Two and a half decades ago (almost) I was entering New Hampshire from Quebec and was stumped:  the US border agent brought his face to about a foot from mine and asked: “How does someone from Massachusetts (my drivers license) and someone from Maine (her drivers license)  meet?”  I knew he wanted a short, convincing answer, and I thought in paragraphs and chapters even.

This shot immediately reminded me of  that experience:  how does a tugboat from San Francisco and one from New York end up lashed together, no longer floating,

cradled on the broad back of Mighty Servant?  The answer is . . . it’s complicated and it’ll take paragraphs and chapters to relate.

And I certainly don’t know much of the story.  What I do know is that at 0902 today, here’s what I saw.

The barges loaded yesterday were still being secured, crew fine tuning as they would a huge

musical instrument.  What music would you like the Mighty Servant to play today?

0951 hr . . .  Charles D. McAllister and Gabby Miller brought their various powers to bear on the travelers.

Centurion and Hercules have pleasingly different bows.

Note the small boat (Bobby G?) preparing Centurion’s entry.

Even Bohemia comes by.

1047 hr . . .  shoehorning is happening on the far side as Albermarle Island passes with a load of Ecuadorian fruit.

From this angle, Mighty Servant thusly loaded reminds me of an ocean going sidewheeler, like SS Savannah.

By 1047, she seemed loaded and I couldn’t tell if

the deballasting aka raising had begun.

More may follow.   All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Oh . . . sorry, Johna.  I could say I picked her up hitchhiking . .  . to spice up the story.  The truth is we were coworkers in a publishing company and that led to some fairly spiced up waterborne adventures;  we were just returning from a jaunt up the St. Lawrence northeasterly from Quebec City.   If you want more on her . . . Diana, a major true love and heartbreak, you’ll have to read My Babylonian Captivity.  Diana is not her real name.