Between the Levees

Quick update on things.

Mr. Doug Jackson joins me on the show this week to discuss the ongoing project that took over his life many years ago. He is the owner and builder of the SV Seeker, a triple-masted Chinese junk rig sailboat, that came together over many years in his front yard in North Tulsa. In this short introduction to him and his project, among other things, he discusses the building process, the boat's specifications, and the help he's had along the way, including, not least of them, Captain Brandon Phillips who has appeared on the show a few times now and introduced us to make this happen.

Kannon Brown joins me on the show to chat through his life and career thus far, and his involvement in the Maritime Throwdown program his father, Kenny, created a few years ago. Kenny hops on as well to chat about the 2024 Wildcard Qualifier that took place at Workboat in New Orleans, and some updates about his program.

Harley East joined me at the Workboat Show in New Orleans last week. She discussed her life growing up with a father in the wheelhouse, her life today, and her involvement with Riverbank Professionals, the all-new crewing and social media platform created to connect mariners with companies and one another.

To watch the livestream of the Maritime Throwdown Wildcard Qualifier from the Workboat Show, please check it out @ https://www.youtube.com/live/ytLiVPHbqEw?si=n97zDBu3Yq6sLG06

Captain Dennis Springer II joins me on the show to share his story through life thus far. We hear about his familial history in the industry, a troubled childhood that found him emancipated and out of school by the age of 13, a 9-year prison term in young adulthood, and his journey into and through the industry thereafter with ample mention of a handful of previous podcast guests.

I'm joined by Mr. George Nelson Jr., a logistics planner (among other things) for Cooper Marine and Timberlands. We talk through his early life growing up around a coal terminal in Mobile, AL, his great grandfather's experience on paddlewheel steamers back in the day, his father's career, his first time on a towboat, and his journey through the industry to today.

Retired Captain David Greer joins me again on the show to talk through the changes he saw in the country, the industry, and the river, itself, over the decades he spent shoving cargo up and down the waterways of the Americas.

After a 35-year career that started in the early 70s as a watchman for SCNO Barge Line, Mr. Jim Fox joined the industry during college and was called back to it after a brief jaunt as a teacher. After ACBL acquired SCNO barge line, he found himself in Venezuela helping develop an improved river transportation system for their bauxite mine and alumina production facilities with a few previous guests from the show, went into Argentina for similar pursuits, and later found himself in Colombia surveying another waterway for Trafigura. Since leaving the industry, he spent time employed by the Minnesota Twins teaching English to the Spanish speakers on the team, and keeps busy chasing grandkids and family around Florida.