Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1506076
V O L . X X I X N O. X I X 34 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine P H OTO E S S AY Capt. Brian Fournier disembarks a ship after guiding an oil tanker through Casco Bay Bridge on a recent foggy summer day. Capt. Sarah Kaplan will dip the bow of the Andrew McAllister to pick up Fournier as the gangway lowers. The Andrew McAllister sails the BBC Arizona tanker through the Casco Bay Bridge out to sea. The docking pilot tries to limit the duration of the bridge in the up position to reduce the backup of auto traffic. Andrew McAllister Capt. Sarah Kaplan "Going under is the easy part, it's when the bridge doesn't open for an inbound or outbound ship that makes our job a little bit more challenging, especially for the pilot." What happens when the bridge doesn't open? "So, if it's an inbound ship, we gotta get a line up real quick and start acting as the breaks for that ship," she says. The headline on a winch on the Andrew McAllister. The headline is made from an ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene with the strength of steel but buoyant. Senior deckhand Peter Rodriguez feeds extra headline through the staple to a ship. Rodriguez has been with Portland Tugboat for 22 years and works on all 4 of the boats in the fleet. "I kind of like what I do, being able to jump around from boat to boat and do all that kind of stuff," he says. Rodriguez finds being on the water calming and enjoys being outside and not in an office. Deckhand Phil Doria pulls the headline over the H-bitt to flake out extra slack for coming along a ship at a terminal. The headline will be attached to the ship to help maintain the tugboat's position along the ship as well as provide a way to maneuver the ship from the dock. "When you are on the boat, you're pretty much head on a swivel," Capt. Sarah Kaplan says, "Day or night. At night you just can't see like you can during the day, so that's where we will light up the deck for the guy working the deck but also for us to see what we are doing. Not so much following the ship but when we are actually working on the ship like pushing, pulling."