Retro Sixth Boro 1

This morning I was looking for something, I thought happened in spring 2008.  Alas, I had the date wrong, but this research led me to these photos, some of which I may have posted before, all taken between April 10 and 17 2008, i.e., a decade ago exactly.  Back then I’d go into work an hour or so early, and because I had not yet plugged into AIS on my phone–I had a flipper–it was catch as catch could. Revisiting these photos stunned me with how much specific equipment has changed.

Baltic Sea and Coral Sea have gone over to West Africa.  Maybe a gallivant there is in order.  I last left West Africa forty years ago!!.

Maryland is still in the area;  I caught a glimpse of her in Jamaica Bay last week as Liz Vinik, but not close enough for a photo showing anything but a speck.  Check out Birk’s site’s info on Vinik Marine Services.

Nathan E. Stewart came to an ignoble end.

Both K-Sea and Allied have been purchased by Kirby.  Petrel has gone to Philadelphia, where she’s working as Northstar Integrity. Below, she was pushing Sugar Express, up to the plant in Yonkers.

Crude oil tanker Wilana (now Kamari) arriving at dawn on a very calm slack water Arthur Kill was the high point of that week, especially because it was the first tanker I’d watched coming into Linden.  I’ll not forget how silent the process was.

On the starboard bow was Catherine Turecamo, now working in freshwater near the Great Lakes as John Marshall.

On her stern was Laura K Moran, now moved to another Moran base.  And, notice the Bayonne Bridge now longer has the geometry as shown below.

Any time I feel that stuff never changes, guess I should look through my archives.

All photos taken in mid-April 2008 by Will Van Dorp, who wonders if anyone out there read Future Shock by Alvin Toffler.  It was published almost a half century ago but I think he was on to something.

 

Really Random Tugs 37

This photo of Godfather should catch someone’s eye, but I’m going to direct that attention then to Paul Johnson’s wonderful site, which if you have an hour to kill, will make that go by in what seems a minute.  Thanks to RG, my brother-in-central-African-1970s-experiences for passing this along.  As to Godfather, she’s by a year or so an older sibling of the boats currently known as Atlantic Salvor and Atlantic Enterprise.  Currently, she’s called Crosby Enterprise.

Here was a surprise . . . Petrel in the sixth boro.  I haven’t seen her in quite a while, since I’m not in Philly much any more.

 

Here’s a head-on view of HMS Justice.

Thanks to Jed, here are some photos from last year showing the mighty Bluefin.

photo date 6 JUNE 2016

with photos taken in Virginia waters.

photo date 6 JUNE 2016

Jan van der Doe has recently returned from a trip to the Netherlands and sends along photos of these tugboats.  Given the stack logo, I’m guessing this one below is a live aboard, and

Alphecca was built in 1913, converted to diesel in 1959 and you can click here to see and hear the engine running.

Below, it’s FairPlay 23, which has appeared on this blog before.

Unrelated:  A reader wrote to ask this question:  “Could you help me find info about a little tug named the Ali M.  My friend SK owned and operated her out of Bayonne for a while and sold her before his passing many years ago.  I believe he had her at the Atlas Yacht club.  I was curious what ever happened to her.”            I don’t recall ever seeing a tug named Ali M.  Anyone help out here?  Anyone have a photo?

The reader is also looking for any info on the vessels shown below in a painting by his father from the 1990s.  Thanks for any help.

Thanks to RG, Jed, Jan, and Peter for sending these along.  And be careful out there.

Petrel and HMS Justice photos by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 46

This post gets dedicated to a site I recently discovered called Oil-electric.  I’ve just added them to my blogroll.  Connections with Robert McDonald of Oil-electric were made with the carfloat post I did with Paul Strubeck a few days back.

Yup . . . it’s time for another set of random tugs.  Allen Baker sends along these shots of the brand spanking new Dublin Sea with DBL 185 that lists port of registry as Seattle.  Dublin Sea left its builders–Marinette Marine— in Marinette, Wisconsin in early November 2009.

If you’re traveling from the Great Lakes, where Dublin Sea was built, to the Pacific Northwest with such a unit, you need to go east to get west.

Also from Allen, Ross Sea (ex-Normandy).

And since this set is called random, here are two fotos from a few weeks back taken on the Delaware in Philadelphia:  Lucky D and

Petrel.

Cheers, and keep your eyes seeing.

Non-Random Tugs 4

NRT 3 ends with a shot and video of Grouper; given an important news bulletin, it’s fitting I start with Grouper in NRT 4.  The news . . . she’s got a NEW LEASE on survival.  As soon as she’s fit to travel west, she’s headed to a spot just north of Detroit.  Such news!  Updates will follow as her uncharted future allows.  I tinted the foto a bit yellow . . . as in sunny, a bright future taking her to her 100th!  Since 1912, identities she’s carried include the following:  Gary, Green Bay, Alaska, Oneida, Iroquois, all before Grouper.  Maybe a new name will follow too?  Thanks to Jon for 97 years of pedigree info in his comment a few days ago.

Thanks to Jed for this foto of Quenames, headed north here past Governor’s Island, bound for Boston, I suppose . . . with whatever that barge was designed to transport.  My last shot of Quenames was in late summer 2007!  Thanks much, Jed.

Nope . . . it’s not the Charles D.  It’s Responder, featured a dozen times here before, initially in 2007.  So what happened to the reel and boom that was her trademark?   I’ve no clue.

Taft Beach . . . and her crew worked through Thanksgiving, through the powerful gusts and ebbs of Saturday night’s storm, and will do so more on Christmas Day . . .  as the dredging must go forward . . . er downward!  Greetings and hats off to all who work through whatever holidays transpire.

While we’re on Norfolk tugs, here’s another, shot on the Delaware.  I’ve never seen Lucky D up in the sixth boro.

And while we’re on the Delaware, here’s a sibling of Heron, Falcon, and Sea Raven.  I’ve not noticed Petrel in New York harbor.

I mentioned Charles D earlier.

To round these out, a quite random choice although I love her lines, it’s Christine M.

All fotos in the past month by Will Van Dorp.