Eureka!

No I have not found the cure for all communicable diseases or anything even close,I had a deep thought.Understandably this gave me the worlds biggest headache since my operating system,brain,is sometimes referred to as "puny".Never fear I wrote down my deep thought and because I'm a true American it had to do with money,my future and how I ended up here.So let's play a quick game of catch up if you will so everyone is up to speed.The Gulf Oil Disaster,or whatever name you wish to give it,has been keeping the majority of American Merchant Marines busy for the last few months,me included.We have been working with dredge companies,hauling sand and mud offshore to then be pumped inland to create barrier islands to keep the oil off of and away from extremely fragile marshes.I hope you followed that because there will not be a review.Seriously when time permits I will spend time posting pictures and articles detailing the craziness we have endured the last few months in the bayou.I would like to take the time after the job is completed,3 months to five years from now,to remind everyone of exactly what happened down here.A few weeks ago before returning to work I finally moved out of the city and into my firat house.The first few days in that house were the most relaxing days I have literally had in years.I will detail this at some point as well.I did get the opportunity to go out for a September goose hunt with my brother,the nutty professor and a friend of mine.We shot poorly and ended up with one goose,which is better than none.I really don't care much for hunting with shorts on and sweating but it is good to have a drill in case anything goes wrong.The water is still warm in case the boat sinks,haha.Well now everyone is caught up and this brings me to the topic at hand,my deep thought.











Let's leave that long winded paragraph behind and wrap our heads around this.Written on the bottom of a bunk on the tug I am on there are quite a few sayings.Really every tug has one bunk or galley table where everyone signs or writes something on.This particular bunk has been on the boat for quite a few years.To sum up the majority of the sayings it consists of an question that one person wrote.it was an open ended question-Why are you here?over the course of 20-25 years people have answered this question.Easy,obvious answers-money,running away from my wife,wife got pregnant,it was this or jail.Some people took the time to write detailed events of how they ended up on that particular tug.the bunk has run out of room to write on many years ago but it really got me thinking,why am I here.was it for the money,it certainly isn't because I'm running from jail I assure you.I couldn't answer that question in a sentence so I thought it over and never found a single concrete reason.The best I could come up with,the Navy wanted a contract?Seriously I still haven't found the answer but every night I lay in that bed and find a new response to the question,I continue to think about my own situation.So ask yourself,don't tell me it's your business,why are you where you are right now?What brought you there?

real quick

I'm aware I have been away from the computer literally all Summer and it doesn't thrill me either.What does thrill me is that it means I have been busy.Let's clear this up first.I have not abandoned this blog.I will write when I have the chance but think forced writing is worst writing.Where am I?Currently in the extreme lower Mississippi River working.What are you doing?Working one of the biggest dredge jobs ever in the United States.We are taking sand and mud from the lower Mississippi River out to see via dredge scow and dumping it near an off shore dredge.why?So the lovely people of this state can have there wildlife preserves,marshes and barrier islands protected by sand berms.Is this a coincidence or in direct relation to the bp/deep water horizon spill?Up for debate and I will not throw my answer in the ring until well after this job is done or we are allowed to speak freely about the subject matter.what else have you done all Summer?I bought a house and will be moving into it in the next few weeks when I get a break from work.This excites and scares me for the fact that I owe a bank a ton of money.so don't fret everyone.I have great pictures of the new house,the interesting life on a boat in the bayou and the few outdoor activities I have done this Summer.Don't forget duck and goose season is here!

Southwest Virginia Trout Trip

The one that didn't get away

My Dad and brother with a nice rainbow trout

As many of you know I have been running myself ragged over the last few months,however I can now see the light.I'm in the process of buying a house and even though I went into it knowing some of the complications I would encounter,it's starting to wear on me.I did manage to find a few days to escape the phone calls,inspections and packing to head to the mountains of Southwest Virginia.I made this trip a few times last year to a small town my parents have decided to retire to.Last year I spent quite a bit of time fishing one stretch of the creek that runs through the property with decent success.The way I looked at it was if you are catching fish why try something new.This year I headed up on a Thursday to give myself a little extra time to explore the creek and the surrounding hillsides.I found a few holes that held some fish and I managed to catch and land a few smallmouth bass.The trout were very interested in my yellow rooster tail spinner but proved to be a bit tricky to land.I lost three within a matter of hours.I was lucky enough to land the biggest rainbow trout I have ever caught on the last day of fishing with my brother and father.I won't get into any details but the entire trip was awesome.Everything from spending time with my Mom to wading this creek my father has worked his entire life to make his home on.The best was the initial bet,it went a little something like this.

Fisherman and hunters are always trying to one up the competition,whether it's friends,family or actual competition.I usually go with the biggest fish caught wins five bucks from everyone involved in the trip.This year I went with first one to fall down in the creek loses five bucks to the other two dry individuals.Unexpectedly my father and brother agreed and within five minutes my brother was drenched and ten dollars poorer.My father took a small dip later in the morning and I had quite a few close calls but managed to stay dry until late Saturday evening.My brother was in the process of landing a nice trout and let's just say the line snapped at the last minute for "unknown reasons".I'm not sure why but I jumped on the fish like it was an alligator and tried to wrestle the slimy fish the remaining few feet to shore.I lost the match lets say and gained a few gallons of water in my waders.I'm going to try my hardest to get back in September.I just hope this house buying experience is over by then.

I Can't Stop Now

Never in my thirty one years on Earth did I think I would make it to well,thirty one.I hit this not so important milestone a few months ago and I'm just now going to take a minute and look around.I didn't think even ten years ago I would be where I am.It may have been part stubbornness,part ignorance.I always thought whatever live today like there is absolutely no tomorrow and some days really wished there wasn't a tomorrow.Obviously I'm here and I just want to try and figure out what's next.In the last seven or so years I have slowly come around from hoping there wasn't going to be a tomorrow to looking forward to it.I still embrace the live every day like there isn't going to be another one,just a little more cautious.I'm more cautious now because I have more to lose.Most importantly,to me anyways.my job.I know a person who lives his life for his job is just a person who doesn't know how to live.I think that just depends on what your job is.

If you work in an office all day with your head in a computer,you haven't seen a sunrise in over a year,you wake up and everyday is absolutely the same as the day before,well you get the picture.I can't stress enough how working so many different jobs in my teens and twenties,I have no idea how I ended up where I am today.I was literally a signature away from joining the Navy,which isn't a bad idea for some.I won't get into the details but I have done some jobs that were,well,just that,jobs.So what's the difference between a job and a career?Does it have to do with chance for advancement,a pay rate scale,a certain amount of respect earned in the field you work?I honestly don't know,I'm sure wikipedia does though!In my mind the difference between a job and a career is the level of happiness one can gain by showing up every day.The pay rate scale definitely helps but I know a few people who make way more than the Dude and are quite a bit less happy.In all seriousness though I feel I'm lucky and every time I get angry or up in arms at work,I tend to look back later in the day and tell myself,hey it could be worse.It has been worse and it may be a bumpy ride again at some point in my life.Right now I'm enjoying the opportunity I've been given and I'm taking what spare time I can find away from work to do some things I have always wanted to do.I may not have the chance in the future,because after all most people typically don't choose whether there will be a tomorrow or not.

Warm Weather Adventures

The guys from Man Camp 2010

With the temperatures finally turning the corner toward the warm side I knew it was that time of year again,MAN CAMP 2010!As a reminder Man Camp is quite self explanatory but I will explain it again for the less fortunate that were not reading this blog last year.Man Camp is the time of year when a bunch of guys go to the woods and try not to get arrested.No that isn't exactly it,Man Camp is a group of men go to the woods and waters of Virginia and do whatever they want.That's right no plan to have to go fishing or hiking,no set meals.If you want to go fishing go ahead,want to take a walk in the woods and sleep under an oak tree be my guest.There is one catch though,no bitching!Whether it's about your wife,your friends or the lack of fish if you bitch you suffer the consequences.Luckily in the last 8 or so years we have done Man Camp nobody has bitched so I don't know what the consequences are exactly.

Justin with the mandatory kiss of the first fish

Now that everyone has an understanding on what it's all about let me say a few words about this years Man Camp.We were lucky enough to have one of the original members join us at camp this year after a year off for "personal" reasons,whatever the hell that means.My friends of almost ten years Justin took the Friday off so we rode up to the Chickahominy River together with the boat in tow.Everything was normal as we launched the boat,I drove it around the creek and tied it to a tree.We set up camp and met his younger brother Ryan,who commenced to settling in.Later that evening after a nice boat ride and a few cold beers we were joined by the 9-5 crew.A fire was started and we all behaved ourselves like grown men,right.The next morning Justin,Ryan and I took the boat up river to do some bass fishing.My excuse for not catching any fish is I was trolling around cypress trees getting them into position.They each caught a few bass,one perch and a large catfish.We headed back to camp to awaken everyone else and we were greeted by Justin and Ryans father who made the trip down from Vermont.The afternoon went swiftly and towards evening I decided I needed to take a walk and clear my head.

Hopefully my new duck hunting spot

Ryan tagged along and we took a short drive up the WMA property to where I thought I might finally be able to find a flooded swamp area to duck hunt in.That's a lie,Ryan used his gps to help me find this damn swamp I haven't been able to find.It was a longer than expected walk but the area was excellent and I will be returning with waders to see how soft the bottom is.The night closed out with no incidents or injuries and Sunday morning we packed up and headed home.It was unfortunate that my two brothers were unable to make it but understandable.One has a new baby and the other had a work obligation.They were missed however there is and will be a next year.I'm already looking forward to Man Camp 2011.

I'm Not Done Yet

For anyone who periodically checks this blog,I haven't quit it yet.I know it's been almost two months since I have written or posted anything but I haven't forgotten.I'm in the process of buying or trying to buy a house.It has literally consumed all of my free time on and off the boat.I do have an offer in on a house and I hope it goes through so I can close before the end of the Summer.I have been able to do a little fishing this Spring with little success.The tugboating has slowly picked up and we are currently towing a barge up and down the East Coast.Look forward in the next few days to a catch up article and then I hope I can get back to posting around once a week.Thanks for sticking with me.

Risk Taker?

Who?This Guy?Not hardly!I have got to be one of the safest all around people in the world.Some might call it spineless,some might call it responsible,I call it safe.A few weeks ago after years of saving and months of planning I through my hat in the ring of home ownership.I learned more in the last two weeks than I learned in two years of asking everybody from Realtors to books.It's gone quite easy so far and I had the opportunity to put an offer on a house last minute but I didn't take the chance.The chance being that I would find a better,cheaper,newer,more to my liking house.I have only been looking at house for a few weeks,in person,and I find it hard to believe the one house I liked is the only one in my price range.So back to work I went hoping that over the next month the house wouldn't be sold,better yet maybe they will lower the price,that would be nice.

Upon arriving at work I noticed everyone seemed a little down,more than usual.This struck me as odd because the weather has finally broken on The East Coast and it truly was a glorious day.I was soon filled in that the Captain has made some outrageous claims involving everyone in the deck crew on this boat.So me being the not so level headed one,apparently chosen to lead this withered deck crew I went and had a "chat".This "chat",although less than pleasant,hammered out some problems that weren't really problems just bickers.One of the problems involved taking a slight risk by hanging over the side of the boat to reattach a tire chain that had broken off.Due to the size of the tire and it's location I quickly found out why it had yet to be repaired.It involved some trust,some strength and a whole lot of risk.Long story short the tire got fixed properly and I don't ever want to do it again.As far back as I can remember I have just never been a risk taker.I have no reason as to why I don't go travel the world or live in North Dakota or Canada with the North Americas best Waterfowl hunting.No reason why I don't leave the company I'm with besides I still feel like I owe them for giving me a chance a few years ago.I'm not sure if it was in the way I was raised or in my genes.I like excitement and I have definitely done some sketchy things in my life but I guess now that my life is good I can't afford injury or financial risk.