The Sarah L. Ingram pushes on
Pilot Wayne Evans loves his job but the long days away make him homesick. He's on his 36th day because they were short a crewmember.
Photographer: Jessica Noll / 9 News
©2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 06/14/2011
OHIO RIVER - She pushes up and down the Ohio River on a daily basis, rain or shine: ‘She’ is the 'Sarah L. Ingram' towboat.
Built in 1983, she's named after the daughter-in-law of former Ingram Barge Company chairman, the late E. Bronson Ingram.
Spanning a 160 feet long and 42 feet wide, her cabin has everything crew members need to feel at home—beds, a dining room and a fully stocked kitchen.
The kitchen is home to Carroll Sullivan, who stands elbow-deep in suds after cooking for eight hungry men. She does it every day. And just like them, she works 28 days on and 28 days off—to say in the least, it's an adventure.
"It's an experience. When I first came out here I use to tell everybody that it was like what you use to read about Tom Sawyer going down the river," said the cook for the Sarah L. Ingram towboat. A towboat that has 6,100 horsepower.
It pushes a barge filled with coal and other commodities.
"This is the heart of the boat right here, because you've got your engines right there and that's what pushes it," said Donald Ashworth, the towboat’s chief engineer about the engine room.
The crew works for six hours and sleeps for six hours.
Pilot Wayne Evans loves his job but the long days away make him homesick. He's on his 36th day because they were short a crewmember.
"I miss my wife. Sometimes I think she'd probably be glad when I stay on extra. No, it's really, that's the only bad part about it. If you're a family person and you've got the wife and kids, that's the only bad part—you have to set your mind to it. It's either something you hate or something you love."
But he can't give up the river.
"I love the river and I've always liked working on the river. I've been doing it for 39 years.”
Like the crew, the 'Sarah L. Ingram' pushes on.
You can tour the towboat June 23 during the Paddlefest Kids Expo. The crew expects about 3,000 kids to come aboard.
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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