Category: Uncategorized
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Search and Rescue
The Coast Guard demonstrated the service’s search and rescue capabilities on Pier 86 Thursday, ahead of Friday’s Veterans Day parade at which the Coast Guard will be the “featured service.” The Coast Guard brought in a Jayhawk MH60 helicopter, the Coast Guard version of the Blackhawk, and dropped a rescue swimmer in the water who…
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Parade of Ships
The Coast Guard will be the “featured service” at Friday’s New York City Veterans Day. In recognition of this, USCG organized a small parade of ships, entering the Harbor this morning and proceeding up to the passenger ship terminal. The flagship was the Cape May-based 154’ fast response cutter Lawrence Lawson, which docked at the…
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Moderating
Monday verged on outright summer, but by Tuesday the northeast was easing back into autumn, and a tropical storm is predicted to arrive this weekend. Saint Emilion left its North River anchorage, headed for the Arthur Kill and was in the Upper Bay by evening. Kimberly Poling was at anchor Tuesday morning, and was joined…
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In transit
Helping to transit a J80 sailboat from Inwood to winter quarters in Verplanck provided a great opportunity to observe the Hudson north of the section known as the North River. We covered the 25 nautical miles in about 5.5 hours thanks to favorable southerly winds and a flood tide. Commercial traffic was light along the…
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Too much of a good thing?
Conditions began to move into the “a little too good” category on Saturday, with temperatures creeping up into the 70s. Recreational boaters lucky enough not to have taken their boats out for the winter yet were enjoying things, and the commercial crews were probably also content not to be freezing.
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Free parking
The glorious days continue, with early Friday fog lifting by midday and giving way to conditions that felt more like spring than autumn. The anchorages have been busy, with Patrice McCalister and a Poling-Cutler tug at rest Thursday with empty barges on the hip, and Saint Emilion and Evelyn Cutler in residence on Friday. Saint…
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Is this November?
UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 6: The fireboat John McKean remains in Haverstraw, so it is unclear which fireboat is now tied up at Pier 25. To be investigated further. Temperatures have remained surprisingly warm as we move into November, which may provide some welcome relief to stressed distillate markets. Mid-week North River traffic seemed light, though…
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Closing out a warm October
Halloween and All Saints Day have come and gone, and still temperatures continue to peak in the 60s. River traffic has been fairly typical, though we continue to watch for signs that the extreme levels of disruption in the northeast diesel markets is affecting tanker patterns. The cruise terminal continues to see departures of final…
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Last Sunday in October
The last Sunday in October brought clear skies, mild temperatures and light winds. River traffic was fairly typical, though there were a fair number of sailboats and pleasure craft heading north, likely to winter quarters as November approaches.
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Back from the shop and atypical moves
Saint Emilion was anchored in the North River Saturday. Saint Emilion is a regular on the New York Harbor to Albany route, but has been absent for several months, a period coinciding with her being hauled out for maintenance at a Bayonne boat yard (as well-documented in August by the Tugster blog). Otherwise, Saturday was…
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Out of town visitors
Friday brought clear skies but also a sharp drop in temperatures back down to more typical late October levels. The tugboat Copper Mountain anchored in the North River with an empty barge. This tug lists St. Louis as its hailing port, and it arrived here from the Gulf of Mexico this week. Another out of…
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Protecting navigation
Two Federal government boats with cranes were on the River Thursday, from different agencies but with similar missions. The Army Corps of Engineers Hayward patrols for obstructions to navigation on or near the surface, including large tree limbs and trunks. The Coast Guard’s Katherine Walker services buoys which mark the navigation channel for large ships…
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Burning off
The thick layer of haze that sat over New York from Sunday through Tuesday was finally burning off Wednesday afternoon. Temperatures were unseasonably warm, but with the sun setting before 6pm now for the rest of the winter, opportunities for photography are somewhat reduced. Tanker traffic remains heavy on the River, and the DonJon dredgers…
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Send in the clouds
The string of perfect fall days came to an end on Sunday, with periodic rain and fog rolling in and lingering through Monday. The Dutch and Danish NATO frigates that had been sitting at Pier 88 headed back to sea Monday morning, perhaps to rejoin the brand new U.S. carrier Gerald Ford off Virginia Beach…
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Crisp and cool
Autumn colors and crisp conditions have continued into the weekend, though some rain is expected Sunday. Loaded tankers were heading north, probably mainly carrying heating oil, empty tankers, stone hoppers, and loaded cement barges came south, and leaf tours were also heading north.
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NATO in New York
October continues to provide stunning clear cool days as autumnal colors push south. A trio of NATO frigates arrived in New York Thursday, two Dutch and one Danish, and took up residence on the south side of Pier 88 following participation in NATO exercises. Commercial traffic has remained rather light.
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Glorious weekend
Glorious fall conditions prevailed through the weekend with temperatures in the 60s and light winds. The leaf color line has finally moved down to New York City, with trees along the river looking fiery. River traffic was light, though there were many recreational boats heading north to see the colors.
North River Notes 