From The Wheelhouse

From the Wheelhouse Moving!

2009-01-27T12:44:00.002-05:00

Just to let my readers know, my blog has been brought in-house at Safe/Sea, as we've totally revamped our site to support blogging and interactivity. Here's the new direct url:

http://www.safesea.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=2008

Or, just go to www.safesea.com and click my ugly mug on the homepage, or select my blog from the Blogs menu item. Lots of my co-boatdrivers will be getting into the blogosphere this year as well, so there will be lots of content to choose from on the new site as we ramp up before spring hits and the boatdriving begins.

Hopefully, I'll be importing all of my 2008 posts to the new site in the next month or so; in the meantime, they'll remain here.

2008-11-21T15:10:00.002-05:00

As you can probably tell by the dearth of posts, the towing & salvage season has come to a halt here in the northeast. Big plans are afoot for my blog next season, and I will periodically update this page through the winter as relevant events dictate.

Thanks very much to all my readers over the summer, there will be more not-so-thrilling adventures come spring!

25' Shamrock to Dutch Harbor

2008-10-08T16:34:00.001-04:00

Disabled 2NM south of Beavertail.

42' Ketch to Newport

2008-10-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

This was my sole job on Sunday, a nicely preserved 1927 vintage ketch
that lost power off Point Judith. It was grey and rainy, but about as
calm as it gets in Rhode Island Sound in October.

Dreary weather, slow September

2008-10-01T13:30:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the dearth of posts since early this month, but, frankly, there hasn't been much happening of much import. To summarize, I've handled 11 operations since my last post of the 9th, and all were of the routine variety. Most of the jobs in September cluster heavily around the weekends, and our last two weekends have been total rain-outs. Even the storms have been lackluster. This weekend holds some hope, though, as we have a nice sunny forecast, albeit a little chilly.

Most of my recent time has been spent working on the FileMaker database that we use to run our business, making upgrades and adding features. Much of my time now will be spent doing that kind of work, as the on-the-water stuff slows down. Most boaters don't actually come out of the water until November here in RI, so nice weather can produce some flurries of activity, which I will post should they occur.

32' O'Day to Dutch Harbor

2008-09-09T14:42:00.001-04:00

Guaranteed to happen when there's a nasty squall line about to hit.

TS Hanna a bust in RI

2008-09-07T08:05:00.002-04:00

Tropical Storm Hanna turned out to be a non-event here in Rhode Island. We were fully staffed and crewed in anticipation of wind speeds of up to 50 mph, but we didn't see anything in excess 0f 35-40 from the southeast. The prevailing winds here come from the south, so most mooring fields and anchorages are fairly well prepared for winds from that direction. Capt. Doug reports from Block Island that the airport there recorded only a couple of gusts around 40, so not much went on out there, either.

The storm has continued on toward the Canadian Maritimes, and the weather here in Narragansett Bay is crystal clear and sunny with about 12-15 knots of wind from the WNW. I doubt there will be much boating action today, as most boaters will be stowing the extra lines and fenders they deployed yesterday, and it is the first week of NFL regular season action.

Sorry for the hiatus...

2008-09-05T11:20:00.002-04:00

Labor Day weekend was interesting for me, but it's not something I can discuss at length. Let's just say that I was doing some teaching for a government agency. All in all, it was pretty quiet for a Labor Day weekend operationally.

I've done a few routine jobs this week, but right now we're getting caught up in preparations for Hanna. The current 3 day track has her arriving directly over our heads in the wee hours on Sunday morning. I should be blogging from my iPhone fairly consistently all weekend as all of us at Safe/Sea are planning on a long weekend.

Finally, some bay work

2008-08-31T13:12:00.000-04:00

It's been very quiet in Narragansett Bay so far this weekend, as we've
had the double whammy of many kids already back to school and a cool,
rainy Friday night and Saturday. Our offshore boats were pretty busy
yesterday, with many boaters out around Block Island.

Sunday has come with clear sunny skies, but a blustery north wind, so
bay traffic is still lighter than usual. I just took care of the
Proline in the picture above, giving her a short tow into the Warren
River.

36' Trojan to NETC

2008-08-27T14:49:00.001-04:00

It's been a slow week, as school has started here in RI. Labor Day
Weekend is just around the corner, though.

Docking Technique

2008-08-24T11:55:00.002-04:00

The photo above is the end of my first job today, a 21' Bayliner. As you can see, when I bring a casualty to the dock (particularly small ones), I have to fit into very tight spaces. One of my favorite ways of dealing with these situations is to use my towboat to extend the dock.

As long as I have enough space to get parallel to my target finger, I gently put the bow of the towboat against the piling at the end of the finger, leave the towboat at dead slow ahead and engage my autopilot when I'm parallel with the finger. Viola! I just extended the dock by 35 feet!

Once this is accomplished, it's just a matter of untying the casualty and gently walking her into the slip. In the case above, there's only about 3' of space between my stern and the row of vessels behind me. Using this technique, that's plenty of room.

Point Judith duty today

2008-08-23T13:23:00.000-04:00

I'm running our Point Judith boat today, so it's likely to be pretty
slow for me.

Another sunset tow into Warwick

2008-08-19T20:54:00.001-04:00

It was a 19' Wellcraft tonight.

A quick sunset job

2008-08-18T21:09:00.000-04:00

23' Wellcraft to Warwick Cove.

Major League "frequent floater"

2008-08-18T19:28:00.000-04:00

Nice guy, but this was his 18th tow since 1998. Second time this year.

Sorry for the abbreviated post...

2008-08-17T16:41:00.001-04:00

...but as I was typing, I was sent at flank speed for this 30' Cape
Dory that was sinking at her mooring. She had over 2 feet of water
above the floorboards when I arrived, but I got her pumped out and
secured at Pirate Cove Marina around 1600. More photos of this one
later.

Sunday kicks off...

2008-08-17T14:47:00.001-04:00

...with a 23' Polar from Dutch Island to East Greenwich. Sorry, but I
messed up the photo.

There's

Sent from my iPhone

30' Wellcraft out of gas

2008-08-16T17:11:00.000-04:00

He was too far from the nearest fuel dock for the 5 gallons I carry to
get him there, so it was a tow to Wickford. He was anchored right on
the site of the old Jamestown Bridge, so breaking his anchor loose
from the debris was a chore, but we did recover it.

37' Beneteau to Wickford

2008-08-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

Transmission failure.

Navy destroyer underway

2008-08-16T14:20:00.000-04:00

Fair winds & following seas!

41' Hans Christian

2008-08-16T13:22:00.000-04:00

Engine belt failure. Towed to Conanicut Marine.

24' Larson to Bullock Cove

2008-08-16T09:27:00.000-04:00

Overheating.

Double rainbows...

2008-08-12T16:41:00.000-04:00

...as we drop tow to make up on the hip.

Amazing how fast the weather changes!

2008-08-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

Just got nailed...

2008-08-12T16:07:00.001-04:00

...by the pictured popup squall. No problem, but it looks nasty on the
radar.

46' SeaRay to Wickford

2008-08-12T15:58:00.001-04:00

This unforunate vessel struck a submerged object in the West Passage
an wrecked her running gear. I'll try to post some damage pictures
when she gets hauled out.

Nasty squall line...

2008-08-11T15:59:00.000-04:00

...headed right at me. I'm runnin' for home in our small boat while
Capt. Phil is going to get a 32' ketch off Land's End in one of our
35' twin engine boats.

Sun comes out, followed by boaters

2008-08-11T15:41:00.000-04:00

Today started with lots of rain, but some recent sun has brought a few
boaters. This 4 Winns suffered an electrical failure right by the
Newport Bridge. I towed her back to the Navy Marina at NETC Newport.

Old friends wrap up my day

2008-08-11T09:01:00.003-04:00

These nice folks are the Petrarcas, very long time Safe/Sea members, aboard their 28' Cruisers "Sea Moss". Captain Les has spent quite a few years working with us at the annual Providence Boat Show, helping recruit new members.

At about 1800 last night, just as I was passing fuel to the 20' Bayliner in my previous post, the Sea Moss was approaching her dock in Warwick Cove when her engine quit just before she was to make her turn down the alley to her slip. Thinking quickly, the Petrarcas managed to catch a piling and use lines to get her secured until I could arrive. My job was easy, all I had to do was hip-up and move the Sea Moss about 150 yards to her assigned slip. Even better, the Sea Moss' slip-mate was absent, giving me enough room to show off a bit by spinning around and backing her straight into the slip, even with the southerly cross-wind.

It's always nice to end a shift with a quick job for a good customer at a dock with plenty of other friendly folks around; of course Anchor always steals the show. ;-)

20' Bayliner out of fuel

2008-08-10T17:56:00.002-04:00

... in Greenwich Bay. A bit of an epidemic in the last hour and a half.

Anchor makes some new friends...

2008-08-10T16:17:00.002-04:00

...aboard this 31' Fountain that ran out of gas in Greenwich Bay. He's very popular with my younger customers.

Sunday kicks off

2008-08-10T09:44:00.000-04:00

... With this 21' Bayliner disabled by water in her fuel in Greenwich
Bay. Anchor & I are piloting the Safe/Sea Newport today in upper
Narragansett Bay. It's a beautiful morning, so there will hopefully be
plenty of action.

On station for the weekend

2008-08-09T12:51:00.001-04:00

Anchor the dog & I are currently on station in Narragansett Bay waiting for our first job of the weekend. Showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday left me with no work on those days, and Thursday was my usual day off.

The Newport Jazz Festival is happening today and tomorrow, plus Monday is a holiday in Rhode Island (VJ Day), so it should be a busy weekend.

Sent from my iPhone

More long distance towing

2008-08-06T12:54:00.003-04:00

Seems that I'm the designated long-distance towboat driver at Safe/Sea this week, as I got to follow up my Cuttyhunk to Point Judith drag of Sunday with a 36nm slog from the Mud Hole (about 7-8nm SE of Block Island) to Brewer Sakonnet Marina. As you can see in the picture above, it was a perfect day for going offshore with just a minimal surface chop and no swell to speak of.

The 31' Cabo that was on the hook had split a fuel line and was pumping diesel into her bilge while running, necessitating the tow home.

Sunday Recap

2008-08-04T19:57:00.007-04:00

Sunday was one of the longest days I've had so far this season, as I was sent to Point Judith at 0600 to get underway for a disabled 31' Formula off Penikese Island & Cuttyhunk. The weather for this tow was excellent, as it was too early for the prevailing southerly breeze to have filled. I towed the Formula 20+nm back to Point Judith Marina.

Shortly after finishing up the Formula tow and refueling, there was a 3rd party VHF report of a sailboat that seemed to be having some sort of vague problem off Pt. Judith Light. I decided to get underway and check it out. Upon arriving off Pt. Judith, I noticed a 34' Sabre sailboat stern to the wind and waves that didn't seem to be moving, which is a classic sign of being fouled in a lobster trawl. I approached, and it turned put that the vessel was a TowBoatUS member and that indeed, he was fouled in a lobster trawl. By this time, the southerly had filled in, and it was rather snotty off the point. Regardless, all of our boats carry a special tool used to take care of this exact situation, and since my RIB is essentially a high powered fender, I was able to pass the tool over to the customer, who was able to use it to free himself from the trawl that was holding them in place.

However, the buoy and several feet of line were still fouled in the rudder or screw of the Sabre, so a tow to Newport became necessary. It was a slow one, as we had an annoying 3 foot chop for a following sea, and had to be careful not to yank on the casualty when she surfed down waves. Try as I might, the seas were confused enough that I could never get myself and the tow in step. The first picture above is the Sabre, named "Vesper".

The next two pictures above was the scene as we arrived at the entrance to Newport. The Newport Folk Festival was in full swing, and the headliner this year was Jimmy Buffett, who was scheduled to take the stage just as we were trying to enter the harbor. We eventually made it into the harbor, although a couple of danger signals were sounded to help refocus the attention of several spectator vessels who were more interested in getting a better view of the concert than actually paying attention to where they were going. Once past the pickled fleet of Parrotheads, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way into the Newport Yachting Center.

Before I could even work my way back through the spectator fleet to exit Newport, I was dispatched to another disabled sailboat, a 28' Cal this time, off Brenton Reef. Her stated destination was Newport, but with no reservations, there was no room at the inn, so to speak. Instead, we were able to get slips for my customer and his friends just across the way at Conanicut Marina.

As I was already in the area, and there was a group of 700 or so well-lubricated folks in boats all about to get underway at the same time once Buffett finished up, I figured I should hang around a bit before returning to Point Judith. I didn't have long to wait for my last job of the day, a 46' Irwin smack-dab in the middle of the spectator fleet. Buffett was done by now, darkness was falling rapidly, and every boat in the area was making like a rat leaving a sinking ship. Once again making liberal use of the danger signal (after customary whistle signals failed of course), I managed to hip tow the Irwin through the mess and back to a mooring at, once again, Conanicut Marina.

By this time, it was fully dark and I had been underway for about 15 hours, so it was time to head for the dock in Pt. Jude.

Saturday Recap

2008-08-04T11:20:00.004-04:00

Saturday was a pretty typical for this season. I once again started out in Point Judith, Picking up a 27' SeaRay (first picture) off Roger Wheeler Beach and towing him to a private dock in the upper pond. Immediately thereafter, it was a 29' Wellcraft in almost the same exact spot, going back to Marina Bay, also at the head of the pond. Once my second tow was completed, we were hit by an extended set of thunderstorms, which sent everyone in Point Judith scrambling for cover. That effectively ended any work there, and I left for our office in Wickford around 1730.

Just a few minutes after getting back to our office, I was sent out to get a 27' Bayliner that suffered an engine failure just south of the Newport Bridge and had to go all the way back to the Rhode Island Yacht Club in Cranston. That's the second picture above, running along at about 22 knots, perfectly flat water, and virtually no traffic; ideal conditions to "git 'er done".

23' seabird

2008-08-01T22:38:00.001-04:00

Disabled due to serpentine belt failure off Patience Island. Towed to
Warwick Cove.

23' Parker Salvage - The Solution

2008-08-01T13:25:00.003-04:00

Once we returned to our office, we discussed the issues we had earlier in the day. We decided that the surge on the beach at high tide was just too dangerous and unpredictable to deal work in, so we decided it would be better to make our next attempt to free the Parker around low tide, when the surf would likely be less and definitely not breaking over the casualty. In addition, we felt that by using the 9000lb Warn winch attached to one of our salvage trucks, along with some strategically placed turning blocks, we could right the hull from the shoreside, and set up the hull at the correct angle for the towboat to extract her through the rock chute where she was sitting. Satisfied with our modified salvage plan, we spent the rest of the evening preparing the beach gear that we would need to accomplish the task.

Early Tuesday morning, Capt. Phil and Nick drove back down to the casualty, set up the winch truck to pull through the chainlink fence at the site and set the turning blocks. After about 3 hours of prep work, they used the winch to do a nice, controlled righting of the casualty. Then, after a slight change to the pulling angle, they managed to actually get the casualty's bow pointed to the correct general direction for extraction. All that was left to do at this point was to pull the Parker through the rocks with the Safe/Sea Salvor without ripping her apart.

Nick returned to Wickford, when I picked him up to be my deckhand aboard the Salvor, while our diver returned to the work site to act as the runner (swimmer, really) between the towboat and shore. The surf, while building a bit through the morning, was low enough that the diver could get through it to the towboat and retrieve the towing hawser, even though he had to enter the water about 100 yards north of the site where the danger of being crushed on the rocks was lessened. Once the hawser was brought to the beach, it was walked over the rocks and attached to the casualty.

At this point, it was up to me to get the correct angle on my pull so that the casualty would drop into the rock chute and move seaward without getting stuck on a couple of stray boulders at the bottom of the chute. This was accomplished quickly and without too much excitement, other than one big breaker that came over the top of the Parker as she exited the chute. Once safely offshore, a quick inspection revealed that the hull was in fact intact and watertight. The Parker was safely hauled from the water in Wickford about an hour later. As you can see from the final photo, she'll never see the water again, but she did come home without further damage from the extraction.

23' Parker Salvage - The Situation

2008-08-01T12:46:00.005-04:00

Readers of last weekend's posts will remember this vessel, the 23' Parker that got pooped, rolled and washed ashore inside Whale rock at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. Her trip to the high tide mark was so violent that her outboard was snapped off and her t-top and console were missing as well. We received the contract to recover the hull, and accomplished the task Tuesday.

There were several problems that had to be overcome. As you can see, this is a particularly nasty stretch of coastline. It's all rock, the approaches are rock-strewn, and there's always a deceptive surge from the southeast. Even though it appears quite calm in the photos, there was a solid breaking surf from the southerly swell. There was only one potential exit through which to remove the vessel in one piece, which is pretty obvious from the photos; however, we needed to figure out a way to roll the hull and get it pointed in the right direction.

Our initial plan was to rig the boat for parbuckling at low tide on Monday and then return with the towboat to perform the parbuckle and extraction on the afternoon high tide. However, once on scene at high tide Monday afternoon, there was a 4' breaking surf that would make our job a little more nerve-wracking than I like.

It was too dangerous for our diver to swim through the surf line to the towboat to retrieve the hawser, so I had to bring the Safe/Sea Salvor inside the break to within 20 feet of the giant boulders to the right of the casualty in the photos (where the two people are standing). To do so, I would carefully watch the wave sets hitting the beach, and then kind of dash in and have my crew heave the messenger line to the diver on the rocks.

Once the connection was made (on the second attempt), I made the first parbuckle attempt. However, the sharp rocks around the casualty quickly cut through the bridles that Capt. Phil had rigged earlier, parting them and leaving the casualty in place. After re-rigging, we made another attempt, but had the same problem with the rocks slicing through our bridles. By this time, the surge around the casualty, coupled with the high tide, made it too dangerous for our diver to work around and under the casualty, so we called off the operation until the following day.

17' Bayliner to Bullock Cove

2008-07-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

More zoom-zoom.

42' Island Packet Aground

2008-07-29T11:44:00.000-04:00

In Greenwich Cove, refloated.

17' Whaler off Gould Island

2008-07-29T00:02:00.000-04:00

To the Wickford Yacht Club. Secure at midnight.

22' Mako to Wickford

2008-07-28T20:43:00.001-04:00

Zoom, zoom.

Fixing a Jet Drive

2008-07-28T14:13:00.004-04:00

After his one engine job Saturday night, Andy & I decided that we'd need to haul out the Safe/Sea Point Judith and drop the tailpipe of the starboard jet to get to the bottom of the metallic banging that was going on. I proceeded to the boat and brought her to the Great Island ramp. Once we got the tailpipe off, we found that the internal zinc anodes had come loose and were banging around inside the drive. We also found some bolts that were loose on the port drive. After about an hour of working and dodging nasty thunderstorms, we had the boat back in service. The boomers chased all the boaters home, so I didn't actually have any jobs in Point Judith yesterday.

Out of Gas in the Harbor of Refuge

2008-07-28T14:05:00.005-04:00

It was a lovely evening anyway.

Unfortunately, on my way back into the Point Judith Pond, I suddenly developed a nasty metallic clanking sound in my starboard jetdrive. After a few minutes of back flushing the drive, it seemed to clear and I proceeded to my dock for the night. A few hours later, Capt. Andy had to retrieve another boater and the symptoms reappeared, leading him to have to do his job on one engine. Which leads into my next post....

41' Cranchi to Pt. Judith Marina

2008-07-28T13:18:00.004-04:00

This 41' Cranchi express cruiser lost both engines halfway between Point Judith and Block Island, probably due to a fuel problem. I towed him into Point Judith Marina.

iPhone won't send mail, here's what you missed

2008-07-28T13:09:00.004-04:00

For some reason my iPhone decided to stop sending email this weekend, so none of my posts made it to the blog. The following posts should bring my weekend up to date.

First up was the Blessing of the Fleet in Point Judith. The photo above is of the fleet beginning to assemble in the Harbor of Refuge, after which the assembled vessels parade through the Point Judith Breachway while receiving the blessings of various clergy present. A nice idea, but a little scary in my opinion, as the breachway it extremely narrow, line with riprap on both sides, carries a huge tidal current, and is the main traffic lane for multiple ferries who are not particularly interested in having their schedules disrupted.

Credit goes to the Pt. Judith CG small boat drivers and the local authorities that kept things under control. Personally, I stayed clear of the fray in the Harbor of Refuge. I'm not much on religion, anyway.

Lucky boater, unlucky boat

2008-07-26T16:03:00.002-04:00

This 23' Parker met her maker today at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. Luckily her owner escaped serious injury. He was fishing too close to the surf line and was swamped by an unexpected breaker. The next wave rolled the boat, throwing the owner into the water to swim for his life. The boat was driven ashore, her t-top and outboard ripped off.

We'll be removing the hull as soon as the surf dies down a bit. A family friend drowned in the same spot while lobstering about 30 years ago in an almost identical rollover accident.

2008-07-25T17:40:00.002-04:00

I'm in for my usual Friday night shift, and had this tow earlier this afternoon. It's a 24 Seaswirl that lost power off Nebraska Shoal west of Point Judith. Capt. Andy picked him up at the scene of the casualty and handed the tow off to me for the last 8nm of the trip up the West Passage of Narragansett Bay to Wickford. The first picture is Andy disconnecting his hawser, and the second is pretty self-explanatory.

The job was routine until I was entering Wickford, when an outbound vessel apparently didn't notice that I was towing and tried to run between my stern and the casualty's bow. I guess my 8 red & yellow strobes, rotating red & yellow flasher, and standard towing lights weren't enough garner his attention; yelling for him to stop out my pilothouse window and some quick evasive action did avoid an embarrassing incident, however.

Boomers drum up some work

2008-07-23T19:16:00.003-04:00

Nothin' like a nasty front pushing through to drum up a bit of work. We've been under a threat of thunderstorms from a front just to our northwest for the last several days, and it finally made it through this afternoon. We've had temperatures in the high 80's and low 90's for about a week, just storing up a ton of energy to be unleashed, and today was the day.

Capt. Phil and I were hanging around the office most of the day with Capt. Andy already on a tow from Sakonnet Pt. to Point Judith, watching the weather radar of the approaching storms. Sure enough, with the leading edge of a huge area of bright red squalls just 5 miles to our west, a call came in from a 20' outboard that had lost her steering just outside Allen Harbor.

As it turned out, it was a 20 year member who was fully aware of the jam he was in. I promised to do my best to get there before the storms and get him into the closest harbor until the storm passed, but I couldn't make any guarantees. He understood, unlike some less experienced boaters that sometimes seem to think I have a teleportation machine. I made it and got him hooked up about 90 seconds before the deluge and 20kt breeze kicked in. I did manage to get the pictures above as things progressed.

It really wasn't any big deal, as the wind came in off the shore, but the lightning was the scary part. It was nasty and close. I actually shut down all my electronics in case of a close strike and navigated through the 100 yard visibility into the harbor "by feel." At one point, the lightning strikes were close enough that I called over my loudhailer for the customer to lay down in the cockpit of the strand to make sure he wasn't the highest point, and thus a likely target.

Anyway, we made it unscathed into the harbor and waited until things quieted down for about a half hour. In the meantime, Capt. Phil was underway to Bristol to get a 28' Albin that was pummelled by the same system. That evolution turned out fine as well, though everyone was a bit wet by the end. I finished my tow into Apponaug in lovely sunshine about a half hour after the front passed.

My luck (or lack thereof) holds

2008-07-22T10:52:00.002-04:00

I was continually in the wrong place at the wrong time last weekend, managing to snag just 5 jobs total over the two days. That's my usual output for about 75% of a normal single weekend day. The company had a reasonably busy weekend, but I never seemed to be the best option in terms of positioning. Ah well, we all go through hot & cold streaks.

Anyway, the picture above is my job from Monday, a 23' Wellcraft that took on water at her dock in Point Judith. The owner thinks an early morning downpour made her heavy enough to start taking from the aft scuppers, and the bilge pumps quickly failed. He discovered her just in time, and he and a few friends managed to get her pumped out with hand pumps before I arrived. However, her engine had filled with seawater, so she still needed to be towed to haulout.

Anchor gets a piloting lesson

2008-07-20T12:05:00.002-04:00

Can you tell I'm a little bored waiting for my next job? Let the pooch drive for a bit, why not?

Anyway, I was in Point Judith again yesterday and did just a single job. Today has matched that total already, with a quick tow from Plum Beach to Wickford. Anchor & I are currently patrolling for the next.

Boat accessible dining in Jamestown

2008-07-18T15:29:00.004-04:00

My usual routine on my day-off Thursdays involves a dinner out with the family. We have some usual haunts, but decided to try somewhere new last night, so we headed off to Jamestown and Tricia's Tropi Grille. The food was great, I had an excellent black bean chili/soup and a Cuban sandwich, and my wife reported that her Mahi-Mahi fish taco was good, too. As you can see above, my kids liked their chow as well.

Downtown Jamestown is a 5 minute walk from Conanicut Marina, which is directly across the East passage from Newport. They have rental moorings as well as dock space, launch service, and a fuel dock; the Munger family runs a first-class operation. They can be reached reliably by VHF on channel 71. If you're looking for a good boating excursion that's off the beaten track and doesn't involve the insanity of Newport this summer, this could be just the ticket for you. There's even a ferry service that runs from the marina to downtown Newport, if you just have to go there.

Another PJ case

2008-07-16T19:46:00.001-04:00

This nice group of folks had their tubing cut a little short this
evening, but the kids enjoyed their time on the end of my hawser.

Lending your boat to offspring, a bad idea? ;-)

2008-07-16T14:33:00.004-04:00

I've only run a couple of jobs yesterday & today, both in Point Judith. Yesterday afternoon, it was a group of 3 18 year old girls on a 19' Bayliner that seemed to spin a prop. The problem was, they had taken their dad's boat out to see the lighthouse and freaked a bit when they couldn't make it move at better than 3 knots. When my dispatcher asked them to anchor the boat, they said that they didn't know how. We had to get the USCG to run out quickly to keep them from drifting onto the East Wall of the harbor of Refuge, and then I towed them to the head of the pond. Dad was waiting at the dock when we arrived; he was not amused, as the teens were supposed to stay in the harbor for a little tubing, not go out into the ocean to sightsee.

The second job was this morning, coming in just as I dropped my kids at soccer camp. A long-time member was out of fuel a couple of miles south of the West Gap. Apparently his son had used the boat earlier in the week and dad had assumed he had replaced the fuel. Not the case.

Tomorrow's my day off, as usual, but if I get anything this afternoon, I'll try to get a picture up for ambiance.

A slow couple of days

2008-07-15T09:37:00.003-04:00

Well, Sunday turned out to be very quiet, as I only had 1 more job after the oil drop, a 30' Catalina in the dirt at the entrance to Greenwich Cove. The southerly breeze had alot to do with it, kicking up a nasty chop that kept most boaters at the dock.

Yesterday was even slower, being Monday and having rain in the forecast. The rain never showed up, and I spent the day in my office. The forecast is for sunny and hot weather the rest of the week, so things should pickup in the late afternoon and evening as the week wears on.

5 cases for me yesterday

2008-07-13T09:40:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates from the water yesterday, but I couldn't
send mail from my phone for some reason.

Anyway, the picture above is my second tow yesterday, a 24' Wellcraft
from the Jamestown Bridge to Wickford. I did 5 in total yesterday and
have started out today with a 21' Trophy that needed 2-cycle oil off
Austin Hollow in Jamestown.

It's a bit lumpy in the West Passage right now, as the southerly has
come in at about 15 knots and the tide is ebbing.

Weekend Lead-in

2008-07-12T10:03:00.002-04:00

My day off on Thursday was excellent; I got to go to my kids' swim meet in the morning, just hung out with them all afternoon, and went to dinner with the whole family after my wife got out of work. Perfect.

I was the night captain on Friday, and had a couple of short jobs after dark (hence, no pics). I managed to get home to bed around 2330 and got a good night's sleep.

We're a little short handed in our comms center today, so I'm helping out there until I can get out on a towboat. There's alot of noise on the VHF, but no action thus far.

This weekend is the Wickford Art Festival, so driving into town will be a nightmare. Luckily, there are 3 different routes from my house to the office, so I can avoid most of the traffic problems.

More on the Mt. Hope accident

2008-07-09T13:08:00.002-04:00

Here's a link from the Providence Journal about the accident of a couple of nights ago.

STORY

I ended up towing the vessel from the site of the accident to the RIDEM Marine Base in Wickford for further processing by the authorities. The victim's wife had been taken to shore by the Bristol Harbor Patrol before the tow started.

Out of gas @ Hope Island

2008-07-08T17:23:00.000-04:00

The picture pretty well covers it.

Tragic accident in Mt. Hope Bay

2008-07-07T21:12:00.001-04:00

I'm currently towing a 34' O'Day sloop who's captain was struck by the
boom and knocked overboard. He has not been recovered.

Sent from my iPhone

A slow 4th weekend

2008-07-06T10:34:00.002-04:00

It's been a very slow weekend of towing and boating in general here in Narragansett Bay. Above is my only job yesterday, a 50' catamaran with diesel fuel problems. I picked them up right off Sakonnet Point and brought them into Conanicut Marine. It was excellent towing weather, a calm wind and sea with visibility of 1-2 miles most of the way.

Hopefully there will be more action today, as it is a moving day for most weekend cruisers.

Boating on my day off?

2008-07-04T12:43:00.004-04:00

Boating is not usually what I do on my day off, but this week was different. One of my very best friends was in town with his family aboard a chartered 42' Beneteau, so I grabbed my kids after their morning swim team and sailing activities, and we all went for a sail for the afternoon. The first picture above is my son Will at the helm outside Wickford, with my buddy, Mat, giving him pointers. The second shot is Will, one of Mat's daughters, Ginny, and my oldest, Sarah, enjoying the ride on the foredeck.

It was a glorious day, and just perfect conditions for the Beneteau, with a 20 knot sou'westerly keeping a bone in her teeth from Wickford to Coddington Cove and back. Once we returned, the kids jumped in for a swim at the mooring, while I picked up my wife from work ashore. Then it was back to the mooring for a delicious dinner of pasta & salad, followed by a trip to Scoops Ice Cream parlor in Wickford for dessert. I had nearly forgotten how much fun a relaxed day of yachting with good friends and family could be!

Midweek Wrapup

2008-07-04T12:10:00.006-04:00

My Tuesday night shift turned out to be a busy one. It started around 1600 with the vessel pictured above, a 44' Cambria cutter rig, needing a short tow into the tight confines of New England Boatworks. After this one, it was all Mount Hope Bay jobs until 0200 Wednesday morning.

Next was a 28' Rinker out of gas just north of Gould Island in the Sakonnet River, followed a couple of hours later by a 28' Albin with general engine failure off Seal Rock in Mt. Hope Bay into Standish Boatyard. Once that was done, I headed back to Wickford seeing virtually no boat traffic on the way, so I figured I would be able to get a good night's sleep. I was wrong, as the same 28' Rinker that had been out of gas earlier in the day had gone out again after fuelling and suffered a complete electrical failure off the Cole River in Swansea just before midnight. So I was off to Mt. Hope Bay yet again, finally securing back in Wickford in the wee hours.

I didn't have another case until about 1400 on Wednesday, going to get a 19' Steury off Sandy Pt., Greenwich Bay that needed a tow back to the Oakland Beach Ramp. That was followed by a 27' SeaRay from the Wickford Breakwater into Wickford Marina.

Weekend Wrap-up

2008-07-01T15:27:00.002-04:00

It was a fairly busy weekend for us at Safe/Sea, with a total of 32 operations on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, I never made it to the Quonset Airshow, as I was in Point Judith all day Saturday, and kept getting sent to jobs in the eastern part of Narragansett Bay on Sunday. I'll update the google map of all my cases as soon as I post this.

The salvage jobs fell to Capt. Crit on Sunday, a 22' sinker off Rose Island in Newport. The casualty was taking on water from a rubber boot around her exhaust exit that melted when the engine overheated. The boat was kept afloat with 2 salvage pumps and delivered to a boat ramp in Newport.

Capt. Doug got into the salvage act yesterday in Block Island's New Harbor, with a 55' motor yacht that dragged her anchor and went ashore, unmanned, in the vicinity of Breezy Point. She was extricated from her predicament quickly. The Block Island Town Moorings have been full in anticipation of July 4 Weekend for several days, so if you're heading out there, expect to get your hook wet.

I have night duty tonight, so we'll see if anything happens. Hopefully it will be after I meet my wife & kids for the Tuesday night concert at the Wickford Town Dock.

Job #4

2008-06-29T13:24:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the missing text earlier today, I messed up my iphone posts.
Anyway, I've been busy. Started out with a 19' Bayliner in the
Providence River, then a jumpstart in Potter Cove, then a 22' SeaRay
into Bristol, and now a 22' catboat from Fogland Pt., Sakonnet River
to Bristol. I'm well on the way to a 100 nm day.

Another job

2008-06-29T10:53:00.000-04:00

Sunday is underway!

2008-06-29T10:25:00.000-04:00

No airshow for me today

2008-06-28T13:49:00.001-04:00

I ended up getting sent to cover Point Judith today, so airshow
pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. The boredom is currently
extreme.

Sent from my iPhone

Airshow weekend coming up.

2008-06-27T14:33:00.001-04:00

There's been nothing exciting going on the last couple of days; very light & routine caseload. That should change this weekend as the Quonset Airshow is scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday. That usually means a huge spectator fleet anchored right off the runway, packed in tight, and plenty of consumption of adult beverages. I'll be out there by the time the show starts at 1000 and will share pictures of the fleet all afternoon. Today is the day to see the show, as they do a full run-through.

The pic above is from practice last year, a Blue Angel going in for a landing over the Safe/Sea Newport. This year we get the Red Arrows as the headliner, a British aerobatic group.

Lightning = Bad

2008-06-24T16:52:00.005-04:00

This is a 21' Parker that Capt. Phil went to get today off Prudence Island. Notice the stubby fishing pole, with the blackened end and all the stands of fiberglass hanging off it. That's the aftermath of a lightning strike. The pole apparently took the hit and the juice travelled throughout the boat, frying literally every wire, and starting a small fire aft near the batteries. The guys on the boat didn't really remember much, other than a big "boom" and smoke coming from the stern. They're lucky they didn't get fried along with the pole.

Don't mess around on the water in thunderstorms. If there's a warning, or if you see one coming, get to safe harbor where there are objects higher than you as quickly as you can. Lightning kills, just not today on Narragansett Bay.

More on Friday's Salvage

2008-06-23T14:14:00.004-04:00

Above are some more pictures from Friday's salvage of the MV Anxiety. She hit a rock about a quarter mile offshore from where you see her in the first shot. Her captain noticed the rapid flooding and immediately headed for the beach and managed to get her far enough aground that her gunwales stayed above sea level, but she sank there. The tide was dead low and starting to rise, so we needed to get some buoyancy back into her quickly, or the starboard gunwale would submerge and her 400 gallons of onboard diesel fuel would become a major pollution problem.

Capt. Phil and I put four 8000 gallon per hour pumps on her and barely made any headway at first, but then Capt. Andy arrived with his dive gear and we got him in the water to slow down the leak with patching material. Once we slowed the leak a bit, the Anxiety started to come up nicely. However, she was on a lee shore and being pushed toward a couple of big rocks on her starboard side, so we had to move quickly to get her out of there once she began to float.

With our pumps still running and Anxiety still half-filled with water (but floating), we gingerly hip towed her out alongside one of our anchored 35 footers to better secure the flooding and prepare to tow her to Brewer's Sakonnet Marina. Once satisfied that our patch would hold reasonably well, I towed the Anxiety to haulout with the Safe/Sea Titan and Safe/Sea Salvor alongside, pumping as we went.

As you can see from the last two photos, she hit the rock hard enough to punch the entire starboard strut through the hull, with the starboard wheel slicing through the fiberglass as well. There was virtually no access to the damage from inside the boat, as both struts are covered by fuel tanks, so most of the patching had to be done externally. It's pretty rare that a boat this size gets a hole big enough to defeat 4 of those salvage pumps, but once we got some patching material into the hole to slow down the water, we got ahead of it quickly.

Saturday Wrap

2008-06-22T08:15:00.003-04:00

This is the MV Lex Sea, my last tow yesterday, a 28' Vista off Conimicut Light going to Brewer's Cove Haven. When it was all said & done, I did 7 operations yesterday and covered 120 nautical miles. I have the first shift today, the fuel docks just opened and all three of our bay boats are thirsty. More later...

More cases

2008-06-21T17:55:00.001-04:00

After a wait of a couple of hours, I just banged out two more
operations. First was the "Back Nine", a 37' Sea Ray, aground in the
entrance to Warwick Cove. Second was the "Jus' Ducky, a 24 Stingray
that had wrapped his own bow line in his outdrive.

Anchor and I are now back on station for whatever comes next.

Sent from my iPhone

Busy Saturday underway

2008-06-21T13:56:00.003-04:00

My day started early today, with a call for a jumpstart at 0130 in the Providence River. Got home around 0330, got some sleep and was back underway by 0930.

Next up was a short harbor tow of an 18' catboat in Wickford. After getting my cooler packed, I was off again for another jumpstart, a 26' Pursuit near Bonnet Shores.

Finally, I just finished up a high speed tow of a 25' Aquasport from Land's End, Newport to Pawtuxet Cove. I've covered 80+ nautical miles since 0130.

More info and pictures of yesterday's salvage coming tomorrow, as the forecast is less than optimal for boating.

Posted via iphone.

Salvage in Mt. Hope Bay

2008-06-20T20:02:00.002-04:00

Just getting back to base after wrapping up the salvage of this 32'
Wellcraft. It was a little dicey for a while, but everything came out
okay. I'll try to get the full story and more pics up over the weekend.

Posted via iPhone.

You're kidding, right?

2008-06-17T20:00:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been doing this job for 25 years or so, and I though I'd seen it all, but today is one of those days when I'm proven wrong.

Meet the MV Huckleberry, out of fuel 20+ nautical miles south of Land's End, Newport, RI. Crazy enough on it's own, right? But...wait! The Huckleberry was inbound to Newport from.... wait for it.... BERMUDA! No, really. I'm serious. The Huckleberry is all of 18 feet or so in length and powered by a seriously overworked 9.9hp Mercury outboard.

This gentleman left Bermuda (yes, the island well east of North Carolina) on Saturday and ran out of fuel about 20nm short of his objective. He actually made excellent time on the voyage (except when he ran out of gas.) Luckily, the Huckleberry was close enough to shore for another vessel to hear his handheld VHF and alert the USCG, who issued a request for assistance. Once alerted to his calls, the Safe/Sea high site radio on Block Island was able to contact him and arrange for one of our boats to render assistance. Captain Doug was sent out of Pt. Judith this evening around 1800 to deliver the 5 gallons of gas that would bring the Huckleberry in under its own power.

I think Capt. Doug's quote from his email with the picture said it best, "He was just six gallons short of a full ocean passage... and a few sandwiches short of a full picnic, I'd say."

Tomorrow's a new day. We'll see what it brings.

High-Speed Towing Rocks!

2008-06-17T09:46:00.003-04:00

Monday was another quiet day, as usual, until the evening. About 1845, a call came in for a 27' Rinker disabled off the Ohio Ledge buoy in upper Narragansett Bay. The problem was, a nasty cold front was on it's way, pushing a huge set of thunderstorms ahead of it. Taking a look at the weather radar on my iPhone as I went down the dock, I figured that I'd better get on the throttles and get this one done quick.

Here's where calling Safe/Sea instead of other service providers really pays off for the customer. My 35', 740hp, twin jet-drive towboat can tow that Rinker at 23 knots, not only allowing me to get my customer home & tied up well in advance of the storm bearing down on us, but also allowing me to get back to Wickford just as the the lightning was beginning. If you've ever been out in a real nasty thunderstorm, you know that while the gusty winds and loss of visibility can be a little scary, the lightning strikes are the worst. Without the high speed towing capabilities of my sweet piece of equipment, last night's tow would've been a 6-7 knot slog through a torrential downpour, nasty chop and frequent lightning.

Playing catch-up

2008-06-17T09:30:00.005-04:00

Honestly, it was a rather boring weekend. Saturday's weather was good, and we had a relatively normal caseload for this time of year. I managed to get 3 cases myself. The one pictured above is a "regular" customer, with 17 (yes, that's not a typo, 17) tows to his name since 1998. On our way into Bullock's Cove, there seemed to be quite a nice fishing party happening on the breakwall.

Sunday was pretty much a wash-out, with lots of rain early and Father's Day putting a damper on boating activity. A quick minor grounding at Calf Pasture Point was the extent of my operations for that day.

Anchor is on station

2008-06-14T12:03:00.002-04:00

Last night was the perfect illustration of one of the minor annoyances
of being the night duty captain. Hang around the office for 14 hours
with nothing happening...then, as soon as I decide to go home and
plunk down to watch some tv, I'm called out for a tow. Ah well, it's a
lifestyle business after all.

Anyway, Anchor & I have completed one short one so far today and are now standing by for more, although traffic is light at the moment.

Posted via iPhone.

Midweek Report

2008-06-12T14:13:00.002-04:00

Today's my day off, so I thought I'd catch up with Tuesday's and Wednesday's happenings. Tuesday was relatively quiet, as I regained some lost sleep from a routine middle-of-the-night run.

On Wednesday, Capt. Doug had an appointment that put him off the duty roster for the day, so I happened to inherit his usual haunt of Point Judith. Early in the afternoon, I went down there to retrieve a 25' Chris Craft that was disabled in the upper pond. Before I even had the chance to arrive, a second call came in, which turned out to be a 24' Bayliner Trophy at the 1BI buoy just north of Block Island.

After getting the Chris Craft back to his dock at Ram Point Marina, I made the long slow slog back down the pond against the tide and out to the Block Island area. The Trophy had to wait about an extra half-hour, but the conditions were ideal, with 10kts of wind and a calm sea. We made excellent time back to the Point, and I was all wrapped up around 1600 or so. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a photo, but I'll make sure to remember to fire up the camera for my next job.

Back to the "honey do" list....

Excitement off Brenton Reef

2008-06-09T17:15:00.003-04:00

This is the SV Morning Star, ensnared in a fish trap this afternoon off Brenton Reef at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. Her screw and rudder were badly fouled and there was a 55-gallon steel drum slamming against her hull right under the transom.

The picture was taken just as my diver was about to enter the water. I already had a towline attached to pull the Morning Star clear of the trap once she was freed. Eveerything proceeded as planned, and we removed her from the danger without incident.

I urge any readers who may transit the fish trap area south of Land's End, Newport to be very careful when they see groupings of barrels and other types of floats in the water. The fish trap area is marked on your NOAA charts and is easily avoided by taking a slightly more offshore route between Narragansett Bay and easterly destinations such as Martha's Vineyard and Buzzard's Bay.

Weekend Recap

2008-06-09T10:35:00.007-04:00

While Saturday was a pretty quiet day, Sunday was a non-stop towfest. I handled five cases personally aboard the Safe/Sea Titan. It was a perfect day out on the bay, with a nice 10-12 knot breeze from the WSW, seas of about 1 foot or less, and most importantly, a temperature in the mid 70's, about 20 degrees cooler than inland.

Today's picture is the SV Por-Sha on my hawser, bound up the Sakonnet River for the Tiverton Yacht Club. She was disabled by a submerged line that wrapped her prop and shaft up tight. This morning has started out busy, with Capt. Phil underway at 0100 for a disabled sailboat off Newport and Capt. Andy getting a couple jobs in the Warwick area around 0700.

A quiet Saturday on Narragansett Bay

2008-06-07T17:36:00.001-04:00

It was a hot day here in RI today, apparently too hot for many boaters
to get underway. Capt. Doug was very busy in Point Judith earlier.

On a positive note, my daughter's soccer team won the Superliga
Championship Game today!

Day off and bad boating weather

2008-06-06T16:04:00.002-04:00

No much going on since my post on Wednesday, as Thursday is my day off and the weather has been rainy and cool so far today. I am the overnight captain again tonight, so something may be on tap later.

Heavy fog is scheduled for tonight and tomorrow morning, which tends to take the unwary by surprise.

More late night work

2008-06-04T02:07:00.002-04:00

Just got home after towing in this wild million-dollar racing sled.
She was coming in from Annapolis. 52 feet long, but it weighs in at
just 22,000 pounds!

Time to sleep now.

Nothin' for me, yet...

2008-06-03T17:33:00.002-04:00

Capt. Phil just got underway for the first job of the day, a disabled sailboat around Bullock's Cove, headed for Sabin Point. I'm on deck for the next one.

So much for the "boring" Monday.

2008-06-03T08:54:00.006-04:00

Sure enough, my boring Monday post was enough to scare up some night work.

Two calls for assistance came in within 5 minutes of each other around 2030, which was convenient, as I had just finished dinner with my family and tucked the kids into bed.

First up was a 21' Hydrosports disabled by buoy 24 off Dyer Island. I was on scene in the Safe/Sea Newport by 2115, and secure at NETC Newport by 2150 after a 21 knot tow in perfect conditions.

Second was a 19' Wellcraft at Rose Island Light, bound for Oakland Beach Ramp. On scene @ 2200, secure by 2300. Another sweet 21 knot ride. Without the high speed towing capabilities of our twin diesel jet 35 footers, these two jobs would've had me out until about 0300 this morning. I covered a total of 35.5 nautical miles from getting underway at 2050 until hitting the dock at 2325.

Boring Monday? Start a blog!

2008-06-02T18:30:00.000-04:00

Not much going on today. But I'm the overnight captain, so you never
know...