By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is On the Move.
On the move through New York Harbor (click on any photo to start slideshow)—
From last September’s Hidden Harbor Tour.
Another, more ephemeral, take on On the Move is here.
Posted in New York City, Photography, Science and Technology
Tagged New York Harbor, On The Move, Photography, Port, postaweek, postaweek2014, Ships, Weekly Photo Challenge
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.
Posted in Photography, Science and Technology
Tagged Container Ship, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Ships, Travel, Tugboat, Weekly Photo Challenge, Work
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Juxtaposition.
In New York Harbor, little boats (juxta)posed with big ships…
The first “Juxtaposition” post was here.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography
Tagged Barges, Juxtaposition, Kayaking, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Ships, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Once in a while it occurs to us that there might be other ways to see New York Harbor than by kayak.
And so, on Tuesday evening, we traveled down to the South Street Seaport and boarded the yacht Zephyr, for one of the Hidden Harbor Tours organized by the Working Harbor Committee. Our appetites had been whetted by the recent Tugboat Races, also organized by the Committee. And reading the description of this tour, it promised to be another highlight:
This tour passes by the Red Hook Container Terminal and visits Erie Basin, home of Hughes Brothers Barges and Reinauer Tugs before crossing the harbor toward Staten Island. It then enters Kill Van Kull, the area’s busiest waterway dividing Staten Island and Bayonne, passing tug yards, oil docks and marine repair facilities. It then passes under the Bayonne Bridge and visits the giant container ports of Newark Bay, Port Newark and Port Elizabeth where the world’s largest container ships tie up. On the way back, we pass by Military Ocean Terminal, the 9/11 Teardrop Memorial, the Robbins Reef Lighthouse and another container port, ending up at the Statue of Liberty for a moment before returning to Pier 16.
We got all of that and more.
Posted in New York City, Science and Technology
Tagged Container Port, Container Ship, Hidden Harbor Tour, Kill Van Kull, New York Harbor, Newark Bay, Port, Ships, Tugboat
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Last year, on the spur of the moment, we attended our first-ever Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition (see the writeup, “We’re Off to the (Tugboat) Races!”).
We were stunned, blown away, and delighted by the experience.
So it’s only natural that this year, we were conflicted. On the one hand, we were eager to go again; on the other hand, how could it possibly live up to the previous time?
Let’s just say… it did.
Posted in New York City, Science and Technology
Tagged Boats, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Race, Ships, Tugboat, Tugboat Race
By Vladimir Brezina
… Labor Day, and (practically speaking) the beginning of Fall!
Here are a few celebratory photos taken at yesterday’s Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition. Lots more photos to come. (Last year’s are here.)
Posted in New York City, Science and Technology
Tagged Boats, Hudson River, New York Harbor, Photography, Ships, Tugboat, Tugboat Race
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is One Shot, Two Ways. “For this challenge, capture two images — a horizontal and a vertical version — of the same scene or subject.”
At last year’s Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition—
The biggest and the smallest
Lincoln Sea throws an enormous bow wave as she overtakes the competition
Three Forty Three welcomes the finishers
The tugs line up at the pier afterwards
Meagan Ann wins the line toss!
The landscape format just doesn’t do it… It takes a portrait shot to show just how enormous Lincoln Sea is!
And the tugs are getting ready again for this year’s rematch. If you are anywhere near New York Harbor on Sunday, September 1, don’t miss the 21st annual running of the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition!
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged New York Harbor, One Shot Two Ways, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2013, Ships, Tugboat, Tugboat Race, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Sometimes the best ideas are the last-minute ones.
We’d carefully planned the Labor Day holiday weekend, balancing work, rest, paddling, and socializing, and after due consideration we’d agreed that the best strategy would be to work and run errands on Saturday, followed by a long paddle on Sunday, which had optimal currents and weather forecast.
Then Vlad said, “Would you like to go see the tugboat race this weekend?”
Well, of course! We both love everything maritime, and tugboats in particular. And we’d talked for a while about wanting to see this event—the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition, hosted each Labor Day weekend by the Working Harbor Committee, in which a dozen or more NYC-area tugboats parade up the Hudson, race, and then engage in various contests (pushing contests, line tosses, and who knows what else). And it was all happening this weekend!
Posted in New York City, Science and Technology
Tagged Boats, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Race, Ships, Tugboat
... 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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