Author Archives: Whittoons

OTY: The only mutinous behavior I exhibited on our boat was when I refused to descend into the barge jet fuel tanks. My resistance was not from the claustrophobic conditions, since I had tried spelunking once and was not freaked … Continue reading →

OTY: Sweepers could ruin your day. The river erodes the banks, toppling trees clinging to the edges. These trees don’t fall all at once so they linger, hanging over the current while slowing losing their grip. In the horizontal position, … Continue reading →

OTY: A good reason to stay alert while on deck is avoid decapitation. If a barge hits a sand/gravel bar, cables snap and whip around the deck. Those flying cables can take out a boatman. We hit the sand/gravel bars … Continue reading →

OTY: Splicing cable was not an easy task. It took three of us to subdue the writhing wire snake. Large marlin spikes (fids) plunged into the beast and forced open the gaps to weave in the vicious strands. Finger tips … Continue reading →

OTY: Driving a forklift on a barge was a trick. Driving a loaded forklift off the barge was suicidal. Two wooden planks were between me and eternity. The learning curve was steep…and you mastered the balancing act quickly or you … Continue reading →

OTY: People pay big bucks for vibrating beds. Mine came with the job. The huge towboat engines throbbed throughout the day and night, sending shock waves through the hull and superstructure. The vibrations set everything in rhythmic motion. I just … Continue reading →

OTY: Are you what you eat? The cooks aboard the Tanana were determined to Make It So. Marty and Eddie were Diner ladies, queens of their galley. Food (and mostly high cholesterol food ) was plentiful. Marty and Eddie wanted … Continue reading →

OTY: We would be pushing hundreds of gallons of jet fuel along the rivers, and layered on top of the barge fuel tanks were stacks of fifty gallon drums of gas, enough lumber to build a few houses, a truck … Continue reading →

OTY: Indoctrination into the River Rat culture was unique. With all the down time moving along the Nenana and Yukon rivers, there were opportunities to be creative. Drinking beer apparently was one creative strategy used by a few river rats. … Continue reading →

OTY: I had been a whirling dervish gandydancer pounding spikes on the Alaska Railroad; a frost bitten doodlebugger laying cable across frozen tundra with Petty Ray Geophysical on the North Slope; and the Night “faker” Baker kneading dough into submission … Continue reading →