TOWING NEW YORK STYLE – GATE LINES One of the things you notice when working in New York harbor is the number of boats towing barges quite close astern. If you look closely, you’ll see that two lines are put out to the barge and each is made up on the corresponding side of the “H” bitt on the tug’s stern. These are gate lines. The Buchanan tugs move their stone boats all around NY harbor, LI Sound and up and down the Hudson this way, half the scrap in the harbor is moved on gate lines by the Don Jon fleet and Sea Wolf tows the recycled plastic barges in out of Newtown Creek and the Bronx River this way.

The Mister T towing five light stone boats on gate lines on a foggy morning in the East River.

This make up is different from one hawser with bridles on it connecting the barge to the tug. The two different lines offer more control and the short distance ensures that the barge will follow the boat through twists and turns. The thing to remember when maneuvering in close quarters is that initially a turn to port, means your stern goes to starboard (and vice versa). If you need to go to port, the first reaction to this on the barge is its bow will go to starboard. As the tug’s stern moves to starboard, the port line will come tight and drag the bow to starboard. You can counter this with a quick snap to starboard with the tug’s bow, thus starting the barge’s bow to port and then correcting the turn and continuing to port. Another way to steer is by backing in to your tow. Assuming that you are approaching a bridge and slightly out of shape, you can back down on the barge and nudge the bow of the barge the way you need it to go before continuing through the bridge. The same is true for landing the tow. As you approach the dock, you can first take headway off by backing down on the barge and then by changing the boat’s angle on the barge’s bow you can walk it right into the dock (or away if necessary). The main benefit of towing is an unimpeded view for the boatman. It takes practice, but there isn’t much that you can’t do on gate lines and some of the older boatmen like Harry Reimer and Jim Hennesey make it look effortless. They have passed their knowledge on to the next generation and captains like Denny Donovan and Dennis Wasiewski on the single screw tugs Cheyenne and Crow keep the barges moving on gate lines.

Sometimes you just want to see where you are going. Towing a light deck barge through the Pelham Parkway Bridge on the Hutchinson River. Towing up the river to the scrap yards is a lot easier than pushing as the Pelham Parkway Bridge and Pelham Amtrak bridge are not in a straight line. On gate lines you can swing over to starboard on the way through and the barge (or barges – we sometimes tow two barges in and out) follows right along.

Sometimes you just want your barge 5 feet off your stern. Towing short allows you to back into your barge to steer or stop it. Not that you couldn’t back into them if you had a lot more hawser out, but the reaction time would be too long. A short make-up with just enough room to allow your stern to swing will allow for almost instant reactions when you need them. Captain Henry Oswald on the Cheyenne getting underway with the Cape Wendy on gate lines at Claremont Terminal. A well-fendered stern is important for gate line work as well as aft masts that fold down. The Cape Wendy is 270 ft long and 54 ft wide. When loaded she has an air draft of 35 ft. The Cheyenne tows the Cape Wendy down the Hudson from Albany to Jersey City. Towing is really the only option with her. Even light she is too tall for the Cheyenne to see over.

Capt Denny Donovan on the aft station of the Cheyenne getting the boat in position ahead of the Cape Wendy prior to departure on gate lines. Each gate line is marked in identical increments so that they can be put out to the same length without just “eye-balling” it. The throttle is in his right hand, stering in the left. The handle next to his hip is for the capstan.

Cheyenne outbound with the light Cape Wendy on gate lines. Note the lines made up on the stern bitt. Once in the Upper Bay, they will lengthen the lines out so that she sits 100 feet astern. There isn’t a need to keep her very close on the 130 mile trip to Albany.

The crew on the Crow making up the gate lines on the tug’s stern bitt.

Two views of the Herbert Brake towing a scrap barge into the back canal in Jersey City. The gate lines are made up on the stern bitts, one line to each horn.

Towing a loaded scrap barge out of the Gowanus canal in Brooklyn with the Herbert Brake. In the picture on the right, note that the boat is turning to starboard and the starboard line is tight pulling the bow off of the barge we are passing. In the picture on the left, I back down on the barge to stop it before the bridge to make sure she will pass under without scraping the brand new bridge spans. Cheyenne towing the loaded Cape Wendy in to Claremont Terminal.

Crow towing two loaded barges on gate lines. The two barges are made up tight to each other with multiple part lines between them. In this case, it is easier to tow than take them alongside or push, but it comes down to captain’s preference as seeing over them isn’t a problem.

Sea Wolf towing two light barges around a sharp turn. As the boat turns to starboard, the port gate line is tight pulling the bow around to starboard. Captain Lars landed both just to the starboard of the dock next to his starboard barge. In order to do this he towed towards the berth, then turned the boat to port to check the swing of the barge’s stern and then let them settle in as he backed down on them to take way off.

Making a U-Turn with a barge on Gate Lines

Towing a loaded scrap barge out of the barge racks at Claremont Terminal. We are headed west but need to go east

Once out of the rack, I stopped the barge and then turned the boat 90 degrees to the barge and began coming ahead. The port gate line is tight and the boat leaning against the barge ensures that we will turn without moving any further to the west.

Once the barge starts turning, the boat is slowly turned back to port and ahead of the barge again. By backing into the barge the swing can be checked and then she can be towed east or alternately, you can power up to port to stop the barge’s stern from swinging to port. In this case, there isn’t room for this as there is a barge to port. The additional power will slow the swing down, but as you do this, the stern is still swinging to port and then you have the whole barge walking sideways.

Sometimes you just have to tow. In some places, gate lines are the only option. In Stamford, CT the scrap dock is at the end of the navigable channel and you can’t get the boat behind the barges to push them out, so we go in, make the two barges up together as tight as possible and then tow them out to a mooring where we left the two light barges on our way in. The two light barges are then pushed in.

Towing the two loaded scrap barges out of Stamford with the Cheyenne. Each barge is 140 ft long, 38 ft wide and draws approximately 9 ft with around 800 tons of shredded steel for cargo.

Towing the two loaded barges through Stamford’s hurricane gate. If you keep the boat dead center through spans like this, the barges will follow straight on through with you.

And sometimes it is just easier to tow On some jobs it isn’t necessary to tow on gate lines but it is a little easier on the deckhands. They just have to put the two lines out rather than get the wires out and it is good practice.

Towing a loaded scrap barge through the Pelham Bay Amtrak Bridge with the Cheyenne. The Pelham Parkway Bridge is just ahead and off to starboard. As the tug heads off to starboard, the starboard line comes tight momentarily which checks the barge’s swing through the railroad bridge, then she comes into both lines and shapes up for the next bridge. This job doesn’t require towing astern, but it is easy enough to do and making the bridges isn’t difficult towing on gate lines.

The loaded scrap barge following the Cheyenne through the Pelham Parkway Bridge. The Amtrak bridge is astern and down. This barge is 225 ft long and narrow so it follows the boat very well.

Cheyenne towing the loaded scrap barge outbound into Eastchester Bay. We keep it short until in better water and then lengthen it out for the tow back to Jersey City. As you can see, towing the boxed-end barge short puts our wheel wash directly into the barge. We don’t make great time this way.