Sunday, March 28, 2021

EVER GIVEN, UNDERWAY!!!! - Details and current position - IMO 9811000 MMSI 353136000 - VesselFinder

EVER GIVEN, Container Ship - Details and current position - IMO 9811000 MMSI 353136000 - VesselFinder


You will become - Glen Hansard - 2012

 My granddaughter Annabel did a beautiful rendition of this song by one of my favorite singers.  I didn't know the song.  Here it is:


Saturday, March 27, 2021

Meier & Oelhaf - Marine Repair - North River, NY, NY



Among my earliest memories is walking with my father - who had worked as a longshoreman - looking at the North River piers in lower Manhattan.  Freight cars were shuttled across the river by tug and barge from the Central Jersey RR terminal just north of the Statue of Liberty, and from the Hoboken Lackawanna Terminal of the Erie Lackawanna RR, the Route of the Phoebe Snow.  Pusher locomotives shuttled the freight cars on tracks under the elevated cobblestone-paved West Side Highway.  The streets too were cobblestone and clogged with trucks and  freight cars bound for warehouses with tracks leading into them, and to the Penn RR yards and the high line where Nabisco and other factories unloaded grain and other cargo.
So I was pleased to notice on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village an artifact of the maritime industry - the old Meier & Oelhaf sign, preserved by the Landmarks Commission, which provides the history below. - GWC
Lackawanna Terminal - Hoboken
click to expand
back  Meier & Oelhaf Co. Inc., 177 Christopher St., New York, 2005   next

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's Weehawken Street Historic District Designation Report (2006), p. 29-30, describes 177 Christopher St. as follows, "No. 177 Christopher Street (which was originally No. 167 until 1885) is a 4-story factory building that for a century was associated with four firms involved in marine plumbing, heating, cooling, electrical, and repair contracting. Designed in the neo-Grec style by architect William J. Fryer, Jr., the building was constructed in 1883-84 by builder Richard Shapter, listed in an 1883-84 city directory as a mason living in Brooklyn. The property was owned by John Alden Spooner, and the building was leased to H.C. & J.H. Calkin, “coppersmiths and plumbers, steam & gasfitters, sheet iron & brassworkers, ship furnishing, galley stoves, patent metallic life rafts,” as described in a city directory at their previous address at 256 West Street. This was the first of the significant late-19th century maritime-related businesses to be located in the historic district, near to the Hudson River waterfront with its ship piers. Hervey C. Calkin (1828-1913), born in Malden, N.Y., moved to New York City in 1847 and worked for the Morgan Iron Works, becoming a dealer in metals in 1852. He was elected a U.S. Congressman in 1869-71. He established the business of H. C. & J. H. Calkin with his brother, Judson Hall Calkin. H. C. Calkin retired from the firm in 1904, and the lease here ended the following year. 

The next tenant of No. 177, from 1905 to 1918, was William J. Olvany, Inc., heating, piping, and air conditioning contractors. William J. Olvany, Sr., was the secretary-treasurer of the Master Steam & Hot Water Fitters Association (1916), and later served as president of the Heating, Piping and Air- Conditioning Contractors National Association. In 1920, the property was sold to Carl F. and Mary R. Oelhaf, in agreement with John H. and Margaret G. Koch. Carl Frank Oelhaf (c. 1873-1940) was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, and emigrated in 1880, while his wife, nee Mary Ruf (c. 1874-1961), was born in New York of German descent. In 1910, the Oelhaf family had purchased the property next door, No. 179 Christopher Street (lot 37), for the Meier & Oelhaf Co., its marine plumbing supplies business. Meier & Oelhaf was listed at that address in the 1918 and 1925 city directories, with Carl F. Oelhaf, president, and Mary, secretary-treasurer."

The firm of Meier & Oelhaf Co. Inc. was founded in 1905 by Frank Meier (1868-1941) and Carl Frederick Oelhaf (1872-1940), both immigrants from Germany. The business was located originally at 402 West St., New York City, and moved in 1907 to 179 Christopher St. According to the Landmarks Commission report Carl and Mary Oelhaf bought 177 Christopher in 1920, and Meier & Oelhaf were listed at that address from 1920 to 1984.

Frank Meier became a naturalized American citizen 19 August 1880, when he said that his occupation was "tinsmith." He then appeared in the 1900 U. S. Census living on Grand Avenue, Queens. His occupation was recorded as "carpenter." By 1910 he lived on Grand Avenue, Leonia, New Jersey, and his occupation was "Contractor, Marine Factory." By 1920 Frank Meier had left New York and lived on Miramonto Boulevard, San Antonio, Los Angeles, California, where he owned a ranch. In 1940 he was 71 years old, a widower, living with his son, Frank G. Meier, in Santa Monica, Calif. The Meier Family Tree on ancestry.com includes several photographs, including the sign at 177 Christopher St., a portrait photo of Meier himself, as well as a wall-painted Meier & Oelhaf sign. Included also is the information, "Frank Meier became a copper smith and met Karl Oelhaf while working at a company called Caulkins. In 1907 they started their own company. His father, Jacob Meier also worked with his son at Meier & Oelhaf."

Carl F. Oelhaf was recorded in the 1900 U. S. Census living on East 7th St., Manhattan. His occupation was "tinsmith." In 1910, like Frank Meier, he lived in Leonia, New Jersey, where he remained until his death 12 Nov. 1940. In 1922 Charles Frederick Oelhaf applied for a passport and declared that he was born in Hessley, Württemberg, Germany, 18 January 1872, that he emigrated from Hamburg June 1895, and that he became a U. S. citizen 8 August 1905. Carl Oelhaf's death notice, New York Times, 14 Nov. 1940, spelled his name incorrectly, Oelhof instead of Oelhaf (OF at the end rather than AF).

Although Frank Meier left the company and moved to California, the Meier and Oelhaf families remained closely related. Meier's son, Frederick G. Meier (1894-1948) married Carl Oelhaf's daughter, Katherine Oelhaf (1899-1994).

This ad for Meier & Oelhaf appeared in the journal The Master, Mate and Pilot, vol. 1, no. 11, April, 1909. Their address from 1907 to 1919 was 179 Christopher St.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Cayard to lead U.S. Olympic Sailing >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News



Cayard to lead U.S. Olympic Sailing >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News
US Sailing has appointed Paul Cayard (San Francisco, CA) in the role of Executive Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing. Cayard will take the helm of the US Sailing Team, inclusive of the U.S. Olympic Sailing program.

“Paul’s passion for Olympic Sailing and his drive for excellence has inspired American sailors for decades, both on and off the racecourse,” said Cory Sertl, President of US Sailing.

“His strong leadership skills and experiences, combined with his energy and enthusiasm, will be a tremendous asset to the program. We look forward to working closely with Paul as we prepare for the 2021 Tokyo Games and we believe in his vision for our future as we look ahead to Paris 2024 and LA 2028.”

Cayard has a long association with the Star Class, winning the 1988 World Championship. Cayard was selected as an alternate in the event for the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics before finishing fifth at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

KEEP READING


Thursday, March 18, 2021

A cruise to Greenland with Rockwell Kent - Ocean Navigator

Seal hunter - Greenland- Rockwell Kent 1936
You don't get to do everything on your bucket list.  Mine has included following Rockwell Kent to Alaska, Patagonia, and Greenland.  I managed the first [scroll down] but the last two seem unlikely.  Today we went to the Farnsworth Museum - Rockland, Maine's world class home of art by the many who tried their hands here.  A personal favorite is Rockwell Kent whose sailing voyage on a small sloop to Greenland became a two year stay, with a native woman named Salamina.  Today's visit was highlighted by three of Kent's paintings (see one above).  I dug up a 2001 piece about Greenland published in 2007 by Ocean Navigator. - GWC

American iconoclast Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was, in his time, a lobsterman, shipwright, sailor, Casanova and, most of all, a significant and celebrated artist. Sometimes referred to as “the people’s painter,” his amazing woodcuts, pen-and-ink drawings and oils are collected in museums throughout the world. Perhaps his best-known woodcuts are found in the 1930s editions of Moby Dick and works of William Shakespeare.

Throughout his long life, Kent espoused a politically incorrect – at least to the establishment – socialist position that made him very popular in the Soviet Union and attracted derision and investigations in the post-war era in his home country. In the 1920s and ’30s, though, he was one of this country’s most popular and successful artists. (He also was a successful commercial artist, having designed the Random House house logo and Viking’s ship logo, decorations that are still used by the New York publishers.) He was also a writer of great skill, who told the stories of his adventures in beautifully illustrated books. One of these, N by E, is a charming classic.

This is the story, as Kent writes, “of an actual voyage to Greenland in a small boat; of a shipwreck there and what, if anything, happened afterwards.” Kent and two shipmates departed New York in early summer of 1929, bound, of all places, for Greenland. They were sailing aboard a 33-foot wooden cutter, called Direction, designed by M.H. Minot. The book, originally published in a limited edition, became very popular, then went out of print. It has since been recently reissued in paperback.

Each chapter heading is illustrated with a wood cut – the combination of these, along with the fantastical story, make this story leap from the pages. The chapter Navigation is illustrated with a beautiful rendition of a sextant. Kent, until this voyage a novice sailor and navigator, describes the almost religious experience he had when preparing to take a sight:

“I have had this instrument for years and never used it. Never knew how. Its mere possession moved me. Often I have opened its case and looked at it – so beautifully contrived and made, and its bright arc so cleanly and minutely graduated.”

“And now at last, at noon of the 18th of June in the year 1929, having for nearly 47 years knocked about the world €¦ I propose to take my sextant in hand, cautiously creep along the pitching, tossing, rolling desk of my small ship, mount to the highest place against the mast, twist my legs around the halyards, brace my shoulders between them, and, resting one eye as if it were on that fixed point of the absolute, the sun, and the other on the immutable horizon of this earth, find by triangulation where I am.” Kent and his shipmates wrecked Direction on Greenland’s rocky shores shortly after making landfall.

So let’s join our lusty navigator, learning his craft aboard Direction on June 18. (We will use the 2002 Nautical Almanac.) The initial DR is 55° 45.2′ N by 59° 45′ W. Height of eye is 10 feet. Index error is 1′ off the arc. A: What is the time of LAN at the DR position? B: If the Hs is 57° 27.7′, what is the latitude?

On June 19, 24 hours after the first sight, Kent prepares another noon sight. Direction has been steering 043° M, making 4 knots. Variation is 023° W. There is no deviation. C: Find Direction’s True course. D: What is the DR at the new position? E: What time is LAN?  

Me, Peter and Jeff Armstrong (helm)



Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Monday, March 15, 2021

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Kilimanjaro: Bernard Freamon mountain climber




This all started on Friday with some chitchat before we began the weekly editorial board meeting of the NJ Law Journal.  Prompted by an obit on the agenda we started trading stories - I pitched in about Aleksander Doba the Polish adventurer who whose death on Kilimanjaro had just been reported.  I mentioned that Bernard Freamon - my Rutgers classmate, friend, historian, and fellow NJ Law Journal Editorial Board member - had climbed Kilimanjaro.  When he logged on it was not possible to tell the story.  So now, with his weekend work behind him he was able to share the story.  It is below.

There has been a delightful exchange as members of the board shared reminiscences of their own greatest adventures in Alaska and Africa, and did some kvelling about their kids who climbed El Capitan, summited Kilimanjaro, or rode a motorcycle to Tierra del Fuego.  But of them all the best tale told is Bernard's. - GWC


Kilimanjaro: Bernard Freamon mountain climber - georgeconk@gmail.com - Gmail
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Bernard K Freamon <Bernard.Freamon@shu.edu>
Date: Sat, Mar 13, 2021 at 12:27 AM
Subject: Re: Voyages>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>: Aleksander Doba, Who Kayaked Across the Atlantic, Dies at 74 - The New York Times
To: George Conk <georgeconk@gmail.com>


Yes, I climbed it. With 3 of my best friends. I got to the last hut but the cold and wind and ice were too much to permit me to continue. It was the experience of a lifetime. A Japanese woman who was in our cohort died at the top. She just dropped dead. There was also a Norwegian newlywed couple in our cohort who did their honeymoon by climbing the mountain. They had the best brand-new mountain climbing gear, but the husband got altitude sickness and had to take a three-wheeled ambulance down. Even Norwegians get altitude sickness. Only one of my group made it to the top and he was motivated as his purpose was to scatter his brother's ashes on top, which was his brother's wish. 

***

OK Folks. I am done with my law practice work for today and I can turn to providing answers to the questions posed by Ed and others on our Kilimanjaro adventure. 

In the 8th grade, at Broadway Junior High School in Newark, we had a teacher named Reuben Johnson. He taught earth science and he was an extraordinary teacher and mentor, taking us on many field trips and engaging in unforgettable demonstrations of science in class. He kept in touch with us (about 5 of us) as we progressed through high school and college or the military, dubbing us the "Broadway Brothers." He eventually left teaching and moved to Africa, first as a member of the Peace Corps in Botswana and later as deputy director of a charity in Kenya. He was a great influence on me and the other "Broadway Brothers" and several of us traveled to East Africa to visit with him or pursue careers in the region. He is the reason I ended up living in Kenya for two years and teaching at the University of Nairobi.

After he returned to the United States, Mr. Johnson got the idea that we should all climb Mount Kilimanjaro together. We began organizing it and 3 of the 5 "Broadway Brothers" were able to sign on for the trip. We arranged to meet in Tanzania, hired an organizer for the climb, and joined a larger group of about 9 people who planned to jointly do the climb using porters and guides supplied by the organizer. I think that the people in the "cohort," as I call it, did not know each other but were brought together by the organizer, who was an experienced mountain trekker. 
We had about 20 or so porters, carried the equipment we needed on the backs of the porters, including cooking equipment and food, and we ascended the mountain using what was called the "Coca-Cola Route." This was a route popular with tourists because it does not require great mountain-climbing skill but, as it turns out, it was not the best route because it is exhausting and a great strain on the body and mind. I practiced by climbing stairs in Morningside Park in New York for 4 weeks but this did not help that much. 
As John Connell points out, the difficulty with Kilimanjaro is not the mountain-climbing skill needed but the altitude and climate and the need to carefully adjust to the altitude and climate as you ascend mountain. It is a formidable undertaking and not for the faint of heart. John says he collapsed at Kibo Hut, which is at about 17,000 feet, and this happened to us as well. I think all of the routes converge at Kibo Hut and it serves as a base camp to prepare for the final assault on the summit.

 The vistas that one observes while climbing the mountain are spectacular and I cannot put into words the exhilaration that I experienced in doing that. The last part of the climb to Kibo Hut is particularly memorable because you leave the forest and pass through rapid changes in environment, going from alpine meadows to open tree-less desert to tundra and ending in a God-forsaken, cold-as-hell ice field where there is no life except the climbers. I was never so glad to reach that hut as I have ever been in reaching anyplace in all my life. The Japanese lady I spoke about was with us all the way up and there was never any indication that she was sick or in danger of death. She seems to have been a very hearty but older woman who thoroughly enjoyed climbing. 

Our Norwegian compatriots were also good climbing partners. I stayed in the room with them at Kibo Hut and during the night before the final climb his wife notified the medical people at the hut that he was beginning to have altitude sickness symptoms, which includes disorientation, dizziness, nausea, exhaustion and terrible body pain and cramps. There is no cure other than to take the person back down as rapidly as possible to a place where there is more oxygen. They did not have oxygen tanks and similar equipment at the hut. I will never forget watching the ambulance drivers carrying him out of our room and placing him in a three-wheeled rickshaw style ambulance for a mad rush down the mountain. His wife was in tears. I think they thought that being Norwegian gave them an immunity but it did not. All the brand-new equipment did not do him any good. 
Mr. Johnson and two of us determined that we simply did not have the physical strength to get to the top and so we stayed in the hut, sleeping and resting, until it was time to go down. Steve, who is a practicing medical doctor, determined he would try to reach the summit to spread his brother's ashes and he made it. We learned from him that the Japanese lady had died at the top. After we returned to bottom, we took a few days for a safari in the Serengeti and we had a great time recuperating. I would not try it again but I am glad I did it. 

I am not sure what else you want to know but don't hesitate to ask questions if you have follow-up. Mr. Johnson is still alive. On Saturday we celebrated his 85th birthday (I think--he lies about his age). Our trek was written up by a reporter for a New Brunswick newspaper. I have long since forgotten what newspaper that was. I think that Mount Kilimanjaro deserves to be included as one of the wonders of the world. One of the things that I will never forget is the silence of the high-altitude environment. You get a chance to really really really be with yourself. If you are going to die, it is not a bad place to meet your maker. It certainly reconfirmed for me that there is a God and I am blessed to have come up close and personal to one of the wonders of nature and its creator.          

 Peace,

Bernard 

Bernard K. Freamon
Professor of Law Emeritus
Seton Hall Law School

Friday, March 12, 2021

Aleksander Doba, Who Kayaked Across the Atlantic, Dies at 74 - The New York Times

He was 74.  Kinda young, I can say since I've eked past that.
But hey..he got out of a lot of scrapes over the years.​
  So he laid down and died on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.


Aleksander Doba, Who Kayaked Across the Atlantic, Dies at 74 - The New York Times

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

If you could hear me now . The Mammals - Nonet

 

Kangaroos just wanna have fun

 https://twitter.com/i/status/1210976572540358657

Drumming on Ice - Arctic syncopation

 Norwegian musicians staged the world’s most northerly music concert playing on instruments carved from ice collected from Arctic waters.

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Baby steps