Tour a Steam Power Plant, July 23
Pratt Institute operates one of the most historic and unique power plants in the metropolitan area. It has been designated a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
The plant has two claims to fame:
- First, the three steam driven generators are the oldest such machines known to be operating in the Northeast area of the United States. They were installed in May of 1900 and still run during the winter when exhaust steam is sent into the main heating system.
- Second, the present equipment replaced that installed in 1887 when Pratt Institute was founded and so the Institute has been generating electric power in the same location longer than any other known firm.
Click here for more information.
Take a Cruise: City of Water Day, July 18
This Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance program for all ages looks at the workings of The Port of New York/New Jersey as a commercial hub that delivers things essential to our lives like: fuel, clothes and food.
Participants discover the natural resources of the harbor, experiencing the huge variety of wild life in our backyard estuary amidst juxtaposed with the workings of New York Harbor. Both the ecological and the commercial components need to be explored for us to understand the sustainability of our waterways and the necessity of developing stewardship of this great resource: New York Harbor.
Click here for more information and to buy tickets.
Dick Forster, Chronicle of a Boatman
June 27, 2009: Farewell to a Boatman, Father and Friend
A farewell service for Capt. Dick Forster was held on June 27 on the Hudson River aboard the Tug Pegasus.
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| Dick's family: Daughter Lynn, granddaughters Kaitlyn and Jacqueline, daughter Kathy, sisters Joan and Marie, grand-nephew and brother Jim. (Not in photo: Lynn's daughters Kathryn and Elizabeth and Dick's great-grandchildren, Maggie and Lucas). |
Pals: David Sharps, Justin Ryan, James Clay, Charlie Chellemi, Frank Zic and Al DeCruz. |
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.jpg "Tugs gathering.") |
| Steaming up river where Dick started on the tugs. Photo: Bernie Ente |
Tugs gathering. Photo: Huntley Gill |
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| Willy, Tug Sea Lion. |
Fred and Diana on Tug Fred K II. |
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| Father John aboard the Tug Pegasus. |
Kathy and Lynn. |
.jpg "A brother of the sea laid to rest.") |
A brother-of-the-sea is laid to rest.
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From the Fireboat John J. Harvey. Photo: Huntley Gill
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Speaker Series Aboard
Waterfront Museum Barge
A new and exciting 10-week speaker series aboard the Waterfront Museum in June, July and August highlights ship preservation projects and waterfront profiles that offer a glimpse of the many organizations that today foster active community stewardship along our backyard shores and waterways.
The Waterfront Museum speaker series, as well as its “Tug & Barge” Fall Tour, upriver is designed to bring locals and tourists to waterfront towns to celebrate our predecessors: Henry Hudson, Samuel DeChamplain and Robert Fulton. Remembering our forefathers serves to bring interest and attention back to our waterways — 400 years after the great explorations and 200 years after the beginning of steam-driven vessels.
Speakers and harbor profiles share ship preservation projects that weave the daily interaction of man (physical and financial challenges to keep a vessel afloat) and nature’s elements (wind, shipworms, currents, storms, etc) into adventure.
- June 18: “The Restoration of the Lighthouse Tender LILAC” by Charlie Ritchie, Executive Director of the LILAC Preservation Project. Enjoy the labor of love put into the oldest U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender and New York City’s only historic steamship.
- June 25: “Rebuilding the W.O. Decker” by Charles C. Deroko and the South Street Seaport Museum. View step by step photos of the shipyard craftsmanship that rebuilt this 1930 wooden harbor tug, and try your own seamanship skills at our tugboat activity table.
- July 9: “The John J. Harvey Fireboat” by Huntley Gill and the Fireboat Crew. Discover a fireboat that pumped water to firefighters for 80 hours at the World Trade Center during and after Sept. 11 and became the focus of a children’s book.
- July 16: “Henry Hudson and his River” by Jack Putnam, South Street Seaport Museum. Relive Henry’s third voyage, and the four centuries of river history that followed.
- July 23: “Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Launching and Restoration of the historic Hudson Sloop Clearwater ” by Capt. Samantha Heyman and Captain/Shipwright Nicholas Rogers.
- July 30: “Plans for Atlantic Basin and the Oil Tanker “Mary A. Whalen.” PortSide’s director Carolina Salguero and designer Tim Ventimiglia, will recount the amazing history of a 1930s coastal tanker and outline their vision for the ship as a platform for educational programming, exhibits and events and for the maritime hub in Atlantic Basin that will be her home.
- Aug. 13: “Holland on the Hudson - The United States & The Netherlands: Two Countries – One Spirit, United by Values, History and a Vision of the future” by Arjan Braamskamp of the Netherlands Consulate General in New York.
- Aug. 20: “My River Chronicles – Rediscovering America on the Hudson” by Jessica DuLong. Join fireboat engineer and author Jessica DuLong as she shares stories from four centuries of Hudson River history.
- Aug. 27: “Restoration and Refit of the 102-year old Tugboat Pegasus” by Captain Pamela Hepburn of the Tugboat Pegasus Preservation Project and Marine Surveyor Charles Deroko.
Presentations begin at 7 p.m. A suggested donation of $5 is appreciated. Reservations are not necessary. More information and directions to the Museum are available at www.waterfrontmuseum.org or by calling (718) 624-4719, ext. 11.
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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. |
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Photo: © 2008 by Jonathan Atkin |
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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 |
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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. |
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Photo Pier 66 Maritime |
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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 |
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| 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 |
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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 |
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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). |
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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
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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 |
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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.
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| 31 August 2008: The Great North River Tugboat Race was a perfect venue for the debut of the Tug Pegasus. Coming out in public for the first time in many years, she looked good enough to get the "Little Toot" Award. |
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| Tug Pegasus underway. Photos: Jeffrey Anzevinno |
“Simply gorgeous, congratulations on a beautiful job. I love the fender work, it really shows off her lines well. I hope to see the Pegasus chugging around for a long time to come.”
Regards,
Bill Brucato, Tugboat Captain, Reinauer Transportation |
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| Lining up for the parade. Photos: Bernie Ente |
“Looks great and congratulations!”
Brent Dibner, Editor of Tug Bitts Magazine |
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The wheelhouse. Photo: Ray Montana |
Coming into Pier 84. Photo: Jay Holmes |
“What a great time we had watching all the tugs frolicking around and showing off their stuff--and the best, of course, was the Pegasus. Congratulations on getting [that] beautiful boat back out onto the water.”
Helena Andreyko, Hudson River Foundation |
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Wheelhouse gang. Photo: Ray Montana |
Photo: Walter Fitzgerald |
“I've been seeing the photos of the Pegasus out there. Congratulations on getting it going.”
Geo Matteson, tugboat captain and author of Tugboats of New York. |
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In the North River with New Jersey condos behind her. Photo: Donald Sutherland |
“Been watching this in slow-motion for 11 years. Good to see it gaining speed.”
Don Sutherland, Marine Photographer |
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Nose to nose with the Oxman. Photo: Ray Montana |
Pam in the wheelhouse. Photo: Walter Fitzgerald |
“Congrats! Winner of 'The Little Toot' award at the 2008 NY Harbor Tugboat Races is a great thing to put on our Accomplishments List!”
Best from Barge #79,
David Sharps, president of the Waterfront Museum |
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Pam and the Little Toot award. Photo: Bernie Ente |
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Coming into Pier 84 for lunch and awards. |
Tied up at Pier 84. Photos: Ray Montana |
“Wow-- congratulations! “ --Ann Loading, tugboat captain
“Bob, I was aboard the PEGASUS yesterday and Pam [and crew] has much to be proud about.” --Dave Boone, tugboat painter
“I think it's great also, Pam, I can almost hear her main engine running over that 2-71. I found some of the John E. from way back when. As soon as I can scan them I will post them for you. “ --Bob Mattsson, Ret. tug engineer, once chief on the Pegasus
“Congratulations on having her afloat and running Pam. what a labor of love you pulled off......” --Bob Hill, Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corp.
“That is so exciting!” --Roberta Weisbrod, Partnership for Sustainable Ports |
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