From book 3
I don't know exactly what it was that the other Fireman/Oiler, Johnny, got into, but he wasn't on board when it came time to sail. The Skipper was fuming mad. The San Francisco Police brought him back to the Amelia and he looked like a sorry wreck. When he came down to relive me at noon, he didn't say anything and I wondered if he was in any condition to stand his watch. The Chief had the next watch, so I figured if Johnny couldn't handle it the Chief would call me back down. That never happened, but his face was a gawdawful mess when I relieved him at 1800 (6 PM). Before we got to Honolulu, he told me what had happened. He had met some friends of his off the Ocean Tug, Robert Cowliss, and they had gone night clubbing somewhere up on Broadway. He picked up a girl in one of the bars and they were having a good time until he suddenly discovered she wasn't a girl! Before he knew it, it was a free for all and the bartender called the cops. He said it cost him $250 to get out of jail and he was gonna owe the bar another $500 in damages.
Chapter 1 - COUNTDOWN
We made good time to Honolulu, the weather was mild and everything seemed to go right for once.
That is, until we got into Honolulu Harbor.
There was some kind of security problem over at the Navy Yard and there were Harbor Police all over the place. We were told to anchor out in the harbor and no shore leave was allowed.
The Skipper was maddern' a wet hen and he was on the radio to the head office every morning. They finally allowed a vender to bring out food and fresh water to us, but he was escorted by a Police Boat and he was not allowed to come on board the Amelia, everything had to be passed over the side.
We sat there for six days in the sweltering heat before we were allowed to drop our tow. Were it not for some empties, we would have had to return without a tow.
The Skipper was still in a foul mood by the time we left for home. To make matters worse, the durned AC generator crapped out on us and there was no way we could make it work.
We later found out the exciter windings had blown and the whole thing had to be rebuilt. That meant no air conditioning and no lights, except for the lights in the wheelhouse and the engine room.
It was a long and uncomfortable run back to San Francisco. We pulled the generator out during the voyage and had it ready so it could be sent to the shop as soon as we arrived.
About half way home, the winds picked up and the empty barges began to dance all over the ocean. The Skipper slowed us down, hoping to smooth out the ride, but he could never find a speed that would keep the barges in line. They were all over the ocean, like a flock of geese.
The Mate said it was like trying to herd cats.
When we finally got back to San Francisco, the Skipper was in an even worse foul mood, there was a warrant for the arrest of the Mate. It seems the fellow who delivered the water and food to us in Honolulu was claiming we had not paid him.
It took nearly a week to get the Mate cleared of the charges, I don't know what the problem was, we had a bill of lading that was clearly marked, "PAID IN FULL".
The shop finally told us the AC Generator could not be repaired and the company had to order us a new one. It was another three days before the stupid thing was delivered and then we had to install it.
We had to have a bushing made, the generator shaft and the little Volvo diesel engine shaft were not the same size and we had to shim up the generator because the shaft height on the new generator was lower than the original.
It seemed like it was one thing after another, ten days had gone by before we could finally make up our tow and get out of town.
We all walked quietly around the Skipper!
The next tow didn't go any better than the last one, we could feel the wheelhouse fighting the tow and we were all over the ocean trying to keep the barges in line.
We finally arrived in Honolulu and drew up to the Dillingham pier. I was beginning to think we were jinxed! The crane operator dropped his load on our barge and sank the damned thing!
I had only one more trip to make before I had to report to the Academy, surely I could have one last trip where everything went right. They pumped the barge out and welders repaired the gash the falling equipment had made in its side before we could leave.
Fortunately, it was a calm trip back, even the gods of hateful barges took pity on us and let us come home easy.
We would be in San Francisco for three days before our next pull, I asked Johnny if he wanted to go out with me for one last beer before I had to report to the Academy and he agreed, so long as we stayed away from Broadway!
So we hit some bars along Market Street and had a nice meal at Paulo's Steakhouse before we returned to the Amelia, relatively sober.
The next morning we spent cleaning up the tug, she had been worked hard and put up wet for some time, so the place was a mess.
We did some laundry in the machines on the pier and generally goofed off the rest of the day.
We would sail the next morning for my last tug pull.
We got underway about 0900 the next morning on an outgoing tide. It was the heaviest load we had so far and the main engine was complaining about it. The Skipper ran the shaft turns up and down until he found a comfort zone. We ran at ninety-two turns on the shaft all the way to Honolulu.
It might sound monotonous but there is always plenty to keep one occupied.
We had to wait our turn to unload the barges, the Roger was in just ahead of us and it took them two days to clear the pier.
We nosed our first barge up to the pier and they proceeded to offload the machinery. By then, it was dark and the pier had no night work lights, so we were stuck until the next day.
The next day, the crane had some problem and they didn't get it to work until half the day was gone, so we had to wait still another day to finish offloading the barges.
I was still ok, I didn't have to report to the Academy until the 20th.
The Chief knew I was getting a little antsy and he kept assuring me we would get back in time. We got away from Honolulu on the 13th. A whole week before I needed to report. I had all my stuff that the school said I should bring, it was stored in my locker on our pier.
No matter how I willed it, the tug didn't go any faster than it was supposed to and we arrived in San Francisco on the evening of the 17th, much to my relief.
I spent the last night aboard, the Chief had snuck a bottle of Wild Turkey on board. The Skipper knew about it, he had a glass with me! It was like leaving a band of brothers, there wasn't one of them who would not go to bat for me in a skinny minute, and I them.
There were tears in my eyes the next morning as I shoved my duffle and grip into the taxi that would take me to the Greyhound Bus Depot. There were times when I despaired of this day ever arriving, yet I was a bit scared, happy, eager and anxious all at the same time. I guess it was fear of the unknown, but I definitely had a case of the jitters!
I sat in the taxi thinking about that boy who had carried his duffle down this same pier to a small little tugboat two years and some ago. I was hard put to believe I was that boy.
I had grown in those two years, physically and mentally. I had survived and thrived in a man's world, doing a man's job. The letter I carried in my pocket, signed by my Chief and my Skipper that told anyone I could do a man's job and I had my Seaman's Documents to prove it.
I was entering a new phase in my life, I hoped and prayed I still had the study skills to do four years in three.
To be continued, look for further adventures as the years at the Academy end and a career is begun in THE MERCHANT FLEET.