Pushing pipe

Seen a few days ago at Catlettsburg. The M/V O. Nelson Jones in the fog as day was breaking.

I'd never seen a boat pushing that much pipe, at least not all shredded for scrap.

Old school

 

Let's go with an old school look for a photo I like for several reasons.

There's a Crounse boat pushing a full tow of coal. You can see a bridge in the background through the fog. You can see power lines carrying electricity that probably was generated from coal. The boat itself is a classic design for Ohio River boats. The boat is one I don't see often.

And by going with a faded black-and-white look, we get away from the sort of images most people are getting from their digital cameras or their phones. It almost looks like an old postcard.

It seemed like it was time for something different. So here it is.

Divine Mercy delivers the light

 

This is what you see when you're at the boat ramp when the M/V Divine Mercy is tied up across the river and using its searchlight or spotlight or whatever it's called to help the two guys who just arrived on their little boat with its outboard motor for crew change.

From what I overheard, the relief guys may have been across the river in Ohio while the departing guys were standing at the boat ramp in West Virginia waiting for them. But I could have been wrong.

M/V Milton

 

As seen in the late afternoon sun on a November day.

The light can be brutal for photographic purposes.

A matter of perspective

 

The sternwheel of the Belle of Louisville ...

... from a different point of view.

Pardon my vanity

 

So I went out to get a photo of the M/V Charleston right before sunset this past Sunday evening, and I had a thought as it passed by.

Here I am, one old classic photographing another. OK, I flatter myself from time to time. The lines of my body don't look or flow as good as her lines, even if I am a few years younger.

M/V O. Nelson Jones undergoing repairs

 I saw this beauty ...

... yesterday when I was at the Amherst Madison marine repair fleet at Gallipolis, Ohio, working on a freelance article for a publication. As I told one of the people I was with, when you get the chance to be this close to a classic, you get pictures.

The sky was cloudless and it was late afternoon, meaning the sun was brutal as far as lighting goes, but I did what I could.

I don't care what anyone says, this is a beautiful boat. I like how the Amherst paint scheme sort of mimics the old Ohio River Co. scheme. Amherst uses gray where Ohio River Co used dark green, but it works pretty good.