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An Introduction to TOWBOATING and the towing industry
by Captain John C. Farmer
I am writing this book in hopes that it will encourage more people to join this
industry and provide needed information for others. There are numerous books on Tugboats
(see appendix 1) but I have not been able to locate one on Towboats. Everyone loves and
remembers the small yet powerful Tugboats primarily because of the association with the
much larger vessels that they help maneuver in docking and undocking situations. The
Towboat in much less well known and appreciated. Towboats have been around since the
eighteen hundreds and are a major part of the United States transportation infrastructure.
Probably the reason they are not as well known is that unless you live by a river or the
Intracoastal Waterway you may not have ever seen a towboat. They just do there job day
after day with very little recognition. Occasionally the news, if you live in a river
area, may report that a barge hit a bridge often with little damage. Without the existing
barge industry our highways would be even more congested than they are now. There is a
move underway to try to expand the use of barge transportation for inland shipping of
containers that arrive at our ports. This would certainly be a move in the right direction
as you will see by reading this booklet. If you are involved with shipping, responsible
for legislation, interested in the “brown water” marine industry, are looking
for a rewarding job, or just plane curious I strongly encourage you to read this book. We
hope to publish in 2011.
The book
consists of the following:
To see some on the many boats I have seen as a Captain that prompted writing this book go to Towboats for a photo gallery of boat pictures.
