Profiles

When it comes to towboats and other watercraft, most crewmembers learn through any hands-on experience that comes their way. Tom Craig is one such engineer. It was by chance that… Read More

I handled crew and towboat operations at Madison Coal & Supply Company (MCS), now known as Amherst Madison, from 1990 until my retirement in 2023. Smitty was chief engineer of… Read More

When editor Frank McCormack approached me about writing a piece about my father, Edward “Smitty” Smith, for this edition of The Waterways Journal, I told him that I would have… Read More

Each February in the “Wheelhouse” special issue of The Waterways Journal, we feature profiles of some of the captains who helm commercial vessels on the waterways. We hope you’ll enjoy these… Read More

Mike Marshall grew up in New Orleans, the son of a U.S. Marshal. His next-door neighbor was the president of Electro-Coal Transfer Corporation, and over the years, the two fathers… Read More

When Capt. Robert Tillson isn’t aboard Hines Furlong Line’s 4,000 hp. mv. Donna Furlong, he prefers faster transportation. Tillson, 60, of Gilbertsville, Ky., loves riding his dirt bike, a Kawasaki… Read More

Capt. Corey Moorer has always been interested in spending time on the water. As a youth, he fished, went shrimping with his dad, water skied and even had a surfboard. Read More

Jared Lay, captain aboard Marquette Transportation’s mv. St. Simon, loves everything about being a towboat captain: the hard work, his crew mates, the craft of safely maneuvering a tow down… Read More

“My grandmother had 19 kids, and 12 of them were boys. They all ran tugboats, including my father. All my uncles ran boats, and some of them still do.” To… Read More