INKWATU PHOTO: New York Tugboat

Harbor Tours

It used to be that I always poo-pooed guided tours. But at some point—maybe about the time I started getting tired of hoofing it around, lost, on my own—my attitude changed. What changed my mind was a horse and buggy tour in Key West I took only because I had a certain amount of time to spend before I could leave and I was looking for something to fill that time. That was a fortunate accident, because I discovered just how much fun a guided tour can be and how much one can learn from them. Ever since, I’ve been hooked.

On a recent trip to NYC that resulted in my New York Street Food post, the first day, I took the Circle Line Tour. Absolutely first rate! I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you’re ever in New York you won’t regret taking it. The 3 hour cruise is best if you have the time.

Tugboat symbolism

One of the things I saw on the cruise that struck an emotional note was the large number of tugboats! Trawlers, tugboats, workboats, harbor tugs, all terms for the same thing: the boats that assist in the navigation of enormous cargo and passenger vessels in the harbor. When I say, “emotional note,” I’m not indulging in hyperbole—tugboats have a meaning beyond their real-world “purpose.” Many everything day things do: flowers, food, cars, blankets, rocking-chairs…they’re symbols, literally tips of icebergs of meaning that reach deep and wide within our subconscious mind and represent things to us that affect us deeply.

I think it begins in childhood. Do you remember Little Toot? Scuffy the Tugboat? Scuffy was definitely in my Golden Book collection as a pre-schooler. If you’re younger you probably had your consciousness shaped by Theodore Tugboat on TV. (A confession: I even enjoyed watching Theodore as an adult.) If you suddenly realize you wish you still had your childhood books, just click on one of the links below. They’re still available—even VHS tapes of Theodore Tugboat (sorry, no DVDs).

So, what do tugboats represent in the emotional mind? Well…for me, it’s sort of an extension of the Little Train that Could (another favorite Golden Book): a small, seemingly insignificant and unimportant boat upon which the huge, mighty, and impressive ocean going vessels depend. Perhaps they’re an affirmation of the “common man” for me, an affirmation that none of us are really unimportant, that all of us have a meaningful role of some sort. If tugboats have an emotional connotation for you, I’d enjoy hearing about it in a comment.

INKWATU PHOTO: New York Tugboat

One online writer, obviously in finance and going through a career change, had this to say about the symbolism of tugboats for himself: “I have come to think of the lighthouse as a symbol of the old way of doing financial business that needs to be replaced. A lighthouse is an elegant structure that points the way through the danger, yet itself remains safely on the shore. A tugboat, however, gets right in the middle of things, experiencing exactly what the larger ship is going through, leading the way. Similarly, a financial institution should embrace the interests of its clients and share risks and rewards — not just give advice from a safe haven while collecting its fees. The world is changing right now and investors deserve a better financial institution.” He extends his metaphors into quilts by saying, “together the scraps of my career that will form the basis for the quilt of a new firm.” A nice thought and the kind of thinking I enjoy.

INKWATU PHOTO: New York Tugboat

Tugboat Enthusiasts

As I researched this post, I was delighted to discover that I’m hardly alone in my attraction to tugboats. The Tugboat Enthusiasts Society of the Americas has an excellent page with photos and tidbits about tugs all around the Americas, including the Great Lakes.

Youtube popularity is a pretty good indicator of how widespread interest is in a subject. Check out this simple little video of a tugboat pulling a barge on the Hudson. If you start to get hooked, you’ll see plenty more tugboat Youtube videos listed there.

Similarly with Flickr: there’s a Flickr tugboat group. There are countless pictures in it, but if you click here, you can see just the best of them in a Flickr slideshow by contributing members of the group. It’s really worth taking the time to view.

INKWATU PHOTO: New York Tugboat

The Great Big Site of Tugboats is the definitive site for tugboat lovers. In addition to detailed information on tugs and many pictures, it even includes a link to contact tugboat crew members and people in the industry. The Travels of Tug44 is an exploration of the many different types of workboats. Individual enthusiasts have their own tribute pages. A good example is Tugboats.com which features some historical tugs such as tug HOGA that was instrumental in helping after the attack on Pearl Harbor and, with her crew, “received a special citation from Admiral Chester Nimitz for her heroic work.” One group of photos that has proliferated on various sites across the web is this sequence that shows a tug slithering underneath a bridge that’s too low.

INKWATU PHOTO: New York Tugboat

Tugboat festivals

There are even tugboat festivals. In 2008, one was held in Penetanguishene, Ontario, with over 20 tugboats participating. It’s detailed in the Tugfest weblog. The ones I’d definitely like to see are either the Annual New York Tugboat Race with its display by the NYFD boat spewing its jets or the Waterford, NY, Tugboat Roundup–maybe both. Here’s more from the Working Harbor Committee “for the heritage and future of the Harbor of New York and New Jersey.”

Hopefully by now, you’re hooked on tugs (or maybe hooked again for the first time since you were 3 years old). If so, here’s some books for adults on tugs you might enjoy:

The little red lighthouse (Jeffrey’s Hook)

One highlight of the Circle Tour around Manhattan was Jeffrey’s Hook, better known as “The Little Red Lighthouse.”

INKWATU PHOTO: Jeffrey’s Hook Little Red Lighthouse

Here’s a brief quote from the Lighthouse Museum site (linked to above) that explains the significance of the little red lighthouse: “The Little Red Lighthouse stands proudly beneath the George Washington Bridge on the New York shore. She reminds us that all things big or small have a significant place in our world. The children’s book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Big Grey Bridge by Hildegarde Swift taught this lesson well. The Little Red served as a navigational aid before and after the bridge was built. When the light was commissioned in 1921 she served the Hudson River mariners, always keeping a good light until the USCG deactivated it in 1947. Swift’s book played a major role in saving the light, for it was the millions of children who loved The Little Red Lighthouse story who spoke out when the USCG wanted to sell and dismantle the light. The children won-and today all of us can enjoy its beauty.””

The Little Red Lighthouse still has many friends. The Lighthouse Friends page is quite informative, as are the NYC parks page about it and the Hudson River Lighthouse Coalition page. If you like technical stuff, check out all the specs at the National Park Service page for Jeffrey’s Point.

Here’s an Amazon link to the Hildegarde Swift book referenced above. In addition to The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge link, I also included a link to the North American Lighthouses Coloring Book. (Hey…who doesn’t enjoy coloring books?!)

Lighthouse Enthusiasts

Lighthouses have their enthusiasts just as tugboats do, only by powers of ten. Lighthouses are almost an obsession for some folks and—as obsessions go—I can’t imagine a better one. I’ve been in homes where every horizontal surface was crowded with a replica of an actual lighthouse. If you’re into those kind of knick-knacks, check out the Lighthouse Depot.

I don’t go quite that far, but lighthouses have a special place in my heart, too. One in particular, the Biloxi, Mississippi, lighthouse, has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. If you have a lighthouse in your life, please don’t hesitate to send a comment about it.

Marinas.com has a great list of lighthouses around the world. The Lighthouse Directory lists them by state and country. A beautiful site is Lighthouse Central which is just for Michigan—I had no idea there were some many lighthouses there. A Great Lakes lighthouse listing is the Coast Guard Light List. Planete TP–the world of public works has information on the earliest lighthouses with a picture of one on the Isle of Thasos, from the 5^th century BC.

Lighthouse symbolism

Of course, just as lighthouses have their enthusiasts, so too they have their deep psychological symbolic significance (which, no doubt, accounts for the attraction so many people have toward them).

I doubt if one could ever exhaustively list all the possible symbolic meanings that lighthouses have for people. Not only is there the first generation of symbolic relationships surrounding the idea (a beacon to the lost, a sign of danger where one might run ashore, land at last after a long journey at sea, etc. ad infinitum), but also numerous generations of meaning flowing outward from each of those first generation meanings (land at last after a long journey at sea » the long journey across the sea of time » the sea of a life-time » unknown dangerous creatures lurking beneath the Life-time Sea » etc. » etc.). Powerful stuff, but it’s obviously there for all of us.

Because lighthouses are so pregnant with hidden meaning, I think the notion of “lost” lighthouses (light houses whose locations are no longer known) and “haunted” lighthouses are especially evocative. Here are a couple books—of out many—on such lighthouses.

Before leaving the psychological aspects of lighthouses, please take a look at this site about the significance of lighthouses in sandplay therapy on the Sandplay Therapists of America website. One discovers a new delight at every turn: I had no idea there was such a thing as sandplay therapy, although I’ve always admired the the sandpainting of Native Americans in the southwest and the sand mandalas of Tibetan Buddhism. (This Wikipedia article discusses both.)

Finally, on the symbolic front, I wonder if a big part of the allure of lighthouses and tugboats is that they’re both associated with water, itself an extremely rich emotional symbol.

ALLEN LOYD PHOTO: Fishing Point St. Anthony, NL Lighthouse

lighthouse keeper vacations

Running away to be a lighthouse keeper is another escape fantasy many people have had (me too). Unfortunately, most lighthouses any more are either entirely automated and/or part of a State or National park service. But, there are a few jobs available. Try Lighthouse News to see some possibilities.

However, it’s still very possible to have your fantasy with a vacation as a lighthouse keeper! Here are some links for you to explore—there are many more you can find online, if the idea intrigues you.

• Ask Yahoo…becoming a lighthouse keeper
• Salmon River Lighthouse Marina (supposedly haunted!)
• WA State Parks–Cape Disappointment
• MI Tawas Point State Park Lighthouse (beautiful site)
• Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation (a lighthouse volunteer vacation)

I honestly think I’m going to give that vacation idea a try sometime. Or, maybe even apply for one of the jobs… if I can find one where the lighthouse has a good broadband connection!

The Newfoundland lighthouse photo above and the one following are by Allen Loyd, a friend and artist who camped up into and through Newfoundland this summer.

ALLEN LOYD PHOTO: Point Riche Lighthouse in Port Au Choix