Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (May 2006)

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were booked. "They'd say 'call in two weeks.' I'd call, and they'd say 'call in two weeks.' It went on for four months."

Garpo's yard in Tottenville has been the salvation for many smaller tugs, but the

Dorothy Elizabeth is extra-heavy — beyond the capacity of that Travel Lift. "A lot of companies use Feeney's" sixty miles upriver, at Kingston, "but they couldn't take us, either."

That left Derektor's, in Bridgeport. "Everyone said they gave great service, and they turned out to be just the great- est." The fact that they're six hours away, each way, is just one of those crazy things about doing business in modern New

York.

One week after arriving in Bridgeport, the Dorothy Elizabeth was back in the water. Including transit time, it was an extra nine days without income. Still, coming back down, Capt. Vinik could feel the difference made by the freshly cleaned hull. He was soon making calls, to let everyone know he was back.

At age twenty-six, Capt. Vinik reflects a lot of things about tugboating that go against the times.

One day he'll be forty-six, and this gloss will have worn-off. No longer gumption and potential, the discussion will center on Capt. Vinik's record.

If all goes well, he'll be one of the fix- tures in a peculiar business, where compe- tition is stiff — but everyone charters everyone, anyway.

Someday, everything that's happened so far will reduce to, "oh yeah, I helped him get started."

But that will be then, and this is still now. "It takes a whole harbor to raise a tugboat company," said Capt. Vinik, "it's like raising a child."

And although this one is formally named Dorothy Elizabeth, it could also be named Phoenix.

May, 2006 • MarineNews 29

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Looks like Mike got his engine fixed. Dorothy Elizabeth eases a tanker into place at the KMI Outer- bridge terminal, close to the spot where the old tug once languished, never expected to run again. (Photo: Don Sutherland)

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