Specialized 22

I’m out of my weight class here, but formulas exist for calculating mechanical advantage of compound pulley systems like this.  I’m just focusing on the task in the north country for this machine.

Grasse River (1958) is dedicated to the Saint Lawrence Seaway and based in Massena NY, along with tugs Robinson Bay (1958) and

Performance (1997).  By the way, road distance from Massena NY to the sixth boro is over 350 miles!!

Perversely or providentially, Grasse River was the last ship produced by American Shipbuilding on the Buffalo River, before the shipyard closed, a victim of the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Plans have been set in motion to replace Robinson Bay, but the 300 t. capacity Grasse River is there, on call, dedicated as a “mitre-gate lifter” in the case of damage.  It’s sort of like the tow trucks on the ready at the Lincoln Tunnel to expeditiously drag out a wreck should a mishap occur inside the tunnel.

Seeing the size of the superstructure, I erroneously first assumed Grasse River was self-propelled.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, whose previous 21 “specialized” posts can be found here.

And let me add a postscript here about the location in Buffalo where Grasse River was built.  The shipyard was where a vacant lot across the street from Tewksbury Restaurant finds itself today.  The Tewksbury reference here is to one of two “runaway” ships  that destroyed a bridge on the Buffalo in January 1959, a month when no ships were supposed to be traveling on the river.  The ships involved were MacGilvray Shiras and Michael K. Tewksbury.

In that same neighborhood, Harbor Inn once served as a community institution as well.

Buffalo’s First Ward are the focus of an entire blog, as you can see here.

 

Really Random Tugs 35

So the difference that makes the “really” is that several folks have contributed these photos.

Starting in Toronto with Jan van der Doe, here’s M. R. Kane, which has appeared here and here previously on this blog.  In the first link, you’ll see Kane towing the hull that would become tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry.

Next three photos came from Allan Seymour, who took them as he traversed the Cape Cod Canal recently.  This Independence is rated at 5400 hp.

Bohemia and barge wait to pass.

And Buckley McAllister shares escort work on the Canal with Independence.

The rest of these photos I’ve caught recently, all of tugs I’d not previously seen.  Miss Ila came through the sixth boro Saturday,

Miss Lizzy I saw Friday, and

 

Performance I saw in Massena earlier this month, and

Robinson Bay.  These last two are operated by DOT’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC), which is looking to replace these aging tugs.  Robinson Bay (103′ loa and built in Wisconsin in 1957) and Performance (50′ and Indiana, 1997) do maintenance work on the US portions of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

 

Thanks to Jan and Allan for the first photos here.  All the others are by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 134

On a cold winter’s morning, what’s going on in the harbor?

The usual . . . .  Kathleen heads out with a scow,

Eric R. Thornton muscles scrap,

Evening Tide reconnects with an oil barge,

Diane B disconnects from John Blanche for a spell,

Joyce D. Brown heads out to a job,

Red Hook, wreath still in place, shuttles between barges,

And Ellen McAllister

shows Performance out to sea.  And in response to my cuz . .  JS . . . Ellen performs her magic on the container ship . . .

And tugster, who took these pictures, needs to warm up and get to work himself.