Ant’s Nickel Boat Tour on the Delaware River, NJ and Philadelphia

 

“Boats. Vessels of freedom. Harbors of heeling.”

Kenny Chesney

What an amazing day we had with our friend, Anthony aka Ant. He picked us up and drove to Ziggy’s boat ramp, a small, steep ramp in Paulsboro, New Jersey to launch his boat. We had been to this ramp before and knew the currents were strong but with Ant’s expertise, we pulled out without any problem.

Ant was a great tour guide, pointing out various sites in Paulsboro and along the coast including the refineries that were now defunct. We drove past the Port of Paulsboro where he pointed out the huge foundations called jackets or manopiles that were being assembled that would become the off shore windmills.

It was a perfect day with not much wind, clear skies, and in the 80’s. We got great views of river front homes along the Delaware River in Paulsboro and Ant told us who lived in many of the homes. We had never seen the smaller homes that had beach front lots. These homes could only be reached by stairs. We also passed the Sportsman Club, a private sports club.

We drove up near the small three mile island of Little Tinicum Island. It is a part of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry now and was settled by colonial Swedes in 1643 and was once the capital of New Sweden. The governor, Johan Printz arrived in 1643 and built a large home named Printzhoff. The home is no longer there as over the years, the weather and floods destroyed the home. We also got to see the Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse off the river in the town of Paulsboro as well as the Front Range Light on the banks of the Delaware River. He showed us how the lights line up so the ships captains know it is time for them to turn to stay in the channel.

Then we cruised past the Philadelphia Airport and viewed many planes flying right over our heads as they were coming in for a landing. For sure it was a different view not seen by many. It is amazing how close the airport is to Paulsboro and how low the planes flew over us. This area of the river is very industrial with oil tankers and other ships coming in to drop off their loads or fill up at the tanks along the river, but yet there were quite a few pleasure crafts out there as well.

Ant asked if we wanted to head up the Schuylkill River. Absolutely, was our response. Right next to the Schuykill River was a nice path where loads of people were walking, running, and riding bikes. Further up, we saw an area where you could rent kayaks by the hour. It was very busy as we were heading towards the city but by the time we came back, everyone was out of the river. We were able to get right into the city and had fantastic views of the city.

We managed to get all the way up near the damn and waterfall and had great views of the Art Museum. We could see the boat houses just past the damn where they have crew races. When my brother was in the Coast Guard, I had been to see him race there. It is a beautiful area. We loved being on the water and not being in the traffic that we saw backing up on the Schuykill River. We so enjoyed looking at all the buildings, parks, and unique old bridges. This was such a lovely way to see the city.

After leaving the Schuykill River, we headed towards the Philadelphia Navy Base where my father was stationed many years ago. It was very interesting passing destroyers and the JFK aircraft carrier which looked to be a skeleton of the ship. There were two ships tied up side by side. One was the USS Monterey CG – 61 which was a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser that is listed as inactive and in reserve. This was the fourth vessel by that name and was built in the Bath Iron Works in Maine. She was commissioned on June 16, 1990 and is 567 feet long. She served for 32 years and was decommissioned on September 16, 2022. She assisted in the evacuation of more than 124,000 civilians from Afghanistan. It’s motto was Rough in Battle and Ready in Peace.

The other ship is the USS Vella Gulf CG-72 and was also a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser. This ship was commissioned on September 18, 1993 and is 567 feet long. She is the second ship to go by that name and was built in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was decommissioned on August 4, 2022 and was considered to be a temperamental ship. I guess it gave her crew some problems. This ship supported a crew in 1999 in NATO strikes against Serbia to help stop their government from human right abuses against Albanians in the Kosovo region. She also served in the Persian Gulf. Her motto was, Move swiftly, Strike Vigorously.

Then there was the John F. Kennedy CV-67, aka “Big John” which appeared to be in the state of being dismantled. This ship was built by Newport News Shipbuilding. She was commissioned on Sept 7, 1968 and served our country for 40 years. JFK served in the Mediterranean to help with the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, as well as serving in Dessert Storm, and the Persian Gulf. This air craft carrier is 1,052 feet long.

This ship seemed cursed by all the events that occurred onboard. In 1975, there were eight fires onboard thought to be arson. Then later that year she collided with a cruiser named BelKnap and did serious damage to that ship causing fires on both ships. Seven crew members on Belknap were killed and one soul lost on JFK. Then in 1976, the destroyer Bordelon lost control and collided with JFK causing severe damage. Earlier that day on F-14 Tomcat fell off the deck after having issues with the catapult. In 1979, five fires occurred killing one and injuring 34. Another time in Dublin, high winds caused a pontoon to tear a hole into the hull of JFK. Lastly in 2004, the ship collided in the Persian Gulf with a dhow leaving no survivors and damaging two jet fighters.

The JFK is now being dismantled. They tried to donate it to be used as a museum but it would take too much work. On October, 2021 the ship was sold for 1 cent to International Shipbreaking Limited for scrap. What a sad site to see. The birds were loving resting on her chains. What a sad ending for such a ship.

Then we headed back passing Soupy Island. Funny name isn’t it. The picture above is where you would go to get the ferry to Philadelphia.  This area got its name as in the early 1900’s, the Sanitarium Association bought this property and built a hospital and playground for children with tuberculosis. A group of women worked here and got up to make soup every day at 5. Local farmers donated most of the ingredients making soup a cheap way to feed all the children. During the Depression Era, this park was used for city kids who were ferried over from Philadelphia to play and get fed soup. During WWII, this park was taken over by the Army for a short while. There is a carousel there brought from New York and has 48 wooden horses all different designs. Campbell's soup gave large donations to soupy island including soup, goldfish, V8 Splash, and planted trees. They also funded a baseball diamond, volleyball court, and basketball court. This park is over 130 years old and now the pier where the ferries came in is a skeleton of what is once was. Kids still line up for free meals in the old soup kitchen. Soupy Island is open six weeks starting after July 4^th on Tuesday 9:30 – 3:00, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:30 – 4:00 pm.

Then we could see the beach at Red Bank Battlefield Park aka National Park which is a 44 acre park open during daylight hours. This is a beautiful park with nice trails to walk as well as monuments and a museum that was once a hospital that is open for tours. There was once a fort built here called Fort Mercer. This was the site of the Battle of Red Bank where 100 American soldiers fought against 2000 British and Hessian soldiers. This battle was fought on October 22, 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. The far inferior colonial forces defeated the British which boosted the moral of the Americans. The British later took Fort Mercer a month later. This battle helped George Washington further up North by delaying the British. This is an interesting park to visit if you are in the area.

It was a lovely day with Captain Ant at the wheel. He was a wealth of information about the area and gave us a great ride. He weaved in and out around lots of floating drift wood in the river and he did it with style. Thanks Ant for a great tour.

Till next time. Bye for now.