Government Boats 58

The sixth boro has lots of government boats . . .  aka taxpayers’ boats, like the 29 Defiant…

This RB-M appears to be training a large crew.

This BUSL is headed out for some ATON work.

Besides the many federal boats, NYC has its own fleet including three GUP carriers of this latest class.  This is a front light Rockaway.

One of two large fireboats, 343 here is at her base beside Little Island, aka Diller Island.

USACE in the boro has some small survey boats.

Sturgeon Bay holds station at the star. 

And to close out . . .  here’s that same 29 Defiant executing a tight turn in the ferry wake. 

All photos, WVD, who’s still on the road. 

Jumbo 2

From aboard icebreaker tug Sturgeon Bay, Harold Tartell took these three fotos of Jumbo Vision southbound near Kingston about two months ago.   That ice is now gone.

According to Sea Bart, Jumbo’s motto is “We can transport anything that doesn’t fit in a container. . .  power station components,  large oil refinery reactor vessels, container cranes, small ships, large trucks, trains.”  Maybe even large pre-historic trunked mammals with tusks and hair, I wonder.   Jumbo’s link contains examples of news items from the company.

Jumbo’s competition is BigLift (ex-Mammoet . . . here’s the ancient wooly elephantine ancestor).  Click here to see a tugster “biglift” foto capture from 2007.

Click here to see great examples of cargoes in the Biglift news page.

All fotos by Harold Tartell.

Ice Work on the Hudson

Ice . ..  white gold for some.  Imagine the videos you’ll find at the end of this post.  Imagine tugboat Cornell powering through it:  two soundtracks being a smooth 16-cylinder engine and stuccato crunching of ice.

A tribulation for others.  And like many dangerous things, ice can be beautiful, reminiscent of  Thomas Cole. 

Through this, your petroleum products must flow, safely.  Here Sturgeon Bay cuts a trail for Davis Bay and DBL 28, loaded with 30,000 barrels of home heating oil, but

on a cold day, the ice chunks have already started to re-freeze before the square-fronted barge gets there.

Passing us is Justine McAllister pushing a light Reinauer barge, RTC 120 past the small village of Port Ewen, once home to Sojourner Truth.

Davis Sea‘s path here is flanked by Thunder Bay (port) and Sturgeon Bay (starboard).  Each of these 140′ USCG icebreakers has a bubbler system that makes the hull slippery, preventing a “plug” of ice from building up around the hull.  When you watch the video on Cornell, notice the plug moving forward in front on DBL 28, impeding progress.

At breaktime yesterday, Davis Sea, having delivered its load to a local oil distributor, comes out of the notch to raft up with Cornell.  Elise Ann Conners . ..  dates from 1881!  Consider that Cornell dates from 1949 and Davis Sea from 1982!

All part of getting your home heating oil to the burner in your basement.

See a tugster video below.

and a video by Harold Tartell below showing progress of Taurus southbound through Poughkeepsie.

Unless otherwise attributed, all fotos by Will Van Dorp.

And a year ago tonight, recall this ice adventure?

USS New York 2

OK, as Jed points out in his quite elaborate comment (thanks, Jed)  . . . it’s PCU (pre-commissioning unit) New York for a few days yet.  By the way, by the count of A. G. Sulzberger, this new New York is USS New York number seven.  Might it be that the cost of the previous six combined is less than the cost of this one, comparing uneven dollars?

Behold Sturgeon Bay, the generosity of whose captain and crew made these fotos possible.

Looking through my fotos prompts a thought on this ship welcome and our group identity.  We all have competing identities, and obviously this dozen plus one fotos taken over five hours were deliberately selected, but see where they lead you.  I’ll share my ideas at the end.

Sturgeon Bay, one of nine WTGBs,  receives a small boat long the starboard side while outbound to meet . . .

LPD-21, which here heads north toward a water welcome and past

Our Lady of the Sixth Boro (and so much more)

and soon to pause across from North Cove (fantastic images here).

After heading north as far as the GW Bridge, LPD-21 turns and

makes its way close to the bank near 130th Street where another water welcome awaits.  Later,

an escort follows on the Jersey

side as  (Note:  PT728, DCV Gelberman, and tug Miriam Moran in foreground;  color spray from John McKean 1954)

LPD-21 crew enjoy the NYC and sixth boro greeting and sunny weather as

the vessel is made fast.   Ellen McAllister and Rosemary McAllister here prepare to depart for their next job.)

Refueling begins

almost immediately from barge delivered by Houma.

To say the fire departments were intensely involved in this welcome–as evidenced by both my fotos and those on the New York Times slideshow– is an understatement of huge proportions.  And of course reasons go directly back to that horror less than a decade ago that underlies everything about LPD-21’s existence.  And I certainly honor the Bravest.  I was happy to see you present on both sides of the River, all over the sixth boro.

And this is not to undervalue the efforts of all those folks working on the water yesterday in whatever capacity (public or private)  as part of ensuring that the welcome was appropriate.  This harbor enthusiast thanks you and all other of those working on the water.

Welcome to New York.

Here and here are a few articles about Lt. Scott Rae, commanding officer of Sturgeon Bay.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.