All in a Day's Work (Part 5) - Moving the barges

It takes on average about 15 minutes to move a barge from the beach staging area out to the jetty. Two tug boats are used, one in the rear and one along the side. In the video, the tug boat pulls the 1st barge backwards so it can clear the 2nd barge which is still anchored near the beach. The barge is then turned and pushed out into the channel of the Merrimack River. Once the 1st barge is anchored off the Salisbury jetty, the tugboats return to bring out the 2nd barge. The white tugboat comes around the rear of the barge and ties up to it. The tug then repositions the barge with one of the anchor posts still in the down position (the other two were previous raised up). The crane swings around to pull the third anchor post up. Once the post is up the tugboats get underway. The white foamy water turned up by the engines of the tugboat on the outside of the barge can be seen.

I recommended running the videos in full screen mode for the best viewing experience.

The blue and white tug boats tied up to one of the barges.

The tug boats are out of Chesapeake, Virgina.

Crane  lifts one of the anchor posts up so the barge can moved.

The anchor posts are held in the "up" position by a metal pin.

The barge underway in the Merrimack River heading out to the jetty.