Exotics

In my favorite field guide to birds, there’s a section devoted to “exotics,” species you may observe in the Northeast but which are not indigenous to this region;  some of these birds got here as stowaways and others are pets escaped or released into the wild.   As I think about “tugster:  the project,”  I imagine an exotic category as well.  There is tjalk Livet here and here (scroll through).   Also, there is Golden Re’al here.

And what this has to do with the card below will become evident.  First, notice the vessel name Marine Trader, the second word “bumboat” in the subtitle, and name of the president, father to the author.

Click the photo below and scroll through to see info on the man in the 1921 Chevy AND his connection to the vessel below.

Which leads me to this exotic.

The port of registry painted on the stern AND the landmarks in the background will locate these photos.

That bell is from neither New York nor Duluth.

But the helm seems vintage late 1930s.

The repurposed interior is warm and light. Click here to compare the current art studio interior with what it used to be in Duluth.

Many thanks to Herb for a tour of his unique vessel.   Part of me felt I’d stumbled back in time and encountered John Noble as in here and here.

Dutch Mystery 2

Thanks to Fred . . . (happy canaling soon) here are more shots of the erstwhile mystery ship less than five miles by air from the GW Bridge, true but misleading.

 

Thanks also to Dar, who located the unlocatable Evershed book, it’s a Groninger tjalk. How it got to the Hackensack, I’ve no clue. Wrong turn at the North Sea? Anyone know the owner?

Livet: a river town in eastern France? An apple brandy? Short for “live-aboard tjalk”? Names mislead; this is New Jersey, but “Zwartsluis” is a town in the eastern Netherlands province of OverIjssel. And it’s a barge town. If you’re adventuresome, see great fotos at this link, then navigate on left to “foto’s” and then “zwartsluis” and then the various “sleerbootdagen.” “Sleepboot” is Dutch for “Tugboat.”

See the rudder cable.

Cool anchor. So mystery remains . . . whose is it? Was it biglifted to New Jersey? More later I hope.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.