Hollyhock

As I have written before, it is easy in Manhattan to forget that this is an island. Which means surrounded by water, so with the glorious weather we have had, I mounted my bicycle and armed with a camera, made a short pilgrimage to the East River to see what I could see. To my surprise, I came across an enormous vessel - a US Coast Guard cutter ship named Hollyhock, docked for a few days just north of the Water Club (a waterside restaurant) who permitted them to dock in their waters. Military force personnel always seem very happy to engage in conversation with civilians - according to a crew member with whom I spoke, the Hollyhock was on patrol and had traveled from its home base in Port Huron, Michigan via the St. Lawrence Seaway to NYC - click here for a photo of two crew members examining my New York Daily Photo business card. In reading about the ship I came across things like: "the Hollyhock is a 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender that was launched January 25, 2003 in Marinette, Wisconsin." Clarification was needed so I read that: "the Seagoing Buoy Tender is a class of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter originally designed to service aids to navigation, throughout the waters of the United States, and wherever U.S. shipping interests require." Perhaps not the type of thing that excites most readers, but this ship does represent the latest in shipbuilding, propulsion and ship control technology, allowing it to use a smaller crew. "A dynamic positioning system can hold the vessel within a 10-meter circle using GPS technology, allowing the crew to service and position navigation buoys more efficiently than before in 30-knot winds and 8-foot seas ."