5 July 2020

USS SLATER began her shipyard trek to Caddell Dry Dock & Repair in Staten Island, New York at 0700, 5 July 2020.

We had been preparing for this for over a year and due to the COVID-19 pandemic we had to postpone, and then jump on an opportunity to fit into the schedule within a month’s notice.

Tugs NATHAN G. and SARAH D. accompanied SLATER on her voyage southbound.

Dutch Apple Cruises followed us down to Castleton to say farewell, and our tour guide, Evan Sanders was aboard to entertain passengers with stories and history of SLATER.

It was a beautiful trip down river. We were escorted by multiple law enforcement agencies and a constant convoy of private yachts, and pleasure craft. Spectators lined the shore and bridges until dark. We used Facebook to give continual reports on our location, until our wifi overheated and we had to go offline with a final post, “Computer is too hot, shutting down.” At that point, our fans took over and continued to use the post to update everyone on our progress. The key man on the trip down river was Mike Dingmon, our only regular diesel engineer. With Barry Witte’s help blowing out the sea chest, Mike alternated between 3-cylinder and 8-cylinder gensets and kept power to the ship for the whole trip. The engine watches were the toughest in the heat.

Watch our time-lapse of the entire trip on the left!