Time of Tides

This weekend we were preparing for extremely high tides in Coastal Georgia. Water was released from the Strom Thurmond dam, which sent water our way. That, combined with a full moon, all the rain we are getting, and an above average high tide last night left officials with the task of warning us of flooding on River Street and low lying areas.

I went down to River Street a couple days before the highest tide and took some photos. I thought you might be interested!

Storm clouds overhead. That's the Talmadge Bridge, which spans the Savannah River.

Warning signs on River Street

More warnings

Looking upriver towards Georgia Ports

The water was moving rather swiftly, although it doesn't look like it,

You can see how far the water was expected to rise to cover River Street

More water!

Luckily, Butch did not experience any hazardous conditions or have anything bad happen during the ensuing river rising! This is just another example of what people don't have to think about when they don't live a Tugboat Life as a Tugboat Wife! :) SO thankful to God for His protection!

Here is a link to the local news story on the flooding   .http://www.wtoc.com/story/22869123/us-corp-eng-warns-of-potential-savannah-river-flooding

It's been a while.......

 ..and this is why.

Tugboat life is not easy. It is also very dangerous, and that is something most people do not realize. In the 8 years Butch has been part of the tugboat world, we have had a few accidents and deaths within the company. But none have affected us so deeply or shaken us as hard as this.

Early in March, I received a call from a friend of mine who liives about an hour away. The conversation went tike this:
Me: Hello?
Friend: Hey, what are you doing?
Me: Not much, you?
Friend: Have you talked to Butch today?
Me: No, not yet. Why? (side note: this is not highly unusual. I usually let him call or text me first in case he worked overtime during the night and is asleep)
Friend: You might want to see if you can call him.
Me: Why? What's wrong?
Friend: You may want to turn on the TV. The news is reporting that a rescue operation is underway at the tugboat dock.

I'm not sure I even said thank you or goodby. I hung up. I called Butch. And praise God, Butch answered.
When I heard his voice I cried, and when he heard mine, his voice broke. He told me that his co-worker had died that morning. Seems he fell overboard. He was 20 years old.

I asked Butch if he needed me to come out there and he said no. Like a good wife, I said ok. Then I threw on a clean shirt and jeans and raced to the dock. The gates were closed, police cars were everywhere. News crews were crawling by, cameras raised, hoping to get a shot of some "breaking news".  My phone was blowing up. Names and details had not been released yet, so everyone was beginning to hear what I had heard. On the way to the dock I had called my parents, Butch's parents and Butch's brother, so they wouldn't worry  hear the news and freak out. We hugged, and Butch told me what he knew. Details were sketchy, no one knew exactly what happened. The coroner's van arrived, and we turned away while they worked, The draped body was lifted from the dock and taken away.

That weekend,  we went to the visitation. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. The line to pay respects was out the door of the funeral home, down the side of the building, looped back by the dumpster and across the parking lot. We stood in line almost an hour and had only moved up a few feet. We had to leave to go pick up the Princess at work. On our way out, we signed the guest book.

It took a long time to be able to write this. No one has said exactly what happened. It was just one of those crazy accidents that happen when you are living life.  It wasn't a crime, it wasn't neglect, it was simply an accident that happened in a routine workday. That is what makes it so scary, knowing it was a routine day. It could have happened any day, to anyone, It could have been Butch,

I looked up the young man's Facebook page that weekend, and it was overwhelming how many people were writing their disbelief and goodbyes on his wall. Butch didn't want to look. Men deal in their own way I guess, and Butch dealt by taking us out of town for a couple of days. A change of scenery can do wonders.

It's been a couple of months now, and life on the boats is returning to routine. I'm sure it's still pretty fresh in everyone's mind how quickly things can change. It's a dangerous job that few can understand. It's a life full of the prayers of wives and families.

April 12 would have been the young man's birthday. He would have been 21. A beautiful life that ended far too soon.

Tug Point Clear

As I stated before, Butch is usually aboard Tug Florida. He has been on the Florida about 4 years. It's a good boat. He likes it because in addition to having a really good, cohesive crew, he has his own bunk room and it's a comfortable boat.

Due to some issues I will not elaborate on, Butch and his crew had to move to Tug Point Clear so that another crew could move to Tug Florida. This did not make for a happy hubby.

This tug has one bunkroom for the deckhands to share. It also has a small galley. It has a wench that works part time. He's not a happy Butch.....not happy at all :(

It's funny to me how each boat is different. Each wheelhouse is shaped so distinctly that he can identify a tug from a picture shot from quite a distance away. He has things he likes about each tug and things he wishes he could change about each tug.

I guess it is like most other parts of life.....you like some parts better than others. Hopefully it won't be long until he is back "at home" on Tug Florida!

Most Days....

Most days, I love being a tugboat wife and leading a tugboat life. Today is not one of those days.

Let me back up to say that years before I was a tugboat wife, I was a Navy wife. I was used to deployments and separations. I was used to holidays alone and going days (sometimes weeks or even months) not hearing from my husband. When Butch took this job, the 7 days apart didn't really bother us because of this. Besides, I can ride out to the dock most anytime they aren't busy and see him if I need to or want to. And in case of true emergencies, he can come home.

We often get asked how we manage to keep our relationship strong when we only spend half the year together.  It does provide challenges. Butch misses a lot, and I find myself either telling him the same thing multiple times because I forgot I already told him, or not telling him at all because I thought I already had.

In all honesty though, when people ask how we work to keep our marriage strong when we are apart so much, my answer usually surprises them. I tell them it is BECAUSE we are apart so much that it IS so strong. Butch and I did a little calculating...

If he worked an average 40 hour work week for 52 weeks a year, taking commute time and vacation and 8 hours a night for sleep into the calculations, we would be apart or asleep for roughly 5,213 hours per year.

On the tug, he works 26 weeks a year for 24 hour shifts. Figuring in commute time, work and sleep time, we are apart or asleep  roughly 5,306 hours a year.

Therefore, even though it seems we are apart much more than average couples we really aren't. However, it's the communication, both when he IS home and when he IS NOT home that matters. It's the everyday things that he misses, like when our cats do something funny or the Princess comes up with something. I tend to send him a lot of pictures from my phone, things like the cat in a pile of torn up toilet paper or a plate full of something I cooked. It's an effort to make him feel included in our everyday home life, even when he isn't home. And we text, all day long. Little things, like an "I love you" or "I miss you" or "Guess what the Princess just said?" that make us stay connected. He sends me pictures of what the crew is grilling for dinner or of a ship coming into the harbor. We talk off and on all day, whether through text or calls, and some days it feels like we have talked ALL DAY!

Today isn't one of those days though. In fact, it hasn't been one of those weeks. I feel very alone today, and this week has seemed long. It's been a week of a stopped up garbage disposal and tons of bills to pay. Today was a rainy cold day, and while I was running errands our truck wouldn't start when I tried to leave my first stop. I ended up getting it jumped off, and drove to the parts store. In the midst of the whole "Is it the battery/alternator/starter/connectors" issues, I felt very alone. Butch was on the tug, and seemed a million miles away. My Dad died when I was 21. Our best friend was celebrating his birthday clear across town. I don't have a brother. My closest brother in law is 3 hours away.And my other guy best friend was unpacking his moving truck having just moved back here.

In the middle of the auto parts store, sitting on a bench, as hard as I fought to stop it, I cried. I just cried. I felt very alone, and helpless. I was angry, because I couldn't fix the truck myself. I was scared, because I knew funds were limited and I didn't know what a starter/alternator/battery/connectors would cost. I felt very small and insignificant. And I felt ridiculous because I was CRYING in the auto parts store!!!!!!

I prayed. I reminded myself that God always provides and that He never leave us or forsakes us. I could hear the Scriptures in my head, reminding me that God was all of these things.....my provider of finances, my Daddy, my brother, and my friend. And that He ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES!

And just like God, it turned out that the battery was under full warranty, and that it was replaced for free. When the guy replaced my battery, he found it wasn't connecting well and filed some rust off of the connectors for me. I turned around, and my very dear friend who was in the process of moving had come to help me. Isn't it amazing how God always knows exactly what we need? A diagnosis of my truck issue, free replacement of the battery, free installation (and connection rust removal to boot) of the battery, and a big hug from a friend. Isn't that just like God?????

So Butch comes home tonight, and in just a few hours of him being here all will be right in my world again. It's just been a bad week. It happens. But you know what? The week is almost over, and the sun will rise again tomorrow. And as always...my God, my Jehovah Jireh, my Jehovah Roi, my Jehovah Shalom....will be right there with me.

Spotted on the River, while looking for our eagle....

 Just thought I'd share this little guy's profile pic!

I think that's Tug Georgia, but don't hold me to it! (I will ask Butch for clarification)

Sometimes it doesn't look like those ships will fit under the bridge!

River Views

Ok, so it's been a while! It didn't seem like this little bloggy was catching on much, so I semi-abandoned it. I stumbled across some pretty cool pics tonight so I figured I would give it another whirl.

Last October 19, Butcher and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. While I personally felt that one (okay...both) of us deserved the Congressional Medal of Honor for such a feat, no one else seemed to buy into it. I drove onto the island to pick Butch up and he was so excited! I foolishly thought it might have something to do with me/our anniversary/romance and all that jazz, but it was actually over something totally not even remotely related to us. However, it was pretty cool indeed!

For a few weeks, Butch had been telling me he had noticed a Bald Eagle circling near the tug boat. This excited me, as ye olde Bald Eagle was still on our endangered species list last time I checked. Butch had told me about how they were riding along on the tug, when all of a sudden, the eagle swooped in and was soaring right along side the tugboat. He described the broadness of the wings, the majestic white head feathers, and the powerful fwoosh fwoosh of his mighty wings as he powered up to glide.  But on this particular morning, Butch was especially thrilled to report that there were TWO Bald Eagles, one male, one female, nesting nearby. We set out, on the other side of the river, to try to catch a glimpse.

Picture us walking in the bright sunlight, gingerly easing our way through some shrubbery (well, ok, I eased gingerly. Butch just crashed on through. I was more afraid of bugs and snakes and such, but Butch, being the manly man that he is, was not even remotely concerned. He was a man on a mission.) We walked as far as we could down the river walk and stopped. I was excited. Everything that flew over head, from seagull to hawk to finch, was in my mind, our prized Eagle. I am certain Butch was quite annoyed with me asking "Is that him? Is that him?" over and over.

Finally, we stopped. My eyesight is not what it used to be, but my eagle eyed man (ha) had seen.......could it be? YES! It was our eagle!!!!

I managed to snap a couple of pics from veeeeeery far away, and then, my camera died! NOOOOOO! Snacklefrazzle! It DIED! And did I have extra batteries? Yes! But they were dead too. But ah ha! Cellphone! Sigh. Ye Old Blackberry doesn't capture a bird in a tree from across a river very well, no matter how much I begged it to.

So, here they are...the ones I got. We saw the female eagle as well, but she was deep in the tree, hiding. So enjoy the pics of my big fat mac daddy American Bald Eagle!

You can sort of see the nest in this picture, if you look very closely to the left of the eagle about 3/4 the way up the left side of the "V" branch

Tug Bulldog At Work

Tug Florida has several "sister tugs". As part of a larger family of tugs, at our local port the company has Tug Florida, Tug Georgia, Tug Savannah, Tug General Oglethorpe, and Tug Bulldog. The company also has tugs in Mobile and New Orleans.

The following photos are of Tug Bulldog on a routine job.

Note the unsuspecting tourist caught in the photo.....I love living in a tourist town :)

Tug Bulldog, following close

Approaching the Talmadge Bridge

Tug Bulldog moving into position

Tug Bulldog pushing the ship to the dock, with help of Tug Florida at the bow (but you can't see Tug Florida)

  Note the HUGE Ship-to-Shore cranes at the ports behind the tanker ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note the huge Ship-to-Shore cranes of the Ports in the background

Still pushing against the dock!

This is all in a days work. Tug Florida was traveling upriver on the port-side near the bow of the ship while I was taking these photos. She was hiding from the camera...a bit camera shy I suppose! The large red ship you see in the foreground is called a RORO...which stands for 'Roll on, Roll off". This type of ship brings in cars, trucks, military equipment, heavy equipment, you name it!