Makin tow

I don't know why we say "makin tow."

We could say, putting the barge on the tow cable,

or

making up on the tow wire,

but we say

makin tow.

Anyway, that's what we do any time we go offshore,

unlike when we're in the river when we "push" our barge,

or

as we say it, "gettin in the notch."

But that's another post.

Here's an anatomy of makin tow.

 I caught Gary and Stan in deep conversation

as we came alongside their barge.

Step one.

The barge guys send us a heaving line.

Stan tells us to start pulling on the pennant wire.

The pennant wire is connected to our tow cable.

My oiler Brad, and the deckhand Chuck,

fight to connect the two.

Once everything is connected

we payout cable to get it over the side.

And then we scoot down the side of the barge

paying out cable as we go.

More and more cable gets let out

until the barge is about 1000 ft behind us before we start to tow.

This guy seemed to be saying,

"Hurry up already!"

Then off we went passing this rig along the way.

And that's all I'm gonna say about that.