McAllister Tug Boats

It was a cold day, last Friday, when I went for my first ride on a tug boat in New York Harbor.

The crew of the Rowan McAllister lives onboard, and is ready to respond to calls, day or night.

As we prepared to pull an oil tanker away from the dock, Jester Castro (left) tossed a line about 20-30 feet up to the ship's crew and secured it in the bow of our tug.

Meanwhile, in the bridge, Andy Rowe (Captain, left) and Chris Baker (Mate, right) controlled the throttle of the powerful 12 cylinder engine (half of which is shown below).

Chris told me that he has seen two towing lines snap under the pressure, and you don't want to be nearby when it happens.

Engineers, Bob Dahringer (below) and Ben Hannigan, made me wear ear protection in the engine room, as they always did.

Talking was basically impossible over the noise.

Whether working on deck, in the bridge, or in the engine room, everyone seemed to share the same passion for being out on the water.

And I can say the passion is contagious, because I didn't want to leave when my time was up.

There is nothing quite like siding up next to a huge container ship...

A wall of steel above, an ocean of water below...

...And guiding it into port with power and finesse.

These guys work hard, but I got the feeling they wouldn't trade their jobs for anything else.

Special thanks to Capt. Brian McAllister, president of McAllister Towing, and Capt. Patrick Kinnier for arranging this tour for me.

Next week, I hope to see NYC from the air, in my first helicopter ride!

Have a great week!
Todd

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