[Fred Carmichael]

Many times when people see boat people on their boat, they are waiting for the next hard push required to keep the boat running. Boat work tends to be all out or nothing. The all out will make a person old, in a hurry. Reguardless if it's decking, engine room, or wheelhouse. Wheelhouse requires the most constant attention and while not as physically demanding as some other jobs, the stress and demands of the job wear on a person.
The deck and engine room require more physical effort but again, it's not steady and seems to be all out or nothing.
The all out is what I get paid for, the nothing is what I do best and one of the reason I perfer to work boats.
Even being afternoon, everyone else is asleep on my Tug. I'm on radio watch, awaiting our next orders and listening for any vessels in the area which might need our assistance. I'm limited to where I can go on the boat due to being required to be able to hear the radios.
I make a fresh pot of coffee, open a new pack of smokes, switch the T.V. to one of the music channels, country or blues in my case and get in the zone.
This is a state where I just appericate and enjoy being on a boat. Alone with my thoughts, o.k. that might be unsettling to some who know me, enjoying my coffee and watching the river flow by. Thinking about things which need attention in MY ENGINE ROOM, plan for my next time off, at this moment, watching an Artco 3 stacker work 35 under the Grammercy Bridge. Watching dark clouds build across the river, lightning included, white clouds and blue sky to the north and a sense of calm and contentment, which the dispatcher will no doubt screw up sooner than later.
It's a tough job, but someone has to do it and it may as well be me.