From the Bridge (Vol. 59)

By Dave Howell, Nellie D. #63

It's Spring and there are many interesting things to re-port. Not only has Soundings magazine made Teddy Bear #15 their May 2014 cover girl, they also wrote a very nice article about her and Peter Reich, titled "Love affair with a tug". Thanks to the efforts of Mike Dunn, Wally 41#2, we now have a fleet wide Digital Selective Calling Number (DSC)--033837419. There's more about this in-side this issue. The effort to document our tugs' factory differences is advancing by leaps and bounds. Many Lucys, i.e. the first tug to incorporate a particular change, have been found. Next time you're aboard your tug I hope you'll help us advance the cause by taking this survey.  There's now an LNVT Owners Group on ActiveCaptain's eBoatCards.com. If you haven't checked it out, do. Real time position information is just one of the things they're offering--for free. 

To say this past winter has been brutal is an understatement. It was only a few weeks ago that Trev Croteau, Hjortie #33, reported that the ice on the Mississippi, his home waters, was still two feet thick. But, you know it's finally Spring when the northeast tugs start emerging from their cocoons, as Teddy Bear did last week. In fact, I write this from aboard Bob Allnutt's Victory #2 as we, and Ed and Mary Ann McChain, Thistle #47, sally forth on this years' inaugural Chesapeake Bay cruise. At the Dock in Solomons Island, Maryland the tugs receive their first compliments of the year from fellow mariners. Ah, it's great to be back in the water and on a tug!

Keeping it simple and having fun,