-
Wednesday Feb 28–quiet before the storm
Observed commercial traffic was nil on Wednesday on the North River and anchorages were empty south of Yonkers. Despite gale warnings going into effect a few ATBs were riding it out in the Upper Bay rather than coming up to the calmer waters of the river. By sundown winds were already gusting at over 20 knots in the Upper Bay and wave heights at Ambrose Light were approaching 10 feet.
A call of a person in the water brought a heavy police and fire response to Pier i around midday, though the report turned out to be unfounded which is often the case as passersby mistake things floating in the water for people.
Shore-based fire fighters were ready to get wet but did not enter the water. 
Marine 1’s alpha boat checked things out from the water. 
Harbor Patrol arrived as FDNY was leaving and checked on various pieces of debris floating in the channel. 
The Army Corp’s tug came up next collecting flotsam, whether called by the NYPD or just on usual rounds was unclear. 
The small fueling tanker Chandra B visited Pier 98, likely topping up the backup winter fuel supply for the Con Ed steam plant stored on the GCS 230 barge docked there. 
Anchorages were clear despite rough weather ahead. -
Tuesday Feb 27–foggy start
Morning fog obscured the Jersey shoreline and Lincoln Tunnel vents as Kristin Poling moved the company’s higher capacity barge Eva Leigh Cutler upriver heading for Rensselaer. 
Coral Coast, seen Monday coming down from Ravenna with a cement barge headed for Flushing Bay, was on the way back north Tuesday morning. 
Justine McAllister’s elevated wheelhouse was visible above RCM 250 as they returned from Portsmouth NH and headed for anchorage off Yonkers. 
Haggerty Girls, now often seen paired with RTC 81, returned from a run up to Newburgh and headed for the Upper Bay. 
With ice season perhaps done for the year, Coast Guard 65’ harbor tug Hawser spent the night at the USCG mooring south of the bridge, and then headed for Bayonne base. 
The larger 140’ Sturgeon Bay headed north from base and was approaching Poughkeepsie by sundown 
Marie J Turecamo and Kimberly Turecamo headed for Buchanan to help sail a bulker at the wallboard plant. 
A trio of Navy MH53-E Sea Dragon helicopters, who’s main mission is mine counter-measures, flew up from JFK, circled the statue twice and came up the North River to just past the bridge… 
Before flying back south down the Jersey Shore. -
Monday February 26–traffic
Monday saw fairly brisk traffic in the North River as temperatures climbed into the 50s and the full moon augmented the tides.
Coral Coast came south with a cement barge from Ravenna heading for the Flushing Bay terminal. 
The venerable Dace Reinauer and RTC83 spent the evening at anchor off North Bergen… 
But headed for the Erie Basin barge port in the afternoon. 
the Haggerty Girls/RTC 81 combo headed north with a cargo from Bayway. 
Centerline’s Andrea retrieved a HMS-2605 barge from ConEd’s Pier 98 fuel dock and brought it to a terminal in Bayonne. 
DonJon’s Thomas D Witte brought scrap from Sims Metal in Albany down to the Sims dock in Bayonne. 
CMT’s Erin Elizabeth tow boat brought crushed stone down from Coeymans. 
MHT’s Maddie K left the Lafarge Materials dock in Sunset Park and headed north with light hoppers. 
The full moon brought an extreme low afternoon tide, exposing more ‘beach’ than usual. -
Thursday Feb 22—cracking 40F
Saint Emilion and A87 remained anchored off 72nd Street 
New York State Marine Highway Transportation’s Maddie K brought hoppers from Albany down to the Bay Ridge flats. 
Coast Guard ice breaker Sturgeon Bay headed for Poughkeepsie 
DonJon’s low slung J Arnold Witte is working the DSNY Pier 99 transfer station this week. -
Wednesday Feb 21–oil products head north
Dann Marine’s Zeus, seen by NRN for the first time earlier this month, was heading north again with Double Skin 40. 
Poling-Cutler’s Marilyn George and the Edwin A Poling barge, seen Tuesday returning from Albany, was heading back north again Wednesday as well after loading new cargo in Carteret. 
Boston Marine’s Pinuccia headed north with cargo on the New York 30 barge 
Miriam Moran returned to the harbor after assisting a bulk ship with docking at the wall board plant in Buchanan. 
Saint Emilion and barber A87 were looking for parking, coming up the North River Wednesday afternoon and anchoring off 72nd Street. -
Tuesday Feb 20–post holiday traffic
Kristin Poling anchored off North Bergen overnight with the line’s larger capacity Eva Leigh Cutler barge 
And then headed for the Bayonne IMTT 
The similar Marylin George came back from Albany with the smaller Edwin A Poling barge and headed for a terminal in Carteret. 
Dann Marine’s Sapphire Coast came through early with a light cement transporter barge heading back to Ravenna. 
Haugland’s Miss Madeline brought a hopper up from the harbor to meet James Charles coming down from Tompkins Cove by the bridge. James Charles seems to have taken the barge and brought it back up… 
And Miss Madeline returned light to the harbor. 
DEP’s Port Richmond was servicing the North River treatment plant. 
A red-breasted merganser was on the North River near the Boat Basin, almost exactly a year after NRN saw them on the river last. -
Washington’s Birthday—holiday traffic
Vane’s Philadelphia spent the early hours of the Monday holiday anchored off Edgewater with a tank barge before heading for Port Newark. Yonkers is visible in the background as is the tug Linda Sue anchored off Spuyten Duyvil. 
NYS Marine Highway’s Maddie K was moving two empty hoppers back to Catskill NY. 
Susan Rose and RCM 252 came down from Yonkers anchorage and headed for Mariner’s Harbor. 
Kimberly Poling had the barge Noelle Cutler loaded and heading for Albany. -
Friday Feb 16–uncommon visitors
The weekend arrived with some vessels less frequently seen on the North River passing by.
Lucy Reinauer has not been seen on NRN before and she was only reactivated last year after a period of being payed up according to Tugboatinformation.com, but on Friday she came under the bridge and headed for anchorage off Yonkers. She was paired with RTC 61 which we normally see with Stephen Reinauer. Stephen is currently anchored off New Haven, perhaps with another barge. 
Norfolk Towing’s Pathfinder is rarely seen on the North River and usually moves barges loaded with containerized municipal waste between DSNY transfer stations in Brooklyn, Queens and the Upper East Side and the Howland Hook container terminal on Staten Island or the Waste Management dock in Elizabeth. But on Friday they were running light heading up to the Yonkers sugar refinery, seemingly to help sail a dry bulk barge docked there. 
Ruth M. Reinauer is a North River regular, and on Friday night they passed the Englewood Cliffs with RTC 103, returning from Newburgh and heading for the Upper Bay. 
Marilyn George had one of Poling-Cutler’s mid-sized barges fully loaded and heading for Albany. 
Classic Harbor Line’s Manhattan II emerged from Spuyten Duyvil with Buchanan12 and the Alpine tower in the background. 
Stasinos’s James Charles pushed a hopper barge down from the Sims Metal scrap dock in Albany heading for the Bay Ridge flats. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Thursday Feb 15–safety patrol
Observed traffic was light and feature a heavy law enforcement component for no obvious reason.
A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter flew north up the river. These choppers are based at Atlantic City Airport, about 100 miles away from the North River meaning a round trip here would take up about half of the chopper’s listed range of around 400 miles. USCG has larger longer-range MH-60 Jay Hawk choppers (a variant of the Blackhawk) based in Falmouth nearly 200 miles away, but most air/sea rescue operations in New York Harbor are covered by the NYPD. 
An NYPD 35’ boat, possibly the one based at the cruise terminal, patrolled north on the North River. 
The 140’ icebreaker Sturgeon Bay made a trip up to the Mario Cuomo Bridge and then returned back to their Bayonne base. The other local Bay Class cutter, Penobscot Bay, also returned to base after spending the night anchored off Newburgh. 
CMT’s Erin Elizabeth brought loads of small and large stone south from Coeymans to the Greenville flats off Jersey City. 
The Kristy Ann/RTC 80 ATB returned from Bridgeport and headed for North River anchorage 
Haggerty Girls headed north with cargo, seen for the second day in a row paired with RTC 81, a barge we usually see paired with B. Franklin who remains at a Staten Island boatyard. -
Valentine’s Day—Marine Traffic
The North River was busy on Wednesday, with Tuesday’s snow storm perhaps having deferred some activity. The Marines were also moving up the Hudson River flight corridor, with a number of helicopters heading north. Skies were clear but temperatures dropped below freezing and winds remained elevated.
Vane Brother’s tug Charleston with the tank barge Double Skin 506 anchored on the North River after returning from Port Jefferson overnight but then headed for the Upper Bay by 0900. 
Kimberly Poling also spent the early hours anchored off 79th Street with the barge Noelle Cutler on their way back from Albany but then headed for Tremley Point on the Arthur Kill for new cargo. 
Hays’s Linda Sue came down from anchorage north of the bridge with a Vane barge, passing Kimberly en route to the Upper Bay 
But then came back up a few hours later and reanchored in their original spot. 
Sapphire Coast also passed Kimberly at slack tide, pushing a loaded cement barge down from Ravenna and heading for the Bayonne Lafarge terminal. 
Coral Coast was running light, returning to a sugar barge docked in Yonkers after visiting the facilities on the Kill van Kull. 
CMT’s Daisy Mae was on the way home to Coeymans after working Newtown Creek and the Bay Ridge Flats over the past 24 hours. 
Haggerty Girls, not seen on NRN since September, was back anchoring off 72nd with RTC 81. The Girls are normally paired with the larger RTC 107 barge, and RTC 81 is normally seen paired with B. Franklin, which is currently docked on the Kill van Kull. 
The U.S. Marines were heading north, likely flying from Lakehurst. A single viper flew up very low. 
A Huey and a second viper followed behind. 
Later a heavy lift chopper came through as well. ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized
Observations on the Hudson River as it passes through New York City. The section of the Hudson which passes through New York is historically known as the North River, called this by the Dutch to distinguish it from the Delaware River, which they knew as the South River. This stretch of the Hudson is still often referred to as the North River by local mariners today. All photos copyright Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. For more frequent updates, please follow northriverblog on Facebook or Instagram.
North River Notes 