Vessels at Work – Professional Mariner

Tow to the bottom of the world: Delivering a pier to Antarctica

The 50-year-old tug Rachel was holding position in the Southern Ocean, waiting out approaching weather and tending its tow — a 328-by-100-foot pier riding low in the water. For four days, the crew remained north of a nasty if not typical front, avoiding heavier conditions before continuing south toward Antarctica and the bottom of the world. “The Southern Ocean gave…

A classic Casco Bay Line ferry serves what may be its last winter

Machigonne II departed the Maine State Pier in mid-February, carrying four crewmembers, about 20 passengers and several cars for the short run to Peaks Island. After nearly 40 years on the route, the 122-foot Casco Bay Lines ferry is nearing the end of its service life and is expected to be replaced later this year by the newly built hybrid…

New research vessel David Packard expands MBARI’s mission into the deep Pacific

Though it’s considered a midsized research vessel, David Packard was, by far, the biggest ship in Moss Landing. The 164-foot, 1,390-gross-ton, DP1 research vessel towered above the commercial fishing boats dominating the tiny working harbor town. On a cold, foggy weekday morning in July 2025 — typical summer weather on the Northern California Coast — the dock next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s (MBARI) David Packard was busy with activity. Fit, tan…

Great Lakes Pilots – Tackling dramatic waters and winter ice with precision navigation

The ship’s captain was clearly nervous about draft as his vessel approached the Rock Cut, a mile-long channel blasted through bedrock in the St. Marys River, the narrow, international gateway between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The solid dolomite limestone riverbed is unforgiving if any part of the ship strikes it. The captain stood hunched over the screen in the…

Pasha’s pure pineapple run keeps the Hawaiian Islands stocked

George II departed the Port of Long Beach before dawn on Nov. 12, 2025, bound for Oahu, Hawaii, with 27 crew on board, including myself. The vessel, owned and operated by Pasha Hawaii, slipped past the Channel Islands on a gray morning, making its twice-monthly “pure pineapple run” between Long Beach and Honolulu. Now 45 years old, the 892-foot, nearly…

Veteran tug crew makes escort work look easy in Port of Oakland

On a drizzly Saturday morning, the 5,080-horsepower, 73-foot tractor tug Revolution spun tight circles just inside the Port of Oakland’s Outer Harbor, churning the water white. Capt. Tony Salazar began the rotations slowly and sped up, creating centrifugal force as the pirouettes progressed. “You’ll feel it start laying, you know what I mean? It will get you dizzy.” Salazar eventually…

A flotilla of working vessels welcomes the Coast Guard’s flagship

Professional Mariner’s “Vessels at Work” section has been a staple of the magazine for nearly 30 years. Photographer Brian Gauvin was among the writers and photographers who, “In conjunction with the editors, developed what became the ‘Vessels at Work’ centerpiece of the journal,” he said. Casey Conley, the editor of Pro Mariner for nearly 10 years, said of “ride-alongs” (what…

Young mariners captain an old ferry line in New Orleans

I just missed the Algiers Ferry, but I knew it would loop back across the Mississippi River in exactly one half hour. Sitting just outside New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, the Canal Street Ferry Terminal was quiet this particular Saturday morning in November 2024 amid clear, stunning weather. I watched the 105-by-25-foot, 150-passenger aluminum catamaran RTA 1 cross the brown Mississippi. Built by Metal Shark Boats (located…

Working on San Francisco Bay with the Bar Pilots

As California was on its way to statehood during the height of the Gold Rush, the first legislative session of the state established the “Pilots and Pilot Regulations for the Port of San Francisco” — an act that created the San Francisco Bar Pilots, who have been in continuous operation for 175 years. The State of California recognized the organization’s…

Cable transfer barges to Lake Champlain bring clean power to New York

Guiding a barge 43-feet-and-6-inches wide into a 45-foot opening from the helm of a tugboat over 200 feet back demands expertise. Captain Nick Pucello demonstrates this prowess as he directs the 1,000-horsepower tug Edna A to finesse a barge with several thousand tons of load, including ballast, into a lock chamber without damage. But the accomplishment is magnitudes more difficult…