Teeming rain and crossbillsI have not written since the bleak days of November 2018 and I have missed the adventures with my lens and my missives to you. This long cold winter reluctantly yielded to an interminably wet, long, cold spring, that denied me the pleasure of kneeling to peer into the delicate petals of trailing arbutus, or to capture the unfolding and uplifting of leaves on deciduous trees or the soft down of the ferns as they started their journey upward in warm spring sunlight. This spring has had a dearth warm spring sunlight!There have been some special moments in the shelter of my home on 15 Mainsail. Some of these moments included watching Crossbills at my feeder braving the cold rain to have a bite of food. Yesterday however changed the tone completely. It was a warm brilliant day and my friend invited me to go on the tug Atlantic Bear. Her husband is a retired Coast Guard Engineer who is on call to assist when the Atlantic Towing Company needs an engineer to fill in for an absentee. The Atlantic Bear is one of four tugs designed especially to escort ships carrying Liquefied Natural Gas— extremely dangerous cargo… atomic bomb level cargo I am told. They have additional fendering and deliver 70 tonnes bollard pull. (Bollard pull is the most commonly used measure of ship-assist tugs performance which have propellers optimized for maximum thrust at close to zero speed). They are known as ASD tugs. ASD tugs are Azimuth Stern Drive tugs equipped with two stern engines capable of generating a 360°, all directional propulsion force. They normally have a towing winch forward and, when commercially required, a towing winch and/or towing hook aft. I saw all this wonderful “stuff” on a tour provided by Kevin and learned a lot from delightful discourse by our most amiable and capable captain Mark.So I am an instant expert on tugs now. NO! I forgot some of what was told to me yesterday so looked it up.On with the photos! (These were very difficult to choose from the many I had)
Susan and Kevin in the lounge area of the tug—a nicely appointed vessel. The officers quarters were spacious and the deckhand’s space comfortable.
Captain Mark: So highly skilled —a pleasure to watch and be with. The Container ship Mol that we were towing lost power. Mark and the skipper of the Spitfire got her dockside without a hitch. I was truly in awe of their ability. Not even a “bump” as they eased the Mol into place. They parallel parked it in a spot just long enough to accommodate it! Unbelievable.
Mark the Deck hand. A personable hard working capable person. A pleasure to meet.
The Spitfire 111
The view from the Galley Porthole
The engine room
The Spitfire 111 approaching the Mol just off Georges Island
Halifax Harbour with Citadel hill in the background
Up close and cozy and looking up
Up in the bridge alongside the Mol. The white rope is attached to the forward towing winch.
Approaching the Macdonald bridge with the Mackay bridge in the background
The Spitfire 111 pulling the stern of the Moll to angle it under the bridge
Under the Macdonald Bridge
The Mackay Bridge
The Hapag Lloyd burned in Jan. It is still moored in the Basin https://www.thestar.com/
The Bedford Basin mainland
George Island
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