Towboats with NO Cooks ???

Do it yourself meals?

And we were just discussing the good genes which have kept Capt. Reynolds' boyish figure... uh oh poptarts and popcorn...bye bye genes!

Hey Keith and Judy,

Here we go again, the old bottom line. One less crew person to pay,benefits, etc. Seems like there is already enough trouble finding young people interested in this line of work, now they'll take away three home cooked squares a day. No more "adopted" towboat Mothers and Fathers to talk out ones daily concerns, home sickness, etc. without a cook. I think Capt. John Hartford paintd the picture pretty well in "Long Hot Summer Days". I guess it's true what they say that one true constant is change, that and the old river keeps a rolling on by.

One last cup of iced tea from the fruit jar.

Aaron

The Smaller Towboat And Tugboat Companies have......................

Greetings From New Orleans ,
Keith , unfortunately the smaller towboat and for that matter tugboat companies , as well have been unfortunately " down sizing " their crews and and upsizing their profit margins by simply eliminating the position of cook on board the respective vessels that they own and operate .
It is my understanding that the ships and dredge boats still have cooks on board I think because of the size of the crews and union requirements !
Furthermore , my brother served over 18 years on a Crescent Towing tugboat as a deckhand and then Captain and due to this he became a first class cook and to this day he can easily out cook his wife ! Go FIgure !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

Keith Norrington;25556 wrote: It was reported in The Waterways Journal that some towboats will no longer have cooks aboard and their crews will now utilize "heat and serve" meals. Did I read that correctly? Knowing how some of my good friends who work on towboats LOVE to eat, I can't imagine the hardworking crews coming in off the tow or down from a long watch in the pilothouse and finding tv dinners, pop tarts or microwave popcorn among their choices. Fabulous Food -- and PLENTY of it -- on towboats has always been legendary on the river. Have mercy!!!

It's true....ACBL laid off all their cooks a couple of months ago. The powers that be thought other companies would follow suit but instead they hired the laid off ACBL cooks (a good cook is hard to fine). Now those companies are using "we have cooks on our boats" as a recuiting tool.
That's what happens when a tow boat company is run by ex-railroad and Harvard MBA's...there's no cooks on a train.

All true. Fortunately my company still has cooks, and they are much appreciated. However, as far as a recruting tool, I am not sure how much of an effect that has.

Younger people today are not as interested in food as they may have been in the past. In fact, we have a couple of boats in our fleet who are cook-less by choice (mine is NOT one of them). These men think they can get by just fine on Hot Pockets, frozen pizzas, RoTel dip and Eskimo Pies.

What younger people and bean counters do not understand is this: when a crew has been working all day or all night in all kinds of weather, there is nothing like coming in to a freshly prepared hot (or cool and refreshing) meal at the end of a watch. With more companies cutting the size of deck and engine room crews, this is all the more important. I cannot be convinced it is cheaper to buy pre-prepared or frozen items.

As far as other crew members picking up the slack, it just can't be done in the way a full time cook can. I have heard people say, "Well we eat just as well if not better doing our own cooking". That MIGHT be true about half the time, but there is no way the crew can do their jobs right and cook right, too. Plus, you miss things like a separate fresh supper, salads every day, homemade biscuits, home made desserts every day. The points Aaron makes are valid, too -- no "mother" or "father" figure to help these young men out when they need someone to talk to or listen.

Fortunately there are still companies that appreciate the value of cooks.

Hey Cap,

Another thought that came to my mind is where do you get the food? Are there still midstream services or is all the food brought on with crew change or while tied off in a fleet.

I'll take a home cooked meal any day of the week over a hot pocket, but then again I'm not the size I am for shying away from good food.

Aaron

I feel fortunate to work for one of the best (in my opinion) companies on the river, AEP. We not only still have cooks on all of our line-haul boats, but the company has recently started recruiting graduates from various culinary schools. The company has even relaxed on the unofficial standard on the river of hiring older women, usually in their forties and above as cooks, several of our boats have twenty-one year old girls fresh out of school.

I don't know yet how that's going to work...if everyone acts professionally it could be a good thing, or it could turn into a big headache VERY quickly. I don't have to worry about that yet, the cook on my boat is a big, ugly, retired coal miner named Mike, but he is one hell of a cook.

I do hate to hear of companies getting rid of cooks on boats. I guess it's just one more American job that will eventually be added to the list relegated to history, like phone operators, milkmen and factory workers. Oh well, I hear they're hiring at the mall and McDonalds....and Air traffic controllers, if you can stay alert/awake.

John

Big Mama's Cooks

I dug into my files and came up with this faded old photo of the cooks aboard the famous steam towboat SPRAGUE. Can't you just imagine the fabulous fare this culinary quartet turned out for the officers and crew of the "BIG MAMA" of the Mississippi ?!

*RE: No cooks on boats*

Steamboating colleagues:
Thanks again to Keith for the fine photo of the cook house crew on the SPRAGUE. How did they do it? we ask ourselves. Considering the current economic 'recession' we're in, along with present political thinking, this thread RE: No cooks on boats comes as no shock or surprise to me. Seems some years back the current DELTA QUEEN management considered a similar plan to cut expenses offering more pre-prepared meals...microwave etc. I never heard the complete story then but they soon retuned to the time tested methods. Who here remembers or experienced that experiment?

A number of us here recall the old days with the DQ [And the GORDON C. GREENE and other passenger boats before that] when local farmers in season hukstered their fresh garden and other products to the boat at way landings. The cook house crew sat on the lower deck shucking corn, snapping beans, cutting/cleaning greens, carrots, potatoes etc. to be cooked fresh and tasty. Breads, rolls, cornbread always fresh and hot. This done even on 7 day and shorter trips. Milk, dairy products loaded here in Cincinnati. Those folks worked long, hard, hot hours down below turning out great meals starting early in the morning with prayers, clapping, singing until late at night. Big cuts of 'steamboat round of beef' were expensive then for the old GREENE LINE with the head office thinking before making the purchase. That's the way it was then. Makes all of us stop and think. What was the favorite foods any of you liked on the DQ--or the towboats for that matter? I loved the DQ's grilled steaks, beef, catfish, bread puddings, fired chicken like no other. DQ coffee was always the finest and I've never tasted any as good since then--even in so-called upscale 'gourmet' restaurants here in Cincinnati.

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

Creme de Menthe parfaits... some of us would hover around the freezer in hopes of there being leftovers from Captain's dinner.

I don't think the cooking school graduates will last long.

Cooks Asst.

My first extended trip on a towboat was the Historic J.S. LEWIS, to Tall Stacks in 1992. I was logged as Cook's assistant/CaLLiope player.. And I sure pealed my share of potatoes and stirred gravy, mopped floors and decks, washed dishes, etc..
I can't remember the cooks name, she was probably in her early 60's and Sweet as could be, and she cooked on other MCS boats..
The food was Wonderful and company was the best..
It May have been alot of hard work, But I SURE wish I could do it all over again.. 🙂

So here's a Long & 2 shorts to the cooks on the towboats..

River Recipes

A thousand years ago I was asked to illustrate a book of recipes gleaned from towboat cooks. I did the illustrations but nothing ever came of the book. I did about a dozen illustrations and here are the 2 food related ones.

Never A Bad Meal On A Corps Boat !

Greetings From New Orleans !
I cannot speak for other tow boat or tug boat or even off shore supply boats but I can speak with authority that on the Army Corps Of Engineers boats , that not only do they still have on board cooks, meaning plural , but you will never experience a bad meal as well !
The day I went down to the M/V Mississippi V , to visit a few old friends , I was treated to an excellent meal on board ! Not only did they have what I affectionately refer to as " Tow Boat Food " , but they even had a fresh and abundant supply of New Orleans style boiled crawfish ! It was all very delicious and seconds and thirds were in order by everyone there !
The M/V Mississippi V is well appointed with all the on board luxuries that any river boat crew could ever imagine ! Not only does it have a spacious galley and mess that has AC and a TV for the crew but it also has a separate salad bar buffet as well ! Only the best for this one of a kind Motor Vessel !
Ha ! Just another example of YOUR tax dollars at work !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson