Retro 27 Gallivant

Nothing says the Delaware River up around Philadelphia and Camden more distinctly than a group of Hays tugs, here Big Daddy, High Roller, and Purple Hays.  That’s the stern of Grape Ape to the left. No company, I gather, has had more fun naming their boats than the Hays Tug and Launch folks.   I hope Ed Roth got photos of these boats.

And I’ve never had so much fun on the Delaware River area than I did the day my friend John Curdy took me on a tour there.

Timothy McAllister was docked nearby.  She’s almost a twin of the sixth boro’s Ellen McAllister.

Amberjack (1981) was still in gray. She’s now the latest Thomas Dann, but I’ve not seen her yet.

Jack Holland was pushing a scow. Today’s Jack‘s in Norfolk.

I’m not sure where the 1967 Jakobson-built Grace Moran is,

but Helen D is now Sarah D, and is regularly seen on the Hudson.

Active, a 1956 Blount product, has been sold south and is now Chandler B, operating out of Virginia.

Soon after I took this photo, Coral Sea was sold to a Nigerian company and, at last report, was operating off Nigeria as Uganwaafor 2. I suspect she’s currently inactive.

Texan here is mostly out of the notch of Ponciana. She’s currently near Beaumont TX on the Neches River.

And finally, it’s USS Arthur W. Radford (DD 968) getting prepped for reefing. About a year later that reefing happened about 30 miles offshore, which appears to be out of range for most fishermen.

All photos, June 2010, by WVD, who will be in and on the Delaware River later this week, way in in the wild part of the river in NYS, trying to commune with the wild.   Don’t be concerned if no new posts appear for a spell after Wednesday.

 

Random Tugs 120

This first foto is by a secret salt . . . showing Dory (1978) and Captain Zeke (1980) tandem towing  beach-lounging 125′ deck barge back onto the water.

And  . . . attributed by the watermark . . . fotos from last week before Janus chilled the town,  Atlantic Conveyor gets an assist from Charles D. McAllister (1967).

Shelby (1978) also worked in the January fog.  Thanks, Brian.

And the rest of the fotos are mine:  the seldom-seen Specialist (1956?), here close and

closer.

Two Coasts . . . Chesapeake (2011) and Emerald (1973).

Resolute (1975) about to pass Düsseldorf Express (1998),

And from Philly . . .  High Roller (1969) with The Recycler (1989 . . . from THE George Steinbrenner’s yard in Nashville, TN.  Here’s some history on The Recycler and its twin.

Many thanks to the secret salt and Brian DeForest for their fotos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

Stormy

Sandy?  Of course, if you live inland from a beach, you may be scoured by the stuff.

These signs appeared along the NJ Turnpike today.

I had to return to the sixth boro from a little time spent in Philly.  I saw Lois Ann L. Moran (2009, Washburn & Doughty) pass quite close to Penn’s Landing, but she was way up by Fishtown by the time I could grab my camera.

High Roller (1969, Jakobson) passed also, but the light hardly allowed Roller‘s brilliance to show.  Scroll through for a foto of High Roller and her siblings with unique names in a post I did here over two years ago.  The dome is the Camden aquarium, where some float-through-and-over-anything hippos live.

Two weeks ago, these small craft bobbed resplendent in summery sunny, but now a storm that should be called stormy or squally or even super-tempestuous dulls their colors.

For now, get to high ground;  otherwise, batten ’em down.  Dog’em.  Double’em up.

All fotos today by Will Van Dorp.

Here’s some sixth boro area tempests of past years.  As I post this (1700 hrs), Queen Mary 2, Maersk Kentucky, and Yasa Golden Dardanel are among the last large vessels leaving boro6 for the safety of sea.

gCaptain comments on vessel heading counter-to-trend with paramount urgency . . .  here.