High Seas: Ocean Tow Boats

They both came over and Peter was standing beside him when Carson asked, "Johnnie, remember when I asked you about going to school?" Johnnie shook his head in a yes and Carson continued, "Well, there is an opening at Heald's College, in the Business Course that has your name on it if you still want to go." Johnnie's mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to squeak, "yyYy YEESSSS!" Carson handed him a bundle of papers and reminded Johnnie that Bates Marine was going to pay all his expenses as well as his salary while he was in school. Johnnie sat down in the chair, he was shaking like a leaf. He said, "You are doing so much for me and I was a throwaway boy, all I meant to my father was some quick sex when he had been out drinking. I never knew my mother, she is just a name on my birth certificate." He looked at Carson and Peter and said, "You two are my real dads and Mr. Charlie is my Uncle.

The first group of students from the Academy included Andrew and Keith, as well as four other midshipmen, Paul Reese, Willie St. John, Gordon Miles and Carl Rover. All six were academic standouts and three were Deck while the other three were snipes. Carson already knew that Andrew and Keith were going for both licenses and, upon talking with the other four, they were pursuing the same direction.

Carson was stuck, a Tug Boat Captain whose only command was a desk. Carson wasn't bitter, he just longed for a rolling deck under his feet.

He put Andrew and Carl on the THOMAS with Peter, Keith and Paul were assigned to Kenny Jasper on the TERRY and the final pair, Willie and Gordon were assigned to Robert on the PETER.

He and Peter had spent several nights working out an assignment list for their Captains. With eight tugs now in service they had to be careful to assign the best Captain for that particular tug.

Their new line up was:

The THOMAS - Peter Van
The TERRY - Kenny Jasper
The KEITH - Kyle Hoffman
The ANDREW - Danny Bigelow
The PETER - Robert Way
The CARSON - Delmar Johnson
The MARTHA - Ben Duncan
The HELEN - Oliver Frost

The MARTHA and The HELEN were just coming out of the Bethlehem Yards and would be ready for service the next week.

Charlie and Johnnie had them both booked for the next thirty days straight hauling steel for a new refinery in Honolulu. With Johnnie now able to only work part time, Carson had hired a young man, Steven Parks to assist Charlie. Steven had worked for Railway Express and that company was beginning to look a bit shaky, so the young man grabbed the job when Carson offered it to him.

Carson took pains to assure Johnnie that he was the Assistant Dispatcher for Bate Marine Services and that job would be waiting for him when he graduated from Heald's College.

Kenny Jasper was a young man, and The TERRY was his first command. He was anxious to make good, Carson and Peter had impressed him as good guys to work for. Kenny's first pull was south to Callao, Peru with two barges of explosives and three barges of mining machinery.

The first two barges he would pick up at Atlas Explosives in San Pablo, near the home pier, and the remainder of the pull would be waiting for them in Los Angeles.

They left Bates Marine bright and early for Atlas Explosives, the two barges were already loaded and waiting for them. Kenny and the First Mate checked both barges over carefully before accepting the load.

They then headed for the Golden Gate, after passing the Farallon Rocks and crossing the turbulent Humboldt Current, he turned south and headed for Los Angeles.

Keith Bates was in the Engine Room, standing watch with the Third Engineer and Paul Reese was on the bridge with the Third Mate. Both Cadets were eager to make good, although Keith had sailed before with his Papa, Peter, on The THOMAS.

They were lightly loaded and were making good time. The weather was perfect and visibility was unimpeded by clouds or fog. Kenny watched the young cadet and the Third Mate go about their duties. Truth be told, the Third mate was not much older than the young cadet, but both of them seemed to know what they were doing.

He found out later that the Third Mate had known Paul at the Academy as he had been just a year ahead of Paul.

They settled into their routine and Kenny felt comfortable leaving the two men on the bridge alone. In any case, it would not be long for the change of the watches.

Kenny was still in the mess when the Third Mate and Paul came down for their lunch after having been relieved by the Second Mate. The Chief, the Third Engineer and Keith came up for their lunch at the same time.

It suddenly struck Kenny that the young Engineering cadet had the same last name as their boss, Bates. He leaned over and whispered to the First Mate, "That youngster, Keith Bates, is he any relation to Carson Bates?"

The First whispered back, "Yeah, his son and there is another boy, Andrew Bates. It's a long and sad story, I will tell you about it after the boy has left the mess. I was there when it happened."

They finished their meal and Keith went to the bunk room to put his clothing away, he and Paul were sharing the room, which was fine, they were friends in school as well.

After Keith had left the mess, The First Mate told Kenny how Keith and Andrew came to be part of the Bates Family and that Captain Peter Van had taken Keith into his heart and home. The young man called both Carson Bates and Peter Van Papa. The First didn't know the whole story nor did he know the abuse that the two boys had been subjected to, other than it was sexual and had been pretty bad.

Kenny was even more impressed with Carson Bates and was anxious to meet Captain Peter Van.

He would, in time.

They were running at 97 turns on the shaft, making good time. They arrived in Los Angeles at dawn, four days later and the Harbor Pilot took them to the "Pool" where the remainder of their pull had been assembled.

It took several hours to make up the tow and, as the sun was setting in the west, they pulled out of Los Angeles Harbor, headed for Callao, Peru.

The shipping documents specified that delivery was to be made at the Naval Base south of Callao itself and Kenny found it on his charts. At the speed they were making, he estimated they would be eighteen days en route to Callao.

The weather remained good and the sea was calm, so there was little excitement to break the monotony of the voyage. The crew settled in and, before long, no one even heard the main engine thumping away below their feet.

Kenny saw that Bates Marine did not skimp on food, each day the menu varied and there were always snacks to be had anytime, day or night.

They all had a good time as they crossed the Equator, there were several candidates to kiss Neptune's belly and, almost before they were ready, The Naval Base was in sight.

It was a grim, dirty place, Kenny and his crew felt dirty just looking at it. There was no harbor pilot and the Naval Officer who came out in a small boat to greet them spoke almost no English. Fortunately, Keith spoke some Spanish and he came up from the Engine Room to translate for them. It turned out that Keith spoke Spanish exceedingly well and was able to argue several points with the Peruvian Naval Officer.

There was only one small tug to handle the barges and it seemed to take forever. The morning of the third day in port, the last barge was towed away and their BOLs were returned to them, covered in official-looking stamps and scrawled signatures.

Kenny was trying to decipher the mess when Keith walked up beside him and whispered, "Cap'n we got a problem. I caught a boy hiding in the store's locker and he is hurt pretty bad."

Kenney, alarmed, replied, "We had better notify the authorities right away!"

Keith held onto Kenny's arm and said, "No, Captain, please let me handle this, I have been where that boy is myself. He will die if we send him back to the authorities. Believe me, it is pretty bad, sir."

Kenny remembered what the First Mate had told him and, reluctantly, he told Keith to do whatever he had to do for the boy.

Still worried, he climbed up to the bridge as they were getting ready to depart for the small port of Concon, Chile, where there were eight barges of Chilean Nitrate waiting for them.

As they were headed south, towards Chile, Keith, with the help of the Chief Engineer, got the fourteen-year-old boy cleaned up and his cuts and wounds bandaged. Keith was translating as the boy was speaking and, finally, the Chief could stand no more. He stood and said to Keith, "Son, I have heard some of what you went through, but I cannot handle what this boy is telling us. I'm gonna go get the Skipper, he NEEDS to hear this!"

Keith sighed and replied, "Ok, and, how about asking Paul to come down here too? He speaks fair Spanish and I need some help before I overload myself"

The Chief brought Kenny and Paul down to the storeroom and Keith related all the boy had told him. Kenny was livid, he said carefully so he did not frighten the hurt child, "Keith, do you believe this tale?"

Keith, by now, was on the verge of tears himself and he replied, "Yes sir, I do, I have been where this boy has been, I have walked his path. Yes, sir, I do believe him."

All Kenny Jasper could do was shake his head, he said to Keith, "Make sure this child knows that he is NOT going back to those damned people, I don't know just yet how we are gonna do it, but that boy IS going home with us!"

The Captain went stomping off muttering about fiends and devils and what he would do if he ever laid eyes on the @#&*%$* people who had done that to that child!

Paul was holding the boy, who said his name was Manuel, while Keith painted his cuts with antiseptic before gently placing bandages over the worst of them. The boy's feet were so cut and bruised, where he had been beaten, Keith could not understand how Manuel had been able to walk in order to sneak aboard The TERRY.

Keith and Paul carried Manuel up to their bunk room and placed him on the spare bunk. Almost before the child's head was on the pillow, he was fast asleep. Keith carefully pulled the blanket around the small boy, against the damp chill of the sea air. Paul said, "Keith, I will watch the boy, you go get something to eat and unwind, you are ready to burst."

Keith went up to the mess, the story had already made the rounds, each crew member asked if there was anything they could do for the hurt child and Captain Kenny looked in on them several times before he headed to his own bed that night.

They continued along their course and three days later they arrived at the small port of Concon. There was no pilot and the person who answered the ship to shore spoke only broken English. He told them that the barges were already loaded and lined up along the harbor mole. He explained that a construction company had been hired to remove the nitrates in order to build a new tourist hotel.

Kenny worried that the nitrate might be wet and cause them an explosion or a fire, but, when he and the First Mate went to check the barges, the moisture indicators were all in the blue zone, indicating the moisture content was at a safe level. The barges were roofed and were only marginally level, but they could not do anything about that.

Instead of the eight barges they had been told about, there were only three barges sitting there. Kenny had the Marconi operator contact the office and advise them of the fewer barges and the poor condition of the loading.

In just a few minutes, a two sentence message came back, "COME HOME. FORGET BARGES. - C. BATES"

Kenny was more than happy to comply and they slipped their mooring cable and headed out to sea immediately. The seas were calm and the weather remained good, so Kenny ran the turns up to 100 turns and the TERRY began crashing through the swells.

An Ocean Tug is not a racehorse, but it is equipped with a very powerful engine, and running without a tow at 100 turns brought the huge tug up to about 18 knots. She rode as rough as a cob horse and everyone moved carefully so as to not get thrown against a steel bulkhead.

Keith tried to spend as much time as he could with Manuel, when he got to feeling better, Manuel told them what had happened to him. Keith would go to his grave keeping Manuel's secret, but he resolved to do everything in his power to help the boy.

He asked permission to send a private Marconi to his Father Carson and Kenny gave him permission to do so. Without asking, Kenny knew what the subject of the message was going to be. Keith worded his message very carefully, "TO CARSON BATES XXX BATES MARINE SERVICES, SFO XXX HAVE FREIGHT SAME AS KEITHALBERT XXX NEED ASSISTANCE IN DELIVERY XXX PLS MEET TERRY ON ARRIVAL HOME PIER XXX KBATES XXX"

He hoped his father would understand his code and have someone at the pier to help with a hurt boy. He needn't have worried, Carson Bates knew his sons as well as they knew themselves and, when they arrived, he was not surprised at what was being delivered.

The TERRY crashed her way northward, much like a cork surfboard. It took them twenty-two days to arrive at the Golden Gate and when Kenny rang down "FINISHED WITH ENGINE", Carson was leaping from the pier to the deck of The TERRY and Peter was on his heels.

Keith came up from the Engine Room and found his two Dads waiting for him, the emotional strain had been tremendous, but, to his credit, he did not break down. He invited them to his bunkroom, where Paul was holding a young teen boy on his lap, all wrapped in blankets.

Carson peeled the blankets back as saw the scabs and healing injuries. He gasped and said, "Peter, ask Dr. Phillips to come to The TERRY at once!"

Peter went back out to the pier and called the Doctor's home, asking him to come down to Bates Marine Service pier immediately.

Barton Phillips was no dummy, the strain in Peter's voice and asking him to come down to a tug just in from South America told him almost exactly what the emergency was.

He had his Grandson, Joshua, drive and they took the back streets through Berkeley to the waterfront. Joshua carried his Grandfather's bag and the two headed for the only tug that looked as if it had been rode hard and put up wet, The TERRY.

Keith was watching out the porthole for the Doctor and he escorted him to the bunkroom. Doctor Phillips examined the boy, Manuel, and decided he could be moved safely, so they laid him on a stretcher and covered him up with blankets before carrying him out to the doctor's car.

Manuel was well cared for by Dr. Phillips and his son Joshua. Joshua was a third-year University student and planned to be an elementary school teacher when he graduated. He was living at home while going to the University, which was only a few minutes away by bus.

Joshua had spent the summer after graduating from High School in Mexico and had learned "street" Spanish pretty well.

While Manuel was recovering, Joshua began teaching him English and, by the time the terrible wounds on his feet and legs had healed, Manuel was speaking understandable English.

During Manuel's recovery period, Carson had put his Father's Law firm to work finding a way for the boy to remain with them. It was a slow process, but the old retired judge knew many people and he didn't hesitate to call in a few favors and twist a few more arms to get what he wanted.

Kenny spoke with his wife before he told Thomas Bates that he and Melissa would like to be foster parents to young Manuel. The couple had been unable to have children and they figured this was their chance. Melissa came down to Dr. Phillip's house every day and sat with Manuel as he was recovering and she supplemented Joshua's English lessons, so Manuel's English improved by leaps and bounds.

Melissa Jasper was a patient woman with a purpose, to make Manuel her son. The two seemed to bond almost immediately and on warm afternoons, they could be found out in Dr. Phillip's garden sitting on a bench, deep in conversation. Manuel finally told her his full story of what had happened to him and he begged Melissa not to ever tell Papa Kenney.

She did promise the boy and she did keep his secret, except, she did tell her husband that the boy had suffered terribly and they were going to make him forget his past with a wonderful new life.

Like Keith, Melissa would take Manuel's story of a life as a boy prostitute, rape victim, chains, gags and whips to her grave, untold.

When Manuel's case had finally been resolved, the three of them, Manuel, Kenny and Melissa sat in Judge Thomas' office and signed the papers making Manuel the son of Kenny and Melissa Jasper. Manuel wanted his own name changed and he became Manuel Kenneth Jasper.

Manuel, called Manny by his friends, attended remedial school for one semester before he was assigned to the Tenth Grade at the local high school. He so admired his benefactor, Keith Bates, that he set his sights on going to the Academy.

Unknown to him or his new parents, Bates Marine had established a scholarship program at the Academy for the children of all their employees and, when he graduated from high school, he was presented with a certificate showing that his tuition, board and all expenses at the Academy would be covered by Bates Marine Services.

Manny had filled out by the time graduation had rolled around, he was a hulking high school football hero, weighing in at 225 pounds and he was 6' 7" tall. His family despaired of ever keeping him in shoes while he was growing, at graduation, he was wearing a size 16 shoe and his hand would cover a dinner plate!

Despite his rocky start in life, he graduated from high school with a 3.98 grade point average and he would eventually become the Senior Captain of the Bates Marine Services Fleet.

When their ninety-day Sea Training Period ended, all the cadets returned to the Academy to begin their final year. The six cadets who had participated in training on Bates' Tug Boats had done well and their records at the Academy were noted both the sea time and the grade score their respective Captains had turned in.

Five of the six cadets would become employees of Bates Marine Services upon graduation. The sixth cadet, Gordon Miles, would go to Law School and become a noted Maritime Lawyer, whose practice included Bates Marine Services.

With the cadets back in school, six Bates Marine Tugs were fully employed, business was booming. The MARTHA was the next tug to go in service and Nelson Phelps was employed as her captain with Frank Spears as Chief Engineer.

The HELEN was going to take a little more time, as she had to have major surgery to her hull plating before she would be seaworthy.

Peter was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to be able to come ashore. He loved the sea, but he wanted to be around for his son, Keith and his own mother, Martha, was not getting any younger and there was another item that occupied his mind. It was a matter he had wrestled with before admitting it even to himself.

Two brothers, August and Herchel Heffner wandered into the office one afternoon. They had spent time in the German Merchant Marine during the last war and had immigrated to the United States just recently. Their licenses were endorsed by the US Coast Guard, but they had been unable to find work and they were getting desperate.

They both had families to feed and nobody was willing to take a chance on two German Merchant Marine Captains who had sailed under the Nazi regime. They both had opposed the Nazis, but, during the recent war, they had to hide their feelings to protect themselves and their families.

Carson spoke to the two men and was impressed with both of them. The more he thought about it, the better he liked the idea of hiring them. He had his secretary telephone them both and ask them to come down to the office to discuss possible employment.

Money was so tight for the two brothers that they walked fourteen blocks, rather than pay the bus fare! They were living in a three-room flat, both families squeezed into the tiny apartment down on the waterfront.

Peter was in port at the time and Carson asked him to be part of the interview. Peter agreed and they sat down with Herschel first. Herschel was the older of the two brothers by two years. They both spoke excellent English and both had prior experience on salvage tugs.

Both Peter and Carson were impressed with Herchel and Peter raised his finger behind his hand to let Carson know that he was in favor of hiring the man. They asked Herchel to wait out in the front office and Carson said to Peter, "Why don't we interview the other brother before we make a final decision?"

Peter agreed and they asked August to come in the room. While a bit younger, August had even more experience than his older brother and he had a dual license, Captain and Chief Engineer!

Peter showed Carson two fingers and Carson agreed. Carson went to the office door and asked Herchel to come back in and they offered both men positions as Tug Boat Captains.

Peter raised his eyebrows in question and Carson whispered, "You wanted to come ashore, now is your chance!"

They assigned August as Captain of The THOMAS and Herchel as Captain of The HELEN. Both men were delighted and, when Peter and Carson discovered where the two families were living, they insisted on standing surety for the rental of two small, adjacent homes near where they lived. They even sent the company truck to help them move. Herchel and August were kind of bewildered by all that had taken place, they had never been treated so well by any employer in Germany.

The next day, the Heffner brothers reported on board their respective ships and were met with courtesy and respect, something they were not sure they would receive. There was no "breaking in" period, Johnnie brought over sailing orders for both tugs that same afternoon.

The THOMAS was to take up a pull to Portland for Northwest Forest Products and the MARTHA was to go upriver to Pittsburg, California and take on four barges of steel pipe from the US Steel Plant located in that town. The pipe was to be delivered to Dillingham Construction Company in Honolulu.

With their eyes still slightly unfocused, the two Captains got their tugs underway and sailed for their first experience under the American Flag.

After watching The MARTHA and The THOMAS depart, Carson and Peter sat down with cups of coffee for a discussion, Peter said, "Ya know, Having a tug in the salvage and rescue business might not be a bad idea." Carson agreed and they discussed it at length.

Peter was flipping pages in a trade magazine until he found what he wanted. He folded out the page and handed it to Carson saying, "How about something like this? It is for sale."

Carson studied the page intently and asked Peter, "Any idea how much they are asking?" Peter replied, "According to the article, the Dutch Government has it up for bid, you wanna take a quick trip?"

Peter and Carson got tickets to Rotterdam and they flew out of San Francisco the next morning for an exhausting flight across the country and over to Europe. After two days in that damned airplane, both men were ready for solid land.

Their factor met them at the airport and ushered them through customs before taking them to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Are our Tug Boat Captains going to enter a new dimension in their business?