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Holiday week
The last week of August and unofficial end of summer brought typical hot temperatures and limited commercial traffic. Several tanker barges which had been idled in the North River over the weekend headed out, but not to pick up new cargos, instead anchoring elsewhere in the harbor. Patrice McCalister remained on the River off Edgewater, and she was joined by Reinauer’s Josephine who returned from upstate with a light barge.
Timothy Reinauer prepared to depart for Gravesend Bay anchorage, while Patrice remained anchored off Edgewater with her barge on the hip Kristin Poling was moving product, heading north and passing the departing Timothy on one whistle with the towers of Journal Square in the background 
Josephine, nearly 40 years younger than the 1979 vintage Timothy, arrived with a light barge and anchored off 89th Street 
Jordan Rose left her Yonkers anchorage and headed for the Upper Bay 
DonJon was moving paper for recycling out to Staten Island from Pier 99 
The Army Corp’s Gelberman was making the rounds 
Centerline Logistics tugs brought a bunkering barge to refuel Norwegian Getaway after her early Monday arrival 
By late afternoon, crewmen were waiting on a platform to drop lines while final passengers arrived 
And she headed for Bermuda before sundown, dwarfing a Waterway ferry 
Cormorants were on patrol -
Working in pairs
Sunday brought hot temperatures and light winds out of the East. The morning was marked by tugboats working in pairs, with a pair of tugs pulling and pushing a huge Weeks crane north, and a pair of Vane Brothers tugs also heading upstate light. Anchorages were filing up, with the Cape Henry and Stephen Reinauer joined by Patrice McCalister.
This large Weeks Marine crane had a tug towing… 
And pushing as they headed north A pair of Vane Brothers tugs head north running light 
Patrice McAllister came up the River with a light barge on the line… 
And anchored with it on the hip 
Cape Henry and Stephen Reinauer remained anchored about a mile apart 
FDNY Marine One’s Three Forty Three boat was back on the river 
Farther north, a pair of motor boaters took a late afternoon dip in the shadow of the Palisades and the Englewood Cliffs monastery -
Two-way traffic
Summer is drawing to a close, but you wouldn’t know from the temperature, which remained hot Saturday. Winds were light and out of the north all day, providing less relief than in recent days. Commercial traffic on the River was heavy. The Cape Henry remained at anchor off 86th Street after arriving Friday evening and was joined by the Timothy Reinauer a bit further north later. Kimberly Poling, which had been anchored off Edgewater overnight, left in the morning hours for more cargo.
One notable move was a deck barge with varied cargo heading up from Wilmington towards the Port of Albany. The containers on the front of the barge where marked with signs saying NextEra, a green energy company with a number of solar projects upstate so presumably this is solar equipment heading north.
What seems to be solar equipment heading for Albany 
Pinuccia pushed a loaded barge passing Buchanan12 on one whistle on its daily dolomite run Coming back the other way with empty barges, Buchanan12 passed a Dann brothers tug and cement barge on two whistles 
Late in the day, Haugland Group’s Evening Mist was on the way back to the company’s Tomkins Cove facility and passed (on one whistle) Carolina Coast towing an empty sugar barge back to Florida from the Yonkers Domino plant. 
Kimberly Poling heading for new cargo after anchoring overnight in the River 
Cape Henry at anchor off 86th Street 
Stephen Reinauer anchored farther uptown 
Scrap metal from Sims Brothers Albany headed for Bayonne 
Nathan G brought crushed limestone down from Hudson NY 
A Ring Billed Gull at Pier i -
Coming and going
The August pattern of hot days moderated by steady southerly winds continued Thursday. My time on the River was limited for a change, but the day was bookended by Reinauer ATBs, with a southbound passing in the morning and a northbound in the afternoon.
The Haggerty Girls came down from Albany in the morning with a light barge and anchored in the Upper Bay 
The much older 1979 vintage Timothy Reinauer pushed a cargo towards Albany in the afternoon The Hocking, a Corps of Engineers crew boat, made a loop up the River, passing the stairs leading down to Port Imperial 
Destiny was serving lobsters as usual 
What looked like a 2’ long dead eel was floating off Pier i 
Cormorants on station as usual -
Endless summer
Temperatures climbed again Tuesday, but the steady southerly winds which have been gracing us all of August this year have continued, providing some relief on the River. Commercial traffic was typical and light.
Nathan G of Marine Highway brought hoppers of crushed limestone down from the quarry in Hudson, NY 
Late in the afternoon, the Sara D, also of Marine Highway brought back empties as well as a deck barge with construction equipment 
Haugland’s Evening Mist came through with empty hoppers (actually one of the hoppers was carrying another empty hopper) heading back to the Haugland Group’s Tomkins Cove port facility 
Pinuccia headed north with a loaded tanker barge The DEP’s Red Hook was working the North River plant 
Marine One’s Three Forty Three fireboat anchored for a short time off 70th Street 
A small NYPD boat was on patrol 
The Scot Hamburg chemical tanker departed late Monday, a few days after arriving in Albany from Dominican Republic. She was clearly lighter on the way out, though its not clear what kind of cargo might move from DR to Albany -
Raised from the depths
The sunken yacht was raised from the bottom of the river this morning. Upper West Side photographer Peter Brandt captured some photos which he shared with West Side Rag: https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/08/23/burnt-yacht-raised-from-river-bottom
Work boats at the salvage site this morning (Daniel Katzive photo) Meanwhile, the River was in the news today for other reasons as well. The New York Times has run a story detailing concerns that some members of the board of Hudson River Park Advisory Council, which advises the Trust which owns the piers south of 59th Street, have with Con Ed discharging hot water into the River from Pier 98, a by-product of the heat exchange process which the company uses to cool cables at the 49th Street substation. The article also reports that the utility discharges contaminated water from flushing steam boilers at the 59th Street steam plant, which has not been documented elsewhere as far as I know. While the concerns seem reasonable, the heat discharge aspect at least needs to be viewed in the context of the city’s goals to increase use of electricity and reduce use of natural gas and oil in residential and commercial buildings to meet environmental goals. There is no free lunch and keeping the lights on in a densely populated city will come with some environmental impact no matter what.
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Stormy Monday
Monday brought moderate temperatures and periodic thunderstorms passing through, with more on the way in the evening. Tanker traffic remained fairly heavy on the River. Meanwhile, in reporting for West Side Rag, we learned Ken’s Marine has been retained by the insurance company of the 48’ yacht which sank in the River on Saturday to salvage the vessel off the bottom. A deck barge and tug were over the location this morning, along with a 45’ Coast Guard boat, though the weather systems passing through may have interfered with their work. See the West Side Rag article for more.
A deck barge and crane and the tugboat Durham on site for salvage operations on the sunken yacht, with a Coast Guard response boat off to the left 
Janice Ann Reinauer heading north with her loaded barge 
Kimberly Poling, who passed us with a light barge heading south Sunday, was also pushing north with a cargo loaded in Cateret 
Schuylkill had a light barge coming up from Inwood on Jamaica Bay to anchor off Yonkers 
Adeline Marie pulled up its hook after several days anchored off 79th Street and headed to the Arthur Kill for a new cargo Carnival Magic took advantage of a break in the storms to leave Pier 88 with help from Kirby Moran, en route to the Carribean 
A trio of large Army helicopters headed north up the river. Look closely and you can see legs of presumably tethered soldiers dangling off the rear ramps. -
Summer in the city
Temperatures moderated Sunday and winds picked up, making for a great day to be on the water for recreation. For some mariners though, Sunday is just another working day, and commercial traffic on the River was heavy. As usual, ATBs were moving oil products north and returning light. Cement barges moved the other way, coming south loaded and returning empty, as did tugs pushing hoppers full of crushed stone and gravel.
There were no new details available on yesterday’s boat fire and sinking, though we did here from a reader responding to our West Side Rag article on the incident that the boat’s passengers were rescued from the river by a civilian motor boat and transferred to an NYPD launch. A barge with a crane was stationed where the boat went down, suggesting the Corps may make an effort to raise it this week.
Nathan G brought rock south to the building materials dock in Brooklyn 
Haugland Corp’s Evening mist brought gravel down from the company’s Tomkins Cove port facility to the Newark Bay side of Bayonne 
Sapphire Coast pushed an empty cement barge upriver from the Lafarge Brooklyn dock heading back to Ravenna for more product 
Dean Reinauer passed the Palisades on its way north to Newburgh 
The older 1968 vintage Dace Reinauer passed Weehawken heading for Albany 
Another Reinauer ATB ran light heading south past the Dyckman Street Marina Kimberly Poling brought a light barge south under the bridge before anchoring off 96th Street 
Centerline’s Adeline Marie remained anchored off 72nd Street for another day 
The DEP’s Red Hook serviced the North River plant 
A barge with a crane marked the spot where a motor yacht sank Saturday 
Swimmers took a dip off 100th Street. I declined an offer to join them. -
Boat fire
A small yacht caught fire and sank in the river on Saturday afternoon, going down off 100th Street. FDNY and North Hudson NJ Fire Department boats responded but the boat sunk in about 30 feet of water. The FDNY reported no injuries from the incident, and NBC News reported that the passengers were rescued by a civilian boat and transferred to an NYPD boat. https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/08/20/67959
North Hudson fire boat puts water on the burning boat, D. Katzive photos 
The boat went under just after 4pm -
Friday night light
ATBs awaiting new cargos accumulated at the North River anchorages Friday heading into a hot weekend. Patrice McAllister arrived Thursday night and anchored off 96th Street. She was joined by Adeline Marie, anchoring about a mile south Friday morning and then by Dean Reinauer dropping its hook off the 125th Street pier in the afternoon. An interesting small chemical tanker came through in the afternoon, with the Scot (which stands for Safe Chemical Oil Tanker according to the company’s web site) Hamburg coming up from the Caribbean and heading for Albany with unknown cargo.
Patrice McCallister at anchor Friday morning with her light barge “on the hip” 
Adeline Marie arrived Friday morning, passing ferry and sailboat traffic before anchoring off 79th Street 
Dean Reinauer loomed further north in the afternoon haze, with the small tug Pegasus in the foreground 
Pegusus was running light, heading for the Battery after attending to some business in Yonkers The Scot Hamburg, a small 8200 deadweight ton chemical tanker was heading for Albany in the afternoon, arriving from Dominican Republic 
An even smaller bunkering tanker was on the river in the morning 
As were some well equipped kayakers 
And a breakfasting cormorant
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 