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Two months ago I posted the photo below in Jaunt ’24 D.
Two months ago this classic* small ocean liner was a sight to see in Little Potato Slough in the area of Empire Tract and Eight Mile Road in Stockton.
*classic? I quote from an article I’ll link below: “the classic pocket cruise ship was built by Blohm & Voss for brief trips to and from the island of Heligoland, and had a long and varied career in the Aegean, North Sea, Eastern Pacific, and the U.S. West Coast.”
George and I asked for a tour after helping a gentleman working there with a small task, but were told to return another day.
Named Aurora, some articles have referred to this vessel as follows: “Aurora, which has been credited as an inspiration for the hit ’70s TV show The Love Boat, has been moored near Stockton for some time now. Along with its The Love Boat connection, Aurora also appeared in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love.” That link also follows, and you’ll understand this deferral later.
Off Aurora‘s port side was an ominous sight. Lacking a boat to get out onto Little Potato Slough, we couldn’t get a better view. That sunken vessel is HMCS Chaleur (MCB 164), a wooden minesweeper that sank in December 2021.
USS Mazapeta (YTM-181) also sank nearby in September 2023, but was raised and towed to Mare Island for scrap.
The tragic reason for the deferred links is that Aurora has now also settled into Little Potato Slough. Here and here are the deferred links.
This story will be followed. The USCG vessel there is USCGC Fir (WAGL/WLM 212).
All photos, any errors, WVD.
For more eloquent and personal reflection on this vessel, watch this short video by Peter Knego, some taken a few days before she sank here.
For a complete bio of the vessel and more, click here.
Here were installment 52 and follow-up. This one is different because I know what this is, but I’ll let you look at it from different perspectives before I identify it. My photo regret is that I saw one deployed and failed to get a photo because I saw it over the top of a warehouse and didn’t snap the pic.
Above and below are the same shot, just cropped differently. A key clue is that I took these photos in port of Long Beach CA.
When I took this set of photos I knew what tugboat was moving the green barge, but I’ve lost that piece of information. No matter . . . because the focus here is on the green barge. Oops . . . that’s another clue.
Last chance.
And the answer is this barge is part of an effort to reduce emissions from ships in port by “inhaling” those emissions and treating them. See the company website here. Here and here are more articles on the “stack suckers.” See this link for the Stax device deployed.
All photos, any errors, WVD.
Seen in Sausalito . . . it’s a beauty although it’s not ready to sail. I know some of you have more words to describe that beauty, maybe even place it in a category.
All I’ll venture is that this no-name hull is a full keel cruiser.
Seen in Stockton CA. Might Florencia be a product of Stephens Brothers of Stockton?
Also seen in Sausalito, or should I say partially seen because of where it was tied up. It’s a 1906
Baltic tjalk that has its own FB page called MV Hindeloopen. built in Hindeloopen, Friesland NL.
And here’s a delicious mystery . . . ACF? Elco?
Seen in Los Angeles.
All photos, any errors, WVd.
Let’s limit this post to fish boats made of wood, like the classic 1930s Western Flyer, built for sardines and salmon and now recently reburbished . . . or rebuilt. I regret I didn’t see it under way.
Similar in appearance, bait boat Billy Boy may never dance the waves again.
I’ve confirmation that Linda J
has made her way back into the sea to fish.
Farther up the coast I saw some real beauties called Monterey clippers, and
I’ll devote the rest of this post to these lookers.
In case you didn’t guess, this is the less glitzy side of Fisherman’s wharf.
All photos, any errors, WVD, who by this posting, might just have found his way back to the less glitzy side of the sixth boro.
More West Coast fish boats can be seen here and here.
On the San Pedro side of the ports of LA/LB stands this memorial by Jasper D’Ambrosi. Add this to another tugster post about memorials.
Warehouse No. 1 is another type of memorial. Brad Nixon wrote a lot more about the warehouse, including the water tower, here. Hat tip, Brad!!
On the water side of the warehouse is a pilot station. So what would be an appropriate name for a pilot boat from here?
I think that’s a great name.
Now let’s jump up to San Francisco. What names would you imagine here?
I like Golden Gate.
California works too.
But this one surprised me, although it speaks to my lack of familiarity with West Coast history, like this 1579 visit to the area.
All photos, any errors, WVD.
Exy (Electa) Johnson may be less familiar than Irving Johnson, but they were a couple, and are memorialized as a couple by Los Angeles Maritime Institute naming twin brigantines for them. You may have seen the film Irving made aboard Peking in 1929 as it rounded Cape Horn; if not, click here.
Here are the specs for brigantine Exy Johnson below.
American Pride (1941) served as a minesweeper and fishing schooner before coming to the West Coast. She was built in Brooklyn and came to the West Coast in the 1990s.
Matthew Turner, 2017 launch, operates out of Sausalito for Call of the Sea.
No ambiguity exists as to what cargo comes into Port Hueneme aboard Chiquita Venture.
Crane ships SS Gem State (T-ACS-2) and SS Keystone State (T-ACS-1) make up part of the Ready Reserve fleet in the Bay area.
Morning Star has come to San Diego a long distance from home: she was built by Scheepswerft Deweert & Zoon at Oostende in 1971. Vessels are intended after all to travel the seas.
I’ve not learned anything about the affiliation on the beam
Relief (WLV-605) was built on the East Coast but worked on both coasts before designated a museum ship in Oakland.
Ocean Angel and
Polaris are both engaged in fishing.
RV Yellowfin began life as a commercial fishing but now serves as a research platform. More West Coast fishing vessels coming in a next post in this series.
Staying with aluminum hulls here, Ocean Scout is a spill response vessel. A photo of the vessel out of the water can be seen here.
Hot Tuna has all the lines of a downeast lobster boat. Might the name be a hat tip to a San Francisco-born band?
All photos, any errors, WVD, who slept in the town of Sundance last night.
More truckster! posts coming too.
Centerline has acquired a number of these similar pushboats recently. Darrell Hiatt Madeline G. Hamilton dates from 2020, and her 2250 2600 hp moves her 85′ 81′ x 34′ hull and whatever work she’s doing.
Eagle was launched in 1978; she’s 98′ x 32′ and brings 6000 hp to the job.
Lucy Franco‘s been around since 1981. Her 1250 hp moves her 69′ x 26’ hull through the water for work.
Michelle Sloan began work in 2015. Her numbers are 76′ x 36′ and 5800 hp.
Seana C was built as Lolita Chouest in 1975 She has three propulsion engines turning two screws generating 1800 hp. Her dimensions are 70′ x 24′.
All photos, any errors, WVD.
I’ve lots more photos from the West Coast, but this may be the last post for a while unless I find that happy medium of wifi, time, and energy as the jaunt goes on. I might be in Idaho by now.
Chincoteague and Doubleskin 802 show the Vane work flag in the Bay area, at least the other day.
Crossing ahead is Centerline’s Paula M. Sperry.
Arthur Brusco and Heidi L. Brusco both worked the Bay. I’m not sure what they were doing.
In the foreground, a mooring lifter, I presume.
Wildcat delivered a crane, while
fleetmate Baycat moved fuel into the Oakland channel.
Millennium Falcon [built 2000, 99′ x 34′ and 4400 hp] and Millennium Dawn [identical but built three years later] rafted up briefly the other day.
And rounding it out . . . could this not be a lot of ports? Name that tugboat?
It’s Delaware with Doubleskin 501.
All photos, any errors, WVD.
I’ve lots more photos from the Bay area, but this may be the last post for a while unless I find that happy medium of wifi, time, and energy as the jaunt goes on.
Darrell Hiatt works in the port moving bunkering barges. She seems quite similar to Jillian Irene in the Bay area.
The next four boats have a somewhat similar appearance. See if you can guess their relative ages, oldest to newest.
Delta Audrey is a ship assist boat in the port, 100′ x 40′ and 6800 hp.
Delta Billie seemed to get abrupt change of orders.
She’s got the same horsepower and breadth as Delta Audrey, but is 7′ shorter.
Delta Theresa is also shorter than Delta Audrey, and operates with 5350 hp.
Rounding it out for this post, Independence is 73′ x 34′ and 5080 hp.
x
Launch dates in order of appearance here are as follows: Delta Audrey 2014, Delta Billie 2009, Delta Theresa 2019, Independence 2007
All photos, any errors, WVD.
Before the wake dissipates, let me catch up with a few more photos from San Diego. Darya Anita has moved on up the coast and is now off Washington state. eWolf remains in San Diego and has a mission.
Pacific Tugboat Group has a large and varied fleet in port.
It’s Sammy G and Cadet here.
Haida and Aquijo are outstanding here as non-workboats, although for their crews, that’s not true.
San Diego had a large number of research vessel in port, like WHOI‘s Atlantis.
Scripps operates Atlantis‘ sister vessel Roger Revelle.
NOAA vessels there included Rueben Lasker and
Bell M. Shimada. Lasker was built on the Great Lakes; Shimada in Mississippi.
Coco is NCT Offshore’s version of a Swiss Army knife.
Acoustic Explorer is involved in USN research.
Also in port and not gray were the French Pourquoi Pas ? and
the British Armada 78 07.
Yes, a whole lot of gray was in port. Maybe that’s fodder for another post.
All photos, any errors, WVD, who’s left California behind for now, heading north and then east.
tugster: a waterblog 
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