Cold iron move(OT)

Chris_W · Post by **Chris_W** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 10:28 am

Thought I'd throw in something non-rail, just for grins. Last Sunday we had to move Medea (1904) to a new berth while getting Berkley ready for her first drydocking in 30 years. No steam and no time to raise it so we made up Pilot (1914) "on the hip" and used her as a tug.

Chris_W · Post by **Chris_W** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 10:35 am

Another shot, different angle. Pilot is 52',19 tons with a single 270 hp Cat, Medea is 145', 200 tons with a 12+24x18 compound and a 9x9.5 wetback scotch boiler. We steam Medea a couple times a month, but she's going through her annual boiler inspection this month.
Oh yeah, we made it without a scratch [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif"%20alt="[/img]
Cheers,
Chris

Bill_Gardei · Post by **Bill_Gardei** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 12:06 pm

Chris:

I've never seen a tug operation done from alongside. Is this what
you mean by "on the hip" or am I reading the photos wrong?
Looks like Boston harbor. Is it?

Tnx for photos. -- Bill

willy · Post by **willy** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 12:40 pm

Looks alot like San Diego Ca to me. Brings back fond days of lousy high school (boarding school) LOL

Chris_W · Post by **Chris_W** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 8:48 pm

Bill,
In ship assist handling, the tugs are usually working both the bow and stern at the same time. In the Medea move I started with Pilot on the starboard quarter, as far aft as I could make up securely. This allowed me to use Pilot's rudder and prop wash to put Medea where I wanted her. I used a large "power line" from Pilot's sampson post to Medea's stern bitts (see photo, the line is slack since I was backing down at the time) and then had breast and spring lines to keep us tight alongside. Since the museum wanted Medea bow to the weather, I had to drop the tow and make up on her port side. I couldn't secure where I wanted to due to the flare in Medea's bow so I had to work amidship, with some loss of manuverability. This picture was the final approach, with the pier about 5' abeam and closing.
As Willy pointed out it is San Diego, during a rare rain squall. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/tongue.gif"%20alt="[/img]
Cheers,
Chris

UnkaJesse · Post by **UnkaJesse** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 7:29 pm

Beautiful ship Chris, but I has a question. When the Medea is under steam the vents are facing aft. If it was under sail, do the vents face forward? Inquiring mind wants to know. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif"%20alt="[/img] Also, ain't you got no pic of what must be a beautimus compound engine that you mentioned? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Unka( who used to know what those horn shaped vents are called) Jesse

Chris_W · Post by **Chris_W** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 9:17 pm

Hi Unka,
Medea is 100% steamer and carries no sails. She was equipped with a suit originally, for emergency purposes only. Normally when we steam, the cowl ventilators are facing away from the wind direction. What happens is when the vents face the wind, it blows the hot air in the fiddley down onto the engineers. On a warm day it gets over 120°f in the "snipe hole" so by turning the ventilators downwind, it draws the hot air out.
I'll try and post some pictures of her engine but they will be bits and pieces since you can't get back far enough to get the whole thing at once!
Cheers,
Chris
Oh yeah, when I first started running her, the snipes told me they refered to the engine order telegraph as the Captain's wish list. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

UnkaJesse · Post by **UnkaJesse** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 8:06 pm

Chris, I know what you are talking about when you say you can only send pics of bits and pieces of the Medea engine. I went down in the battleship "Texas" a few years back. All agog with anticipation, I had camera in hand as I went down through three decks with the starboard engine standing only inches away all the way. Got to the bottom and no way could I back away far enough to get any photos of the 14,500 HP 4 cylinder Triple. I needed a 19 mm wide angle lens and had only the 50mm standard lens with me. The engine was to say the least, right in my face and bigger, much bigger, than life. To make matters worse, the crankcase was pretty well enclosed with sheet metal (oil guards? Drunken sailor safety shields?). One neat thing I did notice was the spare main bearings etc bolted securely to the engine room floor cause there ain't no NAPA stores in the middle of the ocean.

Unka (carry wide angle lens next time for sure) Jesse

The Home Machinist!

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