Joliet

The river here is mostly tow traffic. This is called a Tow, and it pushes barges, (never, never call it a barge to the captain). Each time we pass one, which is every few minutes, we have to call the captain and get directions as to what side we should pass on. At first I had such a hard time remembering "two whistles", starboard to starboard, "one whistle", port to port. This particular tow was a three by five, meaning three barges wide and five long. It is amazing to watch how the captains manoeuvre these down the river. Taking them apart to get through the locks is a very tricky job and takes a very long time.