NL4

Being in the low countries, I thought I’d ask around if meow man–certainly a sixth boro staple– had ever made an appearance.  And I thought I’d ask in places where I stood a chance to get a response.  Like Lelystad, a city of over 75,000 people at 10 feet below sea level.  My “Hey there.  Do you know meow man?” got this fang-baring big eyed response  . . .

“Miauw man? Ik heb nog nooit van hem gehoord.”   I’ll translate word by word:  “I have ever never from him heard.”

At first I feared my red friend–figurehead of De Zeven Provinciën would catapult out of his enclosure, but he only pulled himself to an above-sea level-perch to ask his big friend . .  .

this guy, figurehead on Batavia.

And the big red guy’s answer was:  “Miauw man? Wie of wat is hij, dit miauw man?”  Word by word, it translates as, “MM, who or what is he, this MM?”  So the Batavia figurehead roared out across the sea looming over the farmland and asked this guy . . .

this really big guy . . . 60 tons known by various names . . . suggested by the pose.

 

And he said not a word, which made me suspect he actually knew something, had associations with MM, and was keeping the secret.

All photos and interpretations of conversations that really really did happen by Will Van Dorp.

Here are previous figureheads posts.  And what follows is a set of photos I took at the December 2008 boat show, all depicting the struggle-into-shape of Onrust’s big cat.

 

x

With mallet and gouge, Dave is truly a master sawdust maker.

Unrelated:  I’m not dedicating a post to names at this time, but I just noticed that Herman Hesse was entering port as Irene’s Remedy was departing.

 

Specialist Before and After

I put these photos up because not everyone saw them on FB.

I took these photos of Specialist in October of 2010, before she went to Puerto Rico.

 

Meow Man took the next two yesterday on the KVK as she passed by on a barge after she was raised.  RIP.

 

The bottom two photos used by permission from Meow Man.

The top two by Will Van Dorp.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Along this stretch of  . . . bird habitat, Meow man has signed in . . .

and an official boat might just be verifying the authenticity.

Meanwhile, I’m just over two miles off the center of the VZ Narrows bridge . . . doing some of my own verifying.  Those round objects . . . half a dozen of them  . . . are they . . .

. . . could they be . .  see that one splash . . .

harbor seals?    This one seems to negotiate for that rock with . . .  a ruddy turnstone . . . ?

See the press release here for the NYC Audubon tours here.

Read here about the seal scientists who were on board yesterday also.

What is that canoe-shaped object in the upper left side of this photo?

Anyhow, forget about the cold and book a seal and bird tour  . . . on only a few Sunday trips left.

Thanks to bowsprite who suggested this as a birthday present.  I may go out and take this trip again to get the photo I missed of a squadron of long-tailed ducks  circling our boat.

We stayed on the west side of Swinburne Island (it should be renamed Seal Island.) as MOL Endowment arrived with a delivery along the east side.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.  Nearly three years ago I reported on a seal I interviewed on Fire Island.

Somehow . . . don’t ask me how . ..  meow man seems to have “signed” what used to be a white ceramic mug that usually occupies my desk.  How DID he deliver that?  . . . !@#@!!