Hawk, Hudson Heights

from the album Walking back from lunch by Ben Berry

First day of ice on the Hudson

makes me remember summer

the Back River from our living room - Friendship

the North (Hudson) River from our living room - New York

Where the stripers go for the winter

Virginia Beach.  Or maybe they just follow Steve Pags.

what we have here is happy men and dead fish

New York - winter playground

It's colder up here in the Heights - of northern Manhattan, in Fort Tryon Park where Jenny  一之 and Du Ying 杜頴 found a place to go sliding after the second snow storm of the season.

Rite of winter: buoy tending by the Katherine Walker, USCG

The Katherine Walker

As I came down the block I saw the Coast Guard buoy tender Katherine Walker - WLM 552 - pulling up the Hudson River 2 channel marker - a flashing  3 meter tower.  I ran upstairs , grabbed my camera, and watched them lowering a small nun - an ice buoy - in anticipation of the coming freeze.  The location: the North River - just off West 181 Street above the George Washington Bridge. (click on images to enlarge)

lowering the winter buoy - lighted tower on deck

pushing away using bow and stern thrusters

Big Sur - December 2010

Peter's shot:

George, Peter & Taisy - summer 2001

on board CO2 - Christopher Makins' Parker skiff

Graymarine Phantom Six - replacing the old engine

Remember, said Garrison Keillor, when you could take the cover off, look inside, and see how things work.  Old engines are like that.  They have grease and gears and valves and hoses and pumps, sparks and circuits you can follow with your eye.  No USB ports, no algorithms.   You'll never put penetrating oil on your hard drive and you'll never have to put any muscle into your laptop.

Fraternal twins

Today - at Jeff's Marine - we pulled out of my 1955 Lyman runabout Grace the old, seized up Graymarine flathead six cylinder 100 and put in a very mint-looking Graymarine Phantom Six - 112.   Very Jersey Shore, as in Bruce's "we're fuel-injected and we're stepping out over the line".  But it has dual carburetors, not fuel injection.   We swapped some parts from old to new and made some adjustments, but mostly the Phantom Six fit right into the bed and connections of the old one.  The drive shaft lines up (almost), the mechanical gear shift linkage fits, the throttle hose  needs some work, and some shimming and grappling remains.  More fun for Jeff and 
Brian. 
Update: it runs!
(click images to enlarge)[more pix HERE]

Jeff getting down

Brian

dropping  the Phantom 6 into the Lyman

Sunset - Back River - Christmas Week 2010

Our tree 2010

Our tree 2010