Propwash and Winch unplugged the boat from the dock outlet then took off the mooring lines. They then signaled to me that the boat was free. I maneuvered the boat with the flanking and stern rudders to point upriver, then applied fifty percent full throttle to carry out the first orders of the day. It didn't take long to find the hay barges that needed to be dropped off in Maresburg.
"The barges are over there" I yelled to Propwash as I pointed a hoof toward two hopper barges.
"Okay, we're ready, your driving this thing" she yelled back.
The hay barges, even though they were fully loaded, sat fairly high in the water. I steered the Mud Apple to the end of the box barge and planted the push knees into the end of the barge. The deckponies pulled cables from the winches on the barge and the boat to the cleats and other tie downs. When the end of the cables were secure they tightened them with the ratchets on the winches.
Propwash signaled for me to reverse a little to tug on the lines to make sure they were tight enough. So I slowly applied throttle and like always the lines held and I got a hooves up from the deck boss. The deckhooves trotted to where the box barge was attached to the end of the rake barge, tightened all the cables that needed to be tightened, and inspected all the hatches. Propwash then made her way up to the helm.
"Everythings is ship shape, now lets get this tow to Maresburg" said Propwash.
"Well, I'll radio ahead to the drawbridge, then we'll shove off" I replied.
I tuned my VHF radio to channel 09 to radio to the Ponyville drawbridge tender. It was roughly five-thirty in the morning.
"This is the M/V Mud Apple, captain Twin Screw, I am requesting you open Ponyville drawbridge" I say over the radio.
"This is Ponyville drawbridge tender on duty, give me two blasts and I'll open it for ya" replies the bridge tender.
I slid the barges away from the dock and applied twenty percent throttle heading downriver toward the bridge. I blasted the horn twice, heading toward the bridge at three knots. The sun was still barely peeking over the horizon so the floodlights were still on. The drawbridge began to raise and by the time the bow of the first barge reached it, it was all the way up. Below Maresburg the river was large enough for bigger towboats and tows, also the name of the river changed at Maresburg, it changed from the Ponyville river to the Pegasus river. Mudwater Marine handled most if not all the traffic above Maresburg.
The river trip from Ponyville to Maresburg was only about thirty miles so a round trip could be made in a day. The M/V Mud Apple steadily chugged south at seven knots after we left Ponyville. To the ponies that never seen a towboat and barge on the river before it probably looked like we were moving a steel monster with no wheels by just sliding it across the land. When we came to Everfree bend I used the stern rudders to adjust the angle of the tow. On the gentle curves of the Ponyville river it was easy to fall asleep at the helm but a good captain never did that because sooner or later you would be run aground on the shore.
By 7:00 AM, Celestia's sun was up, the floodlights were off, and some miles had passed. Propwash decided to come up to the helm to keep me company, while Winch was trying to find stuff to keep him busy, like painting, sweeping, and boring stuff.
"Hey captain" said the orange unicorn.
"Hello, Props, how are the engines doin'?" I ask.
"Their doin' fine, ELCO sure knew how to make diesels, these things probably still have decades of life to live" said Propwash.
"This boat was over forty when my uncle bought it, that was fifteen years ago" I replied.
"I remember fifteen years ago, you were still my best friend then, two eight year old fillies just having fun" said the unicorn.
"Yeah, I remember those days to, then we got to be put on the employee roster when we were sixteen" I said.
"Your uncle Mudwater sure is a nice stallion" said the unicorn.
"He raised me, my parents didn't want anything to do with me, he was like a father, I know I've told you that a million times" I said, a little sadly.
"It wasn't your fault, look at where you've gotten yourself, you've got a boat, a damned good income, and you've got me" said the brown maned unicorn trying to cheer me up.
"And you bring happiness into my life" I said as I got up out of my chair and hugged the unicorn that smelled of diesel, oil, and mud.
"Well, I should, go check the engines and the tow, but I'll be back up here" she said, as she hugged me back then broke the hug. She then trotted back out of the helm to the engine room.
The hours passed and a little after 10:00 A.M. we were in Maresburg. Over the intercom on the boat I said "All crew please report to the helm". The pony from the boiler deck came up to the helm.
I asked, "Do you ponies want to get our northbound tow then have lunch or the other way around".
"Let's do the hard stuff first, I want it to be easier after lunch" said Propwash.
"Okay, and where in tartarus is Winch?", I asked calmly with a hint of annoyance in my voice, Propwash shrugged in response.
"Take the tillers", I ordered Propwash.
"Okay, captain" she said.
I got out of my chair and trotted down to the main deck. After a minute or two I found Winch on the stern of the vessel snoozing away. I left him, then returned with a five gallon bucket. You can probably figure out what happened next...
"What the hell!" he screamed.
"No sleeping on the job, we got barges to drop off, lazy flank" I yelled at the young stallion like a drill sergeant.
"Okay, jeez", he said.
I trotted back up to the helm and relieved Propwash of steering the vessel.
"So we gotta land this tow at mooring buoy 15" I said.
"Okay, I'll be on deck" she said.
The mooring buoys weren't really hard to find as most of them were already being used by various other barges and tows, one of which we'd be picking up. Maresburg was the river equivalent of a large railyard, here the river got really wide and many barges and tows were moored here waiting to be picked up by other boats. I maneuvered the tow to the mooring buoys assigned in the paperwork while Propwash and Winch put mooring lines on the large red buoys. The two barges lashed together were about four hundred feet long.
After they tied up the barges to the buoys they began loosening the cables that bound the M/V Mud Apple to the barges. First the cables extending from the barges to the boat were untied from the cleats on the boat, then the cables that extended from the winches on the boat were untied from the cleats on the barges. Then just as the motion from the river forced the barges away from the push knees, the remaining crew on the tow jumped onto the towboat. The two deckhooves then trotted up to the helm to check in.
"Well good job you two, now we just gotta pick up 'em gravel barges" I say, as I move the boat back into the main channel still heading downriver.
"Then lunch time!" replied Propwash.
Tender boats were common in Maresburg shuffling barges around for outbound tows, most of them bound for Las Pegasus. After about fifteen minutes I spotted the box barge and rake barge full of gravel bound for Ponyville. I then swung the boat over to the barges and pressed the push knees up to the stern of the heavily laden barges. Gravel is a lot denser than hay so the barges of course sat lower in the water, so low it seemed they were overloaded.
"Tie that tow up, then we can eat c'mon!" I said excitedly.
"Aye, aye captain" the two deckhooves said as they rushed out the helm.
They looped cables around the cleats and then tightened them up with the winches. Propwash signaled for me to test the cables and I reversed the boat, and like most of the time the cables were good and tight.
"Lunch time!" I said over the intercom just before I trotted out the helm.
"We'll have an hour to rest and then it's heading up river, it's about twelve" said Propwash.
"Yeah, if we're lucky we'll be back in Ponyville by five, and shut down by six" I said.
I grabbed my daisy and daffodil sandwich, then tasted the flowery goodness. Propwash grabs her donuts and sandwich, while Winch has a hefty veggie burger.
"Them barges look a tad bit over loaded" said Winch with a little concern.
"Well, they are but we should be able to make it without sucking too much mud" I say.
"Should we cut the lunch break short so we can get home earlier?" asks Propwash as she finishes her lunch.
"Sounds like a good idea, I can't wait to have a cold cider" I answer.
So as soon as we finished our meals, I got back to the helm and the tow was untied from the mooring buoys.