Chapter 32 Towtally Fun Day

Captain Will was in his small office writing his log when Minnie burst in the door. He stood up sharply to see what was going on but she nonchalantly sat on his desk and ate one of his biscuits, just dropped off by Naomi too. “Hi dad, you gonna do this all day or what?” asked his little friend. “I’ve only been in here for fifteen minutes maybe, things have to get done, you know what?” He said “This will be good writing practice for you, take my seat and write this down.”.With only a little grumbling Minnie sat behind the desk, propped up on a couple of blankets and started to write.

The day started well. Weather fine and fair, only a slight northern breeze to bring some cool air. The crew was looking forward to connecting the barges and seeing how that would work.

“Are we looking forward to that, I was looking forward to cookies.”, said Minnie, stopping writing for a minute. “Yes we are, now more writing please.”. Will continued.

We had an early start, Matt and Dave brought a group of children by to meet the crew and see the Rose up close. Captain Will was very proud of his crew and his boat, especially his hard working and very nice first mate who has the best ears.

“Hey, what do you think your doing? I know I didn’t say that.”. laughed Will. Minnie was not the slightest bit sorry, “Well you meant to.”. Clearing his throat Will started again.

The children were very happy to come on board and see where they would be sleeping and working for the next week.Naomi made them feel at home with freshly baked fruit cake and tea.After they left, escorted down the dock by Captain Will, they made plans for the rest of their days work.This would be hauling the barges out and practice towing.

Minnie looked up and shook her hand out, “you do this lots huh dad, writing, cause it makes my hand hurt a bit.”.“Yes it does, you get used to it though”, agreed Will, “now back to it.”.

First mate Minnie had refilled the bunkers, checked the boilers water level and started it heating. Naomi had secured the galley and the cabins as well, checked all ports were closed. The plan was for Minnie to steam over to where the barges were, Will was going to use the dory to carry the line to the first and they were going to drag it out to deeper water.

Minnie had diligently written all this and was startled a bit when Will had stopped dictating. “That’s it?”, she asked. Will nodded, “Now we go and get to it.”.

She closed up the book, covered the inkwell and set the quill down on a blotter.“Why can’t we write in pencil, like my drawings and my workbooks?”, she asked.“Ink lasts longer, and it’s usually easier to read.” said Will peering at Minnie’s letters.“Well done by the way, your printing is very good.”.

It was a happy first mate that belted on her tools, and a small side bag and headed up to the deck.Will followed after telling Naomi they would be getting underway soon.She was coming up too, planning on helping more with the deck chores.

Will hopped onto the quay and untied the fore and aft lines, throwing the bumpers back aboard before jumping in himself.Getting easier every day he thought.Minnie engaged the engine and the Rose steamed away at dead slow. Motoring around the shore the saw more of Newton than the previous days.The town sprawled out among wooded areas near the shore and then into rolling foothills further south.Farmland was visible and there were herds of cattle and what looked like bison.

Seeing farms made Will think of their previous plan to have chickens and a goat or two. He had kiboshed it before for a couple of reasons, was it really fair to drag these animals along on what could be very dangerous times, the smell if they were kept below decks and carrying feed for them. Seemed like they positives just didn’t balance out. He would bring it up at the next crew meet.

A lumber mill was busy on the shore near them now, many wagons coming in full and leaving empty.Will wondered why the didn’t use the rivers to send the logs down then realized, the lake.That horrible effect it had on people would stop the logs being retrieved, they would just go sailing on down.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Minnie tooted the horn to get his attention, looking up at her in the wheelhouse he saw she was pointing at the beach.Now that they passed the mill the barges came into view.Three large hopper style barges, flat bottomed each with anchors with tow bollards forward and astern.Each smaller than the Rose but not by much.The amount of product they could transport with these was incredible compared to their capacity now.

Will headed into the wheelhouse and Minnie pulled to dead stop and disengaged the engine.Naomi was designated as a lookout for towing, and was standing in the bow, eyes peeled.Will swing the dory over the side and they lowered it down to the water.They connected the heavy tow ropes to the bollard and, as Will rowed to shore, Minnie payed out the line to him.

It was only a couple of minutes of Will’s powerful rowing and he was at the first barge.He placed the ropes over the bollard and signalled Min to slowly start pulling.The rope lost its slack and tightened up as the Roses powerful engine pulled away.What a sight she was, stack billowing rich black smoke, propeller churning at the stern, the deep thrum of the engine until…With a vast creaking the barge skidded off of the shale beach and into the lake.

Riding the barge was different than the Rose. Because it was empty it tended to bob more, but Will had no problems. When they were in the right position Minnie slowed until they were at rest. Then reversed until they could loose the lines and disengage them. Will dropped the anchors and uses the loading crane to bring the sodden rope aboard.

The plan was to pull each one out, anchor it and repeat till all three were out on the lake. Minnie swing by the barge and Will jumped aboard as she slowly motored by. “That was fun.”, he laughed , joining the others in the wheelhouse. “Now let’s do it two more times.”.

The day wore on as they pulled the barges off the shore, couple of breaks were needed as the coal bunkers had to be filled as the Rose’s coal consumption was much higher.Also..tea time.Keeping to a routine was very important to Will.

Now all three were at anchor and it was time to link things up.Minnie would drop Will on a barge, then reposition and get hooked up and so on until all three barges were lined up behind the Rose.Double checking all ropes were secure, Minnie started moving.

Will could tell right away that the Rose could handle the empty barges no problem, the test would be loaded ones. Also slowing and stopping would be a learning experience, to avoid bumping the boat. But he was sure they would pick it up in no time, just practice, then more practice.

They dropped off, anchored, circled, picked up, towed all afternoon until they had it down. Anchoring the barges for the night, they swung back to the quay and tied off for the night. Their antics on the lake had been watched all afternoon by dozens of people on the beaches, and now there were crowds by the land end of the quay. Seeing the show was over, they slowly dispersed.

The tired crew relaxed on deck, sitting around the smoking bbq on the bow. Will was again writing his log while their steaks grilled. Minnie looking on and correcting any little mistake she found.

“Why do you spell knock with a k, you say it like nock, not kanock,” she asked.“And when you fell off the barge, why did you write fell and not fall, and where the words you said, and I didn’t throw a bucket of water at Naomi either, it was just the water in the bucket, and I think the steaks are done.”.Will jumped up and yes, the steaks were indeed done.

The had finally gotten around to setting up the bow as a relaxing area, complete with canopy to block the sun. As they sat enjoying their dinner they were talking about what tomorrow might bring, how good dinner was and their menus. Naomi was not liking the term homemaker much but Will thought it was the ability to make things comfortable and homey. “Maybe captain, it just sounds like I’m supposed to be stuck at home cooking and cleaning.”. “What’s wrong with that?” asked Minnie “Someone has to do it, and your good at it.”. Will tried to shush her but nope..too late.

“That might be the job I do, but that’s not what I want to be, just a cook and a cleaner.I enjoy cooking sure, but I like fishing too, being here with you guys”, Naomi did not look happy.“I understand but I think the menu is just a guide, to let you know what you might be good at.” said Will, trying to reassure her.“My menu tells me that I am good at knitting but I have never knitted in my life.”.Minnie spoke up “I’m a crab catcher but I’ve only seen tiny ones so far, menu is silly.”.

“We all have our jobs to do, according to need or skills,” Will added “doing what needs to be done, that’s not who you are, just what you do. Things could change in the future, you know.”. Their evening was winding down so after a couple of tunes, a game of cards and of course tea and biscuits, the crew went to their beds

Menu

William Harris

Age 44

Intelligence 17/50

Strength 28/50

Vitality 26/50

Stamina 25/50

Affinities for gardening, cultivating, fishing, knitting, swimming, mariner ,

Captain of the heartboat Rose

Navigation 3

Mechanic 3

Mason 1

Minnie

Best dog of all

Age 5

Intelligence 11/25

Strength 15/25

Vitality 18/25

Stamina 18/25

Affinities for fishing, swimming, mariner

First Mate of the heartboat Rose

Piloting 3

Mechanic 2

Crab Catcher

Shrimper

Naomi 0’Malley

Age 16

Intelligence 17/50

Strength 13/50

Vitality 12/50

Stamina12/50

Affinities for cooking, fishing, gardening, swimming, mariner

Second Mate of the heartboat Rose

Management 1

Cooking 2

Homemaker 1