USCG's 180-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender

[EX-CG-GM]

Absolutely great.  I had completely forgotten about the song which was one I always loved.

Thanks Ron!!   

[BuoyJumper]

Acker Bilk

Ron....do you own a tripod.....or were you trying to make the 180's look like they were underway

Great production!

Tom redid the video for us Zoomer ... the photos are good and steady now.  It's a much better production.

[Zoomer]

Outstanding Tom

Don't need dramamine with that one

[BuoyJumper]

U.S.COAST GUARD 180'S Go to war (WWII)



SHIPMATES ... To optimize your viewing of many outstanding
photos of our 180's in their World War 2 "warpaint" watch the
video on youtube by clicking on the link below.  To optimize
your viewing the video .... After the youtube page loads click
on the 480p button for better resolution and then expand your
viewing area by clicking on the arrow down/arrow right button
to see these great photos on a larger screen.  Then turn up
the volume and enjoy the great music score by Vangelis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGjtemTabLQ

[BuoyJumper]

Former Duluth U.S. Coast Guard Cutter moves


Sundew owner Jeff Foster (right) talks with two crewmembers before the Sundew got under way Tuesday (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

DULUTH — Jeff Foster was apprehensive this morning, as volunteers and employees prepared the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sundew for its first voyage in years.

“I want everything to go well,” said Foster, who bought the 180-foot-long vessel last year. “It will be pretty exciting to see it move again.”

The Sundew, launched in 1944, was donated to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center for use as a floating museum in 2004. The ship failed to attract a sufficient number of visitors to cover the costs of docking, maintaining and staffing it during the tourist season, and the DECC put it up for sale last year. Foster offered just more than the minimum bid of $100,000 for the ship. His was the only qualifying bid.

Other than saying that he has plenty of ideas for how to use the ship, Foster, owner of Jeff Foster Trucking Inc., remains closed-mouthed about his long-range plans for the vessel.

“The first step is to see what we have,” going through the ship’s various systems to determine what needs to be repaired or replaced, he said.

Getting the ship ready to sail again took uncounted hours of labor by volunteers and Jeff Foster Trucking employees. The last time the ship’s engines had run was in 2004.  After last-minute preparations were completed, the ship’s diesel was fired up this morning.  At about 11:45 a.m., the prop was turned over and the ship began straining against its mooring lines.



Within 20 minutes, the lines were all in and the ship had maneuvered away from the side of Minnesota Slip and entered the harbor.

Commanding the ship was Joe Walters, a Coast Guard veteran who served on the Sundew from 1994-1997. He now captains the U.S.G.S. research vessel Kiyi.

“It’s almost surreal — it brings back a lot of good memories,” he said of being aboard the Sundew as it prepared to sail again. “I’m happy and honored to help move it.”

The sight of the Sundew coming to life again attracted the attention of tourists and ship watchers.

“I grew up around these boats,” said Washburn resident Chuck Carrier, whose father was in the Coast Guard. The younger Carrier followed his father into the Coast Guard and served 29 years aboard icebreakers and cutters.

“It’s great to see the old ships — the traditional work boat — out again,” he said. “I’m here to see it fly again.”

Foster owns a dock in Superior, but today’s voyage will take the Sundew to the LaFarge property near Bayfront Festival Park. Foster hopes to keep the Sundew there until after July’s Tall Ships Festival. It also will be the site of an August benefit dinner for Woodland Hills Treatment Center.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

SHIPMATES ... To optimize your viewing of many outstanding
photos on these YouTube videos watch the video on YouTube
by clicking on the link below the video.  

To optimize your viewing the video .... After the youtube video
player loads off to the lower right on the player click on the
arrow down/right button to watch the video in the higher 480p
(pixel) resolution and on an expanded viewing screen.  Then
turn up the volume and enjoy some great music.

180-foot buoy tender tour


To watch on YouTube Click Here

USCG 180s Post WW2 through late 1960s


To watch on YouTube Click Here

The Coast Guard 180s Get Their Stripes


To watch on YouTube Click Here

[BuoyJumper]

Ships to be removed
from Calif. ghost fleet

By Jason Dearen - The Associated Press
Thursday Apr 1, 2010


The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet.  The future is uncertain for the former cutters IRIS (inboard) and PLANETREE outboard.
  
BENICIA, Calif. — After years of dispute and delay, the federal government on Wednesday said it would remove a decaying armada from the San Francisco Bay estuary that has shed toxic substances into the water for decades.

The U.S. Maritime Administration, or MARAD, settled a lawsuit and agreed to remove most of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, known as the “ghost fleet,” a decrepit collection of mostly obsolete military vessels dating back to World War II.

The gray and rust-red ships, some with their hulls flaked with peeling paint, are anchored in rows in Suisun Bay, a shallow estuary between San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Studies by the administration have suggested the old warships have dumped more than 20 tons of copper, lead, zinc and other metals into the estuary, a critical habitat for a number of endangered species.

“We are moving expeditiously to remove the worst polluting ships first and diligently moving to clean the rest,” said David Matsuda, acting administrator of MARAD.

The settlement involving MARAD, environmental groups and state water quality regulators will see half of the ships deemed obsolete — the 25 worst polluters — removed by September 2012, with the rest gone by September 2017. In all, 52 ships eventually will be recycled at various MARAD yards.

The federal agency plans to keep more than a dozen of the ships anchored in the bay — including the iconic battleship USS Iowa — that are in better shape or still considered useful.

Some of the removals have already begun, with four taken out since November 2009.

On Wednesday, tugboats dragged the gray, rusty USS Mission Santa Ynez toward San Francisco Bay. The ship, once a U.S. Navy oil and fuel tanker used from World War II through the late 1960s, was on its way to a dry dock in San Francisco, where it would be cleaned and prepared for the longer journey through the Panama Canal to a recycling yard in Texas.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it could not estimate how much the removal of 52 ships would cost, but so far, taking out the Santa Ynez and four other ships has cost almost $1.7 million, including costs of dry-docking, towing and dismantling.

Under terms of the settlement, which still needs final approval from a judge, MARAD also agreed to clean up within 120 days piles of hazardous paint chips from the rotting old decks. Each ship will be inspected every 90 days, Matsuda said, and paint chips removed from the deck before being blown into the water.

“The San Francisco Bay should never have been a dumping ground for toxic waste. Getting these ships cleaned up and removed is a huge victory for our environment and the people of California,” said Michael Wall, lead attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the environmental groups who sued to get the site cleaned up.

Congress had previously ordered MARAD to dismantle the ships classified as no longer useful by 2006, but that never happened. Maritime officials blamed funding and a shortage of facilities for the failure to act on the Congressional mandate.

Still, cleaning up the damage that has already been done is impossible, as Suisun Bay is a tidal environment, so the paint that has peeled off the ships is now mixed in with sediments throughout the bay.

However, environmental groups said removing the ships would keep an estimated 50 tons of pollutants from entering the bay. Current cleanup efforts had already removed 120 tons of debris from the old warships, Matsuda said.

Suisun Bay was chosen by the military as one of several sites for ships withdrawn from active military service. MARAD continues to manage two other ghost fleets in U.S. waters in James River, Va. and Beaumont, Texas.

Over the years, the ships became unusable and too expensive to repair, so they were allowed to rot and pollute nearby waters and wildlife while officials debated what to do about the vessels.

Deb Self, executive director of San Francisco Bay Keeper, one of the environmental organizations that joined the lawsuit, said the ship removal is a key step toward cleaning up the polluted waters of the bay and delta. She said the waterways are key habitat for struggling chinook salmon and the tiny, endangered delta smelt.

“This area is a nursery for fisheries in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,” she said. “Keeping these toxins out of the water gives these young fish a fighting chance.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

This tribute is to the crew of the fishing vessel Courageous (former USCGC TUPELO).  On the 22 October 2008 the U.S. Coast Guard received a 'MAYDAY" call and later an EPIRB signal from the sinking fishing vessel Katmai.

In the finest tradition of seafarers, in 20-foot seas and 50-knot winds the fishing vessels Courageous and Patricia Lee answered the Coast Guard's call for help. Out of the eleven crew aboard the KATMAI, 4 were found alive and recovered by an AirSta Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk. Because of the efforts of the crew of the Courageous and Patricia Lee the bodies of 5 more crewmembers were recovered and brought home to their families.

To optimize your viewing the video click on this link .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzZsWylR1XI

After the youtube video player loads off to the lower right on the player click on the arrow down/right button to watch the video in the higher 480p (pixel) resolution and on an expanded viewing screen.  

[BuoyJumper]

The USCGC BLACKHAW (Red October cameo)   

To optimize your viewing of this video click on the link
posted below.  After the youtube video player loads off
to the lower right on the player click on the arrow down-
right button to watch the video in the higher 480p (pixel)
resolution and on an expanded viewing screen.

Click on this LINK

[BuoyJumper]

USCGC MESQUITE WLB-305



For optimum viewing watch the video on  YouTube.  After the
page loads off to the bottom right click on the arrow down/right
symbol to watch in 480 pixel resolution on an enlarged screen .... Enjoy

[BuoyJumper]

USCGC BALSAM WLB-62 (then)
(now) F/V BARANOF "on the crab" with crewman Danny Chiu



For optimum viewing watch the video on  YouTube.  After the
page loads off to the bottom right click on the arrow down/right
symbol to watch in 480 pixel resolution on an enlarged screen .... Enjoy

[BuoyJumper]

USCGC WOODRUSH WLB-407



For optimum viewing watch the video on  YouTube.  After the
page loads off to the bottom right click on the arrow down/right
symbol to watch in 480 pixel resolution on an enlarged screen .... Enjoy

[BuoyJumper]

Former CGC HORNBEAM: Photos of the Rum Cay Grace by Harry Briggs.
Click on either photo to view the Photobucket album.

[BuoyJumper]

When the Grand Parade of Sails enters the Duluth port today, the
former Coast Guard cutter Sundew probably will lead the way.
By: Candace Renalls, Duluth News Tribune
Thursday, July 29, 2010


Jeff Foster, owner of the Sundew, stands near his ship Wednesday afternoon
in Duluth. The former Coast Guard cutter is going to be used to lead the tall
ships into harbor for the tall ship parade. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

DULUTH — When the Grand Parade of Sails enters the Duluth port today, the former Coast Guard cutter Sundew probably will lead the way.

For the intrepid cutter, which served the Duluth port for years, it marks a very public comeback as it joins the group of escort boats leading the flotilla.

“We’re looking at other prominent members of the port to be part of the Parade of Sails as well to make it a celebration of the Duluth-Superior Harbor,” Lt. Aaron Gross with the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Duluth said.

Jeff Foster, who bought the Sundew last year, expected it to be the first boat in.

“We’ll come in before the tall ships with our water cannons going,” he said.

But don’t look for the Coast Guard markings on the Sundew, which first launched in 1944. The Coast Guard’s invitation had strings attached: Since the cutter was decommissioned in 2004, those markings aren’t allowed in such an event.

“I’m taking care of those things that the Coast Guard wants,” Foster said. “I’ll make sure everybody’s happy.”

The Alder, the 225-foot-long Coast Guard cutter that replaced the 180-foot-long Sundew, probably would have been involved, but it wasn’t available. It’s near the Arctic Circle working with the Canadian Coast Guard, said Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Bowden in Duluth.

Today’s escort, which provides the security zone around the tall ships, won’t be the first outing for the Sundew since its 2004 retirement. With its World War II-era technology, it was donated to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center for use as a floating museum. But when it failed to attract enough visitors, it was put up for sale. Foster, who owns Jeff Foster Trucking Inc., had the only minimum bid of $100,000.

After countless hours of work by volunteers, including former Sundew crew members, the vessel took its first post-retirement voyage in May. It cruised from its mooring at the LaFarge property near Bayfront Festival Park to the Superior Harbor entry and back. Subsequent excursions have included one to Bayfield last weekend for an assembly of the area’s power squadrons, civilian boating groups that work with the Coast Guard.

The Sundew will be the site of Foster’s 40th high school reunion on Friday night. It also will be the site for fundraisers for Woodland Hills and Marshall School in the next two months. Foster sees more fundraisers and special events in the Sundew’s future.

“A lot of people enjoy it, and I happen to be a part of it,” he said of the Sundew. “There’s been a lot more excitement, since we got it running. Wherever I am, people ask me about it, so it tends to be a topic of conversation.”

Word that the Sundew was in great shape and running again reached the contractor doing the oil cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico for BP. Foster was asked for the Sundew’s help.

As for going, Foster said: “It’s doubtful. I think they probably have enough vessels down there.”

Still, with the Sundew’s size and the machinery it has on board, Foster is exploring commercial uses for ship.

Firing up the ship’s diesel and getting the Sundew out is no small task. It takes a crew of 10. Fifteen is even better.

“I’ve had so much help from all sorts of folks, from people who were in the Coast Guard, who served on this vessel and vessels like it (39 were built),” Foster said. “Mechanical engineers donate their time to start things up and go out for two hours and then go back to The Cities.”

Today, there will be even more on board. Commandered by Capt. Steve Kelly, the crew will include Coast Guard and Navy veterans and teenage Coast Guard cadets. And it will include Foster, who is being trained by Kelly.

“I’m a captain in training,” Foster said. “I’m out there learning how to drive this vessel.”

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

The photos of Coast Guard veteran Ken Long are used to
highlight the service of the USCGC IRIS during her 27 years
of service in Galveston, Texas.



For optimum viewing watch the video on  YouTube.  After the
page loads off to the bottom right click on the arrow down/right
symbol to watch in 480 pixel resolution on an enlarged screen .... Enjoy