Category: Uncategorized
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Heading back to work
Northeast winds brought periodic rain to the river on Sunday. The big Reinauer jamboree in the North River broke up, with Haggerty Girls making an early departure and heading for the company dock in Staten Island, Kristy Ann making a morning run down to the IMTT Terminal in Bayonne, and Dean also heading in that…
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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. The Dann Brothers’ Carolina Coast came through in the morning, towing an empty…
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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…
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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. Sitting across the river at Stony Point is an old fire…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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. The Dean Reinauer headed up the river for…
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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…
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Busy and breezy
The bulker Peristil came down the river just before sundown on Sunday evening, riding high with her rudder visible after having unloaded a cargo in Albany. Before Albany, Peristil had loaded in northern Chile, making it likely that road salt was what she brought with her. The Peristil anchored in the harbor overnight and was…
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Importing cement
A short trip away from the North River found the Panama-flagged NACC New Yorker unloading cement at the McInnis Cement depot in Oak Point in the Bronx, on the northeastern end of the East River before it becomes Long Island Sound. McInnis manufactures cement at a plant on the end of the Gaspe Peninsula in…
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Burning off the fog
Saturday morning started out in dense fog once again, but the haze had burned off by late morning, giving way to a sunny and warm afternoon. Air temperatures rose into the 60s, but the water remains cold in the mid 40s range. The tugboat Frances headed upstate with an empty scow. According to tugboatinfo.com http://www.tug44.org/tugboats.trawlers/tug-frances/…
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Later daylight
Daylight savings time means more opportunity to observe traffic late in the day on the river. Tuesday saw Buchanan12 pushing a float of empty hoppers at slack tide heading back up to the Tilcon quarry at Clinton Point. In the photo, the FDNY’s 27’ Marine 1a small boat passes heading downriver towards its Chelsea headquarters.…
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Back to the 80s
Away from the river for a bit so its time for a throwback to the late 1980s. Here the old Cunard QE2 leaves Pier 88 with some help from Margaret Moran. Built in the 1960s, this version of the QE2 had the lines more of an old ocean liner than a modern cruise ship. She…
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Drying out
Clearer skies and warmer weather arrived Thursday, and so did Norwegian Gem, returning from the Caribbean. A Vane Brothers tug arrived with a fuel barge for bunkering, and then the Gem was on her way again by sundown, heading back towards San Juan. The tugboat Frances came through from Albany, heading for Tottenville. Mackenzie Rose…
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What goes up must come down
Snow, sleet and fog kept river traffic low on Wednesday. The bulker Nordic Skagen, which passed us Monday heading up to the Port of Coeymans, came through again on the way out of town, periodically blasting its horn in low visability. There was no obvious change in draft between arrival and departure, though presumably she…
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Windy and clear
Windy conditions persisted Tuesday, and a number of tugs with empty barges were laid up in North River anchorages in the morning before heading out in the afternoon. Mister Jim came through with an empty hopper on the way down from Coeymans, passing an anchored Rubia and a Vane Brothers tug pushing upriver with a…
North River Notes 