Author: Travis Stephens
Not Just Hot Air: Real Lifts, Real Results
Once, outside of Sonoma, an enterprising hippie named J.P. built a cupola to add to his house. He crafted it in his workshop—a masterful sculpture of hardwood and stained-glass panels. Rather than use a crane to lift it onto the roof, he chose a hot air balloon.
Hot air balloons achieve lift by heating the air inside the envelope, creating a difference in density between the hot interior and the cooler ambient air. It’s a limited proposition—the air can only be heated so much before it risks melting the balloon itself. J.P. chose a crisp winter day, invited some friends, and filled up the balloon. They left the basket off and attached straps directly to the cupola. The balloon rose like a carnival float. Long guide ropes helped ease it into position. Eventually, they landed it on target—and nailed it down.
It worked, but barely. J.P. told me another hour of fooling around and the sun would have warmed the air too much for liftoff. No more cold nights were forecast for a week. I asked him why he’d gone with a balloon in the first place.
“Just to see,” he said.
At Pacific Maritime Group, we offer more proven options. We have six crane barges, plus land-based cranes in Long Beach and San Diego.
Our first heavy-lift crane barge is still one of our busiest. At 134 feet long, the DB SAN DIEGO is a compact powerhouse. It can be spudded or anchored in place at your project site. Then the 300-ton TURNER crane gets to work. We’ve used the DB SAN DIEGO for tasks like placing a drill truck on a man-made island near Santa Barbara.
We also used this crane barge to move structures off of the very top of a Navy ship:
For bigger lifts, we turn to the mighty DB PACIFIC. This ex-Navy derrick barge is our go-to for handling some seriously valuable cargo:
The operator’s chair on the DB PACIFIC is way up there. Here’s Mike McAndrew at work:
Sometimes, you need something smaller—a handy-sized crane. The CONSTRUCTOR is a well-known barge in San Diego. At 83’ by 40’, she’s “marina-sized,” able to work among boat slips and berths. On any given day, one of our tugs might be moving the CONSTRUCTOR through the Navy fleet, around busy shipyard docks, or to a waterfront home.
Here’s the DB CONSTRUCTOR amid the bustle of a shipyard:
Not all of our cranes float. We have a Manitowoc 888 in Long Beach, ready to support our customers:
We take pride in the wide range of things we’ve lifted—rudders, engines, pedestal cranes, anchors, and just about every part of a vessel: Or the entire vessel:
We’ve got portable barges and tugs so we can bring the crane barge to you. We offer the means and the methods. There’s no end—drills, aircraft, engines, houses, cupolas, and ponies—to what we might lift for you.
And none of that is hot air.
