By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Work.
Work is done upon an object when a force displaces it through a distance—
—and nowadays, when everything works as it should, gigantic amounts of work continue to be done even when the workers take, for a few moments at least, a break from work—
From a Hidden Harbor Tour through New York Harbor in September 2013. Story and more photos are here.
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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| Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
 | Marilyn Albright on The First Leg! |
| CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
| Johna Till Johnson on Looks Like They Made It! |
 | Pit on Looks Like They Made It! |
| Johna Till Johnson on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
 | Larry Jensen on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| Johna Till Johnson on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
 | Frank Winters on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
| Johna Till Johnson on Halfway There! |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
| Johna Till Johnson on And They’re Off! |
Wind Against Current 
Perfect shot for the challenge and for you!
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Thanks, Emilio! :-)
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Nice one!
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Glad you like it!!
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Fascinating harbor trip and incredible shots.
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The harbor trip was indeed fascinating…and it was strange to see everything from fifteen feet up instead of just two feet up, the way we see it from our kayaks ;-)
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Was these pictures take from at open water from another huge ship or at the harbour ? I like the 2nd photo best but both of them are amazing !
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The photos were taken from the Zephyr, a fast, moderately-sized excursion yacht, on which we toured the harbor for a couple of hours this past September.
These two photos were taken in the Kill van Kull, a narrow and very busy part of New York Harbor. We on the Zephyr were moving past the container ship, but the container ship, with the tug Resolute alongside, was itself moving at a fairly fast clip. That may not be obvious from the photos, but I didn’t really have a photo that would have made that clear. In any case, here is a view of the Kill van Kull a couple of minutes after we had passed the container ship, looking back at it (on the left, rear) and other traffic—
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I can imagine how busy the harbor is. In my country, sightseeing at the harbor is prohibited unless we have business relation with the port authority or with ship agent.
Have a look at the two men on the photo, one is standing by the container ship’s door and the other is in the Resulutes. I think both of them were looking at you too. weren’t they?
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Fortunately, we have a Coast Guard that takes the view that all vessels are permitted in navigable waters…. and so we not only ride on the Zephyr, but we often kayak through the Kill van Kull, day and night—although, admittedly, we don’t paddle exactly down the middle of it, for reasons that will be clear from the photo above…
Yes, those men were looking at us, just like we were looking at them… Curiosity is a very powerful thing :-)
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I see. You live very close to the coast? if so, no wonder you sound so fond of kayaking. :-).
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In Manhattan, where the water is all around :-)
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Oh yes I see it through google earth :-D
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:-)
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When I used to live in Philadelphia, I had a view of the river from our condo. I loved watching the tugboats taking the ships down the river, navigating them under the bridge and through the narrow turns. Two great shots of tugboats at work. Very vibrant colors. I like the one in the comments too, because it is a nice wide shot of the river with the tugboat.
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In New York Harbor, we have several photographers who love tugboats (and other boats) so much that they go out there every day, summer or winter, snow, rain, or shine, to take photos of them… There is Tugster, and John Skelton of the Working Harbor Committee…
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Reblogged this on Locating Frankenstein's Brain.
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Thanks for reblogging!
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I love the scale of that first shot. Gotta love those tug boats.
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We love the tug boats—the Resolute, Johna’s favorite this year, especially! Their glory day is Labor Day Sunday each year—see here and here… :-)
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Looks like some dangerous work!
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It’s dangerous, hard, and must be done at all hours of day and night. Getting a pilot on or off a moving ship in bad weather has got to be one of the most dangerous parts of any job,,,
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This is a great answer to the challenge. Super images with great color contrast. And it seems to fit you name so well too!
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:-) Thank you so much!!
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Thank you for these – they bring back memories of the Kill van Kull, which we saw out our 5th floor windows, and countless hours spent watching the parade of tugs and ships. Always fascinating.
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Kill van Kull is certainly the place for ship-watching…. This is what it looks like when waiting to cross the KvK—
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