Page 73 - "Cap" Cowley - A Salvage Tug Captain

ISSUE : Issue 54

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1990/6/1

So. I went up close to the Lillian and we talked to each other. I was the senior man there, so I told him, "Try and get somebody aboard, and give us a hand to get the line on board the next morning," when it got daylight. So, they had no power for heaving anything aboard. So, this is what I did. I put a line on her. And then I got them to haul up a big heavy snatch block. Do you know what a snatch block is? You can reeve it through and it goes back again. So I sent them up the snatch block, with a line rove through it. Well then, I bent a heavier line onto that. I haul it aboard from the tug, on the line I've got back from the snatch block. So I hauled the line back to them. And then finally, got all the tow wire over to her. And they shackled that on? to the anchor cable of the Leicester, and that's what we towed her with, on that. So all the time we're doing this, see, you have to stand right close--stand right close by the bow of the ship. And with the heavy seas that are running, it's not the easiest thing in the world. You've got to really keep your tug in position, and watch it closely the whole time. I think it took us about 4 or 5 hours to do it. There's always a big swell on, you know, even if there's no wind, out in the Atlan? tic you always get a heavy swell. Espe? cially when there's hurricanes around, this kind of thing--there's always big swells running out in the Atlantic. Two ships can't possibly come together. They'd smash themselves to pieces. We thought (the Leicester) was going to sink at any moment! Because, when she was rolling in these swells, she would go right over until the end of the bridge was in the water. Well, you know the bridge of a ship is high up. She's going way, way over. The end of the bridge would dip right into the sea. So you would think, oh, one of these times she's going to com? plete the turn and go right over. So that's one of the things the men we put on board had to do. They went and closed all CAPE BRETON REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY TRANSIT INFO 539-8124 539-8129 PEOPLE ON THE MOVE the watertight doors and allejrway doors and everything on that down side of the ship, so the water couldn't get down those things and then run into the engine room. 'Cause if she got too much water in there, she would have gone under. (They must have been like billygoats on that vessel.) Yeah, yeah! (There'd be no floor--no up and down.) Oh, no. She was, as I say, a 40? list normally. And then, when she rolled in a sea, the list would become much greater. (And these were an all-Newfoundlander crew that would do that.) Yeah, yeah. (They went aboard the Leicester, you had the snatchblock, you had the line aboard, you had your towing line hitched to the Lei? cester. If she had sunk, what would that have done to you?) Well, we had a man standing by the whole time with burning gear. So that, if it was necessary, we can always burn the line. Then the line would break and go down with the ship. And go clear of the tug--it wouldn't hurt the tug |[|[D)-T??WKI BUILDING SUPPLIES 21 McKeen Street, Glace Bay Our Carpet & Paint Displays are all set up... Waiting For You! Our Hardware and Building Supplies are arriving daily. Come and visit us in our bright new surroundings. HARDWARE, BUILDING SUPPUES. CARPETS & VINYL FLOORING BENJAMIN MOORE PAINT, BONNEVILLE WINDOWS K?.??'9T';l'5%.m. 849-0047 849-1100 Visit an Underground Coal Mine ''' Miners' Museum Glace Bay, N. S. One of the Foremost Museums in Nova Scotia! Bring your family to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience of touring an actual Coal Mine with a retired miner as your guide. After touring Museum and Mine, visit the well-stocked Gift Shop and the Miners' Village Restaurant on the same 15- acre site located just one mile from downtown Glace Bay. The Miners' Museum Is Open Year Round and Welcomes Group Tours. During June, July, and August, Inquire about Tuesday Night Concerts with the "Men of the Deeps" For Information about Hours and Rates: PHONE (902) 849-4522

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