Between the Levees

Leadman Cole Bizwell runs up and downriver on the M/V JOHN D ROBERTS with Ingram Barge. He's five generations deep in the industry, and his family ran a company some out there may remember. We discuss his childhood and the upbringing that brought him into aviation, and his fateful decision to pursue a career on the water. He's been out here for about three years now, and it looks like many will follow.

Jonathan Jackson, a crane supervisor for Associated Terminals, joins me on the show to talk through his early life in the Greater New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas as well as his journey into the industry with a short stint working for a contractor at AEP's Convent Wash Dock that led him to Associated Terminals first on deck, then running cranes, and now into Operations Management. It's a great chat with a local that may develop into something new for my YouTube Channel.

"Big Dave" joins us back on the show to reminisce about careers and past associations he and Charlie survived together. Sounds yet again like these guys had a pretty good time in life. I'm not much needed here, but surely enjoyed it.

For the new Kulage and Friends series I'll be producing on my channel, Charlie and I get caught up on last week's release and banter a bit waiting on his old friend and partner in crime, Captain David Raines...

To learn more about Captain Raines, please check out his full-length episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Hq87XJZc2nkG2cRuBVCp6?si=ikeQ6rlsT4iFur1d3g0MYA

And to learn more about Charlie, we'll have almost 18 hours published here before long with more to come, so grab a favorite beverage and a favorite snack. Join us.

Charlie joins me again after six long months. He chronicles at length his journey into Recovery that continues through today in sober living and daily attendance in groups. This one's just over 3 hours long, and I'd ask that you watch and listen start to finish in as many sessions as may be necessary. For the next episode in two weeks, Capt. David Raines (Ep. 95 - https://youtu.be/id0DIkZ1eZ4?si=OCdCEqPsK6DJITFN) joins Charlie and me to get caught up on old times. I'm not much needed for that one!

We travel down memory lane again with Captain Rudy Ward as he shares stories about past associates and friends from a long career including, among others, Robert Thompson, Andrew McKinney, Jeremy Frazer, John Gentry, and Charles Strait. He also touches a bit on the Coast Guard, OSHA regulations, and those pesky shoreside folks.

Captain Greg "P-nut" Whittington joins me on the show to talk through his time on waterways across the United States as well as the trials and tribulations that persist out there for mariners related to mental health and coping with the towboat lifestyle. He's discovered a way through the challenges he's faced with depression when he picked up a banjo fairly recently and began sharing his life through song.

Captain Joey Swords joins me to talk through his career and experiences from a furniture factory in Mississippi to a week-long deckhand school, placement with Magnolia Marine, a deck position with Artco, and a chance in the wheelhouse at Jantran. His twenty-year career has seen time on most every river, but nearly ten years later with Jantran, he is one of a handful running the Arkansas.

Closing out Season 2 of the show, Capt. Rudy Ward joins me to share memories of a 50-year career out there on the water. From making $12.50 a day in the mid-70s when minimum wage was about $2/hour to the pilot house, Pilots Agree and beyond, he recalls a few stories about life on the water back then and on through to the present day. His illustrious career brought him to work for a ton of companies on nearly every waterway that supported barging, and he maintains a positive outlook on the industry he may well have left behind for good when he stopped off a vessel a few months back. I hope to host him again on the new show next year.

Quick update on Charlie and what he's been up to lately. We'll see him again, I'd imagine, sometime early next year.