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32 MN March 2011 They head an administrative department and, oh by the way, now we’d also like them to lead the onboard training department. They were adding more and more layers of responsibilities, especially to captains.” “So the difference between now and 30 years ago; nowa- days the boat handling aspect is probably 10 percent of what a captain does.” TUG HANDLING: A PRACTICAL APPLICATION Before we stepped into the simulator, Jeff told me one of the first concepts I had to wrap my head around — driv- ing the boat from the stern. Which way the back end should swing in a turn was my first consideration, he told me. Inside the simulator he had me do serpentines through a line of buoys, using a couple different methods to maneuver the tug with the thrusters. We started in my happy place with both thrusters pointed perpendicular, away from the boat, effectively creating an anchor of churning water underneath the tug. “You can always come back here if you need to,” Jeff assured me. With one thruster continuing to stabilize the boat this way, I used the other to gently push my stern to port or starboard, threading the boat in between the buoys. I sometimes had to hold my free hand in front of my face and move the heel of my palm to visualize which way the thruster needed to push the stern of the boat. Next Jeff showed me the feathering technique using both hands on the thrusters. From my happy place I moved both thrusters in slightly, toward parallel, and the boat moved forward. Move one thruster in farther than the other and the back end began to swing. The closer to parallel I moved the thrusters, the faster the scenery went by. In the simulator, Jeff gave me just a few of the tricks of the trade which he said represented a gap in the nautical literature out there. “You can find lots of books written on the historical aspects of the marine industry, the theoreti- cal aspects — the physics of how ships or tugs move and how they’re propelled, with very scientific definitions.” Jeff said both the books he’s written are intended to bridge the gap between the theoretical and how you actually apply that knowledge when you’re on the job. His first book, Shiphandling with Tugs, “was almost a complete re-write of a book by George H. Reid. George Reid was a pioneer of this type of book for towing vessels. He wrote Primer of Towing. That was the first book for the towing industry that said ‘if you want to go alongside a barge, here’s how you do it, here’s how you play the wind, here’s how you put the rudder over,’ all that stuff. I was very grateful to be asked to re-write his book.” Jeff’s most recent book, ASD Tugs: Thrust and Azimuth, Learning to Drive a Z-drive, focuses specifically on this modern type of tug. “It is the prevalent towing ves- sel produced in the world today. There’s really no book out there, that I’ve found, that serves as a guide to the learning process to be able to drive one of these things.” The book covers the basic elements of maneuvering an ASD tug, through steering, speed, turning, stopping, hov- ering and lateral movement and has 120 drawings of maneuvering principles. “Again, I go back to the simulation that you did when you came alongside the ship. There are tons of books writ- ten that say when you come alongside a ship, certain hydrodynamic things are going to happen. When you come up to the bow of the ship you’re going to get pushed away. When you go to the stern of the ship you’re going to get sucked in. They’ll go through long diagrams and for- Cover of Slesinger’s latest book.
