As you might recall, Monday was a bit foggy. (As can be seen in the photo above.)
Then Tuesday brought stormy weather, which lowered the temperature and cleared the air. So on Wednesday we went to the local park, which I showed you yesterday. Well, bits of it anyway.
As Thursday dawned gorgeous again, we headed back down to the seashore at Brenton Point, Newport, RI. A brisk breeze off the Atlantic made it a bit nippy, but everyone was in the mood for Del's Frozen Lemonade¹ anyway. So we indulged.
The weather and the view were breathtaking.
I'm not sure I get the fascination with breakwaters, but it is definitely a thing.
As it was a Thursday, and a bit cool, it kept the crowds away, which I have no problem with.
Watched a few sailboats coming and going from the Bay, which is always relaxing.
Now this beast (above and below) we watched from when she was but a speck on the horizon, still hull down. I had to zoom in on it with the cellphone camera to try and capture some details. The naval types (we had two aboard, an aviator and a Nuke SWO) thought it was some sort of freighter, and left it at that.
But there was something odd about that deck house. Bugged me it did.
So I posted the preceding shots on the Book of Faces. One of my friends and long time Rhode Island fisherman identified it as that vessel below, sans petrol barge. (These sort of tugs nestle into a slot at the back of the barge and push them, rather than tow them. Interesting. To me at any rate.)
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After our sojourn at the seashore, we headed inland for some sustenance. Johnny's Restaurant is a place I recommend. Great chow!
When we headed back to the barn, we had the opportunity to cross the Mount Hope Bridge, and what to our wondering eyes did appear, but that tug/barge combination, headed for Fall River, MA.
Not the speediest of vessels I gather.
Ah, life on the shore. It's my kind of life.
¹ Which is a very Rhode Island thing. If you ever visit Little Rhody, you must try it. Perhaps not in the winter, but...
Editor's Note: You may notice that I haven't presented another episode in my Wilderness War series. Probably won't post another until Tuesday at the earliest. I gave the Muse a few days off, she deserved them. The Nuke and her tribe headed back to Maryland yesterday. Sigh... The house is too quiet!
Once the weather system clears out the skies are sans clouds and usually a brighter blue too. Good to see the horizon without man-made objects, lets you know that Man is rather small in the scheme of things. There are tugs like that here on the Mississippi although reduced in size for shallower waters, what you've shown is one of the big boys with over 4200 horsepower. River tugs here rune 800 to 1800 horsepower. Excellent photos Sarge, coastal views remind me of Lake Superior near where I grew up.
ReplyDeleteThe open vistas along the coast are simply awesome.
DeleteBoy, I miss those days cycling around Newport and stopping at Flo's Clam Shack for lunch; or kayaking around the coast. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks CV!
DeleteWe have those kind of tugs on the mighty Columbia - lots of barge traffic up and down the river. Didn't know they also plied the open ocean.
ReplyDeleteWe see all kinds of traffic on the Bay, fun to watch.
DeleteI can smell the shore and hear the splash of waves and cry of seagulls.
ReplyDeleteThe sounds and smells of an aircraft carrier at sea are quite different.
I prefer the seacoast.
Nice photos and when I close my eyes, I can see what you have pictured. Well done.
Did the at sea thing on two carriers, very different.
DeleteDidn’t get a picture, but saw one of the Mississippi barge pushers on Wednesday at Bellevue,IA.
ReplyDeleteIt makes some sense to push barges, rather than tow them.
If you're hooked in properly, it has to be easier to control. Least that's what this landlubber thinks.
DeleteIn the days before sat dishes, the innerwebs, etc., one was in a world of one's own when out in one of those things..
ReplyDeleteOut on the water, nice place to be. (Dependent on weather and sea conditions, of course.)
DeleteTo me, the foggy picture is the one that calls me most. Beautiful weather, still decent visibility, lack of chances to overheat or get too sunburned. Ah... Love foggy days.
ReplyDeleteAs to breakwaters and jetties, I think the fascination is, if not a fisherman, involved in getting past the breaking of the waves and seeing the waves form and crash and deep water and mostly getting away from the direct beach/water smell. Dunno, but that was always my fascination with them. On the other hand, a good tidal pool or shell crater has always been much more attractive to me.
Visibility on Monday was roughly a hundred feet down on the water.
DeleteIt was awesome though to hear the foghorn.
I like foggy days on the shore. Despise them when on the water, because too many fools and idiots have been and always will be farting around in conditions they don't belong in.
DeleteFirst thing my dad required of all of us before we even took the helm of the family boat was to read "Chapman's" (a whole huge book on boat handling and navigation) and pass his required verbal exam. I enjoyed reading that book so much I'd reread it about every year or so, even after the family boat went bye-bye.
You have to know what you're doing on the water!
Delete"You have to know what you're doing..." Yes complete mastery of/experience in "Dinghy Sailing" is an absolute must as a first step to competent helmsman-ship of any kind/size of craft this ex-zoomie has read..
DeleteIf you can't master a dinghy...
DeleteI love these pictures Sarge. They are so very different from the coasts that I have known growing up. I never lived by one, but we were within an easy drive by car to get to one. Sadly, the water was always too cold to actually enjoy it except for exceptionally hot summer days.
ReplyDeleteI grew up going to Maine on vacation, the water there is frigid most of the year. (So my memory tells me.)
DeleteIn the Bay itself, the water is pleasant. I haven't been to the beaches on the Atlantic proper, so I can't vouch for the temperature there!
Aye, but there be danger lurking in that fog, especially along stern and rockbound coasts. Unimaginable dangers in the days before radar, weather forecasts fathometers and other nautical niceties.
ReplyDeleteWinslow Homer captured those dangers in 1884, and the heroics of our six foot sailors of the U.S. Life Saving Service, which became the U.S. Coast Guard.
John Blackshoe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_Line_(painting)#/media/File:Winslow_Homer_-_The_Life_Line.jpg
I love Winslow Homer's paintings with nearly the intensity Lex felt for Yeats.
DeleteA rocky coast and a thick fog, a recipe for sure disaster for the unwary mariner!
You may enjoy this youtube channel, moving barges using tugboats near NYC:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/user/TimBatSea/featured
Love it! Thanks!
DeleteIf you go to marinetraffic.com, and locate your locale, it’ll show you all the transponders near you, and you can click on the likely suspect.
ReplyDelete(I always think of this bit When i get out my phone and look something up....)
Cool.
DeleteWhen a barge is being pushed like that it's known as a "notch in the crotch." At least that's what the tug captains and river pilots would call them on the Delaware River back in the day.
ReplyDeleteNice bit of insider detail there Tom, thanks!
DeleteThat's an ATB, an Articulated Tug and Barge. The tug is around 7,000hp or a little more, chances are. It's owned and built by Reinaur Towing. ATB's have massive toothed steel 'pins' that come out of the sides of the bow, just above the waterline, and fit into the notch of the barge, which has toothed steel receivers on the side of the notch. Hydraulics push the pins out, it works just like a hydraulic press. The tug is locked in, and rolls as a unit with the barge, but is free to pitch. It's super efficient. That ATB has a crew of 9, vs 20-22 on a tanker. It's smaller, at 120,000-150,000bbl, which is great for feeding tank farms, as they don't have to be run almost dry to make room, which can happen with a larger tanker. And since there's only about 30 American tankers, ATB's are where the coastwise jobs are. They can run fine in seas up to 15 feet, but tend to avoid larger, although they strictly speaking *can* handle more, unlike ships, which just have to run slow in those seas. They cost about 1/3 to build, insure and operate. The most critical part is the division of labor. The navigation and engineering officers, and the deckhand, focus on the tug. The barge is managed and operated by tankermen and a cargo officer, who *might* also be an extra mate for the tug. This lets guys specialize to improve workflow. A similarly sized tanker has 3 officers and 6 watchstanders to do the same job as 3 tankermen, since they have to handle cargo AND navigation.
ReplyDeleteI avoid ATB's because I spent enough years on tankers, and I don't want to bake my buns off in the Gulf and freeze in New England, often experiencing both in the same week. I like being a bunker tankerman working with 'line boats', tugs with no ATB capability, that have to use more old-fashioned seamanship to run fuel barges to ships.
My company has 7 ATB's at the moment. They are the future of fuel transport in the US.
I was hoping you'd chime in on this one, Paul. I thought of you when I saw the beast.
DeleteGood stuff!