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Ten years ago, the WTC was incomplete, no supertalls/superskinnies were up, and Taurus was not yet Joker.
Miriam and the archway at Sailors Snug Harbor are all the same, although that dock is gone from there.
The 1969 Barbara McAllister is now Patsy K, operating out of the Gulf coast of Florida.
The 2003 Jane is now Anna Rose, and I’ve seen her in the boro a few times.
Amy Moran is now John Joseph.
Crow was in her last days here, and has been scrapped more than a half decade already.
Charles D. McAllister has now been five and a half decades in service and still working in the sixth boro.
Gage Paul was lost in transit after being sold overseas. Note the seaplane on the East River.
Last I knew, Buchanan 10 was laid up upriver.
In June 2012, I had the opportunity to tour USNS Apache near Norfolk. A few years later, Apache was the vessel credited with locating the black box of El Faro, after its tragic sinking.
Sharing the dock with Apache that day was USNS Grapple.
All photos, ten years ago, WVD, who is currently traveling again, out of tugster tower for an indefinite period of time, getting more indefinite every day. I have re-activated the robots, but we’ll see how reliable they are this time.
Does equipment ever change in the sixth boro? Of course.
Thornton Bros, the 1958 Matton Shipyard product, was scrapped in 2014.
The 1971 Maria J is now Nicholas Vinik.
USACE Hudson, the sweetest Corps boat I’ve ever seen, got transformed into a fish house in 2019. Advance Victoria, 2006, is now Kition M, anchored in the Persian/Arabian Gulf.
The 2002 Labrador Sea is now Vane’s Brooklyn.
The 1944 Gage Paul inadvertently became a very deep fish house in 2015.
The 2002 Gramma Lee T is now in Norfolk.
Does the US Navy still have airships? If ever I have the chance to ride in one of these, I’ll take it in a heartbeat!
Bruce A brought in the 1970 Crowley Mars and
Michael J brought in the 1975 Crowley Pioneer; both Crowley’s were shipped off to Africa later in 2012. The 1971 Michael J. was scrapped late in 2021. Christine was working for Reinauer.
The massive 1970 Penn No. 6 is now the massive Vinik No. 6.
The 1972 Catherine Turecamo is now on the Great Lakes as John Marshall.
Do you still want to tell me nothing ever changes in the sixth boro?
All photos taken by WVD during the first SIX days of 2012.
These photos I took back in September 2011.
This boat became Bouchard Boys and is now in Red Hook waiting to be repainted as Stasinos Boys. She’s 100′ x 31′ and 3900 hp.
North Sea has had many owners; currently she’s Sause Brothers North Sea out of Portland OR. She’s 120′ x 34′ vessel with 4200 hp moving her.
Growler used to be one of my favorites during the years I went to the Hudson River tugboat races. She’s changed hands several times recently and last I saw her she was in the Arthur Kill. She’s a 1962 Jacksonville-built WYTL, as the others, 64′ x 19′ powered by a 300 single Cat D-375 V8, or once was.
How about another shot of another attempt . . . with Maurania III and Ross Sea looking on.
Since coming off the ways in 1979, Miriam Moran has worked in the sixth boro of New York under that name. From my outsider’s perspective, she has paid off handsomely. At 99′ x 32′ and with 3000 hp, she has just assisted Seabourn Sojourn into the passenger terminal.
Sassafras then was three years old; she’s since been sold out of the Vane fleet and now wears colors of Norfolk Tug as George Holland, at 90′ x 32′ and 3000 hp.
Thornton Bros. here was just a few years away from the scrapper; she began life as John E. Matton at the shipyard in Cohoes in 1958. Her long run is profiled in a tugster post here. The “shipyard” link is a couple hours’ good history reading, including a surprise about a well-known naval architect who once worked for Matton.
As part of the 10-year commemoration of 9/11, USS New York came back to the sixth boro after having made her inaugural visit here two years before. The yellow/brown water reveals the aftermath of Hurricane Irene that gorged all the streams upriver. USS New York has a FB page here. Escorting her here is Ellen McAllister.
Yacht Black Knight made an appearance passing the tip of Manhattan while passing from the Sound to the North River in mid-month after theb hurricane. She’s a 1968 product of Goudy & Stevens, an East Boothbay ME yard that has done a wide variety of vessels.
I’ve got a few dozen pics from this month in the archives, but let’s call this the end of this post; all photos, WVD.
Happy August 2021. And “Wow!” That is almost always my reaction when I jump back a decade into the archives. This riveted tug was 83 years old when I took this photo, and I looked at that deep rounded icebreaker hull and imagined it would go on working forever. Now it’s 93 years old, and mortality is nipping at the heels of this Canal tug and all the Canal tugs. It and they may not be around 10 years from now. Of course, neither might I. She was built by Buffalo Marine Shipbuilding in 1927-28, and originally equipped with a John W. Sullivan steam engine. Her stack was hinged so that it could be lowered for bridges. She’s 77′ by 19.5′. If I read the archives right, Governor Cleveland is three feet shorter; I’d always assumed they were twins.
The 1958 Blount-built green tug in the foreground has changed hands several times in the past decade; it may be Bay Star of Port Washington now, but I’ve not seen it in more than half a decade.
The 1998 container ship was last recorded as in Aliaga Turkey in 2017, which leads me to suppose this 3802 teu has been scrapped.
I’ve seen these East River based float planes several times recently, but I’ve not been back to their “field” in the East River in a while. It is pricey but no doubt memorable . . . fun to travel somewhere in one of these. Anyone report having done it? I don’t know which company then flew the red planes.
NYK Constellation, a 2007 4900 teu vessel, is currently at anchor off Vancouver, but has been renamed Tell T (Erase some of the letters of “constellation”). That “erasure renaming” suggests it’s bound for the scrappers.
Here’s Chandra B‘s predecessor, doing then what Chandra B does now. It even has the same crew.
I’ve heard that Ace was being converted into something . . . . what it a floating cocktail dispenser? Seriously . . . I have some such recollection due to a query I got a few years back. Well . . . there are orange juice tankers, so why not a floating frozen margarita or daiquiri truck boat? Can anyone provide an update on this project? What paint scheme/name would immediately scream out “slushy float”.
I’ve not seen Iron Wolf out in the harbor, although I might have seen it tied up over at Claremont.
Pegasus then had no upper wheelhouse, and here it was pushing the elusive Michael Cosgrove, a 1960 Blount vessel that Charon drives for some on a one-way trip to a Potter’s Field.
The 2000 4500 hp Vernon C has recently gotten new life as Mackenzie Rose.
And finally . . . 2011 saw this combo do quite the tour . . . the 1907 Pegasus with the 1914 Lehigh Valley 79 alongside. If you’ve never visited the 79, make an effort to get to it and be prepared for a treat. Pegasus met the scrapper this past spring.
All photos, first half of August 2011, WVD.
I hope you enjoy these monthly journeys to the past as much as I do. And to satisfy my own curiosity, I looked up the first post in the Retro Sixth Boro series. . . .
2015 is the last year I saw the race; in the following years I was working and away. But 2015 Labor Day Sunday had beautiful weather.
Again, I’m not going to name each; you can read the names either on the boats or in the tags . . . and then match up. And in the photo above, the jetskis had no names, but I hope you noticed them.
I’ll make an exception for Sea Horse, the Linden-based Sea Scout boat. Click here for more info on the boat.
See Harvey back at the end of the line? It was 19 years ago that Harvey came out of retirement to assist when tragedy struck.
Both lead tugs here are nicely appointed with the colorful pennants.
Ellen certainly had the best matched “riding crew” that day.
Let’s hope the this race comes back in 2021.
All photos, WVD, whose fabulous ride was care of the NY Media Boat. If you’re looking for something to do, click on the link and book a ride.
Here are the previous installments. Today’s photos all were taken in August–October2008.
Let’s start with part of the line-up for the 2008 tugboat race. If I’m not mistaken, the only boat left standing, as is, in this photo is St. Andrews, fourth from the left.
Escort, a Jakobson boat, is currently laid up.
Sea Raven, an intriguing “composite” vessel, whose hull was composed of two hulls of 1941 hulls, has been scrapped.
She was called Lone Ranger when she was in the sixth boro in 2008, owned by the CEO of Progressive Insurance. The former oil-platform towing vessel is still on the seas, now as Sea Ranger.
Ah! Cheyenne . . . she been on this blog countless times.
Frances, as she’s called now, . . . back then I feared she was not long for this world…
Baltic Sea . . . I’d love to see her now as she works the Gulf of Guinea.
I’ll repeat this photo . . . as a parting tribute shot, and since St Andrews is the only survivor, let me
show her tangling it up with Edith Thornton, with Dorothy Elizabeth watching.
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. . . and beyond. Let’s start with August 7, 2008 . . . up by the Iroquois lock of the Seaway. And Canadian Provider . . . well . . . in 2013 she was towed to Aliaga as OVI, and scrapped. Note that she’s a straight-decker . . . no self-unloading gear.
August 14 . . . reef-making consisted of sinking subway cars. These went off Atlantic City. To see their condition now, click here.
August 16 in the Arthur Kill, Volunteer was off to remake the tow. Built in 1982, she met the scrappers earlier this year.
August 20 . . . Laura K and Margaret–I believe –have just helped Glasgow Express to Howland Hook terminal. Glasgow (2002) is still at work, and so are Laura K (in Savannah) and Margaret in the sixth boro.
August 23 . . . Colleen McAllister and Dean Reinauer bring a barge through the Gate, reading for the Sound. Colleen is now owned by for Port City Tug Company of Grosse Point. Has anyone seen her in operation? Dean went to Nigeria aboard Blue Marlin.
Christine M McAllister stands by in Erie Basin on August 24. This 6000hp tug is currently working down south of here.
August 27 . . . the reclusive Susan E. Witte eastbound and Adriatic Sea westbound. Beyond Adriatic, that might be Aegean. Adriatic is currently on a tow on the 2000+ stretch of Ocean between Honolulu and Kwajalein! Can someone confirm this? Nine years ago, I caught Adriatic near the Bear Mountain Bridge here (scroll).
August 29 . . . Coral Sea westbound, while later in the same day,
the scarcely-seen up here Paul T Moran heads for the Bridge while Maryland approaches from that direction. Coral Sea has gone to West Africa, Maryland has become Liz Vinik, and Paul T stays mostly around the Gulf.
The Tugboat Races and other contests were on the 31st that year. Here Justin shows good style hitting that bollard.
HMS Liberty mixes it up with some real history. Edith went down to Trinidad and the venerable Dorothy Elizabeth (1951) was scrapped the next year. Liberty is still in the sixth boro.
And to close it out . . . the 1907 Pegasus made a showing at the races that year. She’s laid up on the morris Canal so far as I know.
I hope you enjoyed these walks through waters no longer here.
Now my big announcement: as this posts, I’m on board Grande Mariner for the next seven weeks, Chicago bound. I will post when I can with what photos I can. But I’ve done that before. GWA (Going west again) was my series title last year. You have to read this one about my role on the vessel. GW was the title I used in 2016.
Maybe this year it should TGWYA . . . thank god i’m going west again . . . Anyhow . . . this is my version of a “gone fishing’ sign.
Let’s start here as a quiz. Name that tug? Answer follows. The blurriness is a clue to the vintage . . . of the photo. More oldies at the end of this post.
Here’s an unusual treatment of name boards. Can anyone clarify why the 6140 hp J. George Betz is the only Bouchard boat wit this treatment?
I suspected it was Betz when I noticed her here, but had to look more closely to verify. I believe this is the first time for me to label–if not see–the B. No. 235 barge.
Gulf Venture . . .I’ve not often seen this 5150 hp boat light. Question: Does Gulf Venture currently work for John Stone?
Ernest Campbell departs MOTBY here, her mast perfectly shown against the Putin monument . . . he did come here for the dedication.
Gabby L. Miller . . she’s not been on the blog in a while. This 660 hp tug gives the right push at the right time in the right place sometimes.
The 2000 hp Eric R. Thornton dates from 1960, making her the oldest tug in this post except
More oldies. This is Marion, although I have no information on where and when it was built. Marion was one of two tugs operated by Disston and June Marine Construction, previously called Burcroft Marine Construction Company. Their other tug was Constructor. Marion sank in Weedsport, although I can’t find that date.
This tug may still be afloat.
It’s Morania No. 8 pushing Morania No. 170 barge. Has anyone seen her in Port-au-Prince Haiti? I wonder if this was a company slogan or something displayed more widely. I’ve never heard it.
The mystery tug, believe it or not, is Buffalo, somewhere in the Erie Canal. Click here for a few good photos of Buffalo taken by Tim Hetrick back in 2014. Maybe someone can put a date of the photo by taking into account the color.
All photos except Buffalo by Will Van Dorp. All the oldies here are by Steve Wunder.
I’m guessing Eric R Thornton is off in search of some scrap waiting in
the Bronx maybe?
It’s been a long while since I’ve seen Penn No. 6, and here she and Normandy are made up to Penn No. 121. See those four shore cranes against the sky? Here’s a post I did on them almost a decade ago.
Here’s B. No. 250 eastbound for the Sound, with
Evening Star in the notch.
Some people would be pleased with this juxtaposition: MTA’s Highbridge Yard, with Harbor II, MetroNorth, and the 44th Precinct Police Station!
Barbara Ann holds station at the University Heights Bridge, with the unmistakeable Hall of Fame for Great Americans dome over the treeline. That’s a place I’ve yet to visit, one of many places in the five boros.
Ditto . . . Ireland on the north side of that bridge.
And to conclude for another day . . . it’s Penn No. 91 with
Skipjack in the notch.
Oops! All photos by Will Van Dorp . . . from aboard Manhattan II.
Thanks to Tony A, whose previous contributions can be found here, here’s an insider’s view of a scrap ferrous metal run, starting with a view across the deep “hold” of the scow as it exits the Buttermilk heading for whichever of the sixth boro’s creeks has the product.
Once loaded, the scow is brought ship side.
Note the multiple load marks . . .
As the crane transfers the scrap into the hold of the ship, the tug may move to a safe distance or do another run. By tomorrow, bulker Nichirin will be arriving in Iskenderun, Turkey, 15 miles from the Syrian border and less than 30 from Aleppo.
Photos I’ve taken over the years of scrap metals runs include these of Crow, in blue and
in red.
And here I think it’s Sarah Ann doing a really efficient run.
Thanks to Tony for the top four photos. The bottom three are by Will Van Dorp.
And come to think of it, I wonder if the late great Crow has ended up in Iskenderun also….
tugster: a waterblog 
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