Three-Legged Boat Arrives for Eco-Duty on the Gowanus Bay in Red Hook

RED HOOK — A self-propelled liftboat  — which can lift itself out of the water on three cylindrical legs and transform into a suspended platform — sailed into Gowanus Bay last week.

“LEGS III” — an offshore work boat, initially used in the Gulf oil patch and then for marine towing and salvage — will take on a third life in service of the environment, as a collective resource for environmentally-focused nonprofits and schools.

The vessel will replace the current flat-deck barge hosting the RETI Center nonprofit, docked at the southern end of Columbia Street.

Born at GBX~, RETI (which stands for resilience, education, training and innovation) provides work-force training in wind and solar energy, sustainable design, rigging and other green jobs. On the Gowanus Bay, volunteers and scientists working with the organization have been planting kelp, which helps clean the water, and seeding mussels on floating field stations, among other environmental projects. 

Looks like a Blue Claw crab 

“LEGS III,” with three-levels of accommodations, is equipped with two cranes of different sizes — which caught the eye of John Quadrozzi, Jr., president of the GBX~Gowanus Bay Terminal, a longtime proponent of sustainable industry. 

“I looked at it and saw a Blue Claw crab,” Quadrozzi told the Brooklyn Eagle. “The cranes reminded me of the crusher claw and cutting claw of the salt marsh crab species.” That led him to informally dub the vessel the “Blue Crab with Legz.” 

“While ‘LEGS III’ is its actual name, we want to call it a ‘crab with legs,’ implying the double meaning, [that] there’s more to it,” he said. 

Quadrozzi said he leased the vessel through September 2025 to cover the season’s programs, and to give time to carry out due diligence for a right-of-first-refusal obtained to buy it. 

Unlike the RETI Center’s barge, the liftboat has indoor space for classrooms and demonstrations, cranes for rigging and for hoisting to and from the water, and is self-propelled with equipment for navigation.  

“RETI Center is thrilled for ‘Blue Claw LEGS III’ to relocate to GBX~ generously hosted by John Quadrozzi,” Gita Nandan, board chair and co-founder of RETI Center, told the Eagle. “This move aligns perfectly with the mission of this site and our organization and will serve as a platform to expand our programming and establish a field station aboard ‘Blue Claw.’”

Nandan said the organization aims to expand their workforce training opportunities and aquatics programs by 2025. “With its lifting capacity, cranes and versatile interior spaces, ‘Blue Claw’ offers the perfect opportunity to accommodate these growing programs. We look forward to creating a hub for education, sustainability and climate resilience.”

Will expand environmental opportunities 

The new ship will allow the expansion of the environmental and educational cohort which started with RETI, Quadrozzi said. Partners so far include the well-known Billion Oyster Project in partnership with the Harbor School, the Urban Soils Institute and the Rockaway Film Festival, where Quadrozzi envisions offering environmental films onboard the ship. Instead of a ‘drive-in cinema,’  it would be NYC’s first ‘float-in cinema’,” Quadrozzi said.  

Urban Soils Institute’s Paul Mankiewicz said the vessel would offer an opportunity to expand a NYC Department of Environmental Protection pilot using ribbed mussels to clean the waters of Jamaica Bay. Suspension feeders like ribbed mussels filter and clean the water as they feed.

“The RETI vessel would provide the potential for kindred contributions around Gowanus Bay and the East River,” Mankiewicz told the Eagle. Suspension feeders “can be used to greatly enhance water quality, and require no energy inputs since these organisms are powered by metabolizing the carbon in the water column itself.” 

Passing the torch

“You could look at it that it’s ironic that the ship is moving from the oil patch to environmental programs, but I see it as fitting,” LEGS III’s owner, mariner and artist Seth Tane told the Eagle.

Tane, who has had a long career in marine towing, salvage, launch service and line handling, acquired the unusual vessel in April 2021.  

“There are very few of these outside the Gulf of Mexico,” he said, extolling the vessel’s virtues as an off-the-grid workplace. “You don’t need to be in a marina, and never have to be tied to a dock. It’s as stable as living on land, and there’s no rocking around, which makes it safe during storms.”

When operating on full solar, it has almost “indefinite” endurance, Tane said. “When parked, it runs on full PV [photovoltaic] and solar hot water,” so when stable, it doesn’t need outside power in summer. Running on diesel fuel, the ship can travel 800 miles on one fill-up of the 4,400-gallon tank.

Tane said he has now moved to land, but had been living on the LEGS III with his partner, who he met online in 2021. She had no prior marine experience, but “she found herself driving the boat at night. We both enjoy it.” They undertook together the 40-day journey bringing the ship offshore from Louisiana to New York City.

Tane compared the living space on board to a full-sized, 3,000-foot house. There are quarters for 22 passengers and three crew members, a big galley with a commercial kitchen and a steam table, a walk-in cooler and two full bathrooms with showers, he said.  

He converted one of the areas to his painting studio, and his partner created a yoga studio for herself. “My partner and I were very comfortable,” he said.

Why would he ever leave such an amazing ship?

“I’m about to turn 72, and though very healthy and active, I do most of the [marine] work alone. There are rational limits. Will I be able to do this when I’m 85? It’s a complicated machine,” he said.

Tane, who attended the Rhode Island School of Design early in his career, has transitioned to painting full time, and his career as an artist is booming. Painting “takes time and concentration. I had to make a choice.” 

Tane and Quadrozzi’s paths had crossed before in the tight-knit waterfront community, he said, and he appreciated the industrialist’s environmental sensibilities. “Everybody said [RETI and the Billion Oyster Project] needed this so badly.” The deal “seemed the obvious solution.”

He added, “Passing the torch in this way to an environmental training organization feels very good.

This post first appeared on brooklyneagle.com.