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Staying the weekend
The anchorages filled up ahead of the bad weather Thursday night and four Reinauer AT/Bs remained at anchor as the skies cleared Saturday, with the Curtis, Kristy Ann and Hagerty Girls South of the bridge and the Dean north of the bridge.
Four Reinauer AT/Bs plus the Teresa at anchor Saturday morning The Dann Brothers’ Carolina Coast came through in the morning, towing an empty Sugar Express barge from the Yonkers Domino plant into the flood tide heading back to Palm Beach to load up on more raw sugar.
Carolina Coast towing an empty sugar barge The arrival of April brought a new arrival at Pier 88, one we have not seen this winter, the Norwegian Epic. The Epic is scheduled to sail for Barcelona today, a 15-day one way crossing with stops in Bermuda, Portugal and along the south coast of Spain, after which she will be doing cruises on the Mediterranean.
Norwegian Epic looms above and behind Pier 99 -
The barge in your backyard
For some time I have been wanting to write an explainer article for my neighbors about the barges and tugs we see anchored along the Hudson every day. Thousands of people observe these vessels daily but most have very little idea what they are and what they do. Thanks to the West Side Rag, an online local newspaper covering the Upper West Side, I have been able to do this and, judging by the comments so far, it seems as if at least some people wanted to know more about what they were observing. The article can be viewed here: https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/03/30/the-barges-and-other-big-boats-in-your-backyard
Meanwhile, Thursday saw the wind shift to the south, pushing a bank of fog in from the harbor in the morning which burned off somewhat by noon. A small craft advisory was in effect all day for the harbor, but the river was actually pretty calm and a number of AT/Bs have dropped anchor in the river, perhaps to get out of the chop. Thunderstorms were forecast to roll in by the evening hours and there were six tug/barge combinations at anchor in the river by the end of the day, including the long-term resident Teresa.
AT/Bs at anchor this afternoon 
Six AT/Bs at anchor in the North River by end of day Thursday
Source: MarineTrafficTwo Dann Marine tugs were anchored with barges in the river overnight. The Coral Coast, with its distinctive stripped tower and large pushing “knees”, weighed anchor early and headed for the Bayonne fuel terminal and then south down the Arthur Kill. The Emerald Coast left later and headed for a slip in Brooklyn.
Coral Coast leaves the river in the morning fog… 
…followed by the Emerald Coast The Coast Guard cutter Sturgeon Bay, which we saw Wednesday anchored 30 miles north in Haverstraw Bay, returned to New York and tied up at home at Coast Guard Station Bayonne behind her sister ship the Penobscot Bay.
Sturgeon Bay returns to base, passing anchored barges and a northbound NYPD 45’ launch The Corps of Engineers was busy clearing hazards from the river.
Corps of Engineers boat in front of the Lincoln Tunnel vents 
A large tree wedged in place south of Pier I, within the pierhead line so hopefully out of harm’s way -
North of North
A trip 30 miles up the Hudson on Wednesday to Verplanck, NY, beyond the limits of the North River, found some familiar vessels. The Coast Guard Cutter Sturgeon Bay, which passed us heading north on Tuesday, was anchored near the top of Haverstraw Bay.
USCGC Sturgeon Bay anchored in Haverstraw Bay Sitting across the river at Stony Point is an old fire boat which looks like the retired FDNY fire boat John D. McKean. The McKean is apparently wintering at Panco Petroleum in Stony Point but will return to Pier 25 in Tribeca in Spring 2022 (https://www.fireboatmckean.org/about ). The McKean is not to be confused with the older retired John Harvey fire boat which is moored at Pier 66.
The John D. McKean wintering in Stony Point These sailboats have also been wintering up north, in the Viking Boatyard in Verplanck, but will soon be returning to their moorings off Pier 66 or Dyckman Street.
North River sailboats ready to return for Spring The Viking Boatyard is also home to some boats that are not usually seen in the North River. Two tugboats, the Emil Johannsen and Fred Johannsen apparently reside there. So does a Westchester County Police marine unit, a New York State Environmental Conservation Police Boat and two boats from the New York Naval Militia which is the marine component of the National Guard.
Tugboats residing at Viking Boatyard 
Police and military boats docked in Verplanck The Hudson River is at its widest at Haverstraw Bay but narrows significantly beyond Stony Point on the west side of the river and Verplanck on the east. The River Division of CSX railroad running on the right of way of the old West Shore Railroad comes down to meet the river at Haverstraw and then runs along its west bank heading north to Albany. The line sees multiple large freight trains every day heading between Albany’s Selkirk Yard and the rail yards in North Jersey, including the southbound intermodal train and northbound manifest freight pictured below. South of Haverstraw, the rail line moves inland and is not visible from the river.
A CSX manifest freight train emerges along the river after passing north through Stony Point. Cormorants perch on the old piers in the foreground. The fire tower on top of Jackie Jones Mountain in Harriman State Park is in the background. 
CSX intermodal freight approaches Stony Point heading south Closer to home, the unusually designed Chesapeake Coast arrived with an empty barge and anchored in the North River on Wednesday.
Dann Marine’s Chesapeake Coast anchored in the North River -
Look up!
Temperatures crept back above freezing on Tuesday but the biting northwest wind continued to blow keeping recreational activity on the river to a minimum and even commercial traffic was rather light. Most of the action Tuesday was in the air. A pair of Air Force C130 transports made two loops up the river. They were too low to appear on FlightRadar24 more than sporadically, so we cannot tell where they originated or where they were heading. Earlier, a Blackhawk helicopter originating at MacArthur Airport in Islip with what looked like external fuel tanks mounted made a loop up the river past the bridge, circled the Statue of Liberty and then headed back for Islip. MacArthur is the home of the New York Army National Guard 3rd Battalion’s 142nd Aviation Regiment. Presumably this was a training mission with a bit of light sight seeing thrown in.
Air Force C130Hs take a trip up the North River at low altitude 
Army National Guard Blackhawk with external fuel tanks tours the river Back on the water, Janice Ann Reinauer came through with a loaded barge pushing for Albany, passing Pier 99 and a NY Waterway ferry heading for midtown.
Janice Ann Reinauer pushing for Albany past Pier 99 The NY Waterway’s weekday Engelwood ferry was making its morning rounds and Coast Guard Cutter Sturgeon Bay was heading upstate. Susan Rose arrived with a light barge and anchored, while Buchanan12 made its daily delivery from the quarry.
The Englewood ferry passes the Galaxy buildings in Guttenberg 
USCGC Sturgeon Bay heads north for the day 
Susan Rose entered the river and dropped anchor near 120th Street 
Susan Rose at anchor south of the bridge 
Buchanan12 made its daily run from the Clinton Point quarry… 
…and then went back for more 
The Boat Basin remains a ghost town, with even the ducks lying low today -
Winter takes another bite
Sub-freezing temperatures and winds whipping out of the northwest made for unpleasant conditions to start the week and activity on the river remained light. City workers and city contractors were busy hauling away weekend detritus, as the DEP’s Red Hook hauled sludge away from the North River plant to Hunts Point for dewatering and Donjon Marine brought an empty scow to Pier 99 to be loaded with paper waste for recycling into boxes at the Pratt mill on Staten Island.
The Red Hook loaded and heading for Hunts Point 
Empty scow delivery for DSNY at Pier 99 Buchanan12 pushed empty hoppers back up to Clinton Point to pick up more rock. Which is more amazing, the endless supply of rock that can be quarried day after day, year after year up there or the insatiable demand that brings so many tons of rock south nearly every day?
Buchanan12 going back for more rocks The long-term resident tug Teresa, now here for many weeks, received a water delivery from a supply vessel the Samantha Miller.
Delivery heading for the Teresa -
No March lamb yet
March is showing no lamb-like characteristics yet, as a wicked west wind continues to blow, temperatures are plunging and an arctic blast is expected. By the end of Sunday, snow flurries were occurring and traffic on the river was light. Dean Reinauer weighed anchor in the early hours and headed to Perth Amboy for new cargo. Dean was replaced by Janice Ann Reinauer, which returned from Newburgh and dropped anchor off 72nd Street, about a mile south of the long-term resident Teresa.
Janice Ann Reinauer anchored in front of the Galaxy buildings of Guttenberg 
Teresa and the bridge The Norwegian Getaway was back in town in the morning, returning from its weekly run to the Bahamas. The Getaway and the Norwegian Gem, which does weekly runs to the Caribbean, have been the only ships visiting Pier 88 regularly this winter. Getaway had got away again by mid-afternoon, running ahead of the drop in temperatures back towards Florida and the Bahamas.
Norwegian Getaway pokes out from behind the DSNY’s Pier 99 The hybrid duck couple remain residents in the Boat Basin ghost town. No word yet on when construction (destruction) will begin there.
Mr and Mrs Hybrid Duck patrol the empty Boat Basin A pair of low flying Huey type helicopters came through late in the day. They were too low from FlightRadar24 but their colors did not look military, perhaps law enforcement of some kind.
Helicopters flew over the Janice Ann heading south 
With ambiguous markings -
Westerly winds
Brisk west winds brought occasional rain squalls but mostly sunny skies on Saturday. Sewage does not pause for the weekend unfortunately, and the DEP’s Red Hook continued its appointed rounds servicing the North River plant and ferrying sludge to the Hunts Point plant for dewatering. The structure visible above the middle of the tanker is the Weehawken Water Tower built in 1883 (see https://www.brownstoner.com/upstate/weehawken-water-tower-new-jersey-hackensack-water-company/).
DEP’s Red Hook cruises past Weehawken 
Kimberly Poling pushed a loaded barge from the Sunoco Logistics pipeline terminal in Newark, passing the 1957 vintage Francis with empty hoppers. 
Dean Reinauer has been at anchor near Grant’s Tomb for the past two days, north of the long-term resident Teresa 
Vane Brothers Jacksonville left the river with an empty barge after anchoring overnight 
Evelyn Cutler pushed a loaded barge from Bayonne heading for Albany -
Back in the fog
The wind swung around to the northeast Thursday and brought in wet weather and more fog, not ideal conditions for river traffic and even less ideal for photographing river traffic. The DEP’s Red Hook sludge tanker came through early, servicing the North River sewage plant and ferrying residual solids to the Hunts Point plant for dewatering. Red Hook was trailed by about 1/2 mile by the tug boat Susquehanna, coming through with an empty oil can lashed to the hip. Susquehanna went on to anchor north of the bridge off Riverdale.
DEP’s Red Hook heads for North River plant trailed by Susquehanna Mackenzie Rose came through with two empty and one loaded hoppers after traveling up to Coeymans overnight and headed for the Greenville anchorage off Jersey City and then a dock in Brooklyn.
Mackenzie Rose heads for Jersey City after a round trip up north 
Corps of Engineers tug Gelberman passed West New York, made a loop up to the bridge and then returned to its Bayonne base. 
Mr. Jim returned from Coeymans with an empty hopper -
Drill Baby Drill
Wednesday brought sunny skies but temperatures only in the 40s and persistently brisk winds. For most of the morning, a quartet of Coast Guard 29’ response boats was conducting drills in the river. Two of the boats had their machine guns mounted and manned in the bow.
Coast Guard 29’ boats drill with machine guns mounted 
The Dean Reinauer headed up the river for Newburgh with a barge loaded at the Bayonne terminal. Christian Reinauer, which we saw Tuesday heading up river with no barge, apparently picked up an empty barge in Albany and passed us returning Wednesday.
Dean Reinauer passes Weehawken pushing for Newburgh 
Christian Reinauer returns from Albany with an empty barge, passing the condos and sewage treatment tanks of West New York 
The DEP’s Red Hook passed the Port Imperial Ferry Terminal en route to the North River plant to pick up sewage sludge for processing in Hunts Point 
Mackenzie Rose headed home to Coeymans with a high sided hopper barge -
Landing craft find new purpose
Two repurposed landing craft passed through the North River today, apparently having found new missions in the marine construction industry. The first was under its own power and had no visible markings on the bow and was not reporting information on AIS so we cannot identify it. It appeared to be an old landing craft with a more modern pilot house added. The second was being pushed by a tug, which also was not visible on AIS trackers, but still has its navy numbers painted on the bow. Landing craft 1657 was a Utility Landing Craft launched in 1971. It probably never saw any action, but you can see photos of it participating in drills on this site: http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/18/181657.htm . According to the Navsource site, it was sold at GSA auction in 2020.
Unknown construction vessel which looks like a modified landing craft 
The former Utility Landing Craft 1657 being pushed upriver The Coast Guard 65’ harbor tug Hawser, which spent the night anchored near the bridge, passed by early in the day heading for the Bayonne Coast Guard station. Later in the morning, the cutter Sycamore, a buoy tender, also headed south towards Sandy Hook having started the day up near Poughkeepsie.
USCGC Hawser returns to its Bayonne base 
USCG buoy tender Sycamore heads for Sandy Hook Ruth Reinauer remained at anchor in the river, just a bit north of the ever-present Teresa. The Vanes Brothers Nanticoke and the Saint Emilion passed them in the afternoon with loaded barges heading for Albany.
Nanticoke and Saint Emilion pass the anchored Teresa and Ruth Reinauer 
Nanticoke pushing a loaded barge for Albany Late in the day, Buchanan12 came through with hoppers full of stone from the Tilcon quarry in Clinton Point south of Poughkeepsie. In the background are visible the domes of St. Michael’s Monastery Church in Union City, built in 1875 as a Catholic church and now home to a Korean Presbyterian congregation (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_and_Church_of_Saint_Michael_the_Archangel ) and, to the left, the steeple of St. Joseph’s church, the current home to St. Joseph and Michael’s Catholic parish church in Union City.
Buchanan12 pushes a load of stone past the Weehawken ferry terminal below and the spires of Union City on top of the cliff above
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 