The River: Capt. Pete McMahan pays tribute to Capt. Colin Washknock, a river pilot

(Capt. Pete McMahan is filling in this week for Capt. Don Sanders with this story about a special river pilot, Capt. Colin Washknock. Capt. Don will return to this space next week.)

By Capt. Pete McMahan
Special to NKyTribune

A river pilot can be best described as one with exceptional local knowledge of a very particular waterway.

I cannot think of anyone other than Captain Colin Washknock, with more knowledge and skill of the Ohio River north of Cincinnati from mile 459 at Silver Grove Kentucky to Aurora Indiana at mile 497 on the southern end.

In January of 2007 I started a job with the Cincinnati-based barge fleeting and tug service McGinnis Inc. on the Harbor Tug Susan E. where I was first introduced to Captain Colin Washknock and First Mate and apprentice Steersman Bob Shaw. I was a cocky 25-year-old with previous experience on excursion boats who thought I knew more than I did about boat handling. I would soon be humbled by this very capable and knowledgeable Captain.

I had stepped down in position from a Captain on excursion boats on the east coast to a deckhand on a harbor push-boat, with the intention of building the necessary sea time to upgrade my license. I needed to be completely retrained in the very different skills and vernacular used on, what is known in the maritime industry, as the western rivers.

The job was arduous, working in all elements, shifting 200-foot-long barges, in and out of fleets, on and off docks, and building main line tows that would make their way along the American waterways from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

My first impression of Capt. Cole was that of a simple, stoic, practical man of great competency in his very particular craft.  He was not loud or boisterous, he never yelled, he did not have to. He is a man who carries his resolve in the creases around his eyes and the calluses on his hands. He is the old man, the largely forgotten man, the man whose example and efforts, unseen and un-thanked, are the foundations of what our society and the very world around us is built.

Colin Washknock worked in the Cincinnati area of the Ohio and Licking Rivers with reaches extending north and south of the city for 48 years. Despite the nearly half a century he spent perfecting his skills as a harbor tug master he once exclaimed, “the river always changes, I learn something new every day.”

There is not a week that goes by where I do not quote his wisdom, especially in trying my best to carry his legacy. He taught me to not bother with comparing myself to others and simply focus on the task at hand, concerning myself with that which is immediately available to me, however not in so many words. One day working in the harbor I asked, “Why do we do all the dock shifts and work all the tows and the Mac McGinnis just sits there doing nothing?”

“Don’t you worry about that Mac McGinnis!” he retorted enthusiastically, “you worry about the Susan E.!” admonishing me in one simple sentence a lesson I would carry the rest of my life and must continuously reiterate to my deckhands.

Mark Twain once said that a River Pilot must have “good and quick decision making and judgment and a calm cool courage that no peril can shake.” I believe Capt. Cole epitomized this. I learned this one day while building tow on the Ohio side across from Bromley, Kentucky when a south-bound boat with 15 loads, saddle bagged the Southern Railroad bridge.

The Captain on the Mainline tow we were working called it before it happened. “Y’all come back off tow boys, that dude is way outta shape.” I looked up at the wheelhouse of the Susan E. to find Capt. Cole looking upriver toward the danger. He turned and said, “Time to go!” Bob and I climbed over the bull rail on the bow of the tug and watched as a loose block of 9 barges off the then-scattered tow descended the river just above us at a moderate clip.

They may have been moving only 3-5 mph, but that’s 14,000 tons and I supposed that we would flee from its trajectory. Instead, calmly and coolly, Capt. Cole, rather than move out of the way, pointed the mighty Susan E. upriver toward the runaway tow, which at this point was closing quickly on the tow we were working. He wedged the tug between the two tows and shoved with all the 1000hp the Susan had to offer. It was just enough, although I wouldn’t have guessed it initially.

It took a few minutes to check the momentum of the unmanned raft and, as the stern of the Susan narrowly missed the tow, she started to shove off. Shortly thereafter the cavalry arrived on the lower end when the Mac McGinnis showed up and we positioned the tow safely in the fleet and started pumping wing tanks. That was more than 14 years ago, and I don’t guess I’ll ever forget it.

Capt. Cole was unshaken, undeterred, and not once, during all the excitement did he lose control. In his time as a harbor tug master Capt. Cole has seen a lot of situations like what I’ve just described, way too many to recount here.

Capt. Colin has been retired around 13 years now, and nearly every week we’ll talk. Often, I’m on the boat, plowing the Lower Mississippi River from Cairo Point to New Orleans, and he’ll ask me where I am and, though he has not run the Lower Mississippi, he’ll look up my location on an atlas and zero in on me.

We’ll talk about the days we spent together on the Susan and I’ll remember the lessons I learned there, which were of far greater value and substance than the laying of rigging or handling of lines. He taught me the old way, the hard way, the way that persists through difficulty I’ll likely never know but am now moderately prepared for, and, in no small way, due to his example.

Thank you, Captain Cole, you’ve been an inspiration, a mentor, and today I call you a friend.

Here is to a true River Pilot.

You can still purchase Captain Don Sanders’ The River book.

ORDER YOUR RIVER BOOK HERE

Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the NKyTribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytellings, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.

You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.

Order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ book here .

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