One Really Bad Thing.....

I realize every job has its good and bad points. In my 11 years as a Merchant Mariner wife, I've gotten used to being alone half the year, scheduling everything around my man's leaving and coming home.... doing dinner parties and holidays and birthday celebrations as near to the actual day as the hitches allow.  I've gotten used to being Mom AND Dad and my very FAVORITE thing of all is convincing people that my husband is real...thathe doesn't only exist in my mind.

There is, however, one thing I will never grow accustomed to, and that is sleeping alone. I have my routine, my favorite TV shows on the DVR, and my tiny pill that helps me sleep. I have learned to arrange the pillows in the shape of a "U" so I feel like my husband is in the bed beside me. I learned to turn the heating blanket on before my shower because crawling into a cold bed only makes the empiness seem more intense. I figured out that starting a load of laundry right before I go to bed keeps me from hearing all the little noises that freak me out.

The worst part of sleeping alone though is when I have a bad dream. Last night I had an absolutely horrible nightmare! It involved a restaurant and a party that turned into me trying to leave in Donald Trump's limousine. Then I was with a few other people I didn't know, trying to hide from a group of murderers and/or terrorists. Next I was escaping by climbing down a rock wall with one of our church band members  by holding onto the ivy. Next I had lost my shirt and I was riding around on a lawn tractor trying to buy parts to fix my car. I ended up stopping for gas and the cashier wouldn't let me use my loyalty card to save on gas for my lawnmower. I ran sobbing to the bathroom, which was covered in blood. Turns out before I escaped with the church band member I killed all the bad guys. I ran and ran, but I couldn't get anywhere.... Finally I woke up, sweating and scared to move or even open my eyes! I was lying diagonally in my bed, and the sun was just coming up. It took me a few minutes to get myself oriented to what was really going on and where I really was.

I texted my man, and he had already been working several hours by 6:00am. I told him I had a bad dream and I wished he was here. He replied he wished he was too. When he is home and I have a bad dream, I wake him up (usually before I wake up) and he talks to me to get me awake and aware of my surroundings. Then he pulls me close and I lay my head on his chest. He kind of rocks me back and forth and whispers "sssshhhhhh.....you're ok.....everything's ok.....shhhhhhh.....I got you". He pushes my hair back out of my face and kisses the top of my head. When I get calmed down, I fall back asleep, knowing he's "got me". And I sleep....

High Tides!

The past couple of weeks the coast of Southeastern United States has seen some unusually high tides. We are right on the water, obviously, and the Supermoon combined with the high tides made for some pretty unusual sites around here.

This picture was posted on social media from one of our local TV stations, WSAV. This is Tybee Road, the Southern most section of US Highway 80. Tybee Road is the only way onto and off of Tybee Island. In unusually high tides, water can creep onto the road. I have lived here most of my life and I have traveled this road hundreds of times but I have never seen it look like this! Obviously, the road was closed until the tide receeded.

So how does this effect little yellow tugboats, you may ask?
Well..................
Let's just say they don't NORMALLY sit this high. The guys had to CLIMB DOWN to get off the tugs instead of climbing down a ladder to get ON the tugs.

Now that's a LOT of water y'all!!!




(photos of tugs from Chris Sikes and Stephen Roberts of Crescent Towing)

A different turn...

Usually I blog only about tugboat stuff and how our life revolves around this crazy life as a tugboat family. This post, however, is taking another turn.

 

River life is weird...and tug life is even weirder. It's a constant ebb and flow... up and down...back and forth...in and out. We are constantly trying to plan events and get-togethers around this schedule of coming home and leaving again. Even holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving get moved around...and celebrated when we can be together.

This past weekend was no exception. For the last few years, Butch/DeckBoss's family has been organizing an informal reunion/family get together. Last year in January, we all went to a gigantic house in Blue Ridge GA. It was cold but a lot of fun! The house was in the Blue Ridge mountains and we had a lot of fun playing board games, talking, eating, and catching up on each other's lives. This year we went to Lake Wedowee in Alabama. We had 2 lake houses side by side. The lake and views were gorgeous and the weather was perfect!

We arrived late Friday night. Let me just say that calling the week before this "difficult and emotionally draining" would qualify as the understatement of the year.  Friday night on the way to the lake house, I had an asthma attack while I was driving on these mountain roads. Scariest. Thing. Ever. Luckily, it was minor and I was able to pull over into one of the 18,000,000 church parking lots around here and Butch took over driving. A few rescue inhaler puffs and I was ok. Terrified.....but ok. When we got to the beautiful lakefront home, it was about midnight. We went to our room, took a hot shower and crawled into bed.

Oh my.

Hello heaven.

What is this wonderfulness???

The bed had a memory foam topper over the mattress. The memory foam topper had a pillow top mattress topper. There was a fluffy down alternative duvet to cover with.

I swear....I slept on a cloud that night. A giant, soft, puffy, fluffy cloud from Heaven. For the first night in a really long time, I slept through the night in incredible peace and comfort. When Butch woke me for breakfast....I REALLY didn't want to move. I was cradled in comfort and peaceful warmth. But......bacon called me 😃.

After breakfast all the guys and some of the girls went to some private property owned by one of the cousins to shoot guns and blow stuff up. The rest of the girls went to Dollar General. (Hey, it's the South. It's what we do.) I stayed behind to cook chili and cornbread for dinner.

As the chili simmered, I went out on the deck. I sat in the sun and breathed. I breathed in the beauty of the blue sky and the glistening lake. I breathed in fresh mountain air. I breathed in the sound of the acorns dropping on the wood deck and the leaves blowing in the cool October breeze. And I breathed in.....the quiet.

A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other day a quote that said "The quieter you are, the more you hear" At the time, I took that to mean that if you are spending time with a person, you hear them more if you listen and don't dominate the conversation (a skill I need to practice). However, as I reflect, I think it means something else. 

Life is too loud. There are  ringtones and Facebook "dings"and TVs blaring with 1356 channels. Car doors slamming, horns  blowing, incessant chatter...Pandora and Itunes in our ear buds. Microwaves humming, smoothie makers whirring and timers beeping in the kitchen. Washers swishing and dryers tumbling...dishes clanking. It overloads and overwhelms me.

But on the deck....I HEARD for the first time in a long while. I heard water lapping, a child laughing from the other side of the lake, birds chirping, squirrels chattering, acorns falling, and the sound of my own breathing. I leaned back in the chair to absorb it all and then I heard the still, gentle voice of God within me saying "Peace....be still." I sat for the longest time in ages. I let the warm October sun shine on my face. I let my constant ADD-driven inner feeling of "I need to be doing something productive" go. I let my muscles relax and propped my feet up. I let myself "be still" and I felt His peace. 

The quieter you are, the more you can hear. I hear you God, and I'm really listening. 

"Peace......be still."

Mixed Emotions

For the past week or so I have been watching news stories and searching for updates on the Tote Maritime ship, the SS El Faro. The ship was a roll on/roll off ship that was traveling from Jacksonville FL to Puerto Rico. She departed from Jacksonville early on the morning of Sept. 30, 2015. The Captain knew there was a storm ahead, known as Tropical Storm Joaquin. In less than 2 days, the storm had become a dangerous category 4 hurricane. On the morning of October 2, the ship reported it was taking on water and listing at 15 degrees. That was the last communication. The ship was considered missing, with 33 crew members aboard. There were 28 American men and women on the crew and 5 Polish crewmen.

When the search began, there were hopes of recovering the ship and crew. After a few days of intense searching, the ship was deemed lost at sea, resting approximately 15,000 miles deep in the Caribbean Sea. The US Coast Guard called an official halt to the search for the ship and began an intense rescue operation for survivors.

Although my Merchant Mariner was at home during all this, I had a really rough time dealing with this. Let me clarify that he works a 24 mile stretch of the Savannah River and goes out as far as the sea buoy in his regular work,  and he is seldom out in open seas unless he's taking a tug to the shipyard for repairs. He was, however, in the US Navy aboard the USS Holland and the USS Essex LHD-2 and served in the Persian Gulf enforcing no-fly zones. He's been through typhoons and storms....it isn't an easy life.

However....my man was home. He was home when the ship went missing. He was home when the search changed to a rescue operation. And he was home the night of October 7, when the Coast Guard called an official end to the search for survivors.  He took it all in stride.

Me...however....
That's an entirely different story.

I was a wreck. I prayed....I hoped. I read articles and prayed some more. I prayed for the crew, the rescue teams, the families of those missing....and mariners around the world. But somehow, it just didn't seem to be enough.  My heart was heavy. My brain was spinning. My emotions were flip flopping from thankful (that my man was home) to feeling guilty (that my man was home) . The logical side of me knew that as time went on, the chances of finding survivors lessened. But my heart...oh my heart...it said that miracles happen! These were experienced mariners, with training in water survival and lifeboat use. I know they were trained in this because my husband was as well. I hoped. I prayed. I pleaded with God.

I had a hard time falling asleep. Every night as I closed my eyes I saw dark waves and tumultuous seas. I rolled over and touched my sleeping husband, grateful that he was home and safe but riddled with guilt for the wives and husbands of the El Faro crew who I knew were yearning to do the same with their spouse but were reaching out to an empty side of the bed.

I called several places in Jacksonville, trying to find a way to help by volunteering. We live just 2 hours away....couldn't I help in some way? I'm not a trained counselor or a therapist but couldn't I pour some coffee or  clean something for those working so hard? Couldn't I pick up food or supplies for the families flying in? Couldn't I rock a crying baby while a worried mother paced and prayed? I finally reached someone at Tote Maritime who told me they had plenty of volunteers and didn't need my help.

What is it inside of me that realizes the prayers on my lips are extremely important but keeps my hands wanting to DO something? I want to put boots on the ground. I want to be active. Instead, I pray. And I sing. And I hope.

At sundown on October 7, 2015, the US Coast Guard called off it's search for survivors. I think a little part of me died that day too.

Rest in peace, crew of the SS El Faro. You will not be forgotten.

This Is No Desk Job!

What does your husband's desk look like? Well, this isn't MY husband's desk, but it is another lady's husband's desk....welcome to the wheelhouse of a tug boat.

All of those levers and knobs and pully-downy-thingies confused me, so my sweet Hubs decided he would break it down for me, using little words. :)

 See those little numbers I inserted in the picture? That's going to make it easier for me to explain what each of these doohickeys and thingamabobs and pully-downy-things are. Now before you get excited and begin to think I know something about this, let me assure you my sweet man is right beside me as I type....making sure I don't royally screw this up.

1. The two numbers ones next to the red lights are RPM gauges.
These instruments measure the rotation speed of the shaft that is turning the propeller and displays the information as how many revolutions are made per minute. Basically, they show how fast the shaft is turning. The shaft is about a foot in diameter and make over 500 rotations per minute. 

2. The number two is one I might could have figured out on my own. It's a navigation screen. The program they use is called Coastal Explorer.  It shows the location of other ships, buoy markers, docks and other stuff in the river. The river can be a dark place at night and visibility can be really bad during fog and rain. This way we don't have head on collisions :)

3. These are the big brother cameras. JUST JOKING!!! These cameras show the Captain the deck, galley, etc. This way he can keep an eye on everything that is happening while he is navigating. One camera shows the starboard side of the tug. When hubs is working a trip line, which is a line that is used to hold the tug against the current,  the Captain can see if the deckhand gets accidentally caught up in the line. The other camera shows the stern of the ship. It is used to watch out when a Hawser, a 12 strand rope, is used. This entails pulling 300 ft of this heavy rope up onto the stern of the tugboat. If hubby were to fall during this, he would be sucked up under the tug or get trapped between the tug and the ship...either of which could be deadly.  The third camera is aimed into the engine room. This helps the Captain monitor any alarms and other situations.

4, OOOOO! OOOO! I know! *waves hand frantically in the air* This green looking thing is the side of a huge container ship. Yep. All up close and personal.

5. This is a compass. Once again, navigation is complicated.

6. There are two of these little guys....they control the wench. What is a wench you ask? It's a deckhand's best friend.This is a mechanical wheel of sorts that pulls the line in mechanically, thus saving a LOT of work.

7. There are two of these bad boys too.  These are throttles. In my mind, they are the revving up thingies. The throttle controls how much power the engine gets...kind of like the gas pedal in a car.

8. Again, good things come in pairs. There are two of these guys too. Meet our friends, The Rudder Brothers. They steer the boat.

9. These are twin air controls. These control which set of throttles is being used.

10. This is the radar, which is another means of seeing where things are. You can see where the river banks are and other objects in the river.

11. This is the steering wheel. HA HA HA HA HA!!!! Did you fall for that? If you did, then go back and read point #8. This is called a "clearview". It is the tugboat's answer for windshield wipers. It spins to clear the window of fog and rain.

12.I put these in by accident....ignore them :)

Close To Home

I have to admit it, I get discouraged blogging sometimes. It seems that no one reads my posts, because no one comments .I know it seems silly and shallow but I feel validated with comments on my blog. I often wonder if anyone out there even reads what I write. But then I look at my stats and I see that PEOPLE ARE READING WHAT I WRITE!!!!!!

Imagine my joy the other day when I saw emails indicating I had comments on my blog! Not just one comment, but several!!!!

Closer inspection revealed that the commenter was not just another woman, but another tugboat wife....AT THE SAME COMPANY AS MY HUBBY!!!!!

We have since connected on Facebook.

Small world, huh????

P.S. Hi Dawn! :)

REALLY BIG NEWS!!!!!

Maybe I should say the biggest news in history?

At least....the biggest ship in the history of the Savannah River....


My man sent me these pictures of the ZIM vessel Tianjin as she made her way up the river yesterday. Here she is, in all her glory!

Our amazing dispatcher Frankie shared these photos:

 

This beauty carries 10,062 twenty-foot equivalent container units.The ship measures 1,145 feet long by 150 feet wide. Stood on end, it would stand nearly as tall as the Empire State Building (1,454 feet, including its antenna).

 You can watch videos, see more photos and get more info here:

 

http://www.wsav.com/story/28549825/biggest-ship-ever-to-call-on-port-of-savannah

http://www.wtoc.com/story/28553188/savannah-port-welcomes-its-largest-ship-at-1145-feet-long

http://www.wtoc.com/story/28550812/largest-vessel-ever-to-call-on-port-of-savannah

http://www.gaports.com/Media/PressReleases/tabid/379/xmmid/1097/xmid/10577/xmview/2/Default.aspx

Saint Patrick's Day On The River

In contrast to the mayhem of our city as they celebrate a 4 day weekend of revelry and rowdiness.......as only Savannah can celebrate Saint Patrick's Day........

River Street (Photo is from WJCL News)

The fountain in Forsyth Park is dyed green for the holiday

 

(2 above photos found on Google Image Search)

The work on the tugboats keeps on as usual...with just a little color and Irish flair :)

 

I am not sure why the flag of Ireland is flying higher than the flag of our country, but it may just be the angle of this photo.

**** Clarification.....the Flag of Ireland is flying above Old Glory for the day only....and the reason it is higher than Old Glory is because the flag was too big to fit on the staff under the American Flag.  The American Flag has a designated place it is flown on the tugs and flies at all times. The only other place to attach the Flag of Ireland was on a temporary pole, hence it's placement for the day.****

This view is looking out the back window of the wheelhouse.

 

As I am posting this...Tug Georgia is assisting a ship upriver that is dead in the water. No engine power makes it veeeeeeery difficult for a ship to navigate on it's own.

Work goes on....holiday or not.

 

Here is a YouTube video I found...it's from a couple of years ago but it gives you a good idea of what is going on today. And look....there is one of the little yellow tugboats! This is Tug Bulldog in the video. My man worked on that tug in the past, but now he is on Tug Georgia.

 https://youtu.be/Bwpeu4Syi_E

 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Sleet, Nor Hail.....

The old slogan says "Neither rain ,nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail...nothing stops the US Mail!" While I am not so sure that still applies today, what with the rate our packages and bills arrive it is no wonder they call it snail mail!

Did you know the same can be said for tugboats and ships? Yep. It sure can!

Rain...no matter how hard...the man dons his rain gear and goes out to pull lines and help dock ships. Whether a little shower or a real gulley washer, they work.

Snow? Well, that isn't really an issue where we live, but sleet and ice show up pretty regularly. Does that stop them? Nope. They wear steel toed boots with good traction and walk carefully on the nonskid applied on deck. (They apply and reapply that stuff regularly.)

Hail? Nope. Not that either. That only happens here once in a while too, but if it comes, they work. Good thing for those hard hats huh?

Lightening popping around? Cloud to ground strikes? Nope, they don't blink an eye. They go out on steel decks and pull lines, throw lines, turn wenches, catch lines and whatever else has to be done. We get a lot of lightening here, tons of bolts and strikes, especially during the summer when it's so freakin' hot and the afternoon rain comes.

So does ANYTHING stop ships and tugboats?
Yep. Bet you can't guess what it is!

It's fog.

Yep. Fog. Misty, mysterious, enveloping and a little creepy.....fog. It is great in a horror movie or on Halloween, or for getting really cool photos of the moon, but not so great for visibility. That's when they stop.

When visibility is too low, the river pilots make the executive decision and they close the river. That means nothing goes in and nothing goes out. Giant ships wait offshore until the river opens, and ships in port wait for the clearance to depart. The river is quiet. Tugboats are at the dock. All is calm.

Until.....the fog lifts. It may lift in a couple of hours, or it may take a night or so. When it lifts though, Katie bar the door. All those ships are paying for extra dock time, and all those ships waiting to come in are losing money and time just sitting. It's no holds barred for the tugboats then....the extra rest they got while the river was closed is soon used up. They work steady until all ships are either docked and unloading cargo, or they are out and on their way to the next port.

River life. Unpredictable and crazy at times. Exciting and challenging. Hard work. But every once in a while, I get to catch a glimpse of the foggy river and it is indeed beautiful. Mysterious, slow, heavy and wet....fog can stop everything in it's tracks.

This is the MSC Marianna coming upriver, just before it closed one cold December 2014 day.

  Without fog she looks like this:

She's a pretty big girl...

Gross Tonnage: 73819

Deadweight: 85806 t

Length × Breadth: 304m × 40m

So hard for me to imagine those little yellow tugboats moving this thing! 

 

Speaking of little yellow tugboats, here is my man's tug...Tug Georgia sitting at the dock in fog. 

 

Behind them is the river, and beyond that is the wood chip dock. Can't see it? That's why the river is closed :)

A New Tattoo?

 What do you think?

No...I am not getting tatted up. No ink for me, although Deck Boss has a couple of tattoos himself. Ok, maybe a couple is not the right word. Fifteen is the correct word, to be precise.

Anyway, while I have been battling some health nonsense, I have spent A LOT of time trawling the interwebz. I use my phone most often, but sometimes I resort to dragging myself into the living room and working on the desktop pc when my phone aggravates me and makes me cuss crazy. I am a night owl by nature, and inhaled steroid medications make me hyper so late nights with restless mind syndrome have become the norm for me. I Google and Google image search things like "merchant mariner" and "tugboats" and "tugboat wife" (where this very blog comes up about a 100 times with pictures) "merchant mariner wife" (Where the blog Callie's Mariner comes up about 1,000,000 times! Check out this blog at http://www.calliesmariner.com/ She is so cool. I want to be her when I grow up)

A few days ago, Deck Boss posted the photo above to my Facebook wall. I loved it immediately. I wish the image was of higher resolution so I could have it made into a t-shirt. It would make a stellar, totally awesome tattoo, if I were so inclined to participate in the inking of my body. But I think I will leave the ink to Deck Boss and less permanent things like eye liner and mascara to me.....although I hear you can get those tatted on now too.....but I am not brave enough to try it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Really Cool Reading!

While nursing my addiction scrolling through Facebook the other day, I came across a suggested page to "like". It looks like this:

Well, if you know me, you know that caught my eye! I had to investigate.
I scrolled.
I read.
I ooed and aaahed.
I "stretched to enlarge" pictures.
I may have drooled a little.

Between my love of the water, the love of my mariner and my love of photography, I think I hit the jackpot on this one.

I came across this picture, with credit given to Brian Swartzbaugh:

The caption reads: "You think you have a tough time managing certain spaces in your SUV? Imagine pushing this load around corners on the river."

And this photo...which made me so thankful my man stays ON the tugboat instead of scampering around between the tug and a cargo ship....

If you have time, check out the Seamen's Church Institute on Facebook. There are some really neat articles and up close photos of maritime action! Or check them out online at http://www.seamenschurch.org/


Have a great day!

Anchors Aweigh!!!!

Happy Sunday! I wanted to share a couple of photos with you from our lives recently....

First off...The Navy is in town! Yep! The USS Farragut is in town for the weekend, so our fair city is partying it up as only she can. Lots of beer flowing, lots of men wandering...lots of young ladies more than willing to welcome them into town! I know....I love me some sailors!

Anyway, our local newspaper has live cams on the riverfront, and I found this one on www.savannahnow.com:

See the little yellow tugboat? Yep! That is my Deck Boss on Tug Georgia helping push the ship to the dock.

This morning Butch (Deck Boss) sent me this photo from another ship heading upriver....

That is the view of the bow of Tug Georgia...with a HUUUUUUGE anchor on it!
Holy ANchors Deck Boss!

Anchors Aweigh bloggy friends...until next time!

A New Name In A New Season

Does your man have a nickname?

Practically since we met, Butch and I had nicknames for each other. He called me "Panda Bear" and I called him "Jamie Bear". Over time, they changed to "Miss Panda" and "Brown Bear". Now it's usually just "Bear" and "Brown".  Hey.....it's been a long 18 years together, ok???? Don't judge my insanity because it's different from yours!

Anyway....when Butch first started on the tugboats he learned that everyone was assigned a nickname. You don't choose your own. it's earned. After a while, his nickname was assigned. It was "da Butcher". based on his previous employment as a meatcutter. Over time....it was shortened to just "Butch". (Hey...it's the deep South...we shorten EVERYTHING!!!!! Examples: maters. taters, y'all, fixin' to, etc.) Boat after boat and crew change after crew change, he's been "Butch". As parents of a 17 year old girl, it's been very effective that he has that nickname. No questions asked.

But as the song says, "It's a new season, it's a new day...." My man called me today with the news that since being on this latest boat with this crew, he has been assigned a new nickname. Ready for this?

Meet......"Deck Boss"!

It's Been A Great Day!

In fact, it's been a great few days! Butch came home Friday, and I was sure glad to see him. Sometimes a week away seems like much longer than an actual 7 days..or 168 hours. I traveled last week to Baton Rouge with the Princess to see family, and the miles only made him seem farther away.

I was nervous about how he would come home. A new boat, a new crew, a new shift, a new schedule, a new Captain.....I wondered how the move would work out.  However, when Butch came in smiling ear to ear Friday morning, I knew right right away that he had an excellent week! The change was good....he loves the new boat, the new Captain, the new schedule, and everything about his new position. I am so thankful to God for all of His blessings!

Notice Anything Different?

Yes indeed...it was time to update the old bloggeroo.......
New cover photo.
New color scheme.
New layout.

But if you look closely, you will notice an even bigger change.

See it?


Put on your glasses. (They're probably perched on top of your head, or at least that's where I usually find mine)

I will give you a hint. It's in the photo.....

.....which was provided to me courtesy of Captain Anthony Gober.

See it now?

Well do ya?

Ah, my astute blog reader...I assure you that your eyes are not playing tricks on you.
That is indeed a different tugboat.
And why did I change my header picture to a different tugboat photo you may ask?
The answer is simple.

It's a new picture of a different tug because that tug is now home to da Butcher. It was provided by a new Captain because he is now Butch's Captain.  Instead of Tug Florida, Butch now calls Tug Georgia home.

Here's to fair seas and following winds!!!!!

Seriously???

Geesh! How long has it been since I posted??? I knew I was behind, but had no idea it had been 3 1/2 months since I posted! In all fairness though, I did have good intentions. I even downloaded the blogger app to my android phone, thinking that would make it easier for me to post on the go (since it seems I am CONSTANTLY on the go anyway). Boy was I wrong! What a nightmare! I got the app installed easily....but then.....oh Google....with our love/hate relationship. First I had to add an account on my phone and I foolishly assumed that I could use my already existing sign in, Silly me, that caused my phone to spaz and lock me out of Google all together. I went through recovery steps while peering closely at the micro-fine print on my phone....all to no avail, I fussed and cussed fiddled and FINALLY got the stupid thing to work. Then I attempted a post.

WELL.....that was a joke for several reasons:

1. The print is very small and I couldn't read what I was typing.     
2.  I am totally used to auto correct on my phone and could not remember to capitalize "I" and insert an apostrophe in "I'm" and "we're". 
3. My batter got low and threatened to shut my phone off. My darling baby girl had my charger. Hence my agitation. I may or may not have cussed. 

I gave up.
Tonight, I sit at my trusty desktop with it's large monitor and my bag of pretzels and sippy cup of wine, er, Coke.

What I was trying to do was post some pictures from my phone that I have been meaning to upload for sometime. Enough drama....let's see them!

 Here is Tug Bulldog doing her thing.....When standing next to the tug it looks big, but next to this giant cargo ship she looks tiny!The blue rope is a working line.  It is slowing the cargo ship down and assisting in the steering of the ship. It will help them maneuver through the river. Incidentally, this cargo ship was built in 2005, and according to Wikipedia it was at that time of the the largest in the world. Read more about this ship here .

 This is Tug General Oglethorpe heading upriver to Georgia Ports. She used to be a Coast Guard Ice Breaker. She is the oldest in Savannah's fleet and is a single screw boat, meaning she has one propeller.







top photo: courtesy of Frankie Davis
Bottom photo: source unknown

Tug Pictures

Just a regular old day at the dock......

It was low tide, so the boats were down low. They remind me of my cat when they look like this....hunkered down and ready to spring. Although I have never seen a tugboat "spring", I have seen them move rather quickly.

Bows of Tug Florida and Tug Savannah. I like to watch them parallel park at the dock, especially two deep!

When I first reviewed these pictures, I wondered why in the world I took a photo of half of Tug Florida and half of the other tug company's boat. Then I focused, moved the cat off the keyboard, and realized I was being nosy. This was the day before Saint Patrick's Day, (see previous post about that madness) and police boats were already in place on the river. At this point, they were all tied together, floating. Probably the only boats on the river without beer on board. At least I hope no beer was on board.

More nosiness.....really wish my phone camera had an excellent zoom lens...

Hey! It's me! And the Butcher!

Up a little closer...thank you Princess for being our photographer!

It's just us again....

Back views of Tug General Oglethorpe, Tug Georgia and Tug Bulldog

Front view downriver. All tugs at the dock, but some hidden in crafty parallel parking maneuvers :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saint Patrick's Day

Living in a port city is always an adventure. Our fair city is beautiful, and one of many people's favorite historic cities. Many weddings are held here and I just saw an article that listed us very high on America's List of Most Charming Cities.

However, the month of March in the Hostess City is different. EVERYONE falls into one of three distinct categories. To some, the city is one big party. (This group is tourists who came to party and a lot of locals) We host the second largest Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the country, which sounds like a great big good time until you factor in all the drunken revelers. This brings us to the second group. myself included, who avoid the downtown area at all costs this time of year. Hotels are booked a year in advance. Parking, which is always a challenge downtown, is even worse. Unsuspecting tourists who don't understand one way streets are just the reason for locals to throw up the one finger salute, and don't EVEN get me started on the perils of parallel parking. The third group, while small, still very much exists and contains unsuspecting folks who don't know about our festivities and come expecting a romantic trip full of azalea blossoms, dogwood trees, cool breezes, historic homes and horse drawn carriage rides. Boy are they surprised!

Anyway, whether you love St. Patrick's Day or can't wait for it to be over......there is always something going on. Even in tugboat world.

Today I bring you pictures courtesy of my hubby and his captain, of one of the ships the escorted in this weekend. Meet the USS Hue City.

 Thanks to my hubby Butch for this photo, which he posted on Facebook and titles "Lock up your daughters"!

Here you see the bow of Tug Florida as she follows the USS Hue City upriver.

This photo is courtesy of Cap'n Schaaf. :)

Even though I was a US Navy wife for 10 years, I was unfamiliar with the USS Hue City. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can educate myself (and you!)

USS Hué City (CG-66) is a Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser serving in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of Hue, fought in the city during the Tet Offensive 1968 by the 1st Marine Regiment (composed of 1st Battalion/1st Marines, 1st Battalion/5th Marines, 2nd Battalion/5th Marines and attached units) during the Vietnam War. The three battalion commanders were the honored guests at her 1991 commissioning.
Hué City is the only U.S. Navy ship named for a Vietnam War battle, although it had been planned to name LHA-5 as USS Khe Sanh after the Battle of Khe Sanh, but that ship was commissioned in 1976 as the USS Peleliu. As the only US warship named for a battle that took place during the Vietnam War, the USS Hué City has had the opportunity to reach out to the veterans of the battle for which she is named. She has done so frequently by holding a Memorial for the Battle of Hué annually every year the ship's schedule permits. The Memorial has served as a great opportunity for veterans to re-unite, meet the crew, and honor their fallen comrades.
The warship took part in the Sixth International Naval Review in New York City in July 2000, attended by President Bill Clinton.
Recently, she successfully completed consecutive deployments to the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea.


Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!

Big Boy BooBoos Big Time

Working on a tug boat is hard. It's hard mentally, because you are away from home and family for an extended amount of time. You are gone half the year, which means that lots of holidays, birthdays, school plays, recitals and sports events get missed. (Did I mention the Superbowl? No???? Yup. He missed it. The sheer horror.........missing the Superbowl in the deep South where football is religion!) Butch hasn't been home for Christmas in 8 years. He has missed almost that many Easters and birthdays and even (gasp) Valentine's Day and our anniversary dates. And Halloween, not that we celebrate it. Most every Saint Patrick's Day too, he is motoring up and down the river, spraying green tinted water for the drunk tourists and locals as they party it up on the day that EVERYONE in the city is Irish.

It is also hard physically. There are a lot of heavy lines to pull and lift, lots of sanding, grinding and painting. Lots of boat washing to get the salt water off and protect the paint, lots of window cleaning to ensure good clear visibility for the Captain, lots of deck work to be sure things aren't slippery when wet and lots of lines to repair when they part. Lots of work and little sleep.

So, after a few years of this, it takes it's toll on the body. Enter Butch's latest boo-boo.....a torn meniscus.

I didn't know the human body had a meniscus, much less where it was or what it did or how bad it could HURT until I saw my man crumple in pain when he moved wrong. First, we saw our family doctor who injected the knee with Kenalog and prescribed Prendisone to help healing, suspecting arthritis or just a wrong move was the culprit. When those treatments lasted only a couple of weeks, an MRI was ordered and it showed the real issue....a torn meniscus.

It was a routine procedure, done as outpatient surgery. Butch came home the night before surgery so he could rest. I shaved his knee for him (SO THANKFUL Butch isn't a furry gorilla man) and fed him well before the imposed midnight fast began.

The next day we arrived at the hospital bright and early. Notice I did NOT say bright eyes and bushy tailed. I am neither of these before noon. If you want bright eyed and bushy tailed pre-noon, I suggest you go find yourself a squirrel.

Since we happened to know the head surgical nurse, she allowed our daughter to help with the prep before surgery. (The Princess plans to go into the field of Sports Medicine)

After he was scrubbed up, he got drugged up.....

And then surgery. It went very well, and the doctor was able to do the surgery exactly as he had planned. (There was a suspicion that the tear may be worse than seen on MRI, and that some plastic hooks and screws may have to be used. Praise God, they weren't needed.)

He came home and rested fairly well that night, but the next morning......drama. He couldn't feel his foot and his knee and calf were very swollen. We went to his doctor's office where they immediately drained 58cc of blood and fluid from the knee. Ew.

My poor man :(

After that, healing was easier. He lost almost a month of work, but he is back at it now. His only restrictions are not to kneel in water and to not dig at his incisions, lest they pop open. We've been blessed by so many friends, family members and church family during his time off work.  We are hoping he can work all week and not have any difficulties, so please keep us in prayer!