Summer Yachts 5

Schooner Ambergris came in from sea in mid-April, but I still don’t know anything more about her.  Anyone help?

Dolphin is truly a yacht;  it’s also likely a winter yacht down south.  Up north, we see vessels like this seasonally.  I can’t identify the burgee on the bow.

Schooner Pioneer, launched 1885!!, has never been a yacht, but in its current much-loved state, it operates only in the warmer half of the year and it’s an excursion vessel.

Passing the Hoboken/NJ Transit terminal, that unnamed trawler is truly a yacht coming north for the summer.

Care for a summer evening on a Chicago Grebe-built yacht?  Here’s the info on yacht Full Moon departures out of North Cove. If you want a full day’s amusement online, you could investigate these other Grebe-built yachts . . . .    Or you could read about this Chicago shipyard and many other topics in this great blog called Industrial History, which I’ve just added to my blogroll.

Sometimes the Erie Canal seems devoid of vessel traffic, but on this day at Lock 17, there were plenty of takers.  As I recall, these cruisers were from Texas, Michigan, Florida, and California!

By the boat name and the VHF manner as I overheard it, I can guess the previous employment of this vessel operator.

Yesterday I went to this location to meet a friend over beer and crab cakes, my first there in quite a while . . .  .  But if you’ve never hung out at Pier 66, you owe to yourself.  Advice . . . if you want a seat, go on the off hours!  It’s been way too long ago that this gathering happened there.

And although I took this photo in the fall, the reminder is clear:  be safe.

All photos and sentiments by Will Van Dorp.

 

Summer Sail 2

Here was Summer Sail 1; and since that dates from almost two years ago.

Clipper City looks great juxtaposed against the skyline, but

ketch Catriona . . . she has Herreshoff pedigree.

No matter . . . larger schooner or smaller and more intimate ketch,

one is pampered moving by sail in the sixth boro. And that includes the option of sailing aboard the oldest harbor schooner of all . . . Pioneer.

 

Above and below, it’s Pioneer, and below the other schooner is one you won’t see in the sixth boro for a few years . . . Lettie G. Howard.  Of course, if you head over to Lake Erie–where I’ll be n a few weeks–you may catch a glimpse, even catch a ride.

And finishing it off, it’s America 2.0.

All photos taken by Will Van Dorp in the past 365 days.

 

Sixth Boro Summer 3

Lest you think Combi-Dock III and Peking–I will get back to them– are the only thing happening in the watery parts of NYC, here’s just a sampling . . . in a series I started last summer.

SBI Macarena –a fairly new bulk carrier– came in past the Brooklynside ramps for the VZ Bridge,

passing Jo Provel on the way out . . .

looking quite large relative to the new NYC ferry.

Tanker New Confidence tested its systems–water and sonic–as Doris Moran arrived.

Where the Wind Blows sails south toward the Narrows, so fast that

I lost track of her, although I admit to being distracted by this squadron passing overhead Elizabeth Anne.

Pioneer–one of South Street Seaport Museum’s schooners–also sailed past and ever went outside

the Narrows, where I’ll pick this up another day.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, waiting for Combi-Dock III action.

 

Wavertree Returns 2

Who else greeted Wavertree on the rest of the way home?  John J. Harvey is always in on celebrations.

Lettie G. Howard was there,

as was the helicopter.  Feehan presented herself on the far side of Rae.

Pioneer accounted for

herself with crew in the crosstrees.

Pioneer and Lettie teamed up at times.

Wire showed up.

New York Harbor School had two boats there, including Privateer and their

newest vessel Virginia Maitland Sachs, about which I’ll post soon.

Melvillian throngs came down to the “extremest limit of land” on Pier 15 and 16, for one reason or another, but who were about to be treated to some excellent ship handling.

Rae took the lead, showing the need for tugboats of all sizes.

 

The larger tugs pushed and pulled as needed to ease into the slip

 

until all lines were fast and

and the shoreside work needed doing.

Bravo to all involved.  If you want to take part in a toast to Wavertree, you can buy tickets here for the September 29 evening.

If you haven’t read the NYTimes article by James Barron yet, click here.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who hopes I left no one out and who as before is grateful to the South Street Seaport Museum and the photographers’ boat provided by US Merchant Marine Academy and crewed by a set of dedicated cadets.

Often folks ask how one can learn about the harbor or is there a book about the sixth boro.  Volunteering at South Street Seaport Museum is a great way available to all to get access to the water, to learn from like-minded folks, and to start on a journey of reading the harbor and its traffic for yourself.  Each volunteer’s journey will be unique, and willing hands make institutions like this museum survive and thrive.

Spring Sail 2

Here was the first time I used this title.

America II looked resplendent bathed in a last burst of late afternoon sun yesterday.

She was one of several sail vessels out;  here Pioneer seems headed over to a new loading point.

On a meteorologically different afternoon a few weeks ago, I caught Lettie G. Howard out headed for the Kills. Here was another spring when I caught Lettie under very bare poles.

 

 

I saw Topaz briefly only once, so far away she was only a tall mast, but Claude Scales caught this from his daily vantage point.  Click here for a close-up of Nantucket WLV-612 from three years ago.

No words . . . no gilding the lily!

Pioneer heads back to the dock.

Anyone know where Mary E is sailing from these days?

Thanks to Claude Scales for use of his Topaz photo.  All other photos by Will Van Dorp, who has used the title “autumn sail” much more frequently.  And if you have not yet read my article about sailing to Cuba last winter, you can read it here.

People on the Boro 19

For context, let’s look back here. And last year among some of the great photos shared by Harry Thompson, here (scroll) was a crowded harbor photo I really liked.

Last Saturday saw threatening weather; even so, lots of small boats and crowds braved the possibility of rain to see the races.

Vigilance prevailed and I heard of no incidents.

And yes, I paid a lot of attention to the Bath Maine-built 1906 Mary E, but that’s because I haven’t seen her in 9 years . . . obviously I was looking in the wrong places.  Click here and scroll for a photo of Mary E in Greenport almost 9 years ago.

Harvey was there.  Scroll here for one of my favorite photos of the 1931 Harvey, cutting through the pack at the 2013 tugboat race.

The 1885 Pioneer was there. Click here for a sail I did on Pioneer a few years back.

A raft of small boats clustered yet kept orderly.

The 1935 Enticer  . . . well, enticed, spectators as a platform.

as did a range of people movers. 

including the 1983 Arabella.

The captain of the heavyweight out there, the 2014 Eric McAllister, treaded lightly through the crowd.

Of course, out in the mist along the Jersey side there are more heavyweights, a Moran tug and its huge NCL gem.

And as for my ride, Monday morning it was earning money going for a load of scrap.

Another tall old ship that might have been present–the 1928 Bivalve NJ-based A. J. Meerwald had other missions to perform.

All photos by will Van Dorp.  And for photos of some of the people on the boro who were working during the race, check out NYMediaBoat’s blog post.

 

 

Sixth Boro Fifth Dimension HT2

Here was part 1.  Thanks much for the comments.  My conclusion is that most but not all were taken at the 1986 centennial celebration of our lady of the harbor.    I am still seeking a photo of the canal tug Grand Erie, ex-USACE Chartiers, launched in 1951, at the event.

Barque Simón Bolívar,  it would be good to see her back in the sixth boro again.  At this point, she was less than a decade old.   This past summer, she called in various ports in the Caribbean.

Any help here anyone?

USS Iowa BB-61 served as the reviewing stand for the event.  Click here for scans of the day and here for video.  Can anyone identify the tug alongside the battleship starting at about 2:10?

Barque Eagle of course.  Can anyone identify the tugs in this photo?

It’s schooner Pioneer in the background.

The red-hulled vessel at the foot of the tower .  . is that stick lighter Ollie, now rotting away in VerPlanck?  See the end of this post.   Anyone know the USCG tug?

These look like the morning-after spent fireworks shells.  What did it say in front of “industry” here?  And here ends the photos supplied by Harry Thompson.

And here, as a note that I should do a post soon about Ollie . . . is one of the photos I took of her in 2010.  I saw her earlier in 2015, and it’ was even sadder by five years than this one.  Anyone have good pics of Ollie in her day?

Thanks very much, Harry, for getting this show going.

A Slew of Sail

There’s winter sail, spring sail, and autumn sail.  And today I’m just staying inside culling photos.   Since moving by wind has been around for millennia, Pioneer is a relatively modern vessel.

Pioneer, 1885

This vessel below can be “insanely fast.” I took this photos and ones that follow back on May 11, 2015 in Morris Canal.

Lending Club 2, 2015

Here’s another sixth boro regular, the largest NYC-based schooner.  See her here in winter maintenance.

Check out these special sails on Clipper City.

Here LC2‘s just finished the 635 nm run in less than 24 hours.

From Seth Tane on the Columbia River, it’s HMCS Oriole, US-built in 1921.

I’d love to see the interior of Lending Club 2, but my guess is . . . spartan.

Also from back in May . . . it’s Wavertree in the last feet of its transit for a major makeover, Thomas J. Brown sliding her over.

Here’s another shot of L’Hermione entering the Upper Bay for the first time.

And what do you make of this?

Maybe more on that last photo tomorrow.

Except for the photo by Seth Tane, all photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Really Random Tugs 28

“Really random” posts tend to be far-flung, so let’s start out with this photo by Jed, who has contributed many photos recently.   Then there’s JED, who has contributed photos starting from 2008.   The boat dates from 1975.

From Jan Oosterboer via Fred Trooster, here’s the 1955 tug Argus along with

Orion (1961), and

Sirius (1966).  It appears that Sirius–like Orion and Brendan Turecamo–also has a wheelhouse that can be raised.

For the scale of the “tow” here, scroll down and

behold–Thialf, with a combined lifting capacity of over 14,000 tons!!  Click here to see the view down from Thialf’s deck AND be sure to read the comments that follow.   Here are a few other heavy-lifters including Saipem 7000.

Heading back to NYC but as  the South Street Seaport Museum area of the sixth boro of NYC  looked in 1985, from a secret salt, it’s the 1939 USCGC WYT-93, Raritan!  The two vessels around her are, of course 1885 schooner Pioneer and 1908 lightship Ambrose.  Click here for a list of specifics and missions on Raritan, but one of her operations was against M/V Sarah of Radio NewYork International.  M/V Sarah was eventually blown up for a movie stunt.

And rounding this post out . . . from Elizabeth, in Alameda, it’s  the 1943 YT-181 Mazapeta.

In the distance is T-AKR-1001 GTS Admiral W. M. Callaghan, an MSC RORO named for a significant USN officer.

Credit for each of these photos is as attributed.  Thanks to you all.

Review: Preserving South Street Seaport

First, if you’re free today and within travel distance of Lower Manhattan, do yourself a favor and attend this event, 4 p. m., a book signing by Dr. James M. Lindgren.  His new book is a much needed complement to Peter Stanford’s A Dream of Tall Ships, reviewed here a few months ago.   Details in Preserving South Street Seaport cover almost a half century and will enthrall anyone who’s ever volunteered at, donated to, been employed by, or attended any events of South Street Seaport Museum.  Lindgren laments SSSM’s absence of institutional memory saying, “Discontinuity instead defined the Seaport’s administration.”  Amen . .  as a volunteer I wanted to know the historical context for what seemed to me to be museum administrations’ repeated squandering of  hope despite herculean efforts on the part of volunteers and staff I knew.

As my contribution to creation of memory, I offer these photos and I’d ask again for some pooling of photos about the myriad efforts of this museum over the years.

Pier 17.  April 17, 2014.  According to Lindgren, this mall opened on Sept 11, 1985 with a fireworks show.  Its demise may by this week’s end be complete.

April 12, 2014.  Photo by Justin Zizes.

Feb 23, 2014.

Jan 21, 2014 . . . Lettie G. Howard returns.

Sept 20, 2013.  This is the last photo I ever took FROM the upper balcony of Pier 17.

Sept 12, 2013.

July 2012.  A fire had broken out on the pier, and Shark was the first on scene responder.   Damage was minimal, despite appearances here.

Now for some photos of vessels that have docked in the South Street area in the past half century.

July 2012 . . . Helen McAllister departs, assisted by W. O. Decker and McAllister Responder.

June 2012.  Departure of Marion M as seen from house of W. O. Decker.  Photo by Jonathan Boulware.  The last I knew, Marion M is being restored on the Chesapeake by a former SSSM volunteer.

Lettie G. Howard hauled out in 2009.

2009. The Floating Hospital . .  . was never part of the SSSM collection.

2009.  Maj. Gen. Hart aka John A. Lynch aka Harlem.

Helen McAllister with Peking and Wavertree.   Portion of bow of Marion M along Helen‘s starboard.

Mathilda posing with W. O. Decker in Kingston.  2009.

Moshulu now in Philadelphia.

2005, I believe.  Spuyten Duyvil (not a SSSM vessel) and Pioneer.

Thanks to Justin and Jonathan for use of their photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.  For many stories on these vessels, that mall, and so much more, pick up or download these books and read them asap.