Exotics Convergence

Polling has not yet ended, the clock goes on for two more days now, since I got a bunch of votes last night. With all certainty, though, polls will close on December 21 . . .  earlier if two days elapse without a single new vote.  Your votes and suggestions –in comments and in emails–have already influenced the design of the calendar.

Many thanks to David Silver for this photo . . .  can you guess where it was taken?

You might want to see where previous photos shared by David Silver were taken here.   You can find the answer at the end of this post.

While you’re trying to figure out the answer using the title and the night pics, have a look at the project of converting a Responder class OSRV into a new Sandy Hook Pilots “mothership”.

For a complete Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) equipment list, click here.

As I understand it, Maine Responder was sold out of MSRC because it was considered excess.   Maybe someone can confirm that.

Here’s the wheels.

Have you guessed where David took the top picture?  The answer is .  . . Elizabethport, NJ.  In the darkness are three exquisite exotics:   Regulus, Kelly Ann Candies, and Highland Eagle.  Kelly Ann came into the sixth boro yesterday just before dark, but it was so foggy in the Narrows that in the 500′ or so visibility she was as invisible to someone there as she’d be 500 miles at sea.  And then, she left before good light this morning.  I caught Kelly Ann entering Guanabara Bay almost six years ago.  Regulus I caught in Bayonne earlier this fall, and Highland Eagle I caught in northern Lake Huron this summer, where she was doing some sounding work.

Many thanks to David for this photo.  The others by Will Van Dorp, who is eager to see how the ex-Maine Responder evolves.

 

Mixed Craft 2

Here’s the previous post of this focus.  I had others ready to go at one point, but  . ..  ships sail, horses leave barns, and ideas slip away.  Yesterday I spent one hour on the Upper Bay and concluded that it’s a diverse place, starting with this water rising up and obscuring whatever lay beyond it.  Of course, I knew what it was, but I recall the first time I saw such a misting–in the Gulf off Kuwait–and my brain could not process what my eyes were sending it.

Regular and irregular cargoes juxtaposed, boxes and rocks.

Framing a shot puts together what is actually quite far apart.

I’ve done a number of posts on winter fishing, but fall fishing must be super right now, with some fisherman torn between landing that next fish and

 

staying out of the path of YM World and all those tugs assisting it into Global terminal.

 

I know foreshortening plays a role in giving a sense of crowding, but there IS undeniably some crowding going on here.  The ship DID sound a warning at one point.

And that mist in the top photo . . . it came from Firefighter II.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who still has lots of photos from the trip from Montreal.

 

 

Two Hours on the Narrows 4

The Narrows is a prime location for me to get photos of vessels coming in from sea if they have AIS because I have several hours notice of arrival for any traffic going anywhere into or through the Upper Bay, eg., on their way to Brooklyn berths, the North River, or the East River.  I can walk around or–in case of rain or cold–sit in my car.

The downside is that it’s a wide spot, so even the zoom can draw in only limited detail.

Having said all that, here’s a shot from Bay Ridge over to the Sandy Hook Pilots station, showing (from far to near) the current black hull-yellow trimmed pilot boat mother ship New York No. 1, its eventual replacement currently with a blue hull, and the smaller boats.  Lop off the thin upper wheelhouse and paint the hull/trim, and make a thousand more modifications . . .  and you’ll have the new mother ship.

My goal was to get photos of Commander Iona, which I did and posted here. Unexpected was the arrival of Dina Polaris, which I’d first seen only a month and a half or so ago.

 

Mister Jim has been a regular on this blog and in the sixth boro surrounding waters since she first arrived a few years ago.

 

The Severn Sailing Association came through the rain with a whole host of sloops . . . from closest to farthest:  Commitment, Intrepid, Valiant, Courage, Invincible, Renaissance, Daring, Brave, Warrior.

Rhea I. Bouchard headed in with her barge, but by this time the rain was falling so hard I couldn’t confirm the name/number on the barge.

Magdalen headed out, passing a sloop and

R/V Heidi Lynn Scuthorpe, a first sighting for me.

Click here for more info on Heidi Lynn and Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute. Click here for a more technical article from Workboat on this vessel.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who feels compensated for staying out in the rain.

I saw Nauvoo (Heidi Lynn‘s previous name) years back and I posted a pic here.  I also saw Beglane.

Random Tugs 261

Let’s start with the photo I did NOT get, but jag9889 did;  click here to see Resolve Commander and (in the photo stream) the barge it towed Thursday carrying the remaining TZ Bridge structure out to sea.   Bravo jag . . . . I’ve long enjoyed your work.

The photo below raises some questions . . .  not because of Mary Gellatly, which has long been there, but because of the MSRC Responder vessel beyond it and tied up at the Sandy Hook Pilots’ dock.   Something’s happening here. . . .  I don’t believe it’s the local New Jersey Responder.

Stephen Reinauer headed out the Narrows, and shortly thereafter,

Dace came in, offering a comparison of the outline of the two boats.  Stephen dates from 1970, 3000 hp, and 100.2 loa;  Dace, 1968, 3400, and 108.8.

Below we can do a different comparison:  Dylan Cooper, 2015, 4720 hp, and 112.2;  Lincoln Sea, 2000, 8000 hp, and 118.6.

 

L. W. Caddell is the yard tug at the repair yard.

Emily Ann, 1964, 3000 hp, and 89.4.  My favorite story about this boat formerly called Cabo Rojo (among other names) can be found here.

Emily Ann crossed paths with Caitlin Ann, 1961, 2400 hp, and 78.9, here moving a light scrap scow.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.