FAMED BATTLESHIP STUCK IN MUD

USS Intrepid got stuck in deep Hudson River mud today as powerful tugboats fought to pull it free to tow the floating museum down river for a $60 million overhaul. The mission was scrubbed at around 10:30 a.m. as the tide went down, said Dan Bender, a Coast Guard spokesman. Officials weren't sure Monday when they would try to move the Intrepid again, or whether they might try instead to leave it in place and refurbish it in its Manhattan berth, Intrepid President Bill White said at a news conference. The next unusually high tide is Dec. 6, but that will be about a foot lower than Monday's tide, which officials had thought would help float the carrier free of the sticky mud, he said.

What reports didn't say was that the ship is really stuck from all the beer bottles I have thrown overboard over the years at the many parties I have attended.

JAMES EDSTROM SPENT LOTS OF TIME ON THE INTREPID