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Summer weekends
As we move into mid-summer, the days start to run together. Heat, interrupted by occasional storms, and winds from the southeast building as the heat builds up through the day making for excellent afternoon and evening sailing. River traffic continues as usual, and boaters, sailors, paddle boarders and even swimmers are out in force.
The Naval Academy’s yard patrol training boats returned for a third time this summer and tied up at Pier 86 for a weekend in New York 
Mister Jim ran into a summer squall coming down from Coeymans with hopper barges on Saturday 
A J80 sailboat passed the massive “Water’s Soul” sculpture in Jersey City Friday evening A DonJon Marine tug pushed hopper barges past the Statue, Ellis Island, and the old Jersey Central Terminal Friday evening 
Another DonJon tug moved light in the other direction 
A Reinauer ATB headed north towards Albany 
New Jersey State Police pitched in on river patrol duty 
Buchanan12 approached the Bridge on its daily run from the quarry 
Dann Marine pushed a loaded cement barge past the Cloisters 
The Haggerty Girls ATB ended the weekend anchored off 96th Street 
A group of kayakers and paddle boarders on Saturday 
Kayakers and a paddle boarder pass the Dyckman Street Marina and the convent on top of the Palisades in Englewood Cliffs 
A J24 ran wing-on-wing under the Bridge Sunday 
Small boats and kayaks escort a long distance swimmer under the Bridge 
A Navy E-2D advanced Hawkeye flew up from Oceana Air Station in Norfolk Virginia and made a loop up the Hudson 
Marine Viper attack helicopters continued to run training flights up the river ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Calm but sad
I always feel calmer when I’m by the River, but this morning the calm was mixed with a heavy dose of sadness knowing that an 8-year old boy had died in yesterday’s afternoon’s boating accident. The river is wonderful and vital, but it is also crowded and powerful, and can be dangerous at times.
The local press has covered the accident heavily. The Daily News has some good detail and a photo of the boat being raised, as does WNBC news. It seems the victims were twelve members of a family, some of whom were visiting from Colombia, who had chartered the boat. The owner of the boat was following close behind on a jet ski and assisted in the rescue attempts.
According to WNBC, the boat itself was a 24’ Yamaha AR240 jet drive powerboat, an open boat with a soft top. The Daily News article has a photo of the boat being raised out of the water by the Corps of Engineers which seems consistent with this.
The cause of the tragedy will of course be carefully investigated. The Daily News quoted a Harbor Patrol officer as indicating they believed wakes from passing ferries may have contributed and that the boat may have been overloaded. Eleven adults does seem like a lot for a 24’ boat, but the official capacity of the boat is 12 according to The Boat Guide website.
Conditions at the time of the accident (2:45pm) were reasonably calm though there were advisories in affect ahead of thunderstorms expected later. There was an ebb tide running against a southerly wind, and ferries can create big wakes. Perhaps they hit a large wake awkwardly at speed, or got rolled by a wave hitting the beam with too much weight on one side. As near as I can tell, the incident occurred mid-river off Pier 86 or so, but the boat would have drifted south with the ebb and emergency services staged off Pier 79 as seen in yesterday’s post.
The crane boat in the Daily News photo is the Corps of Engineers boat Hayward, which often is in the river fishing out large tree limbs (or tree trunks) but is sometimes called on for special salvage operations. We watched the Hayward fish an engine off the bottom from United Airways 1549 after it broke off in the 2009 emergency landing and saw her pull a wrecked WWII era fighter plane out of the river after it crashed near the Jersey side in 2016. Coincidentally I photographed the Hayward earlier in the day on Tuesday, about an hour before the accident, with the crew certainly unaware of the grim turn their day would take.
The Hayward on the river an hour before the accident Meanwhile, activity was fairly light on Wednesday on the river, and seemed weighted towards military vessels for whatever reason. A 44’ boat belonging to the New York Naval Militia, the naval arm of the National Guard, passed by in the morning heading north with no AIS signal. Later in the day, four Coast Guard 29’ boats were doing their drills off Riverside Park, with machine guns mounted on two boats as usual.
NY Naval Militia (National Guard) boat heading north 
Coast Guard 29’ boats drilling 
Marine Viper attack helicopters on a training flight 
A Blackhawk heading south 
A view from Spuyten Duyvil: Saint Emilion anchored off Yonkers with East Coast and a sugar barge and the Mario Cuomo Bridge beyond 
The Spuyten Duyvil Amtrak Bridge, by some definitions the north limit of the North River 
A jet skier emerging from the Harlem River, with a Metro-North Hudson Line train on the Bronx shore in the background 
A NYC Parks Department powerboat off Inwood Hill Park 
Sarah D brought a load of gravel down from Albany 
Kimberly Poling passed the bridge with an empty barge after leaving its anchorage off Yonkers, heading for Cataret 
Buchanan12 with on its usual mission -
Capsized
Tuesday saw a terrible accident on the river as a small boat carrying twelve people capsized and partially sunk. Ten people were rescued by ferries according to reports, but FDNY and NYPD divers had to retrieve two. Apparently, two were brought to the hospital in serious or critical condition. There was no word on what kind of boat was involved. UPDATE: Local media is reporting that a child and a 20-year old women were declared dead on arrival at area hospitals. A sad day on the river.
The response was massive, with a staging area set up by the NY Waterway docks at Pier 79. Conditions at the time of the accident were calm, with the incident occurring well ahead of heavy thunderstrorms expected to move in from the south this evening. For more, see https://nypost.com/2022/07/12/four-hospitalized-2-critically-after-boat-capsizes-in-hudson-river-near-nyc-pier/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
Photo from WCBS via NY Post 
Photo by Daniel Katzive 
Photo by Daniel Katzive 
Photo by Daniel Katzive The day started out quite typical for a summer weekday, with the usual mix of commercial and recreational activity. The small cruise ship Insignia was in town, heading out in the late afternoon for Bermuda with help from Moran Towing.
A cabin cruiser passed by in the morning, heading up to Croton-on-Hudson 
The icebreaker Sturgeon Bay on a summer patrol made a loop up to Tarrytown 
Mister Jim, with some red added to his new grey paint, brought some rocks down from Coeymans 
Buchanan12 was on her usual route down from the quarry 
Port Richmond, one of the three newer DEP tankers, was working the North River plant with Red Hook still apparently out of service. 
Insignia at Pier 90 
Miriam Moran helped the Insignia cruise ship leave the dock 
J80 sailboats ran with spinnakers with the southerly wind -
Student driver
The Training Ship Kennedy arrived today at Pier 88. The ship belongs to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy which uses it for a winter sea term, but in the summer it is attached to Texas A&M Maritime Academy for their summer sea term. The ship is a former freighter launched in 1967. A&M’s summer voyage brought them to Iceland and they are stopping here in New York on the way back to Galveston. The crew has attached a “Student Driver” sign on the stern for laughs.
The TS Kennedy at Pier 88 on Monday Typical summer hot temperatures prevailed on Monday and traffic was moderate. The Adeline Marie and Cape Canaveral are still anchored in the river, but the Barry Silverton made an early departure and headed down to the Kill van Kull off Bayonne.
The Adeline Marie off 72nd Street 
Cape Canaveral anchored further up, with Boat Basin Marina in foreground A Coast Guard 45’ response boat stopped a small yacht and 3 Coasties boarded for about 15 minutes, likely for a safety inspection. They later spent some time alongside a jet skier.
Safety inspection? 
Speaking with a jet skier 
A motoring schooner passed the Adeline Marie at slack tide 
DonJon Marine taking the recycling out, bound for Pratt paper mill in Staten Island 
Buchanan12 heading back to Clinton Point for more stone 
Coral Coast bringing an empty cement barge back from the College Point, Queens depot and heading back to the Lafarge Ravenna plant 
Swimmers were doing laps off 72nd Street, using the old unused kayak dock there as a base We continue to see more seaplanes than ever this summer, with both Blade and Tailwind running flights to New England and the Hamptons. The planes take off on the East River, loop around the Battery and up the North River to gain altitude and then cut east across Westchester.
An outbound seaplane on Monday ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Sunday blues
Another pleasant, hot but breezy day on the river Sunday with heavy commercial and recreational traffic. Krisitin Poling lefter her anchorage early but was replaced by Centerline’s Adeline Marie. Adeline Marie is, according to tugboatinformation.com, another former Bouchard boat which was briefly leased to Unico Commodities last year under the name Rubio (Unico being also the former owner of our old friend Teresa, which spent six week’s in the North River this winter). Another of Centerline’s tugs, the Billy Silverton remained anchored off Grants Tomb, with the Cape Canaveral sitting in between.
Adeline Marie arrived and anchored off 72nd 
Cape Canaveral and Billy Silverton a bit further upriver A day after the Knot Refined barge left us, a new load of sugar was heading for Yonkers, with the Carolina Coast pushing the smaller and older Sugar Express barge up from Florida. East Coast continues to be based up near the Yonkers plant though she made a visit to a boat yard in Staten Island on Sunday.
Carolina Coast and Sugar Express head for Yonkers 
East Coast heads back to Yonkers after a day on Staten Island Tanker traffic was mainly empties heading south, with a Reinauer ATB and the Evelyn Curtis passing through. It was a tight squeeze as the Reinauer boat passed the anchored Adele Marie and the upbound Sugar Express at the same time. Pinuccia had to squeeze around a departing Norwegian Joy later in the afternoon.
Evelyn Cutler pushing an empty down from Albany 
Tight squeeze in the afternoon traffic 
Nicole Leigh Reinauer returning from Newburgh 
Pinuccia squeezed close to the Jersey side with its loaded barge to avoid Norwegian Joy backing out as it headed for Bermuda 
Buchanan12’s Sunday load was a bit lighter than usual One of the regular fishermen on Pier i caught a nice looking stripped bass in the morning. At 18”, it was 8” short of regulation and had to be thrown back, though the fisherman took some scales which he sends to the State DEC for research purposes. Marine pilots were busy, with a trio of Ospreys heading north in the afternoon.
USMC Ospreys heading north ©2024 Daniel Katzive Uncategorized -
Back so soon?
Aruna Berk passed us on July 1 heading for Buchanan with a load of gypsum from Spain (see Wind and Wallboard). She headed back to sea a week later on July 8, passing ahead of the departing Italian destroyer visiting Pier 88. However, she was back again a day later. Having made a big loop in the Lower Bay, the Berk came back up the North River Friday night and by Saturday evening was heading for either Coeymans or Albany, likely picking up a new cargo, perhaps scrap metal.
Aruna Berk makes a second trip up the Hudson within a week Late Friday we saw the DEP tanker Red Hook leaving the North River sewage plant trailed closely by the Ellen McAllister. Ellen accompanied the Red Hook back to Wards Island where she remained tied up all day Saturday, suggesting Red Hook may indeed be experiencing some mechanical difficulty. The North River tanker serviced the plant on Saturday. The North River is the oldest of the DEP’s tankers, dating back to 1974, and is the only one still in service from the days when sludge was dumped far out to sea rather than dewatered and disposed of on land (or converted to fertilizer products).
The 1974 vintage North River DEP tanker heading for the North River plant The pusher tug J. Arnold Witte headed up to the Yonkers sugar refinery, likely to help the large dry bulk barge Knot Refined get underway. Shortly after, the Ruby Coast came through with Knot Refined on the line, heading back to Florida a little over a week after the pair arrived.
The J. Arnold Witte pusher tug head north to Yonkers 
Ruby Coast has Knot Refined on the line, light and heading back to Florida Saturday was a beautiful day to be on the water, and free kayaking was back at Pier 96. The kayakers are confined to a small bay between Pier 97 and Pier 94, which seems limiting to me but at least they can get on the water safely.
Free kayaking at Pier 96 
A team of outrigged canoers were less confined, fighting the ebb tide through the dolphins protecting Pier I Three tanker barges were layed up in the anchorages waiting for work, the Saint Emilion, which replaced its Poling-Cutler fleet mate the Kristin-Poling off 72nd Street, the Cape Canaveral of Kirby Corp further up, and, back at Grants Tomb for the second time in a week, the Barry Silverton, this time with an empty barge.
Cape Canaveral and Barry Silverton at anchor on Saturday 
Saint Emilion at anchor off 72nd Street 
Friendly neighborhood cormorant -
Summer Friday
Moderate temperatures gave way to rain in the afternoon. River traffic was fairly light and typical, without any notable movement. Krisitin Poling anchored off 72nd Street late Thursday with an empty barge and remained there for all of Friday. The Poling-Cutler tugs seem to usually favor anchorages further upriver near the bridge or beyond but the Krisitin was further south today.
Ellen McAllister headed up to the North River sewage plant to meet the DEP’s Red Hook and then shadowed the Red Hook downriver as it headed back to Hunts Point—perhaps the Red Hook was experiencing some mechanical difficulty.
Kristin Poling at anchor off 72nd Street Friday 
The Army Corps’ Gelberman tug made a loop up the river for a second day in a row 
Vane Brothers Charleston pushed a barge north from the Chevron asphalt plant on the Arthur Kill, heading for Albany 
Buchanan12 headed back north to pick up more stone and gravel 
The Ellen McCallister travelled to the North River plant to escort the DEP’s Red Hook tanker 
An Army Chinook came south from Stewart Airbase in Newburgh, looped around the Statue and headed back north for a second day in a row -
Ciao Caio Duilio
The Italian navy destroyer Caio Duilio has been visiting New York City, tied up at Pier 88 after participating in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic. She departed Thursday morning, with some help from two Moran tugs.
Caio Duilio departing Pier 88 with help from Moran Towing The bulker Aruna Berk passed by as the Duilio was getting underway, having discharged its cargo of gypsum in Buchanan last week (see Wind and Wallboard).
Aruna Berk heads to sea ahead of a soon-to-depart Italian destroyer The super yacht Lunasea remains anchored off 79th Street. The Yacht has multiple tenders for retrieving passengers and supplies from on shore, including this open one tied up on the stern.
Lunasea and a tender Buchanan12 was making its daily gravel delivery from the Clinton Point Tilcon quarry. I continue to be periodically amazed by both the seemingly endless supply of rock in that location and the insatiable demand for the product down here. Meanwhile, Coeymans Marine Towing’s Daisy Mae was bringing sand, a key cement ingredient probably mined in South Jersey, home to Coeymans. The Tugster blog had a good article on this trade several years ago: https://tugster.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/daisy-mae/
Buchanan12 pushing gravel south 
Daisy Mae heading north with sand 
Evelyn Cutler was heading south with a light barge after a delivery at the Buckeye Terminal north of Newburgh 
A Reinauer AT/B was also on its way out 
Reinauer’s Matthew Tibetts, not one of their ATB tugs, brought an empty barge down from Peekskill on the hip 
Quenames was coming the other direction with a heavy barge 
An Army Chinook dual rotor chopper flew down from upstate, looped around the Statue and headed back up -
Back to work and play
The HOS Browning supply vessel which had been anchored off 72nd Street since Friday pulled up its anchor Wednesday and headed back to its berth in Elizabeth. She was replaced by a luxury yacht, the Lunasea. While the North River anchorages are mainly used by tanker barges, super yachts will sometimes anchor here as well in the summer, and use their launches to shuttle back and forth to Manhattan via the Chelsea Piers Marina. The Lunasea is a 73m yacht owned by Yahn Bernier, a video game developer, though it is also available for charter.
The Lunasea and one of its launches being passed by an NYPD boat 
The Army Corp’s Gelberman passing the Lunasea 
Vane Brothers’ Susquehanna with an empty barge on the line coming down from an asphalt depot upstate and heading for Philadelphia 
Former Bouchard tugs are increasingly on the river as the vessels are purchased from the liquidated company and returned to service. This was the Jordan Rose at anchor with her barge on the hip. 
Buchanan12 passed Pier 99 on its usual route up to Clinton Point quarry 
The Schuylkill brought an empty upriver and anchored off Yonkers 
Carnival Magic headed out from Pier 88 on another run to the Eastern Caribbean with help from the James D. Moran -
After the fourth
The fifth of July arrived with little fanfare, pleasant temperatures and periodic rain. The small cruise ship Insignia arrived from Europe, loaded passengers and headed off for Bermuda in the evening with some assistance from JRT Moran.
Cruise ship Insignia heads for Bermuda with JRT Moran helping on the stern The offshore supply vessel HOS Browning has remained anchored off 72nd Street since Friday. As we discussed in Friday’s post, the vessel is involved in drilling for an offshore wind project in the New York Bight.
HOS Browning at anchor Coeymans Marine Towing’s Mister Jim came through pushing a load of large rocks and sporting a new gray paint job in place of the old red and white livery.
Mister Jim pushing rocks with a new paint job 
J. Arnold Witte was moving the other direction, passing the Browning with an empty hopper 
DEP’s Red Hook sludge tanker passing the Browning 
Timothy Reinauer ATB returning empty from Albany and heading for the Upper Bay 
On July 4, NYPD airships got ready for the celebrations to begin 
One power boater’s July 4 excursion ended with a tow ©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 