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I’m always on the lookout for “first-timers” in the harbor, but I’m equally thrilled to see the “seldom-seen.” I realize that some people might see these boats everyday. The “seldom-seen” relates to me.
This is true of Pelham. The 1960 built is on her sixth name, if I count right. She started out as Esso Pelham. You’ll have to scroll, but here are a number of times I’ve posted photos of her, in and out of the water.
Evelyn Cutler, a 1973 build, is a frequenter on this site. When I first saw her, she was a Great Lakes Dock and Dredge boat called Melvin E. Lemmerhirt.
In the few months that this boat has been know as Mackenzie Rose, she appears to stay quite busy. That’s a good thing.
Rae also fits into the rarely seen list, although maybe she was laid up and is now busy again. Meeting her here is Normandy. Rae and Normandy were built in 1952 and 2007, respectively.
Philadelphia and
Jacksonville are both recent 4200 hp Vane boats. Jacksonville, 2018, is one year newer than Philadelphia.
I first saw the 1981 Genesis Victory as Huron Service. Periodically, some of the Genesis boats do make their way into Lake Huron and beyond.
As i said earlier, Mackenzie Rose is quite busy. Does anyone know her namesake? I don’t.
Frederick E. Bouchard is the second boat to carry that name. She was built in 2016 and operates with 6140 hp, but
these days she looks quite light and her exposed waterline somewhat rusty.
Barney Turecamo, the fourth (?) boat to carry that name, brings 5100 hp to the job. When she was built in 1995, she had a different upper wheelhouse.
All photos, WVD, and taken in the past month.
Let’s do the numbers again. No, Pelham is NOT becoming a tugantine in the tradition of Norfolk Rebel. Seeing Pelham out of the water really reveals a beauty I hadn’t noticed before.
OK, numbers, built in 1960 and rated at 3000 hp.
Atlantic Coast, 2007 and 3000hp.
Genesis Vision, 1981 and 3000hp.
Margaret Moran, 1979 and 3000hp.
(l to r) Fort Schuyler 2015 and 3000hp, Patuxent 2008 and 4200, and Kings Point 2014 and 3000.
Note the difference in “neck” length leading to the upper wheelhouse; that hints at the difference in engines.
Resolve, 2007 and 9280hp.
Brownsville, 2008 and 12,000hp.
All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is playing in the Great Lakes by this time.
Recognize the tugboat below? Answer follows.
David McAllister, photo from 2013, has recently changed hands and is currently undergoing “re-power and life extension” as Tradewinds Towing Hannah.
Draco, photo below taken in 2007, shows the vessel that began life in 1951 as Esso Tug No. 12. I caught her in the sixth boro as Co here (scroll) back in 2009.
Pleon, built in 1953, has appeared on this blog several times recently.
Canal Deluge, shown here in Fournier Towing and Ship Services colors, has since been sold to Trinidad, where she is (somewhat appropriately) know as Boston Lady.
And finally, originally a steam tug built in the mid-1920s to assist ships and break ice on the Delaware river, the 125′ John Wanamaker claimed the title of the last steam tug operating commercially in the US, but after several stints as a restaurant boat, she was cut up in New Bedford sometime around 2007. Anyone have photos of her last days or her last decades as a restaurant in at least three different New England locations? For a great story about her–and many other boats– read Jim Sharp’s With Reckless Abandon. It seems that Jim has owned at least half the historic vessels on the East coast at one time or other. His Sail, Power, & Steam Museum will reopen in the spring.
Again, thanks to JG, these photos from the near but irretrievable past.
Oh, and that mystery tug at the top, she’s of course Pelham, seen in this post (scroll) and many others here.
If you have a lot of free time, you can trace this back to the first installment.
These photos are all from the past week, starting out with Bouchard Boys, 1975.
Pelham, 1960. Behind her is USNS Red Cloud.
Barney Turecamo (1995) and
Scott Turecamo (1998).
Eric R. Thornton (1960)
Jill Reinauer (1967) and Dace Reinauer (1968) with RTC 61.
Add Stephen-Scott (1967) and Ruth M. Reinauer (2008) pushing RTC 102.
Margaret Moran (1979) starting a backing-down of Heina with
James D. Moran (2015). More on this backing down later this week.
Captain D (1974) with CVA-604.
Meagan Ann (1975)
Houma (1970).
Frances (1957) and I think I know the crewman forward of the house.
And finally, I put this photo here because of a boat in the background. Is that Kristy Ann Reinauer (1962)? I thought she was scrapped half a year ago already. Hmm.
Other boats here are L. to r.) Realist, Kristy Ann, Hubert Bays, Long Splice, Samantha Miller, Stephen B, and Hunt Girls, which has been in the yard there for (?) two years now?
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
Yesterday’s post led with Jared S aka Cheyenne II, and so I’m grateful to Jason LaDue for sending along a photo he took before she sank into the Genesee River, where she still lies.
This next photo was taken by Renee Lutz Stanley, recently, as Pelham assisted the dead but lively Frying Pan to Caddell for some work. This is my first time seeing Frying Pan away from her berth at Pier 66. Previous posts with Frying Pan include this, this, and notably this; in the fifth photo of the “notable” third link there, you get a little background on Frying Pan and its name, as well as see the location the lightship MIGHT have ended up at as mainstay of a North Carolina maritime museum, which would have put it much closer to Frying Pan Shoal. Here and here are some recent posts with Pelham.
The next five photos I took on a recent gallivant down east. Little Toot, who works at Washburn & Doughty ( W & D) of East Boothbay, ME, appears to be a pristine-looking 1953 product of Roamer Boat company of Holland, MI.
On the opposite side of the big blue shed at W & D is one of East Boothbay’s newest almost completed tugs, likely the JRT Moran.
I saw Dorothy L (1965) twice while I was in the area inland from Monhegan, this time and once later but at about 0600 h and the light and motion of my ride didn’t lend itself to a good photo.
And here are some from the sixth boro, Haggerty Girls in the notch of RTC 107, and
And finally, a veteran . .. it’s Freddie K Miller inside the water and
out. For a wide range of photos of this boat’s life, click here.
Thanks to Jason and Renee for use of their photos. For more of Renee’s photos of the Frying Pan move, click here.
And here, verbatim, is my call for collaboration for November posts. Thanks to those of you who have already responded.
“And if you’re interested in collaboration, I invite your help for November posts. All month long I hope to feature different ports–harbors–waterways and their workboats, which means not only towing vessels, but also ferries, fish boats, maintenance vessels, even yachts with professional crews. I’ve been traveling a lot the past few months and have a fairly large backlog of boats from ports–harbors–waterways mostly in New England. But as a social medium, this blog thrives on collaboration, so no matter which waters are near you, I’m inviting you to send along photos of workboats from ports I might not get to. I’d need at least three interesting photos to warrant a focus on a port. Here are examples I’ve already done that illustrate what I’m thinking to do.”
It takes the right light to see things you don’t otherwise see, like raised lettering.
Pelham goes back quite a long time.
It’s good to see her at work.
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
I got there JUST in time. A few minutes after I arrived, lines were cast off, and the yard tug moved the bow into the stream. What’s to comment . . . I’ll just put the times, to the nearest minute.
1058
1100
1104
1107
1113
Here the yard tug–L W Caddell is moving lines from the dry dock to Wavertree.
1130
1131
And then it was lunch time.
1226
Here you see the dry dock “ballasting” . . . or sinking.
1318
1354
1357
Note the “wet” portion of the dry dock as it rises, or “deballasts.”
1431
1503
1504
Note the size of the workers relative to the hull.
1508
The next step is pressure washing the communities that traveled on the hull from the East River to the KVK.
Here Wavertree will stay through the winter as she goes through a thorough and exciting transformation. Become a member and send your own “bravo” to all the folks at South Street Seaport for all the strides in the right direction. See here and here.
Tomorrow I hit the road for New England for a while. I will try to post, but my laptop has become quite uncooperative.
First, notice the Tugboat Roundup logo upper left? Click on it for the schedule; I’ll be giving an illustrated talk “1500 Miles on the Erie Canal” Saturday and Sunday.
Also, if you are in Boston this Sunday, Maine Sail Freight will be at Long Wharf in Boston with pallets of products from farm and sea. Click here for a link to other sail freight initiatives around the world. Here’s more on that project; a change is that schooner Adventure rather than Harvey Gamage will be transporting.
I will be back tomorrow with close-ups of L’Hermione and more, but Bjoern of New York Media Boat sent me the very intriguing photo below. Recognize it? Answer follows. Clue: Elizabeth Anna.
Well, L’Hermione (pronounced LAIR me un) will find her way into more of these photos. Here’s the venerable W. O. Decker. Click and scroll to see her at work a few decades back.
It’s Pelham, power unit for Wavertree not long ago.
And it’s James Turecamo, preparing to escort in the French frigate currently at South Street.
And Frederick E. Bouchard, in the process of switching B. No. 264 from on the hawser to alongside.
And my first shot of James E. Brown, brand spanking new. I’ll devote a whole post to James E. soon, I hope.
Laura K. Moran watches the French lion pass . . .
as does Frances out in Gravesend Bay.
And the answer to the question about Elizabeth Anna . . . the top photo . . . I believe it’s the erstwhile Bear, the Disch tug acquired by DonJon at an auction back in December 2014. I wonder where she’s headed. Anyone help out?
Except the top photo by Bjoern Kils, all photos in the past few days by Will Van Dorp.
And if I haven’t said this explicitly enough, New York Media Boat is the faster, most versatile, shallowest draft means to see whatever you want in the sixth boro. Need waterborne support for a project or . . .want to see or show someone the sixth boro and its borders with the other boros, check them out.
This post shows the second leg of what felt like an epic journey, but first let’s back up about 10 minutes. See the small blue vessel just off the bow of Wavertree?
It’s a King’s Point vessel, and leaning out of the house, it’s Capt. Jonathan Kabak, formerly master of Pioneer, Lettie G. Howard, and other vessels.
So let’s resume . . . the tow travels west of Caddell and rounds up against the tide, ever so
gracefully–to my eyes–making its way to the dock. Thomas J. Brown and later Rae working the port side.
it took a full quarter hour to spin Wavertree 180 degrees and inch it across the KVK, but then the heaving line flew, followed by the dock line.
Thomas J. and Rae worked this side in coordination with Pelham–invisible all this time from my perspective–on the starboard side.
almost all fast
Lots of money will be spent and sweat expended before the NEXT leg of the journey.
The 2001 (or earlier??) photo below comes from Mike Weiss, SSSM waterfront foreman. It shows a more complete rig.
Also from Mike’s FB post, the photo below shows Wavertree in her Argentina barge days. For the saga of Peter Stanford’s efforts to get this hull from Argentina to the sixth boro, read A Dream of Tall Ships starting from p. 221. Actually, the whole book makes an excellent read.
All photos except the last two by Will Van Dorp, who is eager to see Wavertree‘s transformation in the year to come.
From gCaptain, here’s a good explanation of National Maritime Day, yesterday.
But first, many thanks to Bjoern Kils of New York Media Boat for the enjoyable ride aboard his RHIB Amundsen. I’ve decided to divide the photos into two posts. These cover the first 15 minutes (!!) of the trip to the yard.
arriving for the pick up at Pier 25, westside of Manhattan looking towards Jersey City
Bartholdi was finishing up his copper creation a year AFTER Wavertree began its career as a bulk carrier of jute.
I was thrilled to see the tugs that did the tow, starting with Thomas J. Brown. This tug has appeared here many times, but here’s probably my favorite.
Thomas J. Brown, 1962 built
On starboard side was Pelham.
Pelham, 1960 built.
This post covers only 15 minutes, but it seemed like ages, watching this highly unusual tow traverse the Upper Bay.
at the 31
passing Robbins Reef Light and . . .
the Verrazano.
and into the Kills
Now if you were on Rae yesterday, you might be feeling left out at this point, but here’s the beginning of your part. I first saw Rae more than 10 years ago , when she was still Miss Bonnie. Click here and scroll.
passing the dented 6
In the hard hat here and in the rigging earlier probably with the NYTimes photographer who took this photo, it’s Mike Weiss, South Street’s Waterfront Foreman.
Waving from the shrouds here it’s Capt. Jonathan Boulware, now executive director of SSSM.
If there had been a salt pile in the late 19th century, Wavertree could have transported it, as it spent its last years before the 1910 dismasting in the tramp trades . . . Maybe someone can help with specifics here, but I recall reading that Wavertree called in the sixth boro before 1910.
Here’s a closeup of Rae now in Fox colors, and click here for one from five years ago.
Rae, 1952 built
And we’ll pick up here tomorrow.
to the lower left, that’s Joyce D. Brown about to overtake
All photos by Will Van Dorp. Many thanks to Bjoern of NY Media boat for the ride and to Mike and Jonathan of SSSM for the advance notice of the transit.
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