed USACE report on the USMMA’s historic district. Walter Chrysler is himself quite the interesting character. Click here for the USMMA Foundation’s newsletter.
The boat above–Tortuga or ex-Georgina–was in the basin until last Wednesday. Today’s post and tomorrow’s feature photos taken Wednesday and Thursday.
The blue-hulled Liberator and the tug Elizabeth Anne are two of USMMA’s vessels.
Growler (ex-USCGC Catenary WYTL 65606) has been at the USMMA in KP for about 20 years. Click here for previous Growler posts.
The USCG boats docked at KP include a 29′ RB-S II in front of an RB-S. Tortuga is to the motor vessel to the left.
The white building slightly left of center below is the former Chrysler estate.
0651. about to depart.
Click here for a previous post on Tortuga. Click here for a post I did in 2007 about the previous T/V Kings Pointer; tomorrow I’ll post photos of the current vessel by that name.
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
For clarification of geography, King’s Point is the first Nassau County town when you drive east from northernmost Queens, i.e., it’s Long Island, no longer NYC.
In less than half day from this writing, March will arrive. Since I hope for t-shirt mildness by end of March, I’m counting on the month to arrive . . . like a large feline: lion plus whatever synergy comes from compounding with year of the Tiger. (For the record, the tiger portion of that synergy frightens me most.) As peace offering then, I dedicate this post to the large felines. The foto of Sea Lion below comes from 2006; I haven’t seen this 1980 tug in a while. Anyone explain?
Feline connection with Half Moon? Some of the hawses, like these two, are
framed by red felines . .. line lions, I suppose?
Atlantic Leo
Onrust has as figurehead a growling lion today, but this foto from a year ago shows the about-to-hatch beast pre-blond, actually natural wood tones. More Onrust soon.
Growler . .. that could be a lion reference.
Eagle Boston, escorted by McAllister Responder, shows registry as Singapore, from the Malay Singapura meaning “Lion City,” although the namesake was probably a tiger, not a lion at all. So we should call that nation Tigrapura?
From the platbodem armada headed north on the Hudson last summer, farther is Danish Naval Frigate Thetis, but nearer sailing vessel is Pieternel, registered in the Dutch town of Beneden-Leeuwen (Lower Lion).
Notice the claws hanging from the bow of tanker Puma.
And thanks to my poor eyesight, it’s easy to see the lettering on the Evergreen vessel forward here of Tasman Sea as Ever Feline. Can’t you make it out? Squint a bit and it’s skewed as daylight . .. Ever Feline, also registered in Tigrapura.
All fotos by will Van Dorp, who’s hoping for t-shirt weather and a dip off Coney Island in exactly 31 days. Anyone care to join in . . . a Patty Nolan bikini?
Happy Labor Day! An often forgotten fact about this holiday is that it stems from labor disputes. President Grover Cleveland (former governor of New York), 115 years ago, put together a proposal for this celebration to make reconciliation with Labor after the Pullman Strike, in which 13 strikers were killed. The suggested formula for celebrating Labor Day included “street parade to exhibit to the public ‘the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations,’ followed by a festival for the workers and their families.”
What better time then than now to devote some space to some Jones Act issues that affect working mariners in the Gulf of Mexico. Since I’m out of my depth in specifics, I’m ceding this link to a maritime lawyer who has launched a petition drive to save American seafarers’ jobs. Check his homepage here. Read the link here and sign the petition if you so feel moved. It seems relevant to me, since the marine job market is a national one. Fotos of some of these vessels can be found here.
Videos follow at the end of this post, but the tugboat race (Technically called “17th annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition”) quite well fits the description of “festival for the workers and their families.”
What a day to introduce families to the working water, to teach curiosity, to
feel solidarity, to join
in the rewards, to take time off with
fellow students as well as sister and brother vikings, and
just scud across the sparkling waters.
Ellen McAllister made it down the nautical mile in six minutes and seventeen seconds; watch the abridged version below. Countdown starts at about T minus twelve seconds.
After a glide past by the most beautiful 108-year-old ever in the sixth boro . . . Urger–with Jack, Rick, and crew–no doubt serving the function of “urging” the tugs to shove away, push matches ensue featuring Ellen McAllister, Nathan E. Stewart, Meagan Ann, and Pegasus. Enjoy.
See old salt blog’s fabulous shoreside coverage of this event here. Bravo Rick. I love the horns, hoots, and whistles! One group Rick’s video captures is a set of PCV’s, “population control volunteers,” commingling their wake with those in the middle of this race, seemingly determined to do themselves in. See them at the following times: 1:14, 1:24, and 2:05. What’s not funny is that had there –please no please no–been an incident, somehow others might have caught the heat.
Fotos and videos by Will Van Dorp.
Again, if you haven’t voted yet, consider casting one for Cornell for the “People’s Choice” award at next week’s Waterford Tug roundup here.
Thanks to Matt Perricone, I witnessed the 17th annual tugboat race from an up-close platform, kind of like watching the Kentucky Derby from hind edge of the jockey’s seat. Cornell won the best vintage tug award today, and if you haven’t voted yet, vote for Cornell for the “People’s Choice” award at next week’s Waterford Tug roundup here.
And they’re off.
Fastest tug and winner of Class A (over 2000 hp) was Ellen McAllister. She also won “best-looking” and a member of the crew had
“best tattoo.” Find the text here; scroll down til you see “The Last Watch.”
Fastest in Class B was Megan Ann, whose very hospitable crew also won another award, to be shown later.
It was 1901 Urger for the Class C speed award. To get some sense of Urger‘s first life, appearance and function, click here.
Nathan E. Stewart, second fastest overall, also won the line throw.
Now which award might this be? Best Viking award maybe?
Karl, fearless Cornell crewman, didn’t win the spinach eating award, but gave the most intimidating pre-contest show.
The “lil toot” award went to Lt. Michael P. Murphy, named in honor of the Navy Seal?
“Best spirit” award went to all the Miller Launch boats, here from left to right: Susan, Catherine, Shawn, and Gabby L.
After a competition, all is forgiven and affectionate.
My award for “best decoration” goes to Growler, who counted a Viking among its crew as did Megan Ann although Growler’s Viking identity shifted during the morning. Growler comes from the USMMA at Kings Point.
My special award goes to this gentleman–Antonio Alcaraz Arbelo–who traveled from Spain for the race today. Boluda is a Spanish tug company. Antonio’s blog is fotosdebarcos.com , great pics even if you don’t read Spanish. Antonio and Samuel, welcome to the sixth boro.
More fotos and video soon. Please inform me if any information is wrong.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Here’s full frontal Cornell, showing an impressive growth of pudding, which
grows to very impressive and bordering on terrifying when contact gets made with the bow of a 25-foot yard tug. When I say terrifying, I mean the way a benign whale itching a scratch on the keel of a kayak would terrify. (I love the tractor exhaust with rain cap!)
There’s puddings and then there’s
modern extruded rubber fendering of all sorts, none of which can be hand-made during idle hours. Left to right above: Patapsco, Janice Ann, HMS Liberty. (Janice Ann, your reputation extends all the way to the Netherlands.) And then
there’s Growler, a rostrum only a mother could love. Happy Mother’s Day.
Photos, WVD.
tugster: a waterblog 
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