TowboatTour

03/20/2026

Workboat Magazine
If you are a coastal or inland mariner, do you read WorkBoat magazine? If you don’t you should as there are both paper and online versions available free with a lot of useful information. The March 2026 edition covers primarily propulsion systems. Go to https://www.workboat.com/ for News, Show News, Viewpoints, Significant Boats, Resources, Events, Magazine, Jobs&Marketplace. It has been available for 75 years. To join you need to select a “Job Function” which can be “Crew” and “Business Sector”. The digital archives go back to 2015 so you can reread something if you missed it.

10/22/2025

Be VERY CAREFUL about trainer contracts with Golds Gym Walker Springs. We asked for and paid $929.00 for 16 trainer visits. They say we signed, without being given a chance to read it, a one year contract. They now want $1,390.40 to get out of a contract.

10/20/2024

There was a 700' x 200' Party Barge group in Knoxville in October 2024 pushed my Miss Lesile

01/16/2022

Marine Parts Remaining: All listed on Facebook Marketplace.
Tweco T-120 Lugs for 1/0 – 2.0 Cable $2 ea
Horseshoe Buoy $40
Battery hold Down trays 3 ea at $12
30A 50’ shore power cable $80.

5 each NMEA 2000Tee connector $15 each
Extra heavy duty jumper cables $40
Jabsco marine toilet in original, unopened box $165

LT2000 lbs super winch $100
Mast/steaming light $20
Fireboy Engine Room Fire System $400
Red & Green LED bow lights $80

Multiport shower sump pump $120
Red & White LED cabin light $25
Guzzler 500 manual bilge pump $80

Boat cabin 12V cooling fans $45
Boat rudder angle indicator $45
Marine bilge pump switch$40
Marine bilge pump $80

Marinco Easy Lock 30A 120V shore power connector for boat $75
500,000cd, remote control spotlight$230
Fireboy-Xintrex LLM02 dual liquid level monitor $300

Hustler 25’ x 10’ pontoon/boat trailer $3,600
1, 2, All battery switch $35
Deep cycle 6V golf cart type batteries and case, batteries $300 ea and case free with purchase of two batteries

All items listed on Facebook Marketplace under John Farmer with multiple photos and detailed description. All new and purchased for a project that was canceled.

08/29/2020

Our video for this week is the sometimes serious but often funny What it's like to be a riverboat captain at https://youtu.be/XKcYsIrHTrM . It's a tough job but someone has to do it.

B What it’s like to be a riverboat captain, will give you just some idea of the things a riverboat captain encounters. Some are serious but many are humorous...

07/11/2020

My latest YouTube video https://youtu.be/zLxBiFoVtso is on using Radar in River Navigation. It describes the Lowrance/Simrad Digital, Spread Spectrum, Radar that is superior to anything I have ever used on the river.

5 River Navigation, Radar, will describe how to use recreational marine radar sets for river navigation based on years of use on commercial vessels. It will ...

07/02/2020

4 OpenCPN Overview https://youtu.be/skVU97RvMzUOpenCPN is a free advanced, marine navigation software program, available to both the recreational boater and the professional captain. Through a NEMA 0183, serial interface and serial to USB adapter, OpenCPN interfaces GPS and AIS data for your computer. Other features include exporting routes for transfer to other GPS devices. This overview will give you an idea of what it provides.

4 OpenCPN Overview OpenCPN is an advanced, marine navigation software program, available to both the recreational boater and the professional captain. Throug...

06/04/2020

We are now switching to teaching river navigation with my book (100-pages, first draft, for entry level professionals and serious cruisers) and a series of YouTube videos (for recreational cruisers). For those professionals on the river, we will STRONGLY EMPHASIZE staying well clear of all tows and always contacting them on 13 or 16 for safe meeting or passing. To check out some of what we are doing please see https://sailingtoucan.org/river-navigation/ . We hope to see you on the river as we begin to cruise. Many thanks for your support from all of our 999 page likes to date! We will help get the word out to make your job easier. We are all waiting for a time when Corona is back to just being a beer,

and Live-Aboard Cursing There are many texts on Offshore navigation such as The American Practical Navigator (2000-pages) but none on practical river navigation until now, see left. River navigation may be simpler but it is different and requires some study.…Read more ›

01/12/2020

Unfortunately we have canceled this project and we are selling the equipment at a fraction of its original value. Please see https://towboattour.com/equipment for a list that we are building of sale items.

07/30/2019

Unfortunately we are at a standstill. The shop where we built our 1/5 scale barge is being used for other things now so I need a place to build the towboat.
I have all but one of the frames completed are almost ready to begin assembly.

01/27/2019

We are giving our "Barging 101" talk Feb 7th at the Great Lakes and Rivers Section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers meeting in Cleveland. Still working to get the word out about the benefits of barging.