Grouper “What If” Files

Grouper . . . that’s likely a quite familiar name to anyone who’s followed this blog a while, given all the posts dedicated to this 1912 vessel that’s spent two decades or so not far from where I grew up, 350 miles away from the sixth boro, which she intended to transit but was prevented by shallows from doing that.  Had she transited the harbor and headed south to sea two decades ago, no doubt she’d already have been reefed, as happened with her traveling companions.  Instead she languished in the canal, prompting many folks up there to imagine a future for the Great Lakes vessel with such sweet lines.  But first a bit of her history and all her previous names. 

I’m told she’s currently really being prepped for the scrappers’ jaws.  Along with imagining lots of different futures, folks have also imagined these jaws were imminent many times before.  Maybe it will happen this time, but first,  let’s imagine a rescuer coming in to save her.  Her appointment with the scrapper gets cancelled, if not permanently, then at least there’s a reprieve. 

The rescuer arrives with tugboat Virginia and a plan:  the 1912 tug will be towed 

out the western route to Buffalo and then deeper water, waters where she worked from back in 1912. 

In this revery, rescue is tentative at first . . .

with misgivings about their prospects,

But little by little, 

the ability to visualize the Great Lakes begins to take hold. 

There is sunshine, and if no parades and marching bands, then at least a few folks with cameras marking her liberation. 

Virginia is unstoppable, clearing one lock after another, rising up toward the level of the Great Lakes. 

She makes Fairport come and go . . . as they head west. 

But as in a twilight zone . . . froth and momentum 

suddenly comes to an end and she grounds,  stuck on a shoal, unable to be pulled any farther.  Now she’s cut off from deeper water to the west just as she’s cut off east.

This all happened a little over a decade ago.  I can just imagine the thrill of victory leading up to this painful moment.

Many thanks to Larry Bolanowski for sending along these photos of what almost succeeded.  Imagine if she’d made it back west . . . .  Imagine that Kahlenberg purring happily . . .

 

Random Tugs 331

Mary Turecamo, 4300 hp and waiting for a ship at the Narrows, could not look better.  She’s an almost 40-year-old product of Matton Shipyard.  In fact, she was their last product.

Christiana heads out as

Virginia, 1440 hp and launched in 1979,  comes in

from sea, out of the haze.

Christiana was launched in Marinette WI in 2007, a year after Brandywine and a few years after the Molinari class of Staten Island ferries.  She’s married to Double Skin 143, another Marinette vessel.

Barney Turecamo (1995 and 5100)  and  barge Georgia gets rotated by Marie J Turecamo (1968 and 2250). Yesterday I started a re-read of the 1956 book Tug Boat:  The Moran Story, and am finding it very satisfying.

Here’s a dense pack over at the east end of IMTT:  Josephine, Evelyn Cutler, and Cape Lookout:  (2018 and 4560), (1973 and 3900), and (2018 and 5000).

Crystal Cutler arrived here from the shipyard in 2010 and works with 1500 hp.

She’s pushing Patricia Poling. 

And finally, a light Hunting Creek, 2011 and 3000 hp.

All photos and any errors, WVD.

Random Tugs 307

Larry J. Hebert has been in the boro a few months, following a GLDD dredging project. She’s from 1981 and rated at 3600 hp.

She headed eastbound in the KVK here with a fair amount of wire out, it seems to me.

Helen Laraway, light, heads west.  She’s the oldster here, 1957, and 2000 hp.

Bergen Point, 1958 and 600 hp,  heads east

and ducks behind an Evergreen ship.

Kristy Ann, the youngster in this batch, launched in 2018, and 4560 hp, left her barge in the anchorage and came in . . . to check in a the yard on Richmond Terrace.

James William, 2007 and 2800 hp,  brings two light scows out of the Kills.

and gave the photographer, I believe, a friendly whistle.

Virginia passes by, the first time in an age that I’ve seen her.  She’s from 1979 and generates 1400 hp.

And Genesis Vision makes an impressive turn in front of Caddells.  She’s a 1981 boat with 3000 hp of push.

All photos, WVD, who is solely responsible for any errors.

 

Puerto Rico 5

Quick post from San Juan after the better part of a good week in Vieques, where I first went two years ago.  Involved were ferries,

scooters,

horses,

and lots of boats .  .  .   notable being schooner Virginia, last seen on tugster here in mid-October last year. . . foto 8.

back in October.  At first I thought it was Amistad, but Amistad has more headrig.

Vieques has an appeal that tries to just hold me here, and

if my return trip was aboard Arawak,

I might just stay here.   I had a job offer already the second day I was here!!

More soon.

 

Great! Chesapeake Schooner Race 2

I post this as the race is approaching its finish; see live tracking at the bottom here.

Twenty-fours hours ago Baltimore-based Chock WYTL-65602 was leaving Annapolis to go on station as pin boat 1 . . . the west side of the starting gate.  Pin boat here takes on a whole new meaning.  For a Chock-sibling with a different mission, see bowsprite’s latest here.

Norfolk Rebel, currently itself transformed into a schooner and sailing, was the other pin boat.  Here the jaunty captain and crew relax as schooners arrive at the starting line midday yesterday.

Condor was our platform, dashing around trying to catch the arriving schooners as they plotted a “red-carpet” course toward the pin boats.  No offense to the smaller, class B boats . . . the faster ones . . . but we focused on the larger class A boats.  First in was A. J. Meerwald.  Links to many of the vessels can be found here for full info, but Meerwald is 84 years afloat.

Next across the red carpet . . . Sultana . . .

Lady Maryland . . . whom I sawsome years back in the sixth boro,

Some of the class B boats like the one in the distance . . . I never could identify.  Any help?  RORO is Rigel Leader.

Mystic Whaler and unidentified in background.

And the two vessels  (sort of) that started it all . . .  From l to r, 1916-launched, Tottenville NY-built Virgina  and Pride of Baltimore 2.

Kings Pointer . . .  Summerwind, a 1929 Alden schooner, and unidentified smaller vessels.

Anyone identify these?

Libertate.

A part of the field just minutes before the starter-cannon.

When a schooner races starts on a day with little wind, vessels crowd on all manner of sail, and yet . . . the “natives” on SUPs pass them.  I believe the schooner is Prom Queen, now vying for first across the finish line.

Mystic Whaler and Summerwind, with bulker Clipper Emperor in the distance.

Part of the field follows.  Notice the difference between the start of a schooner race and a tug race.

First Coast bypassed the schooners towing a barge and was already in Norfolk by the wee hours today.

The natives sat down on their boards and hung out at pin boat Chock,

as racers rocket south toward Norfolk.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.  Thanks to anyone who can identify some of the vessels I could not.

More from the race’s start tomorrow.

Random Ships 12

Here was RS 11.  This one might be called two hours on the Narrows, as that was the time I could linger there before feeling pressed to get elsewhere . . . like to earn a living.  First, let the record show that Sichem Defiance remains as of early January 28, nearly three weeks after the incident.   Alongside her is tanker Ben, which itself has ABC-1, McAllister Responder, and Defiance, all tied up to starboard.

The light is all wrong on this shot, but the starboard bow of Ben seems quite rusted or discolored.

Torm Gunhild offloads to barge Patriot, tended by Donald C.

Sun Road heads for Newark Bay.

Cosco Melbourne races a pilot boat in as

crew prepare for docking.

An OOCL container vessel suddenly looms around Norton Point, revealing

itself as OOCL Hong Kong, here cruising past SCF Pechora.

And as she passed, a member of the crew watched from a hatch.

Finally, Atlantic Concert headed in as tugboat Virginia (ex-Bayou Babe)  headed out, and I headed off to work.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Unrelated:  I just got a comment from one of the kayakers I fotoed a few days back;  in his comment, Vlad sent a link to the fotos HE took from the kayak.  See them here.  I wish I had seen the container ship OOCL Verrazano Bridge.

Random Tugs 42

North Sea (ex-Eileen M Roehrig, ex-El Gallo Grande)   launched 1982 

Comet 1977

Odin 1982

Pati T Moran 2008

Thomas Dann, ex-Yabucoa Service, Yabucoa, Yabucoa Sun 1975

Nicole Leigh Reinauer 1999

Virginia, ex-Bayou Babe 1979.    Yes

this used to be Bayou Babe, not Bayou Base.

All in all, amazingly diverse machines and physical backgrounds.

Top foto by Carolina Salguero.  To see many more recent fotos by Carolina in connection with Portside NewYork, click here.  All others by Will Van Dorp.

Random Tugs 33

Kudos to Harold E. Tartell for correctly identifying the “mystery tug” in RT 32 as  Harry McNeal.  I took the foto below at Howland’s Hook May 2008.   (McNeal …Louisiana 1965.)

Here are more.  Weeks’ Virginia, who positioned in the plane-receiving barge about two weeks ago, Ocean   (Virginia …Louisiana 1979, ex-Bayou Babe or “By you, b’abe” )

Peter F. Gellatly raced southbound in the Arthur Kill just yesterday, a new vessel to my eyes,  (Peter F. …Louisiana 2008)

Hornbeck’s Brooklyn Service–another new vessel for me– headed north on Thursday,  (Brooklyn …Louisiana 1975, ex-Peggy Sheridan),

Dann Ocean Towing’s Allie B has done a lot of work in the boro this winter,  (Allie B …built Louisiana 1977, ex-Express Explorer)

Henry Marine Service Dorothy J headed westbound in the KVK a week or so ago, (Dorothy J …Louisiana 1982, ex Angela M)

as did Mary H,   (Mary H …Louisiana 1981)

as well as Sea Bear,   (Sea Bear …Illinois!  1990, ex-Bay Star)

and a far-off shot of Baltic Sea, 11:09 am the other day, upbound North River.  (Baltic …of course, Louisiana 1973, ex-S/R Albany and ex-Tahchee).  Anyone upriver have fotos of Baltic breaking ice upriver?

Please check out the history blog bowsprite and I collaborate on to mark the 400th anniversary of  Henry Hudson’s memorable trip through our boro.  Primary and secondary sources coupled with imagination’s license generate Henry’s Obsession.  A new post about a January 1609 non-random web of characters in Amsterdam has gone up today.

Photos, WVD.