the ramona moved into exclusively freight after 10 years operating a store boat in the summer and a shore based store in the winter, first in nulato then later in galena.
i was only a boy just coming of age when.....
changes in alaska set in motion a change for the business. oil was discovered on the north slope. and the state of alaska began a series of village infrastructure improvements.
some where along the line dad became good friends with the owners of Ghemm Co., a major construction contractor. they had been awarded the job to drill water wells at the schools for koyukuk, hughes, allakaket, russion mission and marshall. dad and ghemm co. entered into a full time charter agreement to haul the drill rig and it's supplies to each location. wait for the well to be drilled, reload and go to next site. the 24 hr charter was for loading, moving, or standby until the work was done, one entire summer.
for this job, dad cut the house off the barge, leaving a plywood hull with small front and back decks and a 3' drop down into the barge, rimed by a 8" walk around the edge of the barge.
the wheels of that drill rig barely fit with all the blocking used to roll it in. the drill pipe fit high along both sides of the rig. the barge modification and loading was done in Fairbanks in the late 60's. turned out to be by far the heaviest load we had ever had up to that time, 50 tons. loading up with fuel in nenana, we stowed drums of diesel in every corner, any place there was a level surface to stand a barrel.
this was our first trip up the koyukuk river, and the first below holy cross.
wasn't long before construction chartering became more lucrative than groceries.
dad started looking for a freight barge.
it just so happened that the old FAA sites were changing and the city of tanana acquired 4 bulk fuel tanks from the faa, approx 50,000 gallons each.
i don't know where or when these bulk tanks were built but they had been built as 50'x30' barges. watertight on the top and bottom. floated to tanana pulled out and set up as bulk fuel storage. dad bought 2 of these steel barges. a third went to harold esmailka in ruby. i saw it still there when i last drove by. i don't know how but 40 years later the 4th ended up in the mouth of the tolovana river with doug bowers at the old tolovanna roadhouse, where it still sits today.
after a couple years taking on other jobs using these barges to grow the freight operation, we spent one entire spring widening the barges and modifying the bows and sterns of both to make them easier to push as they were only designed to float once down to the village then sit still holding fuel. without the barge modification, the ramona at full throttle would push the bow under water. we gave it a normal barge shape, adding 12 feet to the bow and 5 feet to the stern and 4 feet wider on each side. cleaned the rusty, oily inside. after much spring work and money we had our first freighter. that was about 1973. i gave my entire season's pay to become a full time partner, and now assumed the pilot's shift (noon to 6pm and midnight to 6am each day). dad took the captain's shift, the other half of our 24 hour days.
after lengthening and widening the ramona the following spring, we bought a second engine, another 671 jimmy with a 3/1 gear reduction turning a 38" 4-blade prop with a 42" pitch. this way we could rebuild one motor while the other keeps working. when it wore out, we could in one day switchout the rebuilt with the worn. repeat and keep moving. it was during the transition to freight that we started loading in nenana as opposed to fairbanks. because of the width and depth of the tanana we could take heavier loads out of nenana. but on occasion and by special arrangement we would go up to the chena and take on a load there. very difficult swift stretch of river for barges, but possible. one of my stories will include one of these trips.
it wasn't uncommon to load right to the deck for our two steel barges. each holding 60 tons. people would look at our load, shake their head...water right to the deck. any kind of wave washing over. in fact at 160 lbs i would walk across the stern from starboard to port or vice versa and make the load list one way then the other.
people would ask, where you going with that? downriver! it was OK. loaded to the deck the barges never leaked from bottom or top, those two old steel barges sealed up tight.
with water on the deck, they couldn't be pushed at full throttle 24 hours a day. the bow wave swings out wide to return and run over the mid-stern deck. had to throttle back on turns since the weight of the water became a critical factor adding to the 60 tons aboard caused the vessel to lean. touchy work keeping her straight and upright while moving as fast as possible. throttling back to enter a narrow crossing, or make sharp turns, or to minimize the effects of wind. many times a stern corner would go under. disappear until throttle eased. then slowly float back to it's balance, shedding water. recovering..time then again to pick the rpm up one notch and go..go..go. get rid of this load before the wind changes.
the heavier the load the bigger the pay day. when someone would ask dad about how much he had on board. he say," OH..120-150 tons between the two barges, you have something you want to send down?" there was always room on the bow for a couple more propane tanks, an outboard motor, or small truck". things that could get wet from bow spray. if they showed doubt he'd say,"you can't make money with free board."
right as usual, every load was maxed out, yet somehow there was always room for little things. a snow machine, drum of gas, or propane tank. never had any free board but always had room for that one important item that missed the last trip and was needed now more ever down river.
we'd unload anywhere the freight was going. in the village, a fish camp, any point or eddie. our motto was, "if it's wet we go there." and we could. we could always find a narrow channel and keep going as long as it was deep enough, 3 feet.
it was these years freighting where i received my best river education. most of my stories will now come from this period, heavy loads, questionable conditions. all excitement for this young man eager to learn the trade and prepare to become a captain, like dad.
the ramona was now a full time freighter. much smaller than our competition, yutana barge lines (YBL). but in the most basic way we needed eachother. we couldn't haul bulk fuel, while YBL found it costly to turn around in the river and stop 600 tons just for a pickup truck or tank of propane. competing businesses can and do compliment each other.
i should say that we did not try to compete. we each filled a need along the river that benefited customers and barge services alike.
my subsequent stories will now recall river navigation with heavy freight, narrow shallow channels and the rush to return for another load before the ice ran and the season came to a close.
wasn't long before we had a steady summer routine. a dozen trips from nenana to the koyukon area per season, with a major trip to holy cross and beyond.
early on dad had also found an old plank barge (80 tons) with a ramp, i think from don peterson. 100 feet long and leaked like hell each spring until the caulked timbers swell up. he also found a small 50x25' narrow fast barge (20 tons) made out of flattened oil drums welded by billy burk in manley hotsprings.
it was with these starter barges and the faa barge tanks from tanana that mom and dad put away the store business and went exclusively into freight operations.
it wasn't long before we were hauling heavy equipment and gravel for new school construction and airport improvements. we spent 3 years at the mouth of the yukon hauling dump trucks of gravel from saint mary's and mountain village to emmonak, allukanuk, sheldon point, and kotlik.
freighting is where this new chapter in the ramona takes on a different life. dominated by weight and water or the lack thereof.
we always tried returning to nenana to load for the final fall run carrying our own winter supplies, and leo kriska's last chance liquor store fall delivery. leaving one barge at leo's we'd dash down to reindeer lake near holy cross with our winter supplies on one barge before putting everything away for the winter. try to make it back to nenana, but sometimes it was not possible. getting caught in the ice is another story.
my stories coming now from freighting, much heavier river work. a period when i became a real river pilot and had most of my harrowing experiences. part of my growing up. i never gave it much thought at the time. it was our way of life and the tug was our summer home.
a very lucky boy i was. i hope you enjoy reading as much as i enjoy reliving these times with my parents. may they rest in peace. thank you mom and dad for this life.
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