Deck on Deck: towboating in the twin cities

In 1975 at the tender age of 17 a very wet behind the ears Bob Deck left high school to learn the art of being a deckhand on Mississippi River towboats with the goal of becoming a "harbor pilot". The men who trained him were colorful and unique characters. Men like "Steamboat" Bill Ruport a grizzled River Rat at the ripe old age of 24who learned Bob how to handle the lines (what rivermen call ropes) and "lay riggin" (wire barges together) into "tows" (rafts of barges to be pushed downriver from St. Paul to St. Louis). Bob learned that rivermen have a whole different nautical vocabulary. Later decking under the iron-fisted Captain Crash provided danger and humor to a young man's coming of age. If you have ever driven across a bridge over the river and wondered what life on those Mississippi riverboats is like then this is one view that is enlightening and entertaining.