aboard the Sturgeon Bay
On VHF 13: “Look at at that moon!” At 0604h in Bayonne, the moon was a half hidden, huge, beautiful orange glowing ball. Onboard the Sturgeon Bay, we sailed past Penobscot Bay and Katherine Walker, and south towards the Narrows to greet the PCU (pre-commissioning unit) New York. See Tugster for amazing photos and writings from the day; be sure to read the very good comments that Jed sends!
USS New York, LPD-21 will be commissioned tomorrow, Saturday November 7th at pier 88.
The harbor never really sleeps. I love the amber glow of the deck lights of the tugs.
At Global Marine Terminal (above), Cap Breton & OOCL Malaysia were being pushed into place. Below: Pearl Ace.
As we neared the Verrazano Narrows bridge, we sailed in the midst of another working day on the harbor: a cruise ship, ferries, more tugs & barges, a CircleLine all moved along, doing their business. The battleship was in view, far away. Once we were in Lower Bay, the spray came flying in through here:
At 0621h, Zachary Reinauer calls out and asks the Sturgeon Bay to switch to its working channel where it asks what its position in the parade is to be.
“Do you have the list of vessels and their orders?”
“We woke up to orders to be in the parade, so here we are. We do not know the order.” They fell in behind us. Pilot No. 1–the OTHER vessel named New York!–seemed to lead, followed closely by the pilot book Sandy Hook.
This is how I love the harbor: a big fuzzy flotilla of parading vessels, working vessels, fireboats spraying red, white and blue jets of water. Pleasure boats would get too close and get chased away by the swooping Defender class boats. A PT boat, a schooner, a sloop, even a duck boat made little appearances in the parade. Only missing the tallships.
Southbound barges seemed to collect as we neared the George Washington bridge. A couple of tugs and barges were anchored in the anchorage channel, but seemed to be VERY much too close. We were a fat parade, especially when the ships turned and we doubled in girth.
Rosemary McAllister and Ellen McAllister were there to assist when the PCU New York made her turns and docked at pier 88.
0929h Sturgeon Bay to another CG vessel: “…pier sweep has been conducted…switching duties now, you may RTB (return to base) now.” We docked behind the Intrepid, and lunched and watched the boom go out as Houma delivered fuel.
Meatball subs were served, and in the galley was a zipper sign that flashed: “Welcome to the Sturgeon Bay… I LUV BAYONNE”…Have a great Coast Guard day.”
As we returned to Bayonne and watched the skyline pass, a woman next to me said, “I used to work in the Chrysler building.” Her husband, a member of the Central Jersey Council of the Navy League, had fought in the Korean War. “He was on the LST 495. The men would joke it stood for ‘Long Slow Target.’”
The history of the LST is interesting, and here is a memorial museum to one of them. Below, a schematic drawing from this tribute site:
This design became the roll-on, roll-offs in use today. How do they hold up? see the discussions on Kennebec Captain, see the pretty pictures on UglyShips part one & part two, and on Tugster (when I ask him where he’s hidden them).
Many thanks, Lt. Rae and to your hospitable crew of the Sturgeon Bay! Thanks, Pamela, Lee & Will! hi, Jessica & Bob!
2009 World Maritime Day Parallel Event
The IMO (International Maritime Organization)’s 2009 World Maritime Day Parallel Event was held last weekend on Chelsea Piers:
NOAA Hydrographic Research Vessel
208′ Ship Thomas Jefferson
(formerly one of three U.S. Navy survey ships, all named the USS Littlehales.)
Coast Guard Buoy Tender
175-foot Keeper class Coastal Buoy Tender James Rankin (WLB 555)
Coast Guard Patrol Boat
110′ Island Class Patrol Boat Bainbridge Island (WPB 1343)
Tug Boat
K-Sea Transportation Davis Sea
Coast Guard Medium Response Boat
45′ Response Boat-Medium (RB-M 45614)
Passenger Vessel: Statue Cruises ferry, Miss Gateway (sorry, not shown. She left before I could thaw out to draw her. Also, the advertised Staten Island ferry did not seem to be in attendance, but they are not far from this pier and our hearts.)
(not done yet! more to come on this event and the ships…)
junk in the harbor
12:53pm, this just in over VHF ch13:
Tug: “To the southbound Army Corps Of Engineers vessel.”
ACOE vessel responded (rather sure it was the Gelberman.)
Tug: “About a mile south of you, by Ellis Island, there’s a desk.”
ACOE: “A desk?
Tug: “Yes, a desk…and some telephone poles.”
ACOE: “OK, thank you.”
warshakers and peacemaker
(post in progress! colors and names of ships to come!)
Does the bow of Tromp look like a smiling shark?
I am not making it up:
kvk picnic
Rendezvous with Tugster on a cloudy day to shipspot on the KVK.
Tugster: “Can you read what the name of that tanker is?”
I could, but I liked his version better.
Ice Base (2008)
Type: oil tanker, double hull
Flag: Cyprus
Built by: STX Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, Pusan, South Korea
Length: 228 m / 748 ft
Breadth: 32.2 m / 105.6 ft
Depth: 19.1 m / 62.7 ft
Orange Wave (1993)
Type: juice tanker
Flag: Monrovia
Built by: Sterkoder Shipbuilding A/S – Kristiansund, Norway
Length: 157 m / 515 ft
Breadth: 26 m / 85.3 ft
Depth: 6.6 m / 21.7 ft
DWT: 16.700 tons
Need a ship identified? call Tugster. Need a photo of a ship? Need information on a ship? call him! Among what he can dig up:
Orange Sun, Orange Blossom, Orange Star, Orange sterns, Orange others… Orange you glad we have Tugster?
hickory dickory O Docker
Hello, WaterLovers & Hydrophobes alike! There is a commentator that was such a voice in the waterblogged community that I had him on my blogroll even though he did not have a blog.
Now, however…it has been launched:
The blog of the Unblogger (this is the brilliant name Tillerman gave him), ODocker! ODock is a brand new blog. As of presstime, there are four posts up, and 74 comments. Voilà.
OSV Bold
before the makeover – United States Naval Ship Vigorous (1989), a Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Survey class vessel:
after the makeover, now – Ocean Survey Vessel Bold of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) (since 2004):
OSV Bold
Built: 1989 at Tacoma Boat Building Company, Washington
Overall Length: 224 feet
Width: 43 feet
Draft: 15 feet
Displacement: 2300 tons
Speed, Sustained: 11 knots
Ship Operating Crew: 19
Scientists: 20
The OSV Bold monitors and assesses the health of ocean and coastal waters, and the standards to which they aspire others to have, they hold for themselves.
They follow safe discharge practices (of blackwater, greywater, oils & greases, lab chemicals, and ballast water), emit low sulfur dioxide, and are compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s International Convention of the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships by using a hull coating that does not contain organotin pesticides and has a low copper leach rate.
Bottomgrab, otter trawl (not for otters, but fish), a rocking chair dredge are deployed from the A-frame to collect samples which are studied in the wet and dry labs onboard.
The side scan sonar, towed behind the vessel, produces digital acoustic images of the ocean floor and can echo back a signal up to a depth of 300′. 
A water profiler, the CTD device, measures physical water characteristics throughout a column of water in real-time. A camera behind a glass (not shown), captures images of the sediment profile layer, cutting through ocean floor and peeking at denizens’ burrows, grain size, et cetera.
The Bold was docked briefly this week for tours at Pier 17. For more information and schedule at other ports, look at their website and their official blog. And see it Tugsterized.
Happy Harbor Week!
NYHarbor was busy this week, and here are some of the highlights where partyers, stately visitors, and working mariners made it work, swimmingly:
12sept09 Saturday, 1411h – “Requesting slow bell in the Buttermilk Channel for a flotilla of historic Dutch vessels visiting, requesting slow bell in the Buttermilk until 1500.”
Then, the navy vessels go by:
WaterTaxi to the Coast Guard Cutter (paraphrased): “Oh, please, please, may I go inbetween the navy ships? i’m just crossing the river.”
Coast Guard Cutter (verbatim): No. Denied. Forbidden. “You can stay where you are or you can go to the end and take the stern of the last vessel, but you may not cut through the parade.” The ships went by slowly, and the taxi was like a little boy who has to go the bathroom very, very badly, but could not.
The ships went up as north as the 79th boat basin, turned and went south. Here, one passes Pier 40, home to the Steamship Lilac and Fireboat John D. McKean:
Little Flying Dutchmen joined the parade:
Cargo ship Ocean Atlas steamed south alongside the Sloop Clearwater, calling out 5 bells to warn sailing vessels ahead:
Ocean Atlas (120m x 20m; draught 7.7m, destination Houston)
What ship is this?
Then, a call on VHF 13: “A flotilla in the mooring!”
The working harbor draws comparisons of the regatta to Nature: “Yeah, watch out, I got a lot of fleas here on my right.”
“Uh, Heyward, I’m going to go south of these mosquitos, see you on the 2.”
(The views expressed here are not the opinions of the blogger, who rather saves the discourtesy for the cigarette boats.)
This view is looking south, where the regatta is at the Battery. The hexagonal stupa is the Holocaust Museum, the patina’d copper green topped roof and tower is Pier A, the old fireboat station. The strip of land midground is Governor’s Island. The waters are the deep water range (fore), and Buttermilk Channel (behind). The background land is Brooklyn. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge straddles Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to the left and Staten Island to the right.
Sunday: Harbor Day. The morning started calmly with Half Moon and Tromp riding between Penobscot Bay and Thunder Bay. Hawser 65610 was also in service.
Sorensen Miller brought a large number of passengers onto the Warship Tromp.
The USCG Cutter Penobscot Bay began to announce on ch13 that a security zone would be in effect from 1100 until 1600: no traffic allowed on north river during that time, from the Battery to Berth 64 (about 24th street.) The announcement was made at intervals.
KP: “Kimberly Poling is in the ConHook Range, splitting the 29 and the KV buoy, headed up the north river.”
CGPB: “Kimberly Poling, this is CG Cutter Penobscot Bay, you going all the way through?”
KP: “Oh, yes, sir, I’m going to Albany, to Rensselaer.”
CGPB: “OK, well, please hug the Manhattan side.”
KP: “Very good.”
CGPB: “Thank you, have a good day.”
KP: “You too.”
KP (to buddy on radio): “Yeah, I just made it before they closed.” “You’re lucky.”
Another vessel is not as content: a series of insistent 5 blasts were made as boats were right in front of its path (photo is taken when they just cleared away.)
Arcadia, faltering: “I..I can’t believe you just crossed my bow like that…”
1003h “Don, what are you doing, cooking everybody’s pop tarts with that radar?”
“Oh, you like that screen, huh?”
“Minerva Zoe, in the ConHook Range, headed out to sea.”
1045h “Jervis Bay (cargo) is at the KV buoy, inbound for Port Elizabeth.”
1109h Half Moon and Onrust announce they are about to fire guns. I never did hear them.
McKean: “Yeah, you can pump 25.”
Marjorie McAllister uncomplainingly steers with a partially loaded barge and heads south.
Unknown: “Can you go 1 whistle? we’re going to raise an RHA on the starboard side.” (–what is an RHA?)
Containership Bauci: “We’re coming on the 28 here, see you on the one.”
Which tallship is motoring without sails set? yes, Clipper City.
1100h - Penobscot Bay declares on ch13 the security zone is in effect, “closing North River from the Battery across to Morris Canal, Jersey City. The south marker is this unit, Penobscot Bay. The north marker is Thunder Bay, a straight line across berth 64.”
Despite the warnings all morning, boats call out.
“Penobscot Bay, we need to refuel at Morris Canal…”
“…requesting to transit north to North Cove…”
“Penobscot Bay, we need to get across the river to the Battery…”
“…do you have a radio on there?” (If this does not elicit a response, try to talk louder.)
Penobscot Bay responds to almost all of them, and repeats: “… you will have to wait until the end of the race, at 1600.” “If you do not have a flag, you may not enter the security zone…” “Negative, you may not enter the security zone…”
sundry tugmen: “How about some working channels here?” “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a race channel on the working harbor?”
The DEP’s North River, going on North River after the security zone is in effect.
to be continued…
fun with vocabulary
“The panes were finally removed. Alas, we had not calculated for the mullion, and the surprise was further delayed.”
“Hildegard had more horsepower, but Gigi topped the tons in bollard pull, and the two were in a catty fight to spin the tanker either clockwise or counterclockwise.”
“She failed inspection miserably, even being faulted for sloppy catenary.” Need your catenary calculated? book an appointment with the DoryMan.
disclaimer: usage might be wrong, corrections gratefully accepted.
Central New Jersey Rail Road Terminal, Jersey City
Voilà, the gem of Liberty State Park!
The Central New Jersey Rail Road terminal (1889), also known as Communipaw Terminal is one of the most beautiful buildings of New York Harbor. Twenty tracks and four ferry slips provided the terminal with streams of cargo, supplies, passengers, workers. The palatial waiting room has a gabled ceiling three stories high and the most grand view of Upper Bay and the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines; it now houses Liberty State Park’s Visitor Center. Statue of Liberty ferries leave from the slips.
However, the treasure lies behind this elegantly proportioned and well-maintained edifice:
the old tracks are overrun by a jungle of native flora, Nature come to reclaim her domain. Twenty tracks of young trees, tall grasses and weeds flourish, the dark old steel structures are lost amid the riotous green, the sidewalk cracks are colored in by little grasses and sprouts. A beautiful light filters evenly through the open trestles. It is dramatic in full sun, and magical on grey days:
(if it weren’t foggy, you’d have seen lower manhattan when the camera turned west at 0:25, looking out the building)
Nature’s indefatigable force is inspiring. Nothing we make–with all our might!–is going to last. No better proof exists than in the photographs of shipbreaking captured by Edward Burtynsky and Andrew Bell. Or, in the quieter photographs our own Tugster, closer to home, in the Kill van Kull. Yes, worms, rust and seagull droppings are maddening! But, mainly because we are fighting it. This is not comforting if you have a train to catch, a shipment to make, a twitter to tweet, a family to clothe, shelter and feed in our times and to current standards.
What will last? Nature. Of which we can still claim to be a part, despite all our efforts. The way we have organized ourselves, we cannot live the way it was intended, but maybe we can eek eke (thx, Porter!) out a bit of time to live naturally, and, as time is really all we have, spend it well…bring your family, friends over to the rail road tracks, peek through the temporary (it’s all relative) iron gates, and be filled with awe of and reverence for Nature. (Ok: look at the weeds, if you’re cynical.)
“Nature is not a place to visit, it is home…” Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild
how to be paranoid: seeing RTK systems
The boat behind us in the channel was gaining speed. A RTK (real time kinematic) Short Baseline GPS system was spotted: what kind of survey boat was this?!? and a fishing rod amid the tide gauges elevation rods?
As the boat overtook us, it was registered that it was not the receiver of the very high-tech, expensive GPS system, but a scrub brush.
Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers’ race: Grimaldo’s Mile!
The Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers‘ annual 1 mile race was held yesterday, Sunday. They hold several public races, and swim every weekend. Swim buddies are available if you are interested in swimming at any time: pre-dawn, midnight, throughout the winter, et cetera. Contact them here for anything at all! they are a very open, welcoming group of waterlovers.
Grimaldo, for whom the race is named, was the lifeguard who first made it possible for the group to swim beyond the jetties. Vibrant, joyous and ebullient, he passed away in April to leukemia, but his personality is still felt at his chair at Brighton 4th street, where the swim group meets and where people congregate.
Come swim!
How is the quality? you could go here to find readings…Or not: follow Sebago’s links. Other hazards? sharks? yes, well, they will leave you alone (not you, Michael). Jellyfish? a few float by, intermittently. The Coney Island Whitefish? they also float by, but being usually latex and inert, are harmless. Your worse danger: jetskiers coming at you at high speed with the light behind you and in their eyes!
Lightship Winter Quarter LV107, Jersey City
The lightship Winter Quarter, that graced the Winter Quarter shoals in Virginia, is now berthed permanently in Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City. Statue of Liberty ferries Miss Liberty (rear) and Miss Gateway (fore).
Sketched while waiting for the Liberty State Park ferry. The ferry captain said, “It had a great bar. Was a vicious cycle: work, get paid, go the bar, work, get paid, then go to the bar…”
Winter Quarter LV 107 (1923)
Builder: Bath Iron Works, ME
Length: 132′4″
Beam: 30′
Draft: 14′7″
Displacement: 775 tons
off topic: Home, Cafe Luz
What would Henry post? 400 years ago today, he was here…on the way to where I call home, and to where I shall return tomorrow, sunday!
Home! but, where is home?
Take a look at our HOME, as seen by the french photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand:
¡ah! some countries cannot view this. The aerial photography is stunning. (Oh well, the tanker looks GOOD.) Try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU
The film in its entirety is viewable in Europe on Youtube and is much discussed. Hope you can see it; it is 1hr 33mins long.
Quite a shock to see in this film the bare black mountaintops of what was once white. From where I am, I can see the glacier of Bondasca, happily replenished with a light dusting of snow so the village fountains may continue to flow with water for a bit longer. However, the neighboring glacier of the Cengalo is gone (a map from 1936 shows it was still there then).
In the meantime, as a souvenir from the alpine region, here is my favorite recipe for Cafe Luz, or Cafe Fertig. I got this from my friend and studiomate, Poul–a Dane–so, coffee with schnapps must be a Continental thing:
1. Put a coin on the bottom of a cup.
2. Cover the coin with HOT coffee until you cannot see the coin anymore.
3. Add schnapps until you can see the coin again. Or until you will overflow the cup. Add whipped cream on top.
Barbara: “If you use Turkish coffee, you might need a great deal of schnapps.”
…perhaps to no avail, for the coin will have disintegrated! Thank you, Barbara (environmentalist, activist, lawyer from Geneva), for telling me about “HOME”.
Steamships of Lake Geneva, Switzerland
I am in Switzerland!
And on my first day, I went to the doctor’s. (Swim in a marina at your own risk, for where boats lie, anti-fouling particles, oil, and foul matters from neighbors who do not pump out will surround you. I think I got hit by the latter, in the ear.)
In Dr. Hans Bänninger’s office was a book: A History of the Compagnie Generale de Navigation sur le lac Léman. It is a book on the lake fleet of paddelwheel steamers on Lake Geneva.
M/S Italie 1908 – decommissioned, but still floating around.
Paddlewheel, compound engine with double expansion, two equal high-pressure cylinders. Converted in 1958 to 8-cylinder, diesel electric.
length: 66m / 216.5′
breadth: 14m / 45.9′
displacement: 296t
ship depth, fully loaded: 1,51m / 5′
passengers capacity: 800
crew: 4
S/S La Suisse 1910 – the flagship of the fleet and still running! (done in a looser style)
Paddlewheel, one bow thruster; original 2 cylinder compound engine with double-expansion (one small high-pressure cylinder and one large low-pressure cylinder, each driving the pistons and the crankshaft with the same stroke.)
length: 78,5m / 257.6′
breadth: 15,9m / 52.2′
displacement: 518 t
ship depth, fully loaded: 1,61m / 5.3′
passengers capacity: 900
crew: 7
1n 1808, the Albany was the first paddle steamer which steamed along the Hudson to the coast of the Delaware River.
Steamboat technology came to Switzerland in the shape of the Guillaume Tell on Lake Geneva in 1823. Her wooden hull was from Bordeaux, her engine from Liverpool. Escher Wyss in Zürich built the next few steamboats. Eventually the shipbuilding came to rest in a place with a great name for a shipyard: Ouchy! ha! however, it’s pronounced ‘Oo-she,’ like “who she?” minus the ‘wh’.
Many little companies competed on the lake until 1873, when the Compagnie Generale de Navigation sur le lac Léman (CGN) was formed to better compete against the railway. Their fleet grew and shrank over the years with their fortunes (in 1963-1964, they were 22 ships strong). But, they exist and persist, and some of the beauties are still running. The old ones are called the Belle Epoque ships.
La Belle Époque was a shimmery period (for the rich) from about 1890—when champagne was perfected!—until 1914: World War I. In the book are photographs of grand dining rooms, wooden ceilings and panellings with intricate inlaid work, exquisite brasswork, rounded steps with the name of the ships in brass on every step, hand-blown glass lamps and sconces, luxurious fabrics on banquettes and chairs, and potted palms.
The engine rooms are lovingly beautiful, captured in a romantic sepia glow at a time when steam and coal were used and when such engineering was a form of high art.
Some ships that were converted to diesel electric in the 1930’s (like the Italie) were part of a grand plan to return to steam in 1998. In 2001, the re-steamed Montreux was inaugurated with fanfare and a popular ‘gourmand-cruise’, however the costs of re-steaming three other Belle Epoque ships proved daunting, and the plan was dropped. The fate of the old ships seemed gloomy until steamboat lovers banded together in 2002 to form the Association des amis des bateaux a vapeur du Léman, the Friends of the Steamboats of Léman (ABVL).
Dr. Bänninger is a member of the ABVL, and he gave me the book from which these drawings and information come. Merci millefois, Dr. Bänninger! for this book, and the ear drops!
from the CGN site:
“With a total surface area of 582.4 square kilometres (348 in Switzerland and 234 in France), the lake is 72.3 kilometres long, and averages 10 km wide (minimum width 8 km, maximum 13.8 km). Its maximum depth is 309.7 metres and it has 167 km of coastline. Its surface is 372.3 metres above sea level in summer and a metre lower in winter. The water is clear to a depth of 6.5 to 7.5 metres, depending on season and location.”
Click here to see their winter, autumn, and summer runs.
doucement – “sweetly” !
demi vitesse – half speed
en route – full speed
en avant – forward
en arrière – backward
the Kill Van Kull Security Zone
Vessel Traffic Service announced on VHF 13 that all tugs and barges longer than 400′ may not meet or overtake other vessels in the KV. Curious, I called VTS (718.354.4088).
“Yes. No meeting, no passing from KV buoy 1 to KV buoy 5 for all vessels longer than 400′ and deep draft vessels.” The three buoys have been moved 600′ to the north of their original positions last week, and it became mandatory for large vessels to observe one-way traffic until further notice.
The Kill van Kull was once at a natural depth of 15-18′, and home to rich beds of oysters, clams, and fishes, surrounded by salt marshlands. Today, dredged to 50′ below mean low water, it is a major shipping channel, making it possible to bring in imported goods, cars, fuel, chemicals, orange juice, and to ship out our recyclables.
The Army Corps of Engineers, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has been working on the Harbor Deepening Project since the 1980’s. They have had to contend with a bottom made of soft and stiff clays, red shale, serpentine rock, glacial till, and granite. Different kinds of dredges are used for the different materials.
What is happening now is quite special: We’re in the final deepening phase off St. George, the dredgers have encountered bedrock, and a unique use of equipment is at play (oh, I mean ‘work’)…
“That cutter-head begs to serve as inspiration for a horror movie.” – Tugster
The hydraulic dredge, the Illinois was described by Bill as a “floating factory;” it is huge.
Hydraulic dredges usually use a cutting head to dislodge the sediment which is immediately suctioned and pumped through a pipeline to an offsite settling area, often several thousand feet away.
However, working boats in the area have noticed an absence of the pipeline. If there is no dredge spoil, then there must be no dredging. That cutter-head seems to be drilling away at pure bedrock (instead of blasting). Dredge 54 comes along behind it to dig it up. A support barge is there to replace the hard teeth on the cutter head.
What has been the observed result of the dredging of NYHarbor?
° Working mariners have noticed that the current has increased, and that high and low tides have been affected. Those Eldridge tide predictions are no longer accurate in places.
° Docking seems to be more dangerous, but if you dock only at slackwater, you might have several hours to wait, which would cost more money.
Tugster, who caught amazing photos of the machines and vessels at work, poses two questions:
1. what would happen if dredging activities ceased? Not sure how fast it fills in here, but several points along the east side of North River silt in as quickly as about 2′ a year. The way things are set up now, our harbor cannot afford not to dredge. (And, dredging is expensive! that’s fine if your project enjoys federal, state, or city funding, but what if you are a mom&pop little shipyard? you are between bedrock and a hard place: you cannot afford to dredge, but you cannot afford not to!)
…alternatively, if we stopped dredging, the kill would become a kill again (creek in dutch), oysters, clams and mussels would be sold alongside hotdogs, and you’d have to take a train to Baltimore to get those plastic lawn chairs.
2. “How come the mainstream media pays no attention to these activities?” Really cannot fathom, because it is fascinating. Go and look for yourself: the very best deal of the harbor, the Staten Island Ferries, will take you past the dredging site–for free!
Thank you, Bill & Will!
Oops, this just in: Tugster reports that the Illinois is not there anymore. I’m very sorry, they were never vigilant about their AIS.
You will still see the Dredge 54, but this is how the Illinois looked from one of Tugster’s photos:
Three Ships in Town for the 4th of July
Happy Fourth of July!!!
Beautiful three masted ships, the Bounty and Bel Espoir II are now at Pier 66 on North River. If you go to 26th street, and walk west towards the Hudson River and sit at the outdoor pier cafe for lunch right next to these lovely ships, it might look like this.
Above the escutcheon of the Bounty are golden carvings of the sun, flanked on either side by cornucopias (horns of plenty), with fruits and flowers spilling off to port and starboard.
Bel Espoir, a ship of ‘good hope’ or ‘beautiful hope’ and good vibes.
The Portuguese Navy Sail Training Ship Sagres is docked at Passenger Ship Terminal, pier 84, on 44th street, directly across from the Intrepid.
Also seen: the Dutch ketch Saeftinge and the A. J. Meerwald.
the Sturgeon of Liberty State Park
If you take this little water taxi from Manhattan’s World Financial ferry terminal across the river, it will first stop at Warren street, Jersey City, where you can explore Paulus Hook.
Next stop: south across the Morris Canal Basin to Liberty State Park.
This old Morris & Essex Canal once ran once ran all the way to the Delaware River. Barges carrying mainly coal from Pennsylvania and finished goods from NYC shuttled back and forth. Today, two marinas are here, home to luminaries like the historic–and working!–Tug Pegasus and the hearty denizen of the cold, battering North Sea: Cape Race. (And, a peek here of some of their neighbors.)
tug Pegasus
Liberty State Park is 1,122 acres of open space with sea breezes, parks, salt marshes, wildflowers, two little beaches lined by rocks and flora, and the expansive Hudson Liberty Walk. I save the gem of this park for another post, but for today:
if you walk along the red brick boardwalk that suspends over and transverses the sea into which fishermen cast off,
and walk behind Ellis Island’s hospital and old buildings
(that walkway over to the island is guarded and not open to pedestrian traffic),
and if you meander through the wildflower fields where you almost can pretend you are in a far away meadow
—until the helicopters and party boats’ booming music remind you of where you really are,
and then go behind the Statue of Liberty with the ferries pulling in and out,
and then turn your back to Lady Liberty, you will see a little beach.
And if you go onto that beach and follow the wrack line, you will see the shells of:
ribbed mussels, clams, oysters and bright orange little crabs.
Signs of life returning to NYHarbor! signs beyond the wood piling eating worms (that are so hardy they begin to bore into concrete!) Signs that the clams and oysters are coming back! How would one have known? there is hardly any access to the water in our harbor!
But there are bigger signs: a 6′ carcass of a sturgeon!
Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus)
Recent studies indicate that a population of approximately 150,000 juvenile Atlantic sturgeon may reside in the Hudson River at any one time. This species is not currently fished very heavily; in the past it was harvested in large numbers and often called “Albany beef”.
Atlantic sturgeon can reach lengths in excess of 10 feet and weigh several hundred pounds.
Sturgeons are primitive fishes with rows of bony, armorlike plates on their sides and a skeleton of cartilage rather than bones. Barbels hang under the sturgeon’s long, flattened snout in front of the mouth. Sturgeon are bottom feeders, their sensory barbels being used to detect food and their protruded, tubelike mouth, to suck in bottom-dwelling plants and animals uncovered as they move along the mud.
Sturgeon flesh is of good quality, and the roe (eggs) of Atlantic sturgeon is the well-known delicacy caviar.
The Atlantic sturgeon is anadromous, ascending large rivers and estuaries to spawn. New York’s Atlantic sturgeon population is restricted primarily to the Hudson River.
What else lies in the waters that surround us? Both the schooner Pioneer and the sloop Clearwater have trawling sails, where nets are launched and harbor life is brought up to be observed and released.
The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy sponsors the occasional Go Fish event down near Pier A where you can bring the inhabitants of the deep up yourself, have it recorded, put it in a tank, and then set free.
Of the clams, oysters and mussels, asked Tugster: “Is it edible?” Hmmm. Maybe soon. Maybe, one day, the waters will be so clean that we can wade into our waters with children, pick up a shellfish or two, and have no adverse reactions to popping them down the gullet. I shall keep the vision and hope we move in that direction. In the meantime, move upwind of that sturgeon!
World Fi Ferry Terminal, Tides
Two ferry services operate to and from the World Financial terminal – “World Fi” to the tugmen. NY Waterways ferries are white and the little New York Water Taxis are yellow.
This old faux-Quonset hut had served as the terminal for years, but was replaced by a glass and metal one. I had wondered what they planned to do with the Quonset hut, and voila, today, I saw Maria J on North River by the Battery, moving it and making it up to a crane barge:
Now, what is the remarkable thing about Maria J? Ask Tugster, the consummate researcher!
Below, looking south: The new glass terminal is behind. Far off in the distance on the right is Ellis Island.
The two gangways are placed on the barge. I still do not know where the whole ensemble is going. I had spent many happy hours waiting on that thing; it was so noisy, squeaking with every swell.
An amazing thing about our rivers/estuaries are the atypical tides action. Low tide today was 0133h (-0.1 ft.). This clip was made at 0151h, a few minutes afterwards, but watch the incredible power of the ebbing action “at the top.” Our “slack” does not coincide with low tide or high tide times! There is a couple of hours delay.
Those barges may look like they are charging through the waters, but they are anchored! I have seen experienced kayakers come out of North Cove, run into such a current, and four got swept into such a work barge. Within seconds they piled under, one atop another. Happily, kayakers survived; their vessels did not.
Here, the Maria J and barge, not under power, drift sideways swiftly downstream.
Here is footage, not of the accident, but another wave of kayakers during the Mayor’s Cup New York City Kayak Championships last year on sunday October 19, 2008. This was taken during their ‘touring kayak’ start, perhaps earlier than when the strong flood occurred, but you can see the barge and how one kayaker nearly did not clear it.
Djibouti, Yokohama
I.
2232h, June 18, 2009 On VHF channel 13:
A man called out to the cargo ship, and was answered back: “Djibouti.”
“Yeah, Djibouti, I’m coming over, they dropped me off on the wrong ship, or I got on the wrong bus, they’re going to bring me over now.”
“OK.”
Good Heavens! where is the man?
II.
2355h: Ships called out to each other, warning them of a Yokohama in the water. “We see it, thank you.”
I had heard whales were used as fenders, but I had thought this meant the way camels coddle the cruise ships, and dolphins stand at the mercy of the Staten Island ferries…but, indeed, in Japan, they used once-live, real whales–until the town of Yokohama came up with these BIG black, heavy industrial strength rubber fenders.
One small working boat captain found a new Yokohama floating in the water. It measured 6′ in diameter and 8′ long. He got a line on it, towed it home, and very quickly found someone who offered to buy it from him, but upon examining it, he noticed it was property of the USNavy. The Yokohama was valued at the time at $17,500 (probably now, about $20,000). The prospective buyer had offered $10,000, but as it was government property, our gallant captain filed a salvage claim, which entitled him to 10% of its value. He towed it to the Navy Yard, who seemed reluctant to take it back, but 6 weeks later, he got his govt check for $1,750 and this good story.
Lightning Onboard
More thunderstorms to come this week! One tug captain, Joel Milton, recounts an event that occurred one summer afternoon:
“I had just gone below when a tremendous clap of thunder shook the tug and the clean smell of ozone filled the air. It turns out that we became part of the circuit for some of that dangerous, cloud-to-ground lightning. The lightning bolt struck the tallest point on the upper pilothouse — a six-foot radio antenna — leaving only a few inches of charred fiberglass sticking up. The radio attached to the antenna was fried, as was our navigation light panel, but that was it. All in all, we got off pretty easy. But I wondered what could have happened had I been up there when the lightning hit.
Our upper house is made of aluminum and the tug itself, including the mast, is steel. We were in saltwater. The boat did a great job of conducting the bolt into the bay with minimal damage, especially considering that lightning is generally not taken into consideration when vessels are designed. This may sound strange, but it’s true. In any case, I was just plain lucky that I was not in the upper pilothouse.”
Below, a summary of what he had written in WorkBoat magazine:
• Give the lightning a place to go rather than through you. “A mariner has more of a chance of being hit by a side flash from the main bolt. The body is an excellent conductor. If your body provides a lightning bolt with a better path to the ground than a part of the vessel does, then it will likely take it. So the better your vessel can conduct the charge, the safer you are.”
• “All-metal vessels conduct electricity quite well. This makes them less susceptible to damage from lightning and inherently safer for crews. Fiberglass and wooden vessels, however, are very poor conductors. Consequently, the likelihood of damage to the vessel and injury to the crew is much greater. “
• “Salt water conducts electricity very well, while fresh water is a relatively poor conductor. Vessels in fresh water are much more likely to be damaged during a lightning strike.”
• “Everyone onboard should stay inside. Keep all doors, windows and portholes closed, and stay away from them. Avoid contact with any metal objects if possible, particularly with your hands. Do not hold metal steering wheels, jog levers, throttle controls, searchlight handles, etc., which gives the electricity a direct path through the heart and increases the odds of being killed. Donning a radio headset or holding a radio mike or cell phone is also very risky. And hold off on showers or washing the dishes.”
• “Turn off any electronic devices that are not immediately necessary for safe navigation or communications. Disconnecting radios and GPS receivers from their antennae and/or lowering the antennae may save them from damage, although this is seldom practical. You must also weigh the benefit against the risk to personnel by unnecessarily exposing them to a lightning strike. “
• “Keep in mind, that lightning can easily strike in the same place again.”
“For those who wish to learn more, two excellent sources of information can be found at lightningsafety.com and marinelightning.com.”
Many thanks, Capt. Milton, for permission to use this article which is taken from Workboat Magazine, 2005.
Thunder up the Hudson
0300h – Lightning and thunder roared right by my ear, deafening claps of powerful electric eruption that then boomed with full might up North River, echoing, unstoppable, seemingly without end.
Times like this make me think of those days, of people high up in the rigging, perched precariously on wet footropes, furling in heavy wet canvas on a pitching ship with other shipmates roused from sleep to climb the masts in driving rain. That would not happen today.
But today, mariners are still out there, in heavy storms like this.
It was the middle of the night, and channel 13 (bridge to bridge) was silent, but 14 (USCG Vessel Traffic Service) was steadily broadcasting, the voice of the controller reciting as on any other day the names of ships and where they were heading.
At 0355h, to the guiding voice of Vessel Traffic, one Liverpool Express navigated its way through the harbor under the crackling night sky, past several ships, tugs and a dredge, and headed out to sea.
Liverpool Express
Ship Type: Cargo
Year Built: 2002
Length x Breadth: 281 m X 32 m
DeadWeight: 54155 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 17.3 / 12.4 knots
Flag: Germany [DE]
Draught: 11.6 m
Destination: NORFOLK
Thank you, Tugster! need a photo of a ship? call him. He will find it for you.
Fleet Week at Passenger Ship Terminal
To find the street that corresponds with a pier along the west side of Manhattan, subtract 40. So:
pier 66 is on 26th street,
pier 89 is on 49th street,
pier 90 is on 50th street.
pier 40 is on Houston Street, or ‘zero street’.
Pier 89 and 90, Passenger Ship Terminal, is where the Iwo Jima and the USS Roosevelt were docked for Fleet Week.
unfinished drawing of the Iwo Jima
What a crowd to see the Iwo Jima! How patiently people–children!–stood on interminably long lines to wait to enter the ship.
I set up in a quiet spot at the end of the pier 89, just past the throng, the booths with advertising, brochures, and paraphernalia, and past the navy ride simulator machine, but still within the boundary set up to pen visitors in from the end of the dock.
The ship is daunting. She’s BIG, long, complicated, and I contemplated how to squeeze her bulk onto my sketch pad.
The smell of low tide was lovely (yes briny Gloucester and pristine CascoBay! NYC’s lowtide smells good!) After drawing for 20 minutes, a marine with a big gun came by and apologetically asked me to move. “I’m really sorry. My OIC asked me to tell you, uh, but you have to go somewhere else. ” (oh? why? I’m not sure. Et cetera.)
Ok. How about here? I moved next to the ride simulator booth. I got a friendly nod, and continued to draw. But after 10 minutes, another marine came by to tell me I could not stand there. No, I could not!–the exhaust from the ride was choking me.
I moved into the line of folks waiting for the ride, and my fellow citizens patiently accommodated by filing around me while I drew. Surely I can stand here? everyone’s standing here! More armed marines appeared. I continued to sketch, chatted with children.
Apparently, standing is not the issue. One OIC came to tell me that anyone standing in a place photographing–or drawing–for a long time was going to cause a bit of concern. He was very nice about it. I had my TWIC card suspended around my neck on a 1-800-USA-NAVY ribbon I got from FleetWeek last year, and mentioned that I had worked on these piers, but he smiled apologetically and said, “You’re probably innocent, but, sorry…” With the TWIC, I got the same reaction I get at airports–blank glance.
They who fight for liberty and freedom were good enough to grant me the liberty to finish my drawing, sort of.
I do understand their reaction, though. I think it was when I peered through the binoculars to see how the light fixture was attached on the stern of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship that I raised a red flag. I’m glad I left the VHF at home.
Perhaps it was the detailed drawings that they objected to. I turned the page, switched to a cut reed pen and loose-&-groovy mode. The kids liked this much better:
What are your rights, should you find yourself in a similar situation? US military personnel (including military police) have no authority over non-military property or people. I was not on the ship nor standing on a tank, but on the pier which is is owned by the City of New York, though was probably also a USCG regulated facility for the visiting ships and various cruise ship companies. On non-military installations, they have no jurisdiction. If it was a security concern, the police might have been called. No one ever told me not to draw, but I was not able to stand around to draw. Well. I chose not to make it an issue. There’s plenty to draw, it was a beautiful day, people were happy.
the USS Roosevelt
For good photos and a literary stroll through the interior showing machinery, marines, where barnacles reside and the NAVY’s tweeting address, look here at Tugster.
I watched the marines in their various uniforms debark from the ship, pausing at the head of the gangway to turn to the river to salute the flag on the stern of the ship which was not visible. They would then come off the gangway and joyfully go off into the city with their comrades. I wish for them safe journeys, I wish for them to be able to return home, mentally and physically healthy.
I have the same wish, though, for those with whom they might cross paths, or swords.
Happy Birthday, Steamship Lilac!
Happy 76th Birthday, to the beautiful Steamship Lilac, a former USCG Lighthouse Tender! There will be a celebration on the Lilac on Sunday, May 24 from 5pm – 10pm. She is at the north side of Pier 40, the very west end of Houston Street. The ship is open Saturday for visitors. Here can be found more details. For beautiful photos, look here and here at Tugster’s catches. Gerry loves engines, and the love shows.
Happy birthday, Gerry Weinstein! other than pouring love, dough, sweat et cetera into the Lilac 1931, what other ships has he had a hand in rescuing or helping? Here is the list:
USS Olympia 1888, flagship of the Asiatic Squadron, at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum
Aqua 1918, South Street Seaport, –scrapped
Catawissa, a steam tug, –scrapped
Tug Pegasus 1907, Jersey City,–in operation
Mary Whalen 1938, coastal oil tanker, –dynamic in Brooklyn
Hestia, 34′ wooden steam boat
Elizabeth, steam ferry — wrecked, of which the engine Gerry helped salvage
John W. Brown Liberty Ship 1942, Baltimore — still steaming! her sailing season begins on sunday.
There may very well be more ships. Thank you, Gerry, Thank you, Mary! and to all those who support beautiful historic vessels!
Tugboat Pegasus was seen towing the Lehigh Valley Barge No. 79, 1914 after the wakes of the warships dissipated. Together, they make the Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge, and now at pier 84 with readings, circus acts, shanties. More information at Going Coastal’s writeup of watery events.
Also seen floating about the harbor: the new schooner in town, Clipper City, docked at Pier 17. Much ado on the waterfront…
What would Henry Hudson blog?
Safe and Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all on land and at sea!
Waterlovers, watercolorlovers, anythinglovers! get together saturday 16may 3pm
Let’s meet here, Friends!
John Krevey said he welcomes us to overrun pier 66 on saturday, 16may2009, 1500h – until ???. Great bar and grill opens at noon. Chance of thunderstorms, so bring your foulies.
Pier 66 is public access space, walk west along 26st, and over North River. Look for JJHarvey and the Frying Pan tied onto the south of the pier.
Bring friends–pass the word around, bring cards, bring dough, and come and meet and mingle. Sorry if you are very far away, at sea, or overseas; sorry if you can’t make this one. This is an informal gathering. If you’d like to, plan the next one and we will send word out. You pick the next venue, time, place, et cetera.
Hope to see you, if not at this one, then at another powwow! warmly, bowsprite
Fishing Boats
Peconic Puffin had put in a request to see things move a bit on these pages, and so I am happy to oblige…
I. Every Boat Show at the Jacob Javits Center at the end of the year, you can find me tending some table for some historic vessel.
During one break, I was herding a small group of children who went straight for the luxury yachts. They launched off the swim platforms and shot up, climbing up all gangways, waving from the sundecks, peeking into cabins (—oh, sorry, I mean staterooms), examining anything set out in the galley, testing silk pillows, crowding into the cockpit. The yacht salespeople would insist that the children be accompanied by an adult, that everyone take off shoes, and would bear with us with various levels of tolerance until the whirlwind would move off to the next boat.
We wandered through luxury yachts, sailing boats, and ended up on the other side of the convention hall. Still full of energy, the children charged up one boat where two men were talking. I lumbered after them, and asked the men if they wanted us to take off our shoes.
They looked at me and said, “This is a fishing boat.”
We all had a good laugh. You can tell which side of the bar I’m sitting at for happy hour.
II. The chief mate of the Amistad was in town and stopped by to visit. He picked up my VHF, and looking at the fleet of fishing boats said in a faux-Bayridge Bklyn accent: “Tony, you there? Tony–you there?”
“You know someone there?”
“No, but there’s always a ‘Tony.’”
What are they fishing for? we are not quite sure…
Clippers in NYHarbor: Robin Knox-Johnston
Happy April 22–the 40th anniversary of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race the first round-the-world, solo, nonstop yacht race. The winner was Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
Messing about in Boats’ began the tribute, and has good post on the boat Suhaili and observations: “Sailing is one of the oldest forms of transport but has evolved so much in 40 years that boats can travel long distance distance 400-500% faster. Is there any other form of transportation that has evolved as much?”
70.8%
has put up an encyclopedic post and interesting read. Oh! this one’s cool: from Invisible Workshop! and this one is elegant: from Tillerman.
Many others have joined the tribute…(look here for the muster! It’s all hands on deck!)
My RKJ celebration contribution is to share this book: The Twilight of Sail, Robin Knox-Johnson. First American Edition 1979, G.P.Putnam’s Sons, New York
Beautiful black & white photographs (over 120) of clipper ships, full rigged ocean flyers, from the mid 1850’s and on.
Fascinating history:
• the first real clipper ship, the Rainbow, built in 1845, ran from New York to Canton in record time: roundtrip – 6 months and 14 days,
• the China Tea Races and the Opium run from India to China spurred the building of faster ships,
• the British Navigation Act forbade the carriage of cargoes by any other than British ships. When it was repealed in 1849, it brought on a flush of American clippers, like the Oriental, which did HongKong to London in 97 days, with 1,118 tons of tea on board,
• the British fought back, launching the Aberdeen clippers, a race which they won by 1855 taking the trade back from the Americans,
• the only surviving British tea clipper is the Cutty Sark in a dry dock at Greenwich.
“The Procyon with [all sails] set…at 2,132 tons, one of the largest three-masted barques under the British flag, she distinguished herself on the maiden voyage by sailing to New York in fifteen days.”
The largest schooner ever built, the Thomas W. Lawson, was built in Quincy, Massachusetts…she “measured 5,000 tons gross and had a waterline length of 385 feet. Her seven masts were each 193 feet hight and carried nothing but fore and aft sails. All her halyards, topping lifts and sheets were led to two steam winches, one on the forecastle and one aft.” Only sixteen men were required to handle her.
“…the building of the Suez Canal and the establishment of a road across the Isthmus of Panama enabled steamers to move in on these lucrative routes and brought the great sailing-ship era to an end.”
For now. Who knows which way the wind blows? For the stubborn few who continue to dream, take a peek here and sign up for a stint to learn the ropes (if you don’t already know), for when clippers return, we will need you: ASTA – American Sail Training Association.
And keep an eye out for more companies sailing products from harbor to harbor, like this one: Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile.
the Schooners of New York Harbor
Overheard on VHF, on two different occasions:
- “Princess to the sailing boat, Adirondack coming out of Chelsea Piers.”
“Adirondack to the Princess, we’re at North Cove, going south. You want the Imagine.”
“Sorry.”
- “Adirondack, by the Statue, this is the tug and barge coming up on your stern…”
No response. It is not the Adirondack, but the Pioneer at the old buoy 31 (now 35), with no other schooner in sight…
What ship is that?
Well, should the old girl not readily show you her derrière bearing her escutcheon (plate with the boat’s name), below are some of the schooners (et al) of NYHarbor, drawn more or less to proportional scale, with some identifying marks, so you can call her by name:
Schooner Pioneer:
Built: 1885, in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania
Docked at: Pier 16
Material: Steel Hull, Iron Frames
Length: 102 ft.
Breadth: 22 ft.
Draft: 4.5 ft. (w/centerboard up) 12 ft. (w/centerboard down)
Mast Height: 76.6 ft.
Sail Area: 2,737 sq. ft.
Passenger Capacity: 35
It’s very easy to spot the Pioneer: look for the orange jimbuoy at the stern. She has a beautiful bow, one of the classiest in the harbor—a clipper bow— with a proper martingale permanently cocked to starboard from a docking mishap. Black hull and masts, white booms and gaffs, wooden bowsprit.
Her topsail is the grimy-est sail you would ever be called upon to hoist, redolent of grey-brown subway rats’ pelt. It’s only brought out in very light winds and training sails. Pioneer also has a fisherman’s sail, stretched from foremast to mainmast— also a vanity sail— taken out only when the crew clamor to learn how to set it.
Schooner Lettie G. Howard:
Docked at: Pier 16
Material: Wood hull, masts, spars
Length: 125.4 ft.
Breadth: 21.1 ft.
Draft: 10.6 ft.
Sail Area: 5,072 sq. ft.
Crew: 7-9
Lettie is lovely: a forest green with topsides, booms, and blocks all a buttery yellow. Look for the notch midships. I know this notch well: on the first day of my first Lettie trip, racing towards the Georges Bank, I would prop my head in this notch (only while offwatch, of course) and vomit. Wooden masts, white bowsprit.
Lettie is so shipshape I believe even her baggywrinkle is drycleaned periodically.
Schooner Adirondack:
Built: 1994, Scarano Boat, Albany, NY
Docked at: Chelsea Piers
Material: Douglas Fir , cedar, teak, and mahogany.
Length: 80 ft
Draft : 8.6 ft.
Sail Area – 2,000 sq. ft.
Passenger Capacity: 49 passengers
Adirondack’s signature telltale marks: the plumb stem and the canoe stern. White hull, bowsprit, booms, gaffs & masts.
Schooner Imagine:
Docked at: Chelsea Piers
Built: 1997, Scarano Boat
Length: 78 feet
Passenger Capacity: 49 passenger
White hull. Trim, bowsprit, booms, gaffs & masts of wood.
Sloop Clearwater:
Docked at: 79th st Boat Basin
Length: 106 ft
Mast Height: 108 ft.
Sail Area: 4,305 sq. ft.
Clearwater is green-hulled with thick black trim, black masts, and has a huge white boom, white bowsprit. Very rare is her large tiller, carved in the shape of a fist. One person might be able to steer her dead ahead, but it takes several crewmembers to turn the boat.
Schooner Shearwater:
Built: 1929, Rice Brothers Shipyard, East Boothbay, Maine
Docked at: North Cove
Materials: Wood; Teak, Mahogany, Native White Oak Georgia Pine
Length: 82.5 ft
Beam: 16.5 ft
Draft: 10 ft
Mast Height: 85 ft
She’s still a schooner: Marconi rigged, not gaff like the others.
(More that I missed! artwork to come)
Schooner Clipper City
Docked at: Pier 17, NY
Sloop Ventura:
Docked at: North Cove, NY
Schooner Mary E.:
Docked at: City Island, NY
Schooner Liberty:
Docked at: Liberty Marina, Jersey City, NJ
Schooner Richard Robbins:
Docked at: Lincoln Harbor, Weehawken, NJ
These are some of the schooners that live here. Many friends come through: Mystic Whaler is here, at the 79th st Boat Basin, the A.J.Meerwald and the When & If, from NJ, and many others. If you are feeling the desire to own a fine schooner, this one is for sale: the Rosemary Ruth.
Photos here from Tugster. Great photos and writing on Frogma: go there and type in Rosemary Ruth and Schooner Ann!
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