The Next to Final Voyage

My Host and Fellow HorseLadyHusband

One of the benefits of having a wife in the equine community are the friends she makes. I've been really fortunate to meet some of the husbands of those friends. Jackie Crandall's husband Robin, introduced me to the excitement of vintage military aircraft, air racing, and the Reno National Air Racing Championship. This week, Mike McCormick, husband of her friend and trail boss, Colleen, invited me to join him in one of the last daily runs of his company's tow boat, the Patrick Gannaway. (see previous posting on Mike's hosting of our visit to the Aggregate Industries mine and bridge section casting yard at http://waybackstories.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-making-of-bridge-up-close.html )

The Gannaway has pushed loads of sand and gravel from St. Paul to north Minneapolis for Mike's employer, Aggregate Industries, for several decades. The trip includes passage through the last three northernmost locks on the Mississippi River. The northernmost of those locks, the Upper St. Anthony was to be shut down the next day, ending the Gannaway's daily routine permanently. Mike had invited me to join the next to last downbound run, and see one of the last cycles of water to empty from the lock chamber.

The Patrick Gannaway

The skill and daring of tow boat captains has always impressed the heck out of me. Recalling the occasions of my own angst in approaching a lock in high wind or current on the Wayback, I've struggled to imagine the pucker-factor involved in pushing a few thousand tons of multiple barges up or down a river and into the confined space of a lock.

Captain Kelsey Rohr has been doing so with the Gannaway and two of Aggregate Industries barges for over 20 years now. Since most tows we've seen are between four and 15 barges, it seems two would be significantly less anxiety inducing - until you see the challenges of the upper and lower St. Anthony locks. They're only about 1000 feet apart from each other, with not a lot of room for error between the two. For anyone that has witnessed the power of the river at the Minnehaha Falls, you can imagine that the current adds to the fun. That and the fact that those locks are quite a bit narrower than those further downstream.

Holding back the Mississippi River

The speed at which Kelsey pilots his load into those locks, which he says provides more control, certainly increased my heart rate. The locks are just long enough for two barges to fit in with a little room on the sides. Just enough room, in fact, to allow the specially designed (many feet narrower than usual) tow boat to tuck in along side. I didn't think much of it when the tow was loosened from the barges as they were tied to the lock wall. But given that there was no room on either end when the gates were closed, I was curious how we would re-attach when the lower gate was opened.

The answer came at the sound of the lock horn signaling the completion of our tow's fifty foot decent (the greatest lift/drop of all the Mississippi locks.) Kelsey, all the while sharing stories with his audience and even answering a radio call, pushed against the line attached to the back barge, shoving it forward. I realized at that point that the barges were free, unattached except at this spring line. The deck hands threw that loose too, as Kelsey slid the gear levers into reverse. Almost as if a slight of hand, he slid the tow boat virtually sideways behind the barge that was passing us by. Then, with a little more urgency, he slid the throttles forward to catch up with the barge. Tie lines were attached on the fly as we exited the lock. Good thing, too, because the next lock, with its swirling whirlpools (compliments of the relatively new hydro-electric generator adjacent to the lock) was upon us in no time. (To see a video of Cap'n Rohr performing this maneuver, click this link to YouTube  https://youtu.be/LBVzO4Y6_jw  )

Before we knew it, we were spit out of the lower lock bound for the official Lock One on the river. No time to take a breath, however, as we had to follow the rivers sharp right turn under the 10th Avenue bridge immediately after the lock. As I looked back behind the stern of the tow boat, I saw that we cleared the bridge pier by what seemed no more than 20 feet.

"That's kind of close, isn't it," I remarked to Kelsey?

"Oh, that's nothing. You should see it when we have a little crosswind working on us. It can get kinda close," he replied.

He explained that moving barges on the river involves a lot of skidding. That is, you skid the barge into and out of turns. Kind of like drifting in cars, when you see them skid through a corner in rally races. It was demonstrated on rounding a green buoy. He started the turn well in advance, causing the view of the can to slip behind the bow of the barge. I was sure he was going to run over it, but as we approached, the whole rig slid to the left, missing the can entirely but keeping it along side through the whole turn.

"I couldn't have hit it if I'd wanted to," Kelsey explained.

As we hit a straighter stretch of river approaching St. Paul, Kelsey handed the "sticks" over to Mike. Mike has entertained and informed many paying customers on board the Gannaway over these many years, having at one time worked on the boat very early in his career. Most of the steering of the boat is done with the huge rudders, but not in the way they work for boats like the Wayback.  Along with using the water flowing across the rudders from forward motion, towboats also and primarily use the tremendous thrust of their props. There are also four flank rudders just ahead of the props, one on each side of each shaft, for turning in reverse.  Each set of rudders is controls by long tiller sticks mounted on the helm - hence the phrase "taking the sticks" to mean taking over control of the towboat. (You can see Captain Rohr using the main rudders stick, located just to the right of the gear levers in the YouTube video.)

When I was asked by Mike, "do you want to take the sticks," I politely but firmly said, "no thanks." It may have looked good in a picture, but there was no way I was going to pretend to have any idea how much rudder to apply or when and risk missing a turn. I'm sure they were bluffing, anyway.

Towboat captains are getting harder to find. It's a tough job that requires loads of experience and, these days, a lot of regulatory certification. As a result, Kelsey will have no problem finding other work within Aggregate Industries pushing barges. But a chapter will close on commercial waterway traffic in Minneapolis. I just hope the decision to close the lock will indeed keep those Asian carp from migrating up river, as intended. Otherwise the truck traffic and extra $4 a ton it's going to cost to transport these materials will not have been worth it.

Those horses sure do pay off, now and then. Thanks to Mike and all the folks at Aggregate Industries for extending this opportunity to close out this chapter with them.

Views from the Upper Lock

A view of the past

The Stone Arch Bridge