Random Tugs 370

Bet you can guess where that line leads from the bow of Kirby Moran?

Here you go.

Jordan Rose has been tied up in Bayonne for a while, but

Gregg McAllister passes her on the way to an assist.

Michael Miller is one of the venerable tugs of the sixth boro,

having worked here since the mid-1960s.

Cape Fear has been here for a few years, although I’ve not yet seen

her two sisters, Cape May and Cape Henry. 

Ava M. is one of the workhorses, certainly. 

Does anyone know when and if Capt. Brian A. will return to service here?

Kimberly Turecamo has worked the harbor consistently for going-on 30 years.

Here she heads into an orange sherbet dawn.

All photos in the past week, WVD., who has more Canal Society archival photos coming but some contemporary posts demonstrate my temporary anchor.  Also coming up, a photographer high above Hell Gate has shared a new trove of photos from a perspective I’ve missed.  Many thanks for your continued interest.

Random Tugs 369

Happy spring.  All photos in this post were taken in winter two days ago and over a six-hour period.  Before noon, the five boros and the next state were obscured out of existence. I really think they didn’t exist during those hours, just like the imaginary sun crossed (??) the imaginary equator at 11:33 NYC time.  Crossed .  . by boat or chariot or blimp or goat cart . . .  I don’t know.

Kimberly  passed by and Robbins Reef was barely there.  Mariner brought boxes in, and Kirby passed by, and they might as well have been at sea.

Neptune shuttled by, and hints of Bayonne showed themselves.

Justine came by and the sunshine was making progress burning off the moisture.

When Cape Canaveral crossed in front of me, Manhattan was there, albeit like a matte painting;  right, that’s just a movie set, right?

The large gray ship . . . Soderman, that too was a different painted background, this time for Captain D.

Before Mary Turecamo appeared over on the starboard side of New York‘s trans-harbor load  of containers, I had no idea what I was seeing.

It wasn’t until well into the afternoon and–in the near distance–Bert Reinauer passed overtaking the Vane unit that I saw a boat pass by without a hint of fog.  That, however, was mostly due to the proximity

All photos, Friday, WVD.

Meeting Monaco Bridge

Miriam Moran looks to be alone, with a half dozen other units in the distance, but

she’s converging with a pack.

Minutes later, Kirby takes the stern of the ULCV, and

James D. emerges from the far side, where she landed a docking pilot.

Then, Miriam and Kimberly

like choreography

assume their positions and paths

 

 

and assist Monaco Bridge into the terminal.

All photos, WVD, who can’t get enough of this.

Random Ships 97

Back to historical Barge Canal photos tomorrow, but today I’m back in the boros, where the birds are singing in the sunny low   

60s!  Because I’ve been inland, all photos come from very recent archives, like Balsa 85, a small general cargo carrying a bulk cargo of sugar in the holds of her petite 348′ x 62′ hull.

Navig8 Perseverance could not be more different:  a crude oil tanker 817′ x 144′, carrying oil from somewhere on one planet earther.

STI Brooklyn is a Panamax oil/chemical tanker, 600′ x105′.  Want more STI (Scorpion Tankers Inc.) names?  Click here.

Stena Impulse has exactly the same dimensions as STI Brooklyn, but a very different superstructure. 

Here and here are other Stena Imp…. tankers.

Steam Atlantic, nice name, is smaller:  482′ x 79′.  Her sister vessel Stream Pacific can be found here.

Suddenly ships and containers marked Wan Hai are appearing.

Wan Hai 301, 984′ x 105′, follow the nomenclature pattern this blog does.  Numbers in lists may not be elegant, but they are effective.

And among the largest container ships in the boro, it’s

CMA CGM Argentina, measuring in at 1200′ x 167′ and some change. 

All photos, WVD, from my oceanic archives and on the first real day of winterspring.

 

Random Tugs 362

Two separate parties sent me this article from the LA Times.  With a title including the phrase “humble tugboat,”  I was interested but not prepared for the fantastic photos.  Thx John and George.  Enjoy.  Meanwhile, here are some more of my recent photos.

James D. Moran assisting on a towline above and Robert Weeks leaving the fuel dock below,

 

Andrea walled off from her barge above and Sarah Ann light below, 

 

Gregg McAllister returning to base and Pegasus heading to work,

 

A light William Brewster and an equally light Daisy Mae,

 

Mackenzie Rose and Philadelphia, and

to close out this installment . . . Kimberly Turecamo assisting a ULCV.

All photos, WVD, who never associated the adjective “humble” with tugboats or their operators, and that’s not a bad thing.

If you’re new to this blog (or even if you are not), I’m always looking for photos from other people and places, especially, tugboats seen in South America, Asia, Oceania, and Australia.

Christmas Eve 2021

Deck the hulls . . .

the bell sound signal device and railings too.

And I’ll leave that song right there. 

 

Kimberly Turecamo has a wreath around the bell also, but

consistent with the Kimberly crew, there’s more.

Merry Christmas all . . .

All photos, WVD.

Here was last year’s M is for Merry.

Dense Traffic 6

I’m surprised I’ve not used this title in almost a year, since the thought often comes my way that some very busy waterways exist in the sixth boro.  Like below with the four Moran tugs and one tanker.  Since three are headed to the left, you might be wondering why.  Easy . . .  those three–JRT, Kimberly, Margaret— are assisting an incoming ship, the single tug, Jonathan C,  in the foreground heading to the right will soon assist another ship coming in.  Polar Cod–a great name–is transferring petroleum product.

Here’s that incoming ship, exciting the birds as the ship and maybe stirring up the menhaden and their predators below.  We’ll get back to this.

Here’s a closer up of that fish/bird stirring ship, a torrent called Torrente.   Portside the ship is Mary Turecamo, and starboard, it’s the Belford-based Osprey. 

And here’s the most dense photo, eight tugboats from four different companies, two loaded container ships, and one tanker, all in less than two miles of waterway.

Getting back to all those birds and fish in the Con Hook Range . . .  a lot of people in small boats are putting their baited hooks in the water there.

Unrelated:  An unconfirmed report with this photo below says the 1912 Argo sank in Long Island Sound off Wading River NY on November 1.  Can anyone confirm that this happened?  I looked for a report but couldn’t find one anywhere.  To see a photo I took of it underway in the sixth boro just over 10 years ago, click here. And here, taken in June 2011.

The photo below was posted by Steve Adkins and said to be taken by USCG responding to the distress.

All photos except the last one, WVD.

Random Tugs 356

I hope you’re enjoying the morning light as much as I am.  The first four shots here were all from roughly the same location.  I took this one of Seeley first with the sun mostly behind me, and

then the next three with the sun on my right side. 

The lower 40s temperatures make sea smoke on the warmer water.

 

Then I headed down to Conference House in Tottenville in time to catch

Atlantic Salvor connect with a dredge spoils scow to take to the HARS for dumping.

That’s Great Beds Light, named for the oysters that once thrived there.

While waiting for something that never appeared or happened–I seem to do that a lot, said I to my “wise person”–I had an unexpected treat.  I told my wise person that too, that a plus of waiting for nought is that often what you really need but didn’t know you needed often comes by.  But I digress.

This is the first appearance of 1977 West Coast Kodiak on this blog;  there’s also a 1981 Alabama-built tug by that name.  This Kodiak was built in Long Beach CA.

Heading out to assist Atlantic Salvor with that scow, she passed in front of this surprising terrain over along the south shore of Raritan Bay.

All photos, WVD, who needs a wise person now and then.

 

Random Tugs 355

Happy 31st, aka Halloween, World Savings Day, Day of Seven Billion, National Candy Apple Day, Annual visit a cemetery or graveyard day . . . and more.  If you need suggestions for a graveyard, consider this one.  And just yesterday, I learned of this one and this one.  Who knew?!!?  Want to revisit a tugster ghost post?

For this post, there’s a quiz.  The first part is … name the oldest and newest boat here.  The second part … identify the only two boats here NOT built in Louisiana.  Of course, building is one thing, and designing is another.

All photos taken this October.  Susan Miller,

Miriam Moran and Pegasus,

Andrea,

Gregg McAllister,

Robert IV,

Buchanan 12,

Navigator,

Robert Burton,

Shawn Miller,

Pearl Coast,

Miss Ila,

Mary Turecamo,

and the always seasonal Kimberly Turecamo.

There you have it . . . And I’ll give the answers tomorrow.

And my question is . . .  who is Miss Ila‘s namesake and what do you call that shade of red?

Retro Sixth Boro 42 B

The bridge photo at the end of part A was of Kristin Poling, right after she’d been taken out of service.  In her long life from 1934 until 2011, she carried the nameplates of Poughkeepsie Socony, Mobil New York, and Captain Sam, before taking on her last name. 

Here’s a shot from the bow, and

here from near the stern looking forward along the catwalk.

This is one of my all-time favorite photos.  I wonder where this Coastie is today.

A decade ago, Maurania III worked in the harbor, here alongside the venerable Chemical Pioneer and

here muscling Suez Canal Bridge around Bergen Point.

APL Coral was scrapped in 2017, I believe.  Anyone know what those bolts of green fabric are?  By their location, I’d guess an anti-piracy measure.  Nicole Leigh continues to work.

DEP’s Newtown Creek was in her last days;  currently she’s a dive destination in Pompano Beach, FL known as Lady Luck.

Lygra (1979) went to Alang in 2018, after carrying that name as well as Centro America, Nornews Service, and Transfjord. 

Does anyone know where Captain Zeke has gone to?  I don’t.   If I ever did, I’ve forgotten.

Catherine Turecamo assists SN Azzurra away from a dock. The tanker seems still to be working as Augusta;  she’s also carried the names Blue Dolphin and Stena Commander.  In 2014, Catherine T. went to fresh water and, the last I knew,  became a Chicago area based John Marshall.

If you click on no links in this post except this one, you will be pleased;  it’s the legendary 1937 commuter yacht Aphrodite.  HERE is the link.  Those all-caps are intentional.

Note the raked forward portion of Maersk Murotsu, getting an assist from Kimberly Turecamo. The tanker is currently known as Ardmore Seafarer, which I have seen but not photographed in the boro.  It’s impossible to keep up . . .  hang on to that thought until the end of the post.

And let’s close out  with some busy photos, here Barbara McAllister moves a barge, East Coast follows light, and Gramma Lee T Moran assists a tanker.  Barbara is now Patsy K.

And finally, the waters here are churned up by James Turecamo, Resolute, and Laura K Moran, as well as a few tankers off to the left.

All photos, WVD, who’s astonished how much changes if not daily or monthly but surely by decade.

And about that thought I asked you hang onto:  I’m considering taking a break, a sabbatical, or as Chapter 17 of Moby Dick explains . . .  a ramadan, a term used with respect. I say this as a solicitation of advice.