Retro Sixth Boro 61 A

This is one of my last KVK photos of Ireland.  Eventually, a few years ago, she went upstate to Lake Ontario for repowering and much more.  She’s currently in the NYS canals, heading back towards the sixth boro, down the Hudson but then past and all the way to the Mississippi River watershed.  So if you’re north of the boro in the next few days, be on the lookout for  . . .  Hoppiness!!  See the end of this post.

In May 2013, I spotted this yacht coming in through the Narrows;  Nomada, it turns out, began life in 1943 as a Canadian navy tug, seen here. I’m not sure of Nomada‘s whereabouts today.

Specialist was getting spa treatment here, a few years before her tragic demise. 

Doro aka Dorothy J was at the same spa that day. 

Doris Moran towed in a new floating dry dock for Caddells, with James Turecamo steering the stern. 

State of Maine was in the boro.  As of this posting, she’s NE bound off Long Island about a hundred miles from the sixth boro, if I’m not in a time warp.  By the way, TS Empire State VII is still being completed on the Delaware, and will be making her maiden arrival in the boro in the summer, at a date so far not published. 

Speaking of Maine, I had a memorable sojourn in Belfast just a decade ago, and took in all the collections at Maine Maritime Museum.  It’s likely high time I get back there. 

During the 15 years I spent in the northern two-thirds of New England, boats like these were often on my mind and in my view.

In May 2013, Zumwalt DDG-1000 was in its final stages of completion. 

 

As of this morning, as was the case a decade ago, Fournier Tractor was ready for action in Belfast harbor. 

And here from the NYS Canals, photos of Hoppiness eastbound taken by a westbound yacht delivery captain . . .

Check out their progress on FB.  They’re likely transiting the middle portion of the the state canals today.

All photos except the last two, any errors, WVD.

 

Bayonne Bridge Transformation 1

More of the Great Race soon . . . but a bit of back story.

When I moved to our fair metropolis in 2000 and started paying attention, I was taken by the Bayonne Bridge, so enamored in fact that I choose it as the header image for this blog in 2006, and now out of stubbornness– or something– have kept the old view.

I renewed my focus on the Bridge in 2011, “turning” became the key word in the titles.  Click here to see posts I did for its 80th, 84th, and 86th anniversary of initial construction, and here I marked the 80 mark again twice.   Over 10 years ago I alluded to the raising for the first time here.

Here’s a single post that looks at the change from 2011 until 2017.

For a baseline, let’s use sunrise April 24, 2008, looking from the west, those two boats are Justine McAllister and Huron Service, now Genesis Victory.

And from the east, December 2011, and that boat was Barents Sea, currently known as Atlantic Enterprise.   As to the bridge, note the box-grid work (not a technical term) on the Bayonne side of the arch.

From Richmond Terrace (Staten Island) perspective, here’s the bridge in February 2012.

By September 13, the box grid was covered, possibly to allow sand blasting.

By January 2014, the cover was off the box grid.  Yes, that’s Specialist.

By October 2015, the box grid was being extended upward, as

the vertical supports were being erected farther into Bayonne.

Here’s a December 15 view, showing the symmetry of the construction.

Here’s March 2016, and you can begin to see the location of the raised roadbed.

Here’s a view from May 2016 from the west side of the Bayonne shore.

By August 2016, the new span has been completely defined.

Here’s a closer up, showing the old level–still poet traffic–and the new level, along with the device used to place pre-cast portions of the new road bed.   The tug is Taft Beach.

Here, as seen from the west side, is most of the bridge in September 2016.  Note the gap still remaining on the Staten Island side.

By March 23,  2017, the upper deck was open to wheeled traffic, and the lower deck was ready to be dismantled.

Here’s a closer-up of that opening.

By April 2, a gap existed, and

by April 11, 2017, ships that might have scrapped  year before were shooting through the opening that grew wider by the week.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who will continue this progression soon.

Specialist Before and After

I put these photos up because not everyone saw them on FB.

I took these photos of Specialist in October of 2010, before she went to Puerto Rico.

 

Meow Man took the next two yesterday on the KVK as she passed by on a barge after she was raised.  RIP.

 

The bottom two photos used by permission from Meow Man.

The top two by Will Van Dorp.

RIP Specialist

Condolences to the families, comfort to all the friends, and gratitude to those who so quickly responded.

I took these photos in March 2008.  The tragedy touched me and a lot of folks I know quite hard.

Let me share this photo that comes from William Lafferty, who says “Here’s something of historical interest, perhaps.  It’s the Brother Collins in the midst of being transformed into the Curly B. at the dock of the Calumet Marine Towing Corporation under the Skyway Bridge on the Calumet River at South Chicago, in 1979.  The transformation took a long time, and wasn’t completed until 1982, begun, I think, in 1977.  It would, of course, become the ill-fated Specialist.”

 

Here’s one of my favorite hymns, which seems to fit entirely here.

GHP&W 25

Any guesses as to location?  And might this be a mark by the assistant to a time traveler from the future?  And was he silent sidekick to Luke the spook?

The bridge still looks familiar to someone from the 1930s, although I’d love to see photos of Shooters from then, and

of course the bridge is getting unfamiliar.

GHP&W 25 is not far from the cliffs, so it’s clearly sixth boro. By the way, I miss seeing the cliffs’ perspective  like here and here.

Ellen McAllister and Specialist way in the distance are familiar, as

is Port Elizabeth, so

 

 

 

no doubt about it, this is Mariner’s Harbor  . . . stern to Richmond Terrace, the mark in the foreground with Capt. Willie Landers in the middle and Maersk Denver over in Port Elizabeth.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp.

Related:  Is this the story of Capt. Willie Landers’ namesake?

 

Thanks to Paul Strubeck

I’m not going to count, but there must be dozens of posts here with photos from or some mention of Paul Strubeck.  Here I’m pleased to dedicate a whole post to him in part because these photos make me see the sixth boro with new eyes.  Enjoy.  Cornell . . . by foggy night and compare to my photo from about the same day but at dawn here and scroll to the third photo.  The location is the soon-to-open Brooklyn Barge Bar, where I’m eager to imbibe a sunset beer. Also in Paul’s “roll” of film are

Pinuccia and Specialist mostly obscured,

Captain D ,

Nanticoke passing the East River Seaplane base,

an unobscured photo of Specialist,

Sea Robin secured to Sugar Express at the sugar plant in Yonkers,

James William,

and Foxy 3 pushing a Thornton barge, which

brings us back to a great photo of Cornell, which Paul used his special lens for.

All photos here are used with permission from Paul Strubeck.  Thanks much, Paul.

Unrelated:  Here’s an East River seaplane photo I posted here many years ago. And a photo of Sugar Express towed south by a former fleet mate of Sea Robin.

Random Tugs 141

Kodiak . . . is ex-Vane and Allied.

Hunting Creek is Maryland-built for Vane.

Charles A has carried at least four previous names.

Specialist, I believe the oldest in the set today,  . . . has low sleek lines for an almost 60-year-old vessel.

When this Pegasus came into the sixth boro, she lacked the upper wheelhouse.

Atlantic Salvor has for some years–since this one left–been the largest tugboat in the sixth boro.  Rivaling Atlantic Salvor a few years back was the rescue tug turned super yacht called Lone Ranger.

And finally, for today, it’s Eric McAllister passes Ultra Colonsay, discharging salt over at Atlantic Salt.

All photos over the last few days by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 131

Candace . . . (Florida, 2004) has quite the unusual design for a US tug.

Specialist  (Texas) is looking good for a 1956 vessel.

Dean Reinauer (Rhode Island, 2013) heads into the rising sun.

Eastern Dawn (Louisiana 1978) passes the hose rack.

Gramma Lee T Moran and Barney Turecamo in the KVK under an unsettled sky.

Caitlin Ann (1961, Louisiana) with tons of scrap.

Patrice McAllister (Alabama, 1999) stands by.  Here was how she looked her first hours in the sixth boro.

Neptune (1992, Louisiana) tends the dredge along the Con Hook Range.

All photos taken this week by Will Van Dorp.

Daily Ship 6

Here was 5 in the series.  And here’s something I miss up on the Canal:  ships!  They remind me the planet is vast yet interconnected.

From a distance, I thought this was Grey Shark.  It’s actually quite different, but

its cargo is the same.   And while we’re on hauling cars, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Lygra.

Into this very busy pic comes Maersk Detroit.  Tugboats there are Susan Miller and Larry J. Hebert.

This bow of Oceanmaster has ploughed the oceans for just one year, and brings fresh salt to the port, in anticipation of another ivy winter.

I love great names like Freight Margie, here with Specialist passing.

Anyone know the name of this vessel over in GMD Bayonne?

Afrodite passes through the harbor in broad daylight.

And if you weren’t satisfied with yesterday’s view of Ramform Atlas (104 meters loa by 70 m. maximum abeam) . . .  here’s another.

And finally . . . with over 10% of the shipping in the world flagged Liberian, here’s acknowledgement that that country is also suffering from the most recent ebola outbreaks.  Note the flag on stern flown upside-down.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who’ll be in the sixth boro a few days.

 

Random Tugs 120

This first foto is by a secret salt . . . showing Dory (1978) and Captain Zeke (1980) tandem towing  beach-lounging 125′ deck barge back onto the water.

And  . . . attributed by the watermark . . . fotos from last week before Janus chilled the town,  Atlantic Conveyor gets an assist from Charles D. McAllister (1967).

Shelby (1978) also worked in the January fog.  Thanks, Brian.

And the rest of the fotos are mine:  the seldom-seen Specialist (1956?), here close and

closer.

Two Coasts . . . Chesapeake (2011) and Emerald (1973).

Resolute (1975) about to pass Düsseldorf Express (1998),

And from Philly . . .  High Roller (1969) with The Recycler (1989 . . . from THE George Steinbrenner’s yard in Nashville, TN.  Here’s some history on The Recycler and its twin.

Many thanks to the secret salt and Brian DeForest for their fotos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.