Posts Tagged ‘ny harbor’
not shocking
Maritime Sunday returns.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the end of the 2013 schedule of NY Harbor tours conducted by Working Harbor Committee, a circumnavigation of Staten Island was offered and I was onboard. We left the familiar confines of the Kill Van Kull and turned left, onto the Arthur Kill.
from wikipedia
The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York City from mainland New Jersey, USA, and a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Arthur Kill has also been known as Staten Island Sound.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unknown country for your humble narrator, great expectations of maritime industrial activities were met when the Barbara McAllister tug appeared of the early November air.
Built in 1969, by Halter Marine Services of New Orleans, Louisiana (hull #226) as the T.J. Sheridan for the Sheridan Transportation Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a beautiful, if bracing, trip. Luckily, I had a flask of hip pocket whiskey with me which provided for some warming comfort.
from mcallistertowing.com
McAllister Towing & Transportation is one of the oldest and largest marine towing and transportation companies in the United States. We operate a fleet of more than 70 tugboats and barges in 17 locations along the U.S. East Coast from Portland, ME to San Juan, PR. The fleet of over 100,000 H.P. consists of 24 Z-Drive/ Tractor tugs, 6 Tier II compliant tugs, 20 plus vessels involved in coastal towing and 35 ABS load line classed vessels.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A hearty maritime Sunday shout out to the Barbara McAllister is offered, and to the Working Harbor Committee for another excellent year on the harbor.
also from mcallistertowing.com
McAllister Towing has provided superior tugboat service to New York Harbor since 1864, when Captain James McAllister, great-grandfather to current president Brian A. McAllister, bought his first sail lighter to carry cargo from Manhattan to Brooklyn . Today, McAllister’s tugs provide a wide variety of services to the busy ports of New York and New Jersey , serving the most concentrated and affluent consumer market in the world and handling a significant part of the 16 million tons of cargo that passes through the port every year. In addition to ship docking services and general harbor assist work, New York based tugs are regularly employed in offshore towing along the entire East Coast.
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not necessarily
Sunset at Newtown Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In Greenpoint to attend a meeting of the Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee, a community group whose mission is citizen oversight of the DEP construction process at the sewer plant, one found himself ridiculously early for the event. Accordingly, having no place else to go due to the pariah status I enjoy when nobody requires something from me, retreat was made to the banks of the loquacious Newtown Creek to confirm that it was still there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Happily, the waterway had not been paved over in the intervening week since my last visit, and given the specific chronology of my residency there- the diurnal arc of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself was waning. Atmospherics resulted, as the outer space based fusion ball attained an acute angle to that section of the planet occupied by the great human hive called New York City, painting airborne fumes and miasmas in orange and fuchsia- as pictured.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The NCMC meeting which followed discussed several topics. The disturbing role and intentions of a corporate entity called Veolia (which has been given managerial control over the NYC DEP) came up, as did the subject of a dredging project which the DEP requires to complete a certain phase of the plant’s construction, and the ongoing saga of getting horticultural staff in place at the Nature Walk public space (from which these photos were shot) was also explored. It was all very depressing, but its always nice to be amongst people who aren’t chasing or hurling things at me.
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no exit
Maritime Sunday leaves every thirty minutes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The seldom considered Staten Island Ferry – the most popular tourist destination in New York City – transiting forth and back from St. George on… Staten Island… to the Whitehall terminal located on the island of Manhattan. This shot from the archives depicts the latter leg of the transit, and provides for the opportunity to offer a rousing Maritime Sunday “huzzah” to the crews that handle the job.
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wildly over
Maritime Sunday navigates out from the archives.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Buchanan 1 was built in 1967 and weighs 191 tons. This photo is from 2007, and pulled from the extensive Newtown Pentacle photographic archives of NY Harbor. A humble narrator is currently enjoying a little “me time” and apologizes for the occasional recycling of older content, but even a motormouth like me needs to take a short break now and again. Anyway, Maritime Sunday.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
odd individual
Maritime Sunday crashes into port again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The winner of the 2013 Great North River Tugboat Race, McAllister towing’s Resolute was spied while guiding the Atlantic Conveyor Cargo ship from Port Elizabeth Newark to the open harbor along the Kill Van Kull. Resolute was running against the tide, and seemed to using all of her 3,000 horsepower to keep the larger vessel on course.
McAllister Towing is one of the oldest and largest marine towing and transportation companies in the United States. They operate a fleet of more than seventy tugboats and twelve barges along the East Coast from Portland, Maine to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A crew member from Resolute told me that the boat’s characteristic “beard” is referred to as “pudding.” It’s actually made of ropes, and is also referred to as a “beard,” although it is technically a “bow fender.” Most tugs these days use old truck tires for this function, which protects the hulls of both tower and towee at their point of contact. Check out this page at frayedknotarts.com for details on how pudding is made.
Built in 1975, by Jakobson Shipyard of Oyster Bay, New York (hull #454) as the Resolute for the Providence Steamboat Company of Providence, Rhode Island.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 