More Cargoes 28

With Coursen in the shipyard, and the relatively new and unused Governors Island taking its place, a need for a means to transport motor vehicles between the small island and the bigger island of Manhattan has been created.  Here Shawn Miller moves a barge for that purpose.  I’ve seen Shawn on this run a lot of late.

NYPD has police boats, but no police ferries, so private contractors fill the need, it seems.  Could this be a job for Cosgrove? 

All photos, WVD.

Random Tugs 355

Happy 31st, aka Halloween, World Savings Day, Day of Seven Billion, National Candy Apple Day, Annual visit a cemetery or graveyard day . . . and more.  If you need suggestions for a graveyard, consider this one.  And just yesterday, I learned of this one and this one.  Who knew?!!?  Want to revisit a tugster ghost post?

For this post, there’s a quiz.  The first part is … name the oldest and newest boat here.  The second part … identify the only two boats here NOT built in Louisiana.  Of course, building is one thing, and designing is another.

All photos taken this October.  Susan Miller,

Miriam Moran and Pegasus,

Andrea,

Gregg McAllister,

Robert IV,

Buchanan 12,

Navigator,

Robert Burton,

Shawn Miller,

Pearl Coast,

Miss Ila,

Mary Turecamo,

and the always seasonal Kimberly Turecamo.

There you have it . . . And I’ll give the answers tomorrow.

And my question is . . .  who is Miss Ila‘s namesake and what do you call that shade of red?

OPP 90 Follow-up: Skyray

This follows on yesterday’s post, using Lew’s photos taken on the Connecticut River.  Shawn Miller brought it up the North River for the airplane’s reunion with Intrepid. 

All that greenery forms the base of Stevens Institute of Technology. 

 

For more on the aircraft, click here. 

 

A truck-mounted crane was ready on the pier north of Intrepid, and preparations for the lift began immediately.

Less than 15 minutes after tying up, the crane swiveled around and lift crew began attaching the straps.

 

The tail lifted first, 

 

and then clearing the flag poles,

the crane did its work, almost giving the impression the Skyray was coming in for a landing . . .

 

Aircraft was on the pier before 1000, the announced lift time.

All photos this morning, WVD, who learned long ago the only way to be on time is to be way early.

Click here and here for aircraft on barges in the sixth boro.

Now to see it up close, get your Intrepid tickets here.  

 

 

Other Peoples Photos 90

Many thanks to my friend Lew who caught this even without a functioning AIS… on the Connecticut River, coming from Windsor Locks CT and heading for the Intrepid Museum . . .

it’s an Douglas F4D Skyray aircraft, not to be confused with an F-4 Phantom.  Here I quote from officials:  “The Skyray, named for the unique shape of its wing (which resembles a manta ray), went into operation with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in 1956. It was designed to be a high-altitude fleet protection interceptor, fast enough to catch and neutralize an approaching enemy bomber flying at 500 knots. Skyrays set many speed and time-to-climb records in their day as they were able to reach supersonic speeds. The specific Skyray acquired by the Intrepid Museum from the New England Air Museum … served in VF-162 and deployed on Intrepid between June 1961 and March 1962 with Carrier Air Wing Six.”  Ah!  So there’s a connection between this plane and the carrier.

Shawn Miller is doing the job with deck barge Weeks 47.

 

I’ll post this early so that folks might be able to catch it on either side of Manhattan Monday morning.  As of 0600 now, she is anchored just east and north of Throgs Neck Bridge.  Once she gets underway, she could be passing lower Manhattan in a half an hour.

Many thanks, Lew.

 

Retro Sixth Boro 38 A

It’s June, and I’m starting my 176th month doing tugster.  Wow!  how many hours might I have put into this now? 

June 2011 saw some interesting sailboats and boats.  This post mentions only a few and covers the first half of the month.

The Dyna-rigged Maltese Falcon was in town, sailing at 20 kts across the harbor and then dousing all sails almost instantly at the push of a button. She’s currently in Messina, IT.

Blue Marlin was in town and spent three weeks loading US tugs and barges sold to Nigerian interests.  Most of these names–Dean Reinauer, Curtis Reinauer, Janice Ann Reinauer, and John Reinauer–have been re-used on quite different tugboats.  “Three weeks to load a Float on-float off . . .?” you might be wondering.

Well, there were some setbacks with ill-fitting cradles.

Eventually, everything found its place and stayed there. 

I recall taking photos from Fort Wadsworth and overhearing some folks concerned “the big orange ship” was sinking.

Sixth boro haze that June made for some dull photos.  If you want to relive the ordeal of loading, click here for the tugster six-part “groundhog day” series.

Reefer Albemarle Island got assistance into the Red Hook terminals from Brendan Turecamo and Margaret Moran. Currently, the reefer is running between Martinique and Panama.

EPA Bold came into town;  the 1989 USNS Vigorous has changed hands several times and is now operated as Bold Explorer, an EGS survey vessel.

The 2007 Barbara C became Arabian Sea and is currently Saint Emilion.

The 5100 teu Cosco New York gets an assist from Miriam Moran.  Currently, she’s running south along the western Mexico coast.

We began with a luxury sailing vessel;  Black Seal made one run into the sixth boro with a cargo on cacao from Dominican Republic.  The three-masted schooner is currently at a mooring in Pocasset MA.

Let’s lleave it here for now, with all photos, WVD.

 

Diller Island

I walked along the Hudson and past the Vessel the other day because it was flat and scenic.   I also wanted to see what progress was happening at Pier 55, aka on Diller Island.

Beneath, from small boats  .  . . these workers attended to several of the 132 pots that make up the island.

Michael Miller stood by Weeks 526, as

at this moment did  Shawn Miller.

 

Meanwhile, coming upriver was another Weeks crane, the 533,  with Susan Miller on port bow and

Elizabeth supplying power.

 

 

At a certain moment, Shawn departed the 526 and headed over to the Weeks 533

to assist.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who recently saw Weeks and Miller tugs working on 533 here.

 

 

Two Hours on the KVK 4 b

Not surprisingly, a lot of people were out on the boro the other morning:  speeding out to fish,

descending from Vukovar–a name slipped out of the news–into the crew boat Emily Miller,

sitting watch past BW Shinano,

ditto . . . aboard CMA CGM Tancredi,

and preparing the heaving line . . . .

 

Is that c-ship so long that the curvature of the earth can be seen along its waterline?  Actually that’s Brendan Turecamo moving SSS barge New Jersey over to Red Hook, I believe.

And a little earlier, although I place it last here, Shawn Miller pushed a trickster barge past ConHook Range.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

What Emma Said

This post follows in the spirit of What Rip Saw 1 and 2.  And the Emma in question is she who wrote the New Colossus.  Her ghost whispered to me yesterday as I looked south from the Battery and saw among other things the muddy tinge to the waters, a hint of freshet from upriver.

First she just rambled a bit dropping references to all the Corsairs and locally-owned Valiant and Conqueror .  ..

She reminded me that Le Grand Bleu had been here before here (scroll) and here, as well as craft of the same type like Topaz and  Luna.  And something about mischief associated with yachts like Alicia . . .

Then Emma’s voice became clearer . . . “I have to revise it,” she said, and then trailed off a bit, almost a mumble, but

what I caught was

“From whence this storied pomp,” cried she

With averted eyes.  “Spare me your pompous, your show-offs,

Your superrich, your oligarchs of energy.

Back with Corsair, Valiant, and Conqueror;  I’ve seen it before.

Send instead your strivers, tempest tossed to me;

Otherwise my lamp matters no more.”

 

Then, Emma was gone, flown off with the wings of a gull.

All I have is this set of photos and a recollection of her thoughts, her voice, to share.

Another oligarchinaut whose vessel appears here is Abramovich, who gave this yacht to its current owner Shvidler.

Here’s more to keep a lookout for this summer.

From the Line Locker 16

Inquiring minds have demanded more context . . . to Whatzit 16.  It’s called Harvest Dome, SLO Architecture‘s fun art project, which is intended to float in the Gowanus near 3rd and 3rd til late Spring 2014 on the watery side of this place.  Here are some fotos of the trip from Governors Island to the Gowanus Canal.

Note the Times photographer lower left here at the foot of the bridge and

lower right seen through the frame and recycled umbrellas. Unrelated:  Check out this informative article on recycling in Taiwan.

R/V Blue Sea passes in front of Pier 5 BBP.

And since we’re on the topic of water and recreation and/or art . . .  it’s Beacon NY and this sloop.

Woody. . .

as well as these arts panels.  The next few fotos I took in August 2013.

The idea of these “line locker” posts is that they allow me to catch up and throw in even the kitchen sink if it relates in even the slightest way, check out this “river tug” byulit in St. Louis, MO by the same shipyard that built the Stephen L. Colby, which sank in the Upper Mississippi earlier this week.  Check out the 1966 as well as the 1967 work on hull#2326.    Now travel back on this shipyard list to the icebreaking tugs built in 1944 and ’45.  Click on the foto below for more pics of these unusual looking US-produced tugboats.   Does anyone have updates on this class of vessel?

Some random things I stumbled upon yesterday include these old fotos of NYC harbor aka sixth boro;  a Canadian self-unloading bulker that was weather-bound off the mid-Jersey coast about a week ago was actually Algoma Equinox, a newbuild on its way to Canada from a Chinese shipyard;  a Christmas train from Canada visits northern NY state and captured by Fred of tug44.    (No, the train wasn’t captured per se.  I just meant in fotos, although I’m sure Fred could always have surprises in store.)

Riverbanks 4

Here was 3 with links to 1 and 2.

I’ve been so far unable to find the original use of this barge, but I haven’t expended much shoe leather either.

Click on the foto below from the July 21, 1977 NYTimes for an article on Michael O’Keefe’s barge restaurant opening.  Anyone identify the tug?

Bulk commodities commerce needs some stretches of riverbank in the sixth boro.  Crushed stone in; garbage out, as well as

recycled materials,

aggregates,

scrap metal, petroleum,

salt, and

desert scrapings aka road conditioner. 

Products galore and more and

more.

Places to park aka dock are vital also.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.