Tugboats: Pushing Their Way Around Since 1803 | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio to and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. too for the present moment and this is. stuff you should know that's right. another Listening Room request these are. just kind of pouring in now mhm uh or. rather we're leaning on them more than. we have before I guess because they're. great ideas but this one came also from.

the live show in Atlanta yeah and do you. remember this guy do you remember his. name yes I do it was Thomas because it. this episode is tugboats for Thomas. tugboats for Thomas and Thomas I I. believe works on tugboats suggested it. and this has turned out to be just a. bread and butter stuff you should know. episode yeah I remember when he was at. the mic asking the question making the. suggestion he kept moving around because. he still had his. CE he's bumping into people they're like. dude.

so uh yeah hopefully we'll do Thomas. proud because we know a little bit about. tugboats now after researching them for. a little while big uh shout out to our. friend Dave ruse for helping us with. this uh you could do worse than going to. check out ruse's podcast Bible time. machine uh and uh that has nothing to do. with tugboats but let's talk about that. that's right because we're gonna we're. going to sing The Unsung like we like to. do on the show because no one ever. thinks about tugboats you see them all. the time if you live near Harbor or.

vacation or visit cities that have. Harbors you see those tugboats and those. big ships and barges get all the all the. sexy headlines but those tugboats are. doing the Yen's work as why they called. them nautical laborers early in their uh. I guess uh Mission when they first. started coming online on. SE yeah so we'll get to that in a minute. about the history of tugboats because it. actually goes back way further than you. would think or not as far as you'd think.

depending on what you're thinking yeah. but. 1320 nope not that far oh 2020 but one. of the things that tugboats are that. makes them like the workhorses of the. sea as you could put it is that um they. have really impressive power to tonnage. ratios yeah so the size of the tugboat. the actual weight the tugboat weighs. compared to the amount of power output. its engines can create usually in.

horsepower is really. lopsided so that the these fairly. comparatively light boats compared to. like the horsepower they create can pull. pull pull and they can push push push. and they can do all sorts of amazing. stuff which is why they can move these. enormous huge oil tankers and shipping. tanker or shipping container ships uh. with just the the mighty might of their. little hearts.

you'd think I I would have practiced. something like that CU it would have. been way better yeah I mean not to. undersell tugboats they are dealing with. things that are floating in water which. helps but these are big massive things. flowing in floating in water like you. could get in a in a lake my friend and. you could you could pull a rope attached. to a a pontoon boat what and you could. pull that thing around a little bit you. could swim that thing around a little. bit because it's floating in water what.

Universe do you live in that may be. where you max out you are the tugboat of. the lake Josh if you can do that to a. pontoon boat uh because these tugboats. are little compared to those huge barges. that are floating around does that is. that making any sense at all it's making. too much. sense i' I've never considered myself. the tugboat of the lake can I be doing. this with my teeth can I be holding the. rope with my teeth cuz that'd be much. cooler uh that's up to you okay that'd. be better swimming with arms we'll go do.

some uh some thig trials for it and. figure out the most the one right way to. to pull a pontoon in a lake we we should. tell them what Ballard pull is too. because that's the other big sort of uh. measurement when it comes to tugging and. pushing uh a Ballard first of all is. that that big um sort of chunky thing on. a dock that you'll tie a boat to MH uh. the the big daddies uh and Ballard pull. is the total amount of Towing Force. generated by a tugboat uh they measure.

that in kilon. Newtons they do and I've seen that often. converted to. tons and um it's the same thing the more. kilo newtons you have or the more tons. you have the more pulling power towing. power pushing power that Tugboat has um. so this there's this one um boat that. that Dave found called the island. victory at least one article called the. most powerful boat in the world I saw. other articles that name some other. shipping container vessel but um this.

this Tugboat say it's probably the most. powerful Tugboat around the island. victory has a um a balled pull of 400 or. 4,680 kons which converts to 477 tons a. typical Harbor tug which is nothing to. sneeze at has a um Ballard pull between. 5600 kons 600 kons converts to 61 tons. yeah so this is an enormously powerful.

boat and that's the whole point they're. not fast they aren't pretty they're cute. in a really weird way yeah but they can. generate so much power that they can. push a uh a shipping container vessel. around more importantly if you have a. really high Ballard pull the reason that. this is this rating is even there is to. find out which tug you can con connect. to which vessel because if a vessel's. starting to go in the wrong direction.

and it's about to crash into say a. bridge um the tugboat has to be able to. go from zero not moving at all in the. water to pulling that boat in the. opposite direction away from that bridge. in a moment's notice and it has to have. that much power and they do they. do uh I think they are very attractive. boats uh you can tell a tugbo uh because. it has you know they're built to tug and. push so they have a very wide beam which.

is the the widest point of the boat uh. they sit very low in the water uh which. is called a deep draft and you know. they're they're little short stubby wide. guys that sit really low I think they're. adorable and cool looking um they're. very very stable uh they're not Tippy at. all when you you know they're bumping. against other things they're pushing. other things and so they have to be just. super stable and also love that they. have beards uh that front bumper or a uh.

or a BAL Fender mhm they call it a beard. in that lingo and I think that's pretty. great yeah that's it's just what they. use like you said to when they. purposefully or accidentally bump up. against a a larger ship you can't just. have the tugboat like crack up so you. have a fender they're built to bump they. are built to bump and some tugboats um. aren't necessarily built with a beard. they they'll have tires strung along the. side to use as a bumper as well.

yeah I think those are additional I. think the front always has a built-in. beard okay. [Laughter]. fine so um one other thing that you're. going to find about tugboats that we'll. talk about more in depth later is that. they're extremely um Nimble they're. agile they can move in a different. direction very quickly um and that that. is a really important thing too because. one of the big jobs that the tugboat. plays in say like a shipping Lane at. like a port is to um help ships avoid.

other Ships coming in or out um so they. have to be able to move not just pull a. ship very easily but they have to be. able to move quickly and move that ship. out of the way of say like another ship. yeah exactly and I say we take an. earlier break oh my gosh because we're. at a great spot to break here before we. talk about the history of these things. you want to do that let's break it all. right let's break on three. [Music]. this.

is the purpose of this. [Music]. is serious all right I promise talk of. history and here we go because uh if if. you wanted to uh invent a tugboat the.

18th and 19th centuries was a pretty. good time to do it because uh we were. using sailing ships at the time for uh. for transporting people and goods and. all kinds of things and those things are. gorgeous beautiful on the water they. sailed great out on the high seas uh but. they did not do well uh especially. because they were just sailing ships. when they got around land in small tight. spaces right so they would you know. you've seen it in movies they would dock.

or not dock but they would anchor you. know couple of hundred feet from Shore. and then start shuttling people and. stuff in little tiny boats because. that's about as close as they could. safely get and that's not efficient. Taylor would be rolling over in his. grave that's right uh there's another. problem too even for a ship that could. that was Nimble enough to kind of. navigate its way into Port say like the. mouth of a river in a harbor or. something right once it got in there it. had to wait for the wind to whip up. again to set s once more and this was.

not something that happened every hour. on the hour even twice a day like the. tide some sometimes you would have to. wait for days or weeks for the right. wind to come up that you could catch and. and ship back out to sea again also not. at all efficient so there was like a. real need for tugboats to be invented. but what's nuts is tugboats were. invented and then ignored for decades. and then finally the guy who invented. them who was just totally made fun of as.

we'll see for inventing tugboats was. Vindicated but I think he was dead. already yeah I think he was uh his he. was from England uh 18th century. inventor his name no lie was Jonathan. holes that's nuts it is pretty nuts and. he he thought it was like a helper. vessel is what he called it it was. powered by a steam engine and but we was. talking about was tugboats it could tow. a sailboat in and out of port uh this. was in 1737 when he filed for a patent.

it was called a description and draft of. a new invented machine for carrying. vessels or ships out of or into any. Harbor port or river Against The Wind in. tide or in a calm yeah and it was. totally genius 30 years before James. watt's steam engine hit the scene yeah. and everyone was like what a dumb idea. yeah not only that um the people in his. hometown of. Glouchester um they wrote a song about.

they wrote a song they wrote like they. thought this guy was so terrible and. just such a lousy inventor that there. was a a song I I'm guessing people would. sing in pubs yeah about him specifically. his name's in the song it when Jonathan. holes with his patent skulls invented a. machine to go against wind and stream. but he being an ass couldn't bring it to. pass and so was a shame to be seen. imagine sitting there nursing like your. me while everybody around you is singing.

that song about you you're not going to. try whip whip up a Melody oh oh um. Jonathan holes with his patent skulls. invented a machine to go against the. wind and. stream you should finish okay but he. being an ass couldn't bring it to pass. and so was ashamed to be seen wow you uh. you went with the um Gilbert and. Sullivan version very I guess so all I.

know is we're getting kicked out of this. Pub any second now yeah for sure they're. like get out of Glouchester yeah to stop. it we're going to get so much for that. uh so yeah holes was definitely ahead of. his time but it would be 60 years before. the first seam power tugboats his. invention uh were actually put into good. use and they were deployed in Scotland. oh yeah yeah and as we'll see actually. Scotland was where the tugboat got its. name at the time I'm not sure what they.

call them maybe still helper vessels I. don't know but one of the first things. they did was to start pulling cargo. along canals because at the time if you. wanted to move cargo easily over land. you did it over water that was cut into. land and you would do it with the donkey. pulling your your cargo along the shore. the donkey was walking on the shore with. the line going from the donkey to a. little barge that was being pulled down. a waterfill canal that was the. state-ofthe-art at the time.

yeah have you ever walked along an old. Riverway that has those builtup banks. for that purpose yeah Toledo has. something called the canal experience or. historic Canal experience there's some. canals running through part of the town. from the early 19th century that you can. walk along and you're like wow this is. an old donkey path huh yeah I had my. experience doing that in akan so that. may be an Ohio thing I believe the. Waterway through sand run m is where. that was and it was the same deal and.

and Emily or her mom or somebody you. know cuz you're up higher and you know. it's an obvious path and they're like. yeah this this is where the the donkeys. and pack horses would pull these things. yeah oh it's a. donkey uh there was a paddle steamer. named Charlotte Dundas that was the. first Tugboat in operation um Towing uh. for the very for strip I think two fully. loaded sloops uh 18 miles along the. fourth and Clyde Canal at glasa at a.

scorching 2 miles per hour yeah but. still like it was working that was the. key that's all that mattered yeah they. had all the time in the world right and. you can bet that every donkey in. Scotland was like thank God they. invented these things right yeah. probably so there was also as we talked. about one of the big problems with um. sailboats as shipping vessels was um. that they had trouble getting in and out. of Harbors they had trouble navigating. they had to wait for the wind so uh very.

quickly it seemed kind of obvious that. you could if you could get one of these. boats into Port into Harbor which you. could use a tugboat for you could also. pull it up River it wouldn't have to. navigate any longer because you could. just pull it by a helper vessel into. some of the the cities that were not. located on the coast but they were. located on a river one example I can. think of is London and the temps that's. right 40 m Inland so that was a huge.

Boon for London at the time uh there was. a steamship called The. Majestic uh that worked with the East. India Company Towing things back and. forth up the Tims and uh Liverpool had. one as well so they were they were. getting in on the game there in the UK. they were so like I said it was in. Scotland that tugboats got their name. back in 1817 in Dumber I think I'm. saying that. right okay oh how would you say it I.

would say dumb Barton but I don't I. don't know I'm just guessing it's got to. be dton okay okay well we'll go with one. of those two how about that sure. somebody built a a steamship a tug boat. that they named tug they weren't called. tugboats until this time uh and I guess. that name stuck because it also makes. sense practically you're tugging a boat. behind you so that from henceforth on. they were known as tugboats yeah and you. know earlier I was saying and that um.

they said oh this idea is so dumb I. don't know if it was that it was so dumb. but steam power and stuff that came. along a little bit later like they. didn't have steam engines at the time so. they wouldn't have even known it was. dangerous but when they did come online. why do I keep saying that uh I don't. think it fits right it's a little. anachronistic I think so um but online. doesn't mean just on the internet online. just means like it's beginning to. function right as a thing yeah remember. that Simpsons where Lenny goes little.

kid Lenny's like oh I just logged on to. my internet CU he pooped his pants out. of he pooped his bathing suit with the. little. interneting so he said he logged onto. his. internet oh that's so. good that's a good line oh boy Lenny um. any locked on to my. internet um where was that oh yeah steam. engines were dangerous they they would. blow up a lot um there was uh you know.

when tugboats first started using uh you. know coming online using that steam they. were like I don't know I mean is it is. it better to have this thing that might. uh blow up a. port right and then the owners were like. well we don't go on these boats we just. own them so sure I mean that's fine they. they can blow up but yes they were. viewed skeptically I think right like it. was it was not just a done deal that. these things were like going to save the. industry or shipping yeah but there was.

um a Proving Ground what ended up being. a Proving Ground in the th river that. connected um Newcastle to the North Sea. um it it was kind they were facing a. problem right they had these barges that. were um they were called Colliers and. they were sailboats but they were coal. movers because Newcastle was a huge coal. producer and these Colliers could do a. lot of damage um because they were they. they were hard to navigate they had all. the same problems that any sailing. vessel had um so there was a guy named.

Joseph price who in 1818 was like I. think I've got a solution to this I'm. going to buy some of these steam ships. that they're now being called tugboats. and I'm going to um have them pull these. cers these coal ships up and down the TI. and I think it's going to revolutionize. shipping and uh Joseph price was right. on the money the the price was right oh. man you almost had it right out of the. gate uh so so now you could get uh 400.

ton ships cuz you know I don't know if. we mentioned they were loading like. railroad cars onto these things for the. first time so was very very heavy stuff. um they could go to Newcastle for the. first time um all of a sudden people in. uh more distant places could get coal so. it wasn't just like hey it made you know. make things cheaper and more efficient. it like it was literally changing like. lives all over the world right and these. new towns that were getting Cal for the. first time were able to give up um.

having to burn dried donkey poop that. they scraped up off the donkey trails. along the canals it was huge for them. totally so yeah Joseph price price. proved to the world like no these things. are extraordinarily valuable so much so. that they're going to completely change. shipping from this point on and they. definitely have and they're still just. as useful as ever um and they they made. a name for themselves so much that the. when the Royal Navy purchased their. first steam ships uh of any kind they. were tugboats yeah the comet and the.

monkey Comet and. monkey and I can't decide whether it's a. band name or a cartoon. name Comet and monkey that'd be a fun. cartoon I'd watch that or a. drug I'd also take that com monkey just. kidding uh so yeah they they definitely. proved their worth pretty early on I. mean this is 1818 and the first ones. were used shortly before that right yeah.

and these were paddle boats by the way. uh up until the late 19th century if. you're picturing like your little. friendly Tugboat in your mind as we talk. about all these stories erase that and. now picture a tugboat with two paddles. on both sides it wasn't like the big. paddle in the back like the sort of fun. things you ride around on at Stone. Mountain Park here in Georgia sure uh. they were that's where they're most. famous they were battle wheels on both. sides which seems a little wider and. more cumbersome but that really really.

really made them much more maneuverable. and able to to steer in tighter places. and to steer in two different directions. like a right I got one of those zero. turn lawnmowers you you put those things. in two different directions and you just. spin in like a top it's the exact same. thing because those two paddle Wheels. were able to be moved independent of one. another and once you can do that yes you. just start doing donuts to show off in. the harbor you know yeah so um. the the 19th century came and went and.

those Paddle Wheel tugs were replaced. with um screw propellers which is. another term for a propeller like you. see on a ship like that's that's just. called screw propeller so like any ship. they were uh propelled by. propellers and then diesel engines came. along and that's when everything really. kind of changed because when you have a. diesel engine you can get some amazing. horsepower out of it way more than steam. it's also less dangerous I think we. talked about all this in our Rudolph. diesel. episode um and that's when the tugboats.

became started to become the the. tugboats that we think of today that's. right uh shall we take our second break. you bet all right we took an early one. so we're going to take this one and. we're going to come back and talk a. little bit about uh well tugboats right. after. [Music]. this of this is. [Music].

[Music]. so um you mentioned Tugboat strike right. I didn't oh well there's a tugboat. strike we have to talk about that really. kind of demonstrates how how important. tugboats made themselves over the years. um in New York Harbor in.

1946 um every single Tugboat operator. there were 300 of them in the harbor at. the time uh they all went on strike and. this was it very quickly it became. evident how essential tugboats were for. everything in New York because there was. coal coming from Lake Erie through the. Erie Canal to the Hudson down to the um. Harbor um and it would be spread all. throughout Manhattan and all throughout.

New York food shipments came in by barge. um garbage went out by barge oh yeah New. York operated on barges and if you're. using barges you need a tugboat to tow. or push those barges so when the tugboat. stopped working New York stopped working. and within 12 days uh the tugboat. operators got their demands fulfilled. which turns out to have just been nicer. hats from what I. read yeah they rationed uh food they. they literally shut the lights down on.

Broadway uh it was their their backup. plan of just uh you know using smaller. boats to to Ferry stuff in and out they. were just like Manhattan is far too big. for this already right and the tugboat. operators I guess I mean what a what a. moment to sit back and just sort of like. say yeah now yeah gloat a little bit now. now who was important the the tugboat. driver Thomas one day we'll be in. Atlanta so we could get the word out. about tugboats and New York Harbor was a.

great place to sort of make that point. because uh you know if you didn't have. tugboats then those containers with all. those goods and services are essentially. useless right I said Float by the way. but gloat works even better oh you said. Float yeah they were gloating while they. were floating oh okay so there were some. things that changed stuff you would not. at all connect to um. why tugboats became less vital over the.

years still incredibly important um and. you can make a case that that world. shipping would essentially just stop if. tugboats stopped so they're really. important but just not in exactly the. same ways as they were before because we. started getting our energy over things. like pipelines um we started using. things that weren't coal um Trucking uh. and shipping containers became a much. bigger thing than say barges over the. years so with each of those things the.

tugboat. became less and less able to um to to do. what it did in 1946 and yet it's still. so vital that you just can't do anything. without him yeah for sure uh you know. they've got uh they've got electric tugs. now I saw that there's one called the. Ewolf right yeah it's good looking tug I. mean uh it's interesting I never really. thought about electric boats but that's. becoming more and more of a thing which. is kind of awesome it is awesome and.

let's talk about why here's why Chuck. remember we said that these things. generate crazy amounts of horsepower yes. some Harbor tugs or oceangoing tugs. generate. 27,000 plus horsepower yeah it's like. having. 27,000 horses just running at the back. of this thing like kicking their legs. all at once right yeah and to do that. you um use a lot of fuel a ton of diesel. fuel fuel um some of these boats can.

carry way more than they need in a day. like 30,000 gallons of diesel but I saw. that the average Harbor tug which is. working almost constantly will use about. 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel a day and. that is a lot of fuel to use right so. it's using this non-renewable resource. it's also putting out crazy amounts of. diesel emissions yeah um and that's just. one Tugboat using 3,000 gallons of. diesel a day yeah the reason also I was.

like why do they carry so much more than. they need because doesn't that make the. tugboat heavier and therefore you have. to use more fuel to get more horsepower. out of it and the reason that I came up. with that I found was that time is of. such value in a harbor at a port that. it's more costly to stop what you're. doing and go fuel than it is to carry.

around all that extra fuel they have. those capacities so that they have they. take way longer in between refuelings. that's the point that's how crazy. important time is in ports yeah uh I get. it you know especially in a place like. New York Harbor um very busy very busy. so you talked about that's the motto the. entrance down to the dock it says that. yeah uh what also you need to be as. maneuverable because it's very busy very.

busy and you mentioned that a little bit. earlier on that they need to be able to. move really in any direction uh very. accurately and as quickly as possible. and the asthma Thruster was a big change. in that because that is a um imagine a. propeller inside a housing sort of like. a you know sort of like a an Ean or. something like that uh and it can just. turn that's exactly what it looks like I. never thought that uh but uh it can it.

can turn 360° so it's not a a fixed. propeller and a Rudder for steering and. it's not even a non-fixed propeller that. can move left and right it's a propeller. that can spin in any direction which. means you got one of those little. joystick controllers as a tugboat uh. pilot and you can inch that thing in the. most minute uh little ways with just a. flick of the stick yeah isn't that. amazing pretty cool I also read about um.

something called a tractor tug which is. has basically two outboard motors like. those two side paddle wheels and so you. can move them independently and they. have a lot of power too just not as much. as the aouth I think um but they uh. they're controlled by two joysticks so. it's it's hard enough just think about. using one imagine using two to move a. tugboat around like a huge ship that. you're trying not to uh knock into other. ships it's just I can't it's got to be. one of the more stressful jobs around.

piling a a tugboat right I bet well. we'll have to ask thas. yeah uh we did mention a lot I mean. we've talked a lot about moving boats. around that's obviously what you think. of when you think of a tugboat um but. they do a bunch of other stuff too um. Salvage operations uh. SNR uh or SAR or search and rescue Ops. that we've talked a lot about on the. show uh if there's ever a you know if. there's a busy Canal that's blocked or.

something uh or a ship that is gone. offline see that uh that is gumming up. the works um you're going to send a. tugboat in there to get those things out. of there so we yeah we talked about that. um the ship that ever given which uh. blocked the Suez Canal for I think weeks. which is a huge dent in global Shipping. right we talked about that in detail and. I could not for the life of me remember. what episode that was in do you was it. in did we do one on the Suz Canal or. just the uh no I looked if we did we.

didn't name it that which canal did we. do what uh episode on I don't remember. doing any Canal episode oh we did. something on canals right I that seems. very familiar to me I think we just. earlier talking about donkey path and. stuff did our Canal. episode H wait I guess that's. possible we might have done one that. included like the Panama Canal and maybe. yes I'll bet it was in the Panama Canal. episode I think we did that one yeah we. did Panama Canal okay there you go and. Love Canal we did a little different but.

yeah uh also by the way the Navy just uh. unveiled the whole new um group of. search and rescue ships they're they're. called Navajo class tugboats and they're. pretty cool looking all right what else. firefighting tugboats of course yeah. they're called fifes it's cute they're. Fifi or fi I've only seen it spelled out. I bet it's Fifi fi would be weird. yeah Fifi is not weird in the the the.

SE of the. SE well I don't know Captain I don't. have my sea legs but Fifi is at least a. cutesy name fi is nothing let's try this. out AR look at that. fi ARG look at that. Fifi I think ffi wins the. day okay right so what else ice ice. breakers and I don't mean that that. office parties either right a tugboat.

just goes in between two people. struggling to find something to talk. about and now all of a sudden they can. talk about the tugbo that just went in. between yeah he goes up to a and says uh. if you could invite anyone from history. to dinner who would it be man I hate. those questions so much it's the worst. there's also anchor handling there's. actually special tugboats called anchor. handling tugs appropriately enough yeah. and the anchors they're talking about. are oil platform tankers and these are. um Oceano tugs the ones that carry. 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel because.

they're out to sea for indefinite. periods of time um and the anchors that. they're pulling around are massive I. they're like keeping oil rigs in out in. the open ocean from floating away so. obviously they're really big anchors but. it's hard to get across how big they are. unless you go look up photos of them try. to find a photo of a human being. standing or working near an oil rig. anchor and it'll really kind of drive. home what these tugboats are pulling.

around makes it even more impressive all. right I'm going to look that up and tell. you what I think before the end of the. episode okay good um line handling too. like these tow ropes if they're like hey. we need to get this tow rope out to that. that ship uh you don't just throw it on. a guy's shoulder like these ropes like. those anchors are the most massive thing. ropes you've ever seen in your life yeah. and so there's Thomas saying just throw. it on guys I got it I'll take it out. there yeah I was reading a LA Times. article about remember the the shipping.

shut down the contain cargo container. back up in LA in Long Beach that at the. pandemic that just killed everything um. the writer went out on a tugbo he was. just kind of chronicling like a morning. in in the life of this Tugboat and they. were talking about how um recently some. two deck hands one had been injured and. one had been killed by a line tightening. and pressing them up against the side of. the tugboat so oh like Jaws. yeah exactly but killed them um yeah.

yeah so it was a I mean you can just. imagine like this is a 3in thick rope. that just suddenly is you know thousands. of kiltons pressing you against a a. metal a big piece of metal which is the. inside of the ship that's not that's not. the place that you want to be so it is. being a deckhand um which is one of the. jobs on the tugboat is very dangerous. and as we'll see um kind of the job you. want to work your way up out of I think. yeah uh you've also got Engineers who uh.

you know they take care of those engines. they take care of all the getting things. online um mechanical systems electrical. systems you have your mate your second. in command and secondary pilot and then. you got that Captain the primary pilot. that's running that. ship uh if you work in let's just pick. out New York City uh because people. think about tugboats a lot there in New. York Harbor you work uh yeah everyone. does.

okay I took a poll okay uh they work two. week shifts two weeks on two weeks off. uh you live on that boat full-time and. then on those days that you work you. work two six-h hour shifts uh six hours. working 6 hours off 6 hours working 6. hours off and uh that is uh I'm I'm sure. Thomas would would verified that this is. tough hard work yeah that is too short I. mean you're like oh 6 hour shift that's. not bad but then you have to eat and. sleep in the next 6 hours um that's yeah.

I I don't know why they do it like that. it seems like you would wear your crew. out really fast with that schedule would. you have them work 12 hours straight and. then 12 hours off no I think even eight. hours that extra two hours to unwind and. eat and then get six hours sleep is okay. adequate because I mean seriously you. think about it you're like you're not. doing six hours off and then you just. fall over and sleep where you were just. standing while you were working now that. you're off the clock you're going to. like un you got to eat you're going to. just do whatever shave shower and um.

then you're going to get what three and. a half 4 hours sleep if you're lucky. maybe five I think that's a little whack. as they say yeah it's whack but I think. it's one of those things with shift work. like you get used to sleeping all day. and working at night those people. probably get used to sleeping in two. four hour sets yeah you know and I'm. sure they're signific others like oh. you're awake again huh yeah but then. they're at home for two weeks straight. what I mean. you get back to work I I don't know man.

it's a hard life I'm sure Thomas can. tell us oh yeah for sure um there are. push boats uh these are pretty fun a. push tug uh that's a towboat that has a. squared off front uh at the bowel and. these padded beams called push knees and. you basically push those knees against. the stern and uh you you even lash it. together sometimes and that you're just. pushing pushing something around yeah. that one's fine but I like the.

articulated tug barge or ATB the sexiest. link it's an improved version of this. right so the barge and the tugboat have. like a a notch and a corresponding like. pointy part you put them together and. put a pin through the two and now you've. got like one single machine but the. tugboat can still maneuver like fish. tail and move that barge in all sorts of. crazy hard angles right mhm and I was. like why don't you just mechanize or.

motorize the barge and apparently they. use this mostly for um oil tank oil. shipping uh and you just get more oil. out of it and the barges are cheaper. because they don't have any. self-propulsion so it's kind of like um. a shipping container in a truck like the. tractor is different than the trailer. and so you can hook all sorts of. different trailers up to the same. tractor time and time again rather than. just you know having to Pilot. that that trailer all the time it made.

more sense to me when I was researching. it than it is now that I'm explaining it. well it does sort of lend itself to the. question of like why don't these huge. barges have a little. secondary asouth propeller system that. can be deployed yeah I think the expense. the added expense I think they're. cheaper because it's just a a barge that. is it's just basically a floating. container that a tug can hook on to the. well maybe so and the other thing that I. also regret not investigating now is how.

the finances of this work does uh is it. a tugboat company that just says all. right we're going to contract with this. barge company for a certain set of time. yes and we'll we'll just handle all your. tugging and pushing needs basically in. this Harbor so I I think it kind of from. what I understand it Bears a bit of a. resemblance to um like the shipping like. Trucking industry where somebody needs a. a toe or an escort or something like. that in or out of the harbor and you.

just contract with somebody then I don't. know if like you contract with one. specific shipping company or you just. kind of go back and forth depending on. who needs what when or it's a mixture of. both I'm not sure but I know that back. in the day they it used to be whoever. got there first so as a ship was coming. in tugboats would race out to meet them. and whoever got their first had that. contract right there because they were. the first ones on the scene and they. were the ones who were going to pull the. the ship into uh its birth surely it's.

an all-inclusive thing though and it's. not just like oh you need to get over. there uh 500 bucks right you know yeah. no I don't think it's like that for sure. but um the the I read another article. the AP did an article on um the Francis. Scott Key bridge collapse in Baltimore. what last year earlier this year you. remember when that ship ran into the. bridge and the bridge collapsed in yeah. yeah of course so the the there was like.

heavy criticism because that ship wasn't. being escorted by a tugboat and. everybody's like where was the tugboat. why was this allowed to happen and the. AP was explaining that's just not how it. works like you the tugboat pulls the the. ship out of its birth and kind of gets. it on its way and then it goes back and. attaches to another ship and then that. ship has to find its way out of Harbor. including navigating under and next to. Bridges and other stuff right um and the. reason why is money it costs an extra 10.

grand to pay a tugboat to pull you. safely out into a haror so you can make. way and the shipping industry um holds. the cards now because if you start. charging more at a port or you start say. say requiring ships to have a tugboat. all the way out into the harbor um it's. going to cost more money and if another. Port nearby doesn't force you to do that. it's going to be less. and so there everybody's going to go to. that port and all of your Dock Workers.

are going to lose their jobs and you're. not going to get reelected as mayor of. Baltimore you see what I'm saying wow. it's crazy how weirdly entrenched it is. and again it's just so discouraging it. seems like every episode we talk about. you can trace it back to some group of. people who are cutting Corners because. of money and then something bad happens. and nobody does anything about it I'm so. sick of it yeah that sounds like a new. episode of The Wire too. it. does you okay yeah I'm all right now.

right let me just apologize to Thomas. sorry Thomas if you if you want to pick. up your spirits my friend uh go to New. York City and take a ride on the wo. Decker because that's one of the fun. thing uh fun things you can do in New. York I have not done it yet but I'm. going to make a point to go to the South. Street Seaport Museum in New York where. you can actually take a take a ride on. the classic and beautiful wo Decker. Tugboat yep pretty neat I'm GNA do it.

there's some other stuff you can do too. but that's probably the. best okay good I'd like to do the best. things good uh you got anything more on. tugboats Charles I got nothing I just. love these pictures there's something. about a tugboat I like the way they look. yeah got those tires hanging off of them. and they're just there's something about. the utilitarian aspect and especially. that W Decker with that big old nose on. the front I don't even know what that is. that's the beard.

right yeah but it's not it's not a beard. that I've ever seen it really looks like. a beard um I was reading like a kids. Maritime Museum website about tugboats. and they were trying to explain why. everyone loves tugboats because you're. it's true like there's nobody who. doesn't like tugboats especially if you. have nothing to do with the industry. right you're just watching them from. afar and they explain that they're very. powerful and they're small but they're. also very. helpful and I think they kind of nailed.

it on the head yeah actually some of. these beers are very beardy so I get it. okay good uh so Chuck gets it and he. mentioned beards twice in quick. secession which of course unlocks. listener. mail that's right and it also conjures. Beetle. beard what. sorry you know you say Beetle Juice. three times oh gotcha I got you yeah I. got in it I saw that sequel last night. yeah what did you.

think uh did you see it yeah you know I. I enjoyed it I thought it was fun it's. not some great movie um but none of Tim. Burton's movies are great to me but uh I. don't know about that I mean I think. Edwood was great but I think that's his. only truly great film. what I mean tell me another Edward. sister hands Sleepy Hollow I enjoyed. Edward Scissor Hands I don't think it's. great Sleepy Hollow I thought was mid at. best he's got a whole I disagree I.

sleepy hall is one of my all-time. favorite movies that's one of those ones. I can watch like any time yeah oh hey I. like I like most of his movies but I. just don't think they're great films I. understand what you're saying you know. what I mean the 1990 Batman not the best. I would say that that's not a great. movie too for sure yeah but I mean I. like most of his movies um I understand. what you're saying fair enough yeah yeah. anyway I I thought it was I thought it. was good it was fun it was good enough. for what I wanted out of it which was a. bit of nostalgia and I loled quite a few. times cuz I just think Michael Katon is.

really funny and uh Katherine O'Hara is. really funny yes I think Katherine. O'Hare did great yeah but you know it. was it was just okay um the I keep. forgetting to recommend a movie to you. that I um I'll see it and remember how. great it was and then I forget to tell. you about it again it's called a dark. song okay it's um about a woman who. seeks revenge so she finds an occultist. to to help her conjure demons to enact. Revenge how do you find movies that no.

one else has ever heard of I don't know. how I found that one I really don't. remember but it's on Amazon Prime if I'm. not mistaken and it sounds like a hokey. premise but the research that the. writers did is so like dead on that it's. entirely possible there's people out. there who believe that you can do this. exact thing that they're doing and. conjure this exact demon it's nuts it's. really it's really a good movie it's. pretty rough I would not watch it with. the kids um but it's a it's a it's a.

it's a very good art housee horror. film uh well Ruby went as Megan for. Halloween so she's pretty into that. stuff but this sounds too dark it's a. little there's a part in there that she. should not see uh okay and I'll also say. this uh I just looked up a dark song. really quickly and there's a Reddit. thread a dark song is it real so. apparently it's pretty convincing it is. very convincing all right so that's been. movie minutes yep did you ever read the. um listener mail no man I'm waiting on.

the the queue I said that you said um. you said something in quick secession. and you unlocked listener mail Jerry. already ran the chime I got us. sidetracked hey buddy I don't jump. unless you tell me to so I did tell you. and you didn't jump and everything broke. down as if the tugboat stopped tugging. oh that means another lashing tonight no. I'm going to L you to the. tugboats uh yeah put me up there with. the the.

beard um all right hey guys love the. show especially the Unsolved Mystery. episodes needless to say I loved the one. a couple of months ago about the. mysteries of the internet and the. Mysterious song that caught my attention. oh I know where this one's going boy. they came pouring in and I have to say. the mystery seems to have been solved. about the most mysterious song in the. internet uh it is not the one that. people sent in right after we published. that was not even the same song the. people were lazy uh but yeah it broke. and we've gotten like a hundred emails.

uh that that artist has been identified. there's a Reddit thread uh it's a Reddit. user tracked it down the song is called. Subways of your mind by the group I. don't know if it's F or. fex not sure how they pronounce it uh. the user found the band from an old. newspaper article in the nordwest. saitong archive wow while they were. researching H Fest bands bands performed. that music festival was a lead the. subreddit was working on the article. they found was about a band called f x.

from Keel who won a talent contest in. briman September 1984 their music was. described as rock with wave and pop. influences and tracks uh the user. managed to get in touch with a member of. the band and they produced original. tapes of the recorded song to prove they. were the ones who recorded it wow um I. read through the subreddit they they. said wait a minute before you go wide. with this cuz I want to talk to the rest. of the van first came back and said I. talked to the rest of the the band. they're into it and we want to like.

re-record it and you know get back. together and re-record this thing now. that it's got some Fame yeah they're. going to do an acoustic country. [Music]. version uh this is from Michael but big. thanks to everybody who wrote in because. um it's pretty exciting you know. Summerton man was found on our watch um. on our watch right thanks to us thanks. to us and this was solved on our watch. so uh as the longer we do the show the. more these Mysteries are kind of uh you. know maybe they'll find that that guy. who disappeared from the the airport.

remember that guy oh yeah that poor kid. from yeah I don't remember what island. he Swedish or something yeah that was a. sad story yeah so we're hoping to clear. up all these Mysteries but yeah the. mysterious song has been solved great. and it was F Subways of your mind and. who wrote in cuz I mean a million people. wrode in I don't think we've ever got. more more email about the same thing in. less time than I'm on this one it was. astounding it was like when those post.

office workers come in at the end of. Miracle on 34th Street and start dumping. Santa letters onto the judge's bench it. was like that but with emails about the. most mysterious song on the internet. yeah and it's going to get worse cuz. this isn't going to come out cuz we're. front loading for Christmas break and so. like we're going to be getting these. emails for weeks D we'll be getting them. for years Chuck we got an email from. somebody this week and the subject line. was Chuck predicted shark. right that is a old old classic oh man.

why all they hear about Jared from. Subway and uh Hugh uh Hugh Jackman Hugh. Jackman playing PT Barner who was it PT. bar the greatest showman. yeah anyway that was for Michael thanks. a lot Michael very much appreciated. thanks to everybody who wrote in we. don't mean to sound ungrateful uh we're. just joshing around yeah we love it yep. thank you yeah keep us informed as best. can all the time uh and since I said. that and you want to be like Michael I.

should tell you that you can send us an. email send it off to stuff podcast at. iheartradio.com. [Music]. stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart radio for more podcasts my heart. radio visit the ihart radio app Apple. podcasts or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].