The Towboat Passes By

One of the interesting things you learn if you spend enough time around the river is that there is a thing called Towboat.us.  I'm actually not surprised given some people when they are the water.  It basically seems like a stupid tax.

For a price, they will got out and tow your boat or fill your gas or whatever.  I realize that some boats don't really have a gas gauge but it seems like it would be important to keep on eye on that.

I'm guessing that he was heading out to give somebody a tow.

But I actually thought it was one of the Canadian coast guard boats, so I was a little disappointed.

It was still cool though.

And a Tow Boat

I see these boats often enough.  It gets me to thinking, how can you not pay attention to how much fuel you have left in your boat.

I mean I realize that people may not maintain their gauges on their boats as well as their cars but you would think they would have an idea.

Anyway, I'm sure this company gets rich of what amounts to a stupid tax.

 But I'm also sure they provide important rescue operations too.

Towboats US

 At one time, Michigan was known as the Water Wonderland.  At one time it said that on the license plates.  I think it is still a water wonderland.

I read that you are no further than 6 miles from a body of water in Michigan.  I also read that you are no more than 85 miles from a Great Lake.  Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any state.  It is in the top 10 of US coastlines.  As I said in another post, it wouldn't surprise me if Michiganders owned the most boats per capita in the United States.

 Anyway, I know there are a fair number of boats on the water at any given time.  I would imagine some of them might need a helping hand.   That's where towboats.us comes into play.  They will bring out gas or tow you out...for a fee.

Some Other Shots from Muskegon

Since I was there, I figured that I would get some shots of the lighthouse.

 As I said, it was a bit foggy when we got there.  I was kind of amazed at how foggy it was but it wasn't too bad.

 But it wasn't too bad.

 I think this is a bouy tender.  It was docked there.  We could tell the lake levels were pretty high as some of the docks were under water.

 I walked out to the pier.  The fog started to lift a little bit.

 Another shot.

 I thought I would be getting a shot of a Coast Guard response boat.  It turns out that it was just a towboat.

 The fog lifted a little bit.

But not entirely.