Heading out the canal, we saw this Great Blue Heron with his morning catch...
Moving towards the turning basin, we saw several Off-shore Supply Vessels. The Terrel Tide (making the local crewboat Emmanuel look small)...
Ram Country (270' long)...
St. Louis...
A tug with two barges...
We looked around the turning basin a bit (more big boats than usual), then south. Being a lovely morning, we were just happy to be out and about.
A bait shrimper coming in...
Now, this is a Ranger Tug...
The Signet Ranger is based in the Port of Brownsville - it was heading towards the Port Isabel Turning Basin; guessing something is going to need to be moved there.
Some Roseate Spoonbills in the morning sun...
Not on a dolphin excursion, but if they are there, we will stop to look...
Three or four of them, feeding; we gave them plenty of room...
Looking down the ship channel towards Brownsville, we could see something heading our way...
In the distance, we couldn't tell what it was for sure; then, the radio came alive: it was a tug in the ship channel calling the Ram Country, letting them know that they are bringing in a huge barge and will need that spot in the turning basin where they are docked. Thus, began the "symphony."
We moved to the other side of the small island where the ship channel and Port Isabel Channel come together, to make sure we were well out of the way. As we came around the back side of that island, we could see that Ram Country had moved off the dock, making room for the incoming vessels...
Making the turn...
There is a helipad on that barge - these guys have a good view...
Coming into the turning basin...
Now, the interesting part: with the three tugs, they have to rotate that barge, then move it sideways to the pier. Listening to the lead tug guide the other two was truly like watching a maestro conduct an orchestra: he was telling each tug how much power and what direction to apply it. It is snug in the turning basin for something this size, especially when there are a lot of other vessels in there - they made it look "everyday." Impressive. Rotating...
Great coordination among the tugs, and cooperation with the off-shore vessel Ram Country in moving out of their way in that tight space.
That barge is the Tog Mor, a shallow off-shore pipe-laying crane vessel that works at anchor.
That was fun to watch.
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