Non-Random Tugs 15

By numbers of boats, Vane Brothers has the largest fleet operating in the sixth boro, or maybe it just seems that way because the boats appear uniform, but there are subtle differences in size, power, vintage, and some of you know what else.  It helps to think of this fleet as several classes, not all of which are shown in this post.  The classes here are Elizabeth Anne, since 2015; Patapsco, since 2004;  and Sassafras, since 2008;  here I’ll abbreviate these classes as  EA, PTS, and SAS. 

Elizabeth Anne is now part of the Vane NW fleet working on the Salish Sea aka Puget Sound.  Both Patapsco and Sassafras, now Steven Wayne and George Holland, respectively,  have been sold out of the Vane fleet.  

Nanticoke was launched in 2004, 4200 hp,  and 95′ x 43.’  These are common to all/most PTS class.  Assisting here is Fort McHenry, 2016, 3000 hp, and 90′ x 32,’ standard for SAS class. 

Philadelphia dates from 2017, 4200 hp, 95′ x 34,’ standard for the EA class. 

Wye River is a 2008 PTS-class boat, 4200 and 96′ x 34.’  I’m not sure of that 96′ loa number. 

Choptank is a 2006 PTS boat. 

Elk River is a 2009 SAS boat. 

New York is a 2017 EA boat.  I took this photo in the Black Rock Canal, in Buffalo. This is the only non-sixth boro image in this post.

Cape Fear is 2018 SAS boat.  Fort McHenry in the distance has been mentioned above. 

Charleston is 2018 EA.

Pocomoke is a 2008 PTS.

Fells Point is a 2014 SAS boat. 

Kings Point is SAS, 2014.   Jacksonville is a 2018 EA boat. 

And to close for now, Fort Schuyler is a 2015 SAS boat. 

All photos, any errors, WVD.  Transiting the sixth boro now and then and some stick around, Vane Brothers has at least three other classes of boats in their fleet.

A previous all-Vane post can be found here. 

 

Random Tugs 194

Quick.  Name this unit . . . or at least the current and previous operators?

I haven’t seen many Gateway Towing tugs along my usual haunts, but here’s Connecticut.

Nanticoke, about 10-years-old now, the second of the Patapsco 4200 hp class, pushes a payload enclosed in Doubleskin 305.

Pacific Reliance, at the dock, is made up to the 650-1, whose capacity is 155,000 bbl.

So . .  that unit in the top photo is Genesis Vision, formerly Superior Service

pushing GM 6508. Here was a photo of the tug as Superior Service, only four years ago.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

And if you have not seen it yet, here’s an 18-minute video of the saga of the former Katie G and Colleen McAllister, which I captured the first hours of here as they headed east on the East River on their long journey to western Michigan. Here was my Part 2 of that voyage, with collaboration from colleagues.

Here from eight years ago is Katie G moving petroleum product and remaking a tow right off the Battery.

Thanks to Paul Strubeck

I’m not going to count, but there must be dozens of posts here with photos from or some mention of Paul Strubeck.  Here I’m pleased to dedicate a whole post to him in part because these photos make me see the sixth boro with new eyes.  Enjoy.  Cornell . . . by foggy night and compare to my photo from about the same day but at dawn here and scroll to the third photo.  The location is the soon-to-open Brooklyn Barge Bar, where I’m eager to imbibe a sunset beer. Also in Paul’s “roll” of film are

Pinuccia and Specialist mostly obscured,

Captain D ,

Nanticoke passing the East River Seaplane base,

an unobscured photo of Specialist,

Sea Robin secured to Sugar Express at the sugar plant in Yonkers,

James William,

and Foxy 3 pushing a Thornton barge, which

brings us back to a great photo of Cornell, which Paul used his special lens for.

All photos here are used with permission from Paul Strubeck.  Thanks much, Paul.

Unrelated:  Here’s an East River seaplane photo I posted here many years ago. And a photo of Sugar Express towed south by a former fleet mate of Sea Robin.

Random Tugs 143

If you think the sixth boro has a wide variety of tugboats, you’ll agree it’s also surrounded by a variety of land–boro–scapes.

l to r:  Thomas J. Brown, 1962 and Joyce D. Brown, 2002

from obscure to iconic.

Eastern Dawn, 1978.  Previously Delta Mule and Grand Eagle

Here’s the Brooklyn passenger terminal and

Evening Star, 2012

the anchorage in mid-Upper Bay,

Nanticoke, 2007

Brooklyn Navy Yard,

Bridgeport, 1982.  Previously, Dragon Lady and others

Williamsburg,

Miss Gill, 1970.  Previously Mister Mike, Samson, and other.

Bayonne,

Eric R. Thornton, 1960.  Previously Roger Williams

east end of Wall Street,

Pelham, 1960.  Previously Little Joe, Tucana, and other

entrance to the Kills showing the Bayonne Bridge and obvious modifications to the bases,

Eastern Dawn again

and finally the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

the Browns again

All photos this week by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 110

Random, recent, and variously sourced.

The closeup of Nanticoke pushing Doubleskin 57 toward the Goethals Bridge below comes compliments of Allen Baker.

I took this foto of Robert E. McAllister.

Marie J. Turecamo here assists Barney Turecamo, pushing

the 118,000 barrel barge Georgia.

Four of the Dann Marine tugs:  l to r, Emerald, Chesapeake in the distance, First,  and Calusa . . . all Coast.

Pegasus . . . the former John E. McAllister and so much more . . . the only tug in the sixth boro that today still excurses (yup . .  that’s a word!) for the public.

First Coast, the former

Morania No. 18 . . .  See the traces of “R–A–N” in the painted metal?

Over in the East River, it’s Bruce A. and

Charles D. McAllister.   See the McAllister striped Rosenwach wooden water tank on the building upper skyline left?

From l’amiga .  .  it’s another shot of Patricia, a 1963 tug built in Port Deposit, MD.

And last but not least . . .  just cellphone-snapped by chance by Birk Thomas yesterday, it’s Miss Lis, which at this writing is about to steam past Sandy Hook on her way out of the sixth boro.  What’s remarkable about this foto is that Birk caught this Tradewinds tug in the last two miles of a journey that started in LA!   I feel like there should be a brass band playing or some other celebration of completion.   Click here to my previous “seeing” of another Tradewinds tug.

Click on this foto below . . . and if you have a Facebook account, you should be able to see Tradwinds Towing’s FB page.

Fotos should be credited as I tried to indicate;  non credited ones by Will Van Dorp.

Delaware Traffic

I’d seen McFarland before . . . once at the dock stern out and another time anchored in the middle of the night on Delaware Bay, lit up like a parking lot.  I’m so thrilled that I’ll run a series of her . . . .starting with the USACE dredge passing Pac Alnath.

A first sighting for me . . . Charles Burton.

Back to McFarland . . . one of four ocean-going hopper dredges operated by the USACE.  Can you name the other three?

. . . Nanticoke and Peter F. Gellatly, both pushing Vane barges.

Huge turntable on McFarland.

Chief . . . I believe the 1979 built vesel.

From this USACE publication, I like this statistic:  a full load of dredged materials McFarland carries equals the capacity of 310 dump trucks.

Just before sunrise, she steamed by . . . and passed B. Franklin Reinauer in the city of Benjamin Franklin himself.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

The other three dredges are Wheeler, Essayons, and Yaquina.   For comparison info about the four, click here.  For Bert Visser’s directory with fotos of all the large dredgers in the world, click here.

For a post on Delaware River tugs from 2010, click here.  What I’d like to see one of these days is the loading of livestock down in Wilmington.    Currently, Falconia is at the dock;  I saw her from the highway on Friday.

Vane Brothers 1

Nanticoke

Choptank . . .

Nanticoke again . . .

Wye River . . . though it looks the same as Nanticoke and Choptank.

Christiana . . . is in a different class, for Vane, although she looks a lot like a certain Reinauer.

Chesapeake . . . thought it could be –at least to my eye– either Wye River, Choptank, or Nanticoke.

Wye River . . . although it could be Chesapeake with nameboards switched?? [No, there’s a slight window difference in the wheelhouse.]

The nameboards say Wicomico.

Wicomico again.

Wicomico a third time, passing what  looks like Charles D. McAllister.

Patapsco, according to the nameboards.

Brandywine is a twin of Christiana.  At 6000 hp, they’re a smidgeon less than 1/3 more hp than the Patapsco class.

Back to the Patapsco class, it’s Bohemia.

Of that class, I’ve yet to see Patuxent, Anacostia, and Severn.

Has there ever been another company that had 15 identical (are there nuances I’ve missed??) tugboats?  And on the Patapsco class, why does the forward companionway lead starboard rather than port?

All fotos . . . Will Van Dorp.

Doghouses

Let’s hope you don’t conclude this blog has gone to the dogs . . .  first wenches and now this.  But doghouse is the word I hear most often in reference to the aft-facing cabin that offers good visibility of the winch and tow  as well as protection from weather and parted wire.   Notice the variety of styles, sizes, and locations of these cabins.   Barney Turecamo has the triple-pane model mounted center, whereas

Comet‘s is starboard with a roof-mounted spotlight, all of which describes

Gulf Dawn‘s, which also features an AC.

I’m not sure what the small dome on Wilcomico‘s roof is, but it adds steel lattice glass protection.  And notice its portside orientation, unlike all the previous examples.

Falcon‘s doghouse is more capacious than the upper wheelhouse.

To follow on Nathan Stewart‘s winch fotos from yesterday, notice the controls, a

full set of them plus ability to monitor two channels at least on the VHF.

Finally, for now, Nanticoke, one of Vane Brothers Patapsco-class tugs, as is Wilcomico, uses the doghouse as a location to display the IMO number.  Here’s gCaptain’s take on IMO’s.

More on this later . . . since many “tug” boats do not have winches, and not all that have winches have doghouses.  Is there a rival term to “doghouse,” since Nanticoke and sister vessels are powered by Caterpillar 3516s . . . Cats . . . it could become complicated.

One week until the equinox!  And if you missed my late addition to yesterday’s post, Henry’s posted from Amsterdam;  check out his eagerness to get back to sea here.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 22

Greenland Sea passes the container port at Howland Hook,

Craig Eric Reinauer exits Erie Basin,

Christine M. McAllister approaches the Buttermilk,

Scott C glides past Carl Schurz Park,

Nanticoke pushes into the eastern end of the East River, and

I’m wondering how many of these will converge for the festivities on the North River (aka the Hudson) this Sunday.

Above is the first in this week’s series of previously unposted fotos of last Labor Day’s race.

Photos, WVD.