Page 43: of Marine News Magazine (October 2010)

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www.marinelink.com MN 43 business Pekin had seen in the last 30 years. His friend in turn told us, “I’ve lived I this town my whole life and I’ve never heard of a tug boat company.”

It wasn’t surprising, considering how unaware the general population is of maritime commerce, even in its own backyard. We finally found the com- pany behind a non-descript chain link fence hung with black and white DHS notices. We’d already passed it twice and I decided Joe Q. Public could be forgiven for not knowing the tug boat company even existed. Ultimately, however, the search was in vain. We were told the tug would not be able to deliver me to the towboat after all.

Security reasons.

Plan B was to wait further up river where crew members from the

Thomas E. Erickson picked me up in a flat bottomed skiff. Little was said during my first 24 hours on the boat.

If I was unsure of what to do with myself, with no specific responsibility other than to observe life on a tow- boat, the crew was even less sure of what to do with me. I spent the next morning wandering the decks with my camera and seeing few crewmembers until after lunch when I visited the galley. Sheila Prince, the cook, gave me a smile and asked if I was hungry with a sweet Tennessee drawl. Even though the crew had already eaten and she was surely on her break, she started listing

New Orleans (504) 780-8100

Fax (504) 780-8200

Norfolk (757) 545-0100

Fax (757) 545-8004

Houston (281) 452-5887

Fax (281) 452-9682 www.mcdonoughmarine.com

LARGEST RENTAL FLEET OF SPUD,

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BARGES 60’ TO 400’ LENGTH

Captain Towns has been on the rivers since 1971. He started when minimum wage was 90 cents an hour and came out on the river for $17.50 a day.