Retro Sixth Boro 52

Wow!  August almost passed us by without my doing a glance back to a decade ago.  McCrews is now in Philly I’m told.   Reliance and Justine are still with McAllister.  Lynx was sold foreign  and experienced an incident while being delivered, although I’m not sure how that turned out.  Barents and Yankee both were refurbished by Donjon:  Barents Sea is now Atlantic Enterprise and Yankee is now Signet Atlantic and sans upper wheelhouse.   Mark McAllister was scrapped, and Na-Hoku under the same name works for a company  based in Charleston SC.

 Ellen McAllister here was bringing in the future Alex McAllister, which has gone on to spend a lot of time working in the sixth boro, although I’ve not noticed her recently.

Patrice (had just had a tragic delivery fire in this photo)  and Bruce still work based out of the sixth boro.

 

I never did see Yankee after her upper wheelhouse was removed.  I may have to return to the GOM if I ever want to see her.

Duty is now Nydia P, and I’d have to go to Puerto Rico to see her.

Ireland became Hoppiness, and has been converted to a liveaboard on Lake Ontario but headed the inland waterways of the TVA system.

Labrador Sea is now Vane’s Brooklyn.

And finally, here’s a mixed set:  OSG 350 and OSG Vision still work under those names, Amy Moran became Stasinos John Joseph, and Scotty Sky became a snow bird and sails the Caribbean.

All August 2012, WVD, who after reflecting on all those changes admits to not being the same person as in August 2012 any more either.

 

Re Vision

The needle says I’ve pumped enough air into the tanks to restart the main blog engines, but instead of returning with a chronological account of departing the bayous, which will come, I’ll begin with minutae, like this.  

I recognized the tugboat at once in Tampa harbor.  I first saw her new in early 2010, and I’ve added some links to my early posts below.

Unmistakably here is OSG Vision, that is Vision.  I’m not sure she’s actually still an OSC tugboat. 

Vision and many other ATBs reflected the . . .  vision . . . of Bob Hill, recently departed, RIP. I had the pleasure to meet him twice, years ago. 

I’d be happy to hear from anyone who has worked aboard Vision and whomever has knowledge about her future, given that she’s still a young boat. 

All photos here, WVD, taken in port of Tampa .

Some archival posts with Vision are here, but you have to scroll:  from Philly in 2010, from the sixth boro in spring 2010, and from spring 2011 also in the sixth boro.  You can find others if you use the upper lefts each window. 

Retro Sixth Boro 35 C

March 25, 2011 was a busy day.  L to r, Maurania III, USNS Yano, Resolute, McAllister Responder, McAllister Girls, Amy Moran . . . with a K-Sea barge at the mooring, and some iconic structures.  None of these vessels in currently in the sixth boro.  Amy Moran is now John Joseph.

Let’s follow the USNS vessel first, as it’s assisted into the graving dock.  Yano is in Newport News at this time, 2021. 

Yano is an example of a US-flagged non-Jones Act vessel.

A bit later, more to the west, Davis Sea stands by to assist Taurus

and DBL 25 into a dock.  Taurus recently came to the boro from Philly as Joker.  Davis Sea is now Defender. 

The following day, Maurania III and

McAllister Girls sail British Serenity off the dock. Maurania III is now in Wilmington, and British Serenity is now Champion Timur and is in the Black Sea on a voyage that began in Indonesia.  Girls is laid up.

An hour later, Jennifer Turecamo assisted the big OSG 350 moved by

OSG Vision westbound.  Jennifer is in Tampa, and Vision runs in and out of Delaware Bay.

All photos and any errors, WVD, who notices the old Bayonne Bridge profile above.

For an update on Ever Given, click here.

And the answer to yesterday’s what and where:  Jay Michael off Bridgeport, CT….

Other Watersheds 7: The Delaware Redux

Almost exactly a decade ago I did this post.  Today I decided to add to it and broaden the geographic scope.  Stick with me to see how broadened this gets.

From the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the entrance of Delaware Bay is about 100 miles.  Near the entrance you see big water and big traffic, like a light Ivory Coast above and a working OSG Vision below.  OSG Vision is mated to OSG 350, a huge barge used to lighter crude oil tankers 342,000 barrels at a time.

Forty miles upstream from the Delaware Memorial, there’s the Ben Franklin Bridge, here with Pilot towing La Princesa and assisted by Grace and Valentine Moran.

Some Delaware River boats are rarely seen in the sixth boro like Jack Holland.

Almost 150  miles upstream from the Philly-Camden area is  Hawk’s Nest Highway, the part of the river once paralleled on the nearer side by the D&H Canal.

Of course I paddled the whole way up there. In fact, this stretch of the Delaware has enough current that a 21st century paddler would not choose to go upstream very far, and a 19th century boat-mule canaler would want to keep navigation separate from the river.

Early summer had its share of young  birds,

deer, and trout visible under the canoe.

Some mysterious paddlers shared the waters.

That New York side of the river . . .

if you look close, you can see in places that these are not natural rock formations. Rather, they support the towpath side of the D & H Canal, way up above the river.

Part of Route 97 is also known as Hawk’s Nest Highway.

To digress, the eastern end of the Canal–about a hundred miles to the NE–is in Kingston NY, and a transshipping point was Island Dock, which

has now overgrown.  I wonder if there’s ever been a project to clear the trees and undergrowth and contemplate a recreation of this important site.  Oil is today’s fuel;  coal was definitely king in this other age.

But let’s back to the Delaware.  North of Barryville, there’s this bridge. At least, it’s now a bridge, but when

John Roebling built it, it was an aqueduct for D & H coal boats bringing anthracite out of the Coal Region to the sixth boro.

 

Here’s a preserved portion of the Canal between Hawley and Honesdale PA, just upstream (water has long long) from Lock 31.   Honesdale was once the transhipping point between railroad cars and canal boats and deserves another visit and maybe a whole post, which maybe I’ll getto when the museum there opens again.

Pennsylvania has place names like Oil City, Cokeburg, and Coal Port.  The coal transported on the D & H came from aptly-named Carbondale, another place that deserves more time.  The commodity legacy is seen in these two businesses

and maybe others.

All photos, WVD, at different points over the past 10 years.  If anyone has ideas about high points along the river you’d suggest I visit, please let me know.  Since my jobs for this summer have fallen through, this might be the year to canoe and hike.

Unrelated, if you haven’t yet read this story about an Argentine in Portugal unable to get home because of cancelled flights and choosing to sail across the Atlantic in a 29′ boat to see his father turn 90, here‘s the link.

 

 

 

Retro Sixth Boro 26 a

May 2010 . . . I took my first trip to see the thrills of the southern Arthur Kill, thanks to Bonnie.  Back then the hull of Astoria (1925-1967 on the East River Line) was still there. Since then, I believe it’s been removed  . . . said to be an eyesore.  !@#$?!!  Here’s more from that paddling trip.  Keansburg Steamboat Company operated it until it ended up here. If I read The Boats We Rode, Roberts & Gillespie, p.13) right, I’m wondering why it spent so many years before being broken up. And why isn’t it listed here?

ABC-1 was hauled out back that month. I know some of you are happy to see what she looks like below the waterline.

OSG Vision was new, and spent some time at the Bayonne shipyard. Here she’s nose-to-nose with Horizon Discovery.

I recall vividly this spectacular spring morning before work . . . Irish Sea went by pushing DBL 103, passing NYK Rigel at Howland Hook.  Mornings like that tempted me to skip work.

I’m not sure where this boat is today, but I did manage to get close-ups out of the water here, three and a half years later.

Heather M II here passed NYK Rigel.  I’ve never seen Heather M since, I believe, but she has classy lines and a great bow pudding.

Colleen was still in salt water back then.  I’m not sure she ever thawed out after a late December transit to Lake Michigan six years later.

Janice Ann, here pushing RTC 28, was still around here.  If you want to read about life aboard Janice Ann, I did a review of a book written by one of her captains here.

Niz C. Gisclair was an exotic in town, likely here working on a dredging job.  She has a Marquette logo on her stack.

Sorry about the backlighting here, but it’s Allied’s Falcon in the Kills. She has since appeared on this blog as Carolina Coast.

And finally .  .  . a sad shot of sister ship of Day-Peckinpaugh, launched as Interwaterways 101.  The vessel below was launched two months later as Interwaterways 105, and from 1936 until 1976 operated as Michigan. She’s languished in the AK for decades, possibly since 1976.  She’s an Eriemax, tailored to the dimensions of the Barge Canal locks, built in Duluth 99 years ago!

Here’s the same vessel on the Erie Canal, date and photographer unknown.

Yup . . . after 18 days of virtual Erie Canal touring, I needed to sneak another Erie Canal pic in here.

All photos except the last one by WVD.

 

Random Tugs 236

Along the Jersey shore . . .  it’s Candace, a Damen Shoalbuster design . . . built at Eastern Shipbuilding in 2004.

Hete’s a slightly sharper, closer shot.

Working with Candace in dredge support, it’s Trevor.

Trying to keep her ground tackle tackling the bay bed, it’s Linda Moran holding with Houston.

OSG 350 is practically a ship . . . and she’s pushed by

a force more powerful than what drives some ships, the 12,000 hp OSG Vision.  I first saw her here in 2010.

Also, holding fast or trying to, it’s Genesis Valiant, previously Erie Service.

In much calmer weather, it’s Nicole Leigh Reinauer and

Atlantic Enterprise, formerly Barents Sea.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Perspective

I thought I’d used this title before, but I was thinking about this one, backgrounds.  The idea here is similar.

From this angle, can you identify this vessel?

It’s a shipshape Pegasus!

From the same perspective, Justine McAllister and Franklin Reinauer leaving the KVK for the AK.

Ditto equally shipshape Mary Turecamo, from a perspective such that the visor practically obscures the house windows.

What’s the tale of three wakes . . . one recent and the others less so?

This is a good view of how a model bow fits snugly in the notch.

Where’s this and what’s this?  Although it looks like a building being overrun by tropical flora and fauna,

this might generate a different set of associations.

This was taken from the same  vantage point but with the camera pointed a bit higher yet, and it makes all the difference.

It’s OSC Vision entering the Upper Bay last weekend, giving new meaning to the term “shipshape.”  And the fauna here could be called landscaping goats . . . . or “scapegoats,” for short.

Two ships . . .  well, at least until you examine the farther one more closely.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who did this earlier goat homage here.

Random Tugs 95

First foto comes thanks to William Hyman, who took it eight days ago.  Resolute waits along the dock in MOTBY for its next assist.  In the background is a lesser-known 9/11 monument, a Tsereteli statue given to the US as an official gift of the Russian government only six years ago. Putin himself came here for the dedication.   Resolute is six times older than the monument, and when it was launched, no doubt no one would have imagined a Russian-donated statue would stand anywhere in NYC.

Ireland dates from 1940;  she first appeared on this blog only five months ago here.

No vessel makes more noise as it passes as OSG Vision.  And if you don’t know her power in “equines,” check here.  I guess that partially explains the throbbing, only partly since President Polk is rated at 57,000! 

Amy Moran (1973, 3000 hp) assists OSG Vision and OSG 350 through the Kills.

Amy C McAllister (1975) follows McAllister Sisters (1977) to the next assist.

Bruce A. McAllister (1974) here assists Baltic Sea I (2003) rotate and then head outbound.

A few seconds earlier, McAllister Sisters used noticeable force to push Baltic‘s stern around.

There was once a Baltic Sea that belonged to the same fleet as Beaufort Sea (1971), but that other Baltic now works out of Lagos, Nigeria.  I’ve written the new owners to ask for fotos, but  . . . so far, in vain.

Bering Sea (1975) and Jane A. Bouchard (2003) spend some time at the fuel dock.

No tug appears on this foto, but some of you just know which tug is mated to RTC 135.  Cruise ship, I believe, is Explorer of the Seas.   Answer about the tug follows.

Gelberman (1980)  may look like a tug, but USACE call it a “debris collecting vessel.”  More info on her can be found in this post from three and a half years ago.

Thanks to William Hyman for that first foto;  all others by Will Van Dorp.   And the tug mated to RTC 135 is Nicole Leigh Reinauer.

Random Tugs 94

These fotos taken since last Wednesday show part of the range of weather we’ve had since Wednesday.  And here’s a surprise:  Crowley’s Courage in the Stapleton anchorage . . . as of this writing, she’s off Florida halfway between Jacksonville and Miami.

Lincoln Sea, same day, off BAT, just before that wicked storm erupted . . .  derupted/descended . . .     Great pics at that link.

Buchanan 10 was making her way across the Upper Bay as

the wind started to kick up some splash.   Did I get wet?  Yup . . . but I always carry a dry bag for stuff that dislikes water.   And I was afraid of getting zapped by the electricity in the sky as I walked home from the subway.  Yup . . .  tugster on the subway..  Hey . .  . parts of the subway lines allow me to travel beneath the sixth boro without a submarine, as depicted by Duke Riley.

Here’s Siberian Sea, also on Wednesday.

Saturday morning light was quite different, after more than two days of rain.  D . . . I hope that answers your question about shooting through glass.  This was the huge 12,000 hp OSG Vision pushing OSG 350 westbound on the KVK yesterday morning.   Given what ATBs work the Great Lakes, I’m wondering about the claim here that Vision, a year even, was the world’s largest ATB unit.    On this foto, I’m also shooting into the morning sun.

Here Wicomico passes MSC Federica.  Notice the white structure atop the containers (left of the turbine) on Federica.

Here’s a close-up.  Anyone else notice it?   . . . identify it?

Beaufort Sea passes Zim San Francisco.

By the way, what are those blue “seaco” units on San Fran‘s deck?  Also notice the sailboat up there on the load!!  Doubleclick enlarges.

Rounding out this post, my till-favorite large tug in the sixth boro . . .  Atlantic Salvor,  just a bit over half the hp of OSG Vision, not that hp tells the whole story.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Unrelated to this post but related to the major focus of this blog:  I’ve adding the comment by R. A. Pena because it may please you and some of you may be prompted to research it.  His note follows: with a bit of editing by me”

we owe our life to the captn and crew of tug boat CABO ROJO; they saved us from capsizing on 13 of may 1966 on rough weather crossing from cuba to florida; will never forget them; our boat was a 17 footer; l was 18 yrs old at the time.   now at 66 l would like to have a photo of the ship or his crew. god bless them and god bless america.  note at the time of our rescue tugboat CABO ROJO was pulling 3 barges behind it with molasses on a trip from puerto rico to new orleans.  who was to tell that  [our] faint far away light was seen in the distance.  it was going to be our salvation. thanks a million captn god bless. tugboat CABO ROJO and his crew. r .a. pena vero beach fl. 7-22-2012. note our boat the ANITA was abandoned to the mercy of the sea due to certain circumstances; every time l remember seeing it fade away under the lights of the reflectors of tugboat CABO ROJO l can’t stop tears . thanks again for saving our life. gratefully yours r.a pena”

 

Mr. Pena . . . thanks for writing the wonderful note.  I hope we can find a foto of CABO ROJO operating between PR and Nola in 1966.

Vision and More

This is my version of Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a ...”.  Call this “Checking out Docks on a Hazy Morning,” the joy of which is finding the unexpected.  Like OSG Vision, here among the  giants.  The tug just astern Vision’s blue stacks is K-Sea Volunteer, air draft 114′ if my info is correct, making

Vision, docked here in Bayonne, NJ, the highest tug seat I’ve seen in the sixth boro!

Vision looks like a starship, and is as huge as one:  12000 hp!! and 153′ x 51′ x 26.’  Anyone know the air draft?

Find closer-up and clearer fotos of Vision from the fabulous Narragansett Bay Shipping site here, taken about a month ago.

James Turecamo and Zachery Reinauer passed by to

meet and greet (well, that’s interpretation, I know) also.  Ships in the distance are:  Horizon Discovery (ex-American Liberty, Sea-Land Liberty, Sea-Land Discovery, CSX Discovery… built by Sun Shipbuilding in Chester, PA in 1968) and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Fedora.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Related:  OSG Vision‘s daily fuel consumption:  35 tons!