The Long and the Short Of It -- 2012 Great North River Tugboat Race Part 2

This was not my best shot from before the race - but I wanted to call it out because I happen to have gotten the biggest and smallest tugs in the race in the same frame here and I LOVE the contrast! Definitely worth clicking on the picture for details.

Biggest  tug in the race: Lincoln Sea. Vital Stats (as given by Tug44.org - click that link for a few more interesting details - ownership of the vessel has changed to Kirby since Tug44 wrote about her): With 8,000 horsepower and a length of 123 feet, Tug Lincoln Sea is the biggest boat in the harbor. Her twin 5-bladed propellers are about 12 feet in diameter. She...is the consistent winner of the annual New York City Tugboat Race.

 That's the biggest (and yes, she won again this year!)

Also happens to be the one of the pair I picked to paint last year when I was getting psyched for the 2011 race and decided to try doing a boat painting a la Bowsprite! She was still in her old K-Sea livery and up against one of the old Reinauer tugs in a bow-to-bow pushing contest - think this was back in '06, I basically just copied one of my pictures from that year.

 The smallest? No, it's not the tug that's partially obstructed behind the vast bulk of the Lincoln Sea, that's the beautifully restored 1907 tug Pegasus, my personal favorite tug in the harbor, (check out the link to her site in the "favorite not-for-profits" list in the sidebar for more info).

No, the smallest tug in the race was the little dark one behind the Pegasus. That's The Bronx, she's a big favorite with the crowd every year. I can't seem to find her specifics but she's 25 feet in length and when I asked her skipper what sort of  work she was designed to do (she's clearly a specialist) he said she's excellent at close-in work around pilings where a bigger tug just would have a hard time manuevering, and of course she's also great at going up little creeks where a bigger boat just wouldn't fit.

They are also notorious for the extreme cuteness of their mascot, "Salty" - here he was on board last year (when TQ and I went on the spectator boat) -

Ready for my closeup, Ms. DeFrogge... -

 

But he did have some "ruff" competition in the Best Mascot competition this year!

No chickens or hermit crabs this year -  

Nope, 2012 was all about the handsome dogs! Woof!