Monday, May 28, 2018

M/V Big Eddie


Here are a few more shots of the M/V Big Eddie as it passed Huntington yesterday, along with a couple of calculations.

First, the boat as seen from the bridge.


The view from behind to give some perspective of the size of that load relative to the boat pushing it.


And one from the side.


o, how big was that load? The Big Eddie itself is 66 feet long, 27 feet wide and drafts 9.6 feet of water. Going by those dimensions and comparing them with the size of the load, it appears that piece  of cracker equipment must be from 270 to 275 feet long, and it is about 30 feet in diameter.

The barge the big silver thing is on looks to be about 60 feet wide and perhaps 264 feet long. The front part of the cargo — the part that resembles an elephant's trunk — extends past the end of the barge, which probably explains the two open hopper barges at the head of the tow.

The rear part of the cargo likewise extends past the rear of the barge and hang over the front of the Big Eddie. From what I can tell, it might be only inches from the part of the pilothouse that hangs out over the front windows.

What I would like to know is how the people in the pilothouse refer to the view that never changes. Or perhaps I don't really want to know.