Circa 3650 Days Ago

I’m working on some tougher posts, but here’s an easy one.  Let’s flip the calendar back approximately 10 years, give or take a month.  Then it was Barents Sea, not Atlantic Enterprise.  Rowan M. McAllister is still around, although in Charleston SC.  And the container ship under the “un-raised” Bayonne Bridge is Zim Qingdao, currently eastbound across the Atlantic.  The other McAllister tug I don’t know.

Melvin E. Lemmerhirt, now Evelyn Cutler, eastbound toward the Brooklyn Bridge  . . . well, all’s quite changed about all this.

Maryland –I’ve yet to see her as  Liz Vinik–was bunkering the brand new Queen Victoria.

Peking was then–as now–out of the water, although currently her dry dock is in Germany.

Penn No. 4 still goes by the same name, but it’s now a Kirby boat.

George Burrows was never a regular here, and I’ve no idea of her current disposition.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who hopes you enjoyed this backward glance.

 

Ice Season 2015 . . .

I hope it ends soon.  Of course, ice is just a part of the sixth boro cycle.  See the ice photos here from 2009.  Enjoy these shots from the last day of February 2015.  But for the hot days sure to come later this year, how about this tall tale of Meagan Ann traveling through the icebergs of New York.  In her early years, Meagan Ann operated in Alaskan waters.

APL Coral  . . .  Oakland, CA-registered, must be named for cold water species.

The Bravest heads out on cold water patrol. See more about Bravest in this article by Peter Marsh.

M/V Miss Ellis, built by Blount in 1991, has likely used ice before today to scrape growth from its hull.

North River . . . has sludge to move around the harbor.

Zim QingDao appeared previously–with a surprise on the bridge wing–here.

And these ferries keep running despite the ice.

Molinari sets up the ultimate sixth boro tall tale image, beautifully created by Scott Lobaido.

I saw the image below on the ferry, and if you want it, you can order it here.  I’ve never met Scott, but I love this lithograph.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

Rhythms 4

Here’s 3.

Cape Washington left today, following in the wake of Lia.  Zim Beijing came in;  I’m guessing “my” Bebedouro will leave soon, and the pace of ins-outs is such that I have to content myself seeing in on AIS.

Although I’m intrigued with names and itineraries like OOCL Oakland and

Zim Qingdao back here yesterday,

traffic longterm runs together and

goes out of focus and even

blurs.

For a moment, that is.  HS Livingstone entered the harbor Saturday morning, and by midmorning Sunday, it’s off Atlantic City making for Baltimore.

In

in

inbound, then outbound  .  . .

I wonder about the blur for the mariner of these global box vessels.  Here’s a question I have insufficient info to answer:  Pick a year like 1940, and the number of dockworkers that year per ton of cargo transferred between ship and shore.  Now compare the tonnage of freight handled on the docks of NYC in 1940 and 2012 and thereby calculate how many dockworkers would be needed in 2012 using the 1940 dockworker/ton rate.  And why?  Check out this article in today’s NYTimes called “…Rise of the Machines.”

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Morning Hour on the KVK 2

Surprise, lunacy, and freebies commingle in this post.  At one point, my perspective shifts a half dozen miles also.

0859 . . . as seen from the “swimming pool” aka Faber Park, Staten Island-side just east of the Bayonne Bridge. That’s Shooters Island (see a then/now post I did here)  off the bow of Zim Qingdao.   Here‘s something to know about the place Qingdao.

Still 0859 . . . Amy C McAllister awaits instructions on assisting with the turn.

0901 . . . part of the turn accomplished . . .

0902 . . .  Zim Qingdao makes the Bridge.

0905 . . .  Ellen‘s off the stern now.  And when I look up,

… well, there’s no surprise about female mariners except

that looks like a kid!    Could this be a contemporary  Zim Family Robinson . . . sans the shipwreck of course!!

0940 . . .  I’ve jumped onto my horse and raced over to the Brooklyn side of the Narrows.  What directed my attention to the Brooklynside base of the VZ Bridge was ships’ horns:  one long blast . ..   danger!  Is it this?  At least six “smokers”  . . .

as Zim Qingdao sped up . . . for her next port, tailed by Amy C and Responder.

I was half expecting these invulnerables-whose engines will never stall maybe— to jump the bow wave . . . .  NYTugmaster links to a WSJ article on “playing in urban commercial waters” here.

Between the VZ and Swinburne/Hoffman, Zim Qingdao  meets

Zim Shenzhen . . .    Note the crew on her foredeck.

By now, Zim Qingdao is passing the Bahamas after a post stop in Savannah, no doubt headed for the Panama Canal.

Unrelated:  Want a free boat ride on Saturday, tickets are available here at 7 pm today.  Actually, there are no truly free boat rides;  support historic vessels of your choice.

If you’re looking for a thriller to read this summer, try The Ship Killer.  Bonnie gave me hers . . . after I’d noticed in prominently displayed at my local Barnes & Noble.   There’s info here, and I agree with the first review there by Jim A . . . except I’d go farther and say it’s like Moby Dick . . . but you get inside the whale’s twisted mind just as you get inside Ahab’s lunacy.   I was predisposed NOT to like it, I didn’t  BUT it was a thrilling ride.

And speaking of thrillers .  . . here’s an American jetski adventure stopped by Russian tanks and helicopters, from a blog yesterday.

Meditations Z

Z . . . the end.   Of the alphabet but not the blog.  This A through Z set of meditations–with one medication slipped in on Q day–happened quite by chance.  If I am moved to repeat the series, Z could be ZULU time, z-drive or Zuider Zee.  Or Zachery Reinauer (Cohoes, NY-built and ex-Mobil 1 and Tioga)  . . .

or Zim San Francisco,

one of more than 40 vessels operated by Zim Integrated Services.  Again below is Zim San Francisco and McAllister Sisters.

Or Zhen Hua 10, one of many differing only in the number suffix.

Or Zim Qingdao or

Or Zim Shenzhen.

Or Zim Virginia . . . here following Mary Gellatly.

But actually I’m reflecting on something different . . .  non-tangible.  Zulu tango, my invented term for

“zero tolerance,” a term which is way overused.  Zulu tango (“zebra tango”  . ..  some striped equines doing a sultry dance snout à snout  . . . would be more fun to imagine) or ZT gets my complete support in some areas, like operating any large or lethal machine under “the influence.”  But then ZT gets overused . . . like in the case of the “end of the pocket knife.”  It reminds me of the time I was almost arrested as I entered the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian just after sailing:  when they ran my backpack through the scanner, they found my boat “tool” and spike, which I’d forgotten was there.

So here’s my list of  ZT acts:  no postponing projects, no assuming outcomes, no ducking disagreement, no enabling chaos, no hobbling myself, no losing sight of priorities . . . .and I guess I might as well say . . . no excessive zebra tango.    Thank you for bearing with me in this series of meditations.  Time to move on, although I’m happy to hear your association(s) with different letters of the alphabet in this vein.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.