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Navigator . . . until I looked carefully, I assumed she operated out of the Chesapeake/Elizabeth River in Virginia, because her colors are similar to tugs like Kodiak. But I stand corrected . . . Balico Marine Services . . . I had not known that name.
And Realist, the nearer tug, I thought she was always at the dock, as here, tied in front of Hubert Bays.
Well, yesterday, Realist crossed the Upper Bay when I was there, and she needed the upper wheelhouse to see over GL66.
Below is a photo of Realist, taken not quite a year ago. In this batch of photos here from Paul Strubeck, you’ll find a photo of Realist fleet mate Specialist.
Here’s Dolphin, which I last saw in the Mississippi here almost a year and a half ago.
Yesterday the 70 degree air temperatures made the Upper Bay quite foggy, a nice effect.
And finally . . . Genesis Liberty, you can see her here in some of her previous lives– Hornbeck and before– in this post from eight years ago!!
Eight years ago, the skyline didn’t look this way either.
For more older photos of two of the tugs in today’s post, click here, a post from three years ago.
All the photos here by Will Van Dorp.
I took this foto in January 2008. According to this site, Cosette–321′ loa, launched 1966– was seized in Martinique some time in 2010.
She used to fill the niche currently occupied in the sixth boro by Grey Shark and Lygra, in the Narragansett Bay by Danalith, and who knows what vessels in any other port. Anyhow, I was just wondering if anyone knows the current disposition of Cosette . . .
Ditto . . . Sea Dart (II)?, here in a foto I took in October 2008 and never used. Is she still around? Is this the 1953 Higgins vessel owned by someone in Elizabeth, NJ?
Here’s a pair I haven’t seen in a few years . . . Realist
and Specialist. There was also a Specialist II for a while. I recall stories about one of them going to the Great Lakes and another to Puerto Rico, but have no confirmation. Just curious . . . not working for a collections group.
Below is the boat that prompted this post . . . Edith Thornton back a few at the 2008 tugboat race . . . here’s another shot . . . and
same hardware now as Guyanese tug Chassidy. Many thanks to Gerard Thornton for sending the foto below and starting the percolating process. I have to mention here a novel that served as catalyst for this thought process: The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Alvaro Mutis. The book is part Joseph Conrad, part Gabriel Garcia Marquez . .. with some Melville and Jensen thrown in as seasoning . . . and Maqroll el Gaviero–along with his “dispatcher/business partner” Abdul Bashur–are aventureros sin igual!
Here’s a different illustration of change . . . Pegasus a few years back and
last weekend: it’s springtime and she’s sprouted an upper wheelhouse
Ambassador in March 2010 is now Pramudita, a very Buddhist name. When Ambassador was here three years ago, she seemed to be under treatment for propulsion issues.
Three years from now . . . or 30 . . who knows what changes we’ll see . . . All fotos–unless otherwise attributed–by Will Van Dorp.
Today again I just succumb to randomness. Below John Malik ( or is it Anabelle Roehrig) engages in some mimicry with the Bartholdi/Eiffel structure.
Thanks to Mike Lesser, Evening Tide, eastbound in the KVK.
Here’s Penobscot, a downeast name like the others from Hartley Marine Services, east or downeastbound on the East River. I’ve got some great names coming up soon, maybe tomorrow.
Below Realist heads northbound from the Narrows. I’ve yet to discover the company for Realist and Specialist.
And finally, what was behind the first tuggable truck yesterday, Little C.
Back to my other work.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo & Juliet
This weekend I finally caught the name of this small tug I’d wondered about for two years and it’s a keeper: Iron Mike! How fitting that the tow is scrap metal. Might there also be a Steel Mike, Brass Mike? Gold Mike would need an escort. Oops, that’s a different fleet.
Duty ties Iron Mike for a no-nonsense name. Duty‘s siblings are Escort and Consort.
Meet Realist and below, a sibling named
Specialist! Wonder what future siblings might be called.
Truth be told, I enjoy the variety of fleet naming systems: family trees, seas, social roles, personality types, and … then poetry like Iron Mike… It certainly beats how the bus, train, and aircraft fleets now go . . . all numbers. “The doors in cars 3495 and 7032 will not platform.” EEew! But imagine this . . . Iron Mike and Specialist are bringing Alice in today. Cool!
All photos, Will Van Dorp.
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