|
|
4 & 5 October 2008, openhousenewyork provided a venue for our first day of public programming for the historic Tug Pegasus.
We made two trips each day, serving 196 visitors. It is our job to interpret New York Harbor and to show the vitality and importance of our port. |
 |
|
Photo: © 2008 by Jonathan Atkin |
 |
The Tug Pegasus departed from the berth of the Lighthouse Tender Lilac, north side of Pier 40, North (Hudson) River.
Lilac’s keel was laid on August 16, 1932, at the Pusey & Jones Shipyard of Delaware. She entered into service in the newly formed U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1933, tending to aids to navigation, namely lighthouses, lightships, and the increasing number of buoys.
The Lighthouse Tender Lilac is open to visitors. |
| Photo: Lilac Preservation Project |
|
 |
Built in 1931, MV John J. Harvey, at 130 ft and 268 net tons, is among the most powerful fireboats ever in service. She has five 600 HP diesel engines and has capacity to pump 18,000 gallons of water a minute. Her pumps are powerful -- enough so that when she and the George Washington Bridge were both brand new, she shot water over the bridge's roadway. She was retired by the New York City Fire Department in 1994 and bought at auction by her current owners in 1999. |
| Photo: World Ship Society |
The John J. Harvey runs public trips which are announced on their website. |
| Built in 1929, Lightship #115 Frying Pan guarded its namesake, Frying Pan Shoals, 30 miles off of Cape Fear, NC, from 1930 to 1965. She is 133 feet and 3 inches in length with a 30-foot beam; she is 632 gross tons.
The Lightship Frying Pan serves as an exhibit open to the public at Pier 66 Maritme, North River. |
 |
|
Photo Pier 66 Maritime |
 |
New York Harbor was full of interesting vessels: schooners, other historc tugs (the W.O. Decker below) and the usual complement of modern tugs, barges, ships and ferries. |
| Photo: Jay Holmes |
|
 |
 |
| The day brought some great tug spotting of the old and the new: the W. O. Decker, of South Street Seaport Museum (left) and the newest addition to the harbor fleet, Tug Rosemary McAllister. Photo: Jay Holmes |
 |
Carolina Salguero interpreted our focus of the day: Red Hook. This area of the port is steeped in maritime tradition and continues to serve an essential role in the Harbor (note the stacks of lumber behind Carolina at American Stevedoring, Inc.),
Carolina Salguero is the founder of PortSide NewYork, a not-for-profit organization located on the Tanker Mary A. Whalen, Pier 6 East River (Red Hook). |
| Photo: © 2008 by Jonathan Atkin |
|
 |
The Mary A. Whalen was built for Ira S. Bushey & Sons in 1938 and is 172’ long. She began life as the S.T. Kiddoo. In the late 50s, she was rechristened the Mary A. Whalen.
The Whalen delivered fuel products up and down the Atlantic Coast, as far away as Maine and Maryland and up many rivers. In her last years, she stayed close to home and often worked the Gowanus Canal or delivered fuel to ships. She went out of service in 1993. |
| The American Stevedoring, Inc., cranes loom next to the Caribbean Princess receiving her "bunkers" at the Brooklyn Passenger Terminal (right). |
 |
|
Photo: Jay Holmes |
| Tucked under the Queen Mary 2 (in the Brooklyn Passenger Terminal the first day of openhouseny) and around the corner from the Terminal is the Waterfront Museum, housed aboard the Lehigh RR Barge No. 79. This is a New York Harbor jewel.
Built in 1914, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge #79 was one of thousands of barges bringing coffee, spices and other cargo from shore to shore in the NY Harbor. She was made obsolete by major shifts in the shipping industry in the 1950s. In 1985, when she was bought for $1, she was filled with 300 tons of mud. Now restored, Barge #79 is the only railroad barge still floating (right). |
Photo: Waterfront Museum
|
 |
On our return trip back to Pier 40, North River, our photographer, interpreter, and volunteer Jonathan Atkin has a quiet moment off the Battery (left). |
| Photo: Betsy Haggerty |
|
The trip was about 2 hours and we hope that our visitors got to understand a little more about New York Harbor. The trips made by the Tug Pegasus were generously sponsored by:
- Trustees of the Tug Pegasus Preservation Project
- Pier 66 Maritime
- New York Water Taxi
- Working Harbor Committee
- and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance.
|
