MB 2019 F

Still in Cleveland, a recalcitrant fisherman keeps anchor and hooks wet until Huron Spirit threatens to immerse the fisherman as well.

Smarter heads prevail and the fishermen move out of the immediate danger.

 

Sarah Andrie and her A-390 have discharged in Tonowanda and are

 

upbound for Lake Michigan.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

Montreal Bound 2019 A

This begins a new series, and I’ll post only when I can get on WIFI.  “Montreal bound” will soon devolve to MB.  Logistics causes me to post with a few days lag, so I’m posting from Buffalo.

To start, this is the closest I’ve been to Roger Blough so far.  One of these years, I’ll see her in much greater detail.

Since I’ve switched vessels most of this years, here’s my former ride . . . Grande Mariner, Chicago bound.  By now she’s been in Chicago a few days.

Off Wisconsin, we passed Sarah Andrie towing A-390,

Tonawanda-bound.

At the Fincantieri Bay yard in Sturgeon Bay, I saw what I believe are portions of the new VanEnkevort barge.

At the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, I enjoyed the works of its namesake and benefactor, Gerhard CF Miller, and this drawing from 1883.

No stop here would be complete without a glance at the Elizabeth NJ-built John Purves.

But leaving town by the ship canal, I had my greatest surprise . . . these two USCG 22′ ice rescue airboats.  The Door peninsula is happy they are here. 

I never knew the USCG had such equipment.  These are cell phone pics, because if I had run to my bunk to grab my camera . . . I would have missed the shot altogether.

All photos and any errors by Will Van Dorp.

 

 

Freshwater Tugs 8

I’m back near the sixth boro now and have photos for at least through early October, at which time I leave on another gallivant.

So here’s step one in catching up.  Up the meandering Cuyahoga, here are Iowa (1915) and Oklahoma (1913);  these boats were built to work and last.

 

The vintage GL tugs may just be replaced for the next century by this design:  Cleveland, launched less than six months ago . . . 2017.

Click here for a recent article on Cleveland.

Cleveland in this series was doing assist for 610′ x 78′ sand barge Ashtabula powered by 142′ tug Defiance. 

Here’s Elizabeth Anna in the Lake Erie port on Erie PA.

Elizabeth Anna (ex-Bear) last appeared on this blog here.

In the entrance to the old Buffalo River, here’s Daniel Joncaire II, a NYPA tug

launched in late 2015 by Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland. NYPA uses the tug for ice boom installations near its hydropower units on the Niagara River. I’m curious now about Niagara Queen II and William H. Latham. 

I’ve always had misgivings about my series title “freshwater tugs” and here’s a good illustration why:  Calusa Coast–here with Kirby barge Delaware–was until a few years ago a regular in the saltwater and brackish , in and out of the sixth boro.   Here she is in the Niagara River headed for Black Rock.

Beyond her stern here is the combination Buffalo Intake Crib Lighthouse. 

And to close out today’s post, it’s Sarah Andrie, another tug that’s made the transition from saltwater to fresh . . . the former Caribe Service.

She’s making her way here upstream into Lake Erie from the Welland Canal.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.