I worked as a truck mechanic at oil terminals. One time in Brooklyn a barge crewman was trying to get a taxi to get groceries. No taxis in Brooklyn back then. I gave him a ride to the local supermarket in our service truck. In 5 minutes in that store he came out with 2 loaded shopping carts. Filled the 8 foot bed of the truck. Have no idea how he did that so fast. I helped him haul the groceries back to the barge. He gave me a courtesy card from the company and said anytime one of his company vessels docked I was welcome aboard for a meal. All the mariners I bumped into on that job were great guys.

I used to be a meat cutter in a port city grocery store and the tugboat guys were always my favorite customers. They’d bring me a long list of items they needed cut and wrapped special, which I enjoyed preparing for them. I thought it was pretty neat how they weren’t afraid to spend the big bucks to make sure the crew had good food.

In 1978 I spent 3 months on a tuna boat. I was maintaining the helicopter used for spotting fish. We were fishing in international waters from central Mexico, 5 degrees above the equator about 30 miles off the coast of central America, and about 150 miles east of Hawaii. We ate good. The ships master had custody of the booze. Everyone got one shot a day, no matter how the fishing went.

In 1962, my senior year in high school, I spent most of the summer working as a relief oiler on Texaco tug boats out of Bayonne, NJ. They had a full time cook on each of the two boats who cooked 3 meals a day for each of the shifts, and for breakfast you could have whatever you wanted, like steak and eggs. On the one tugboat the Captain would allow drinking beer and on the other that Captain would not. It was a nice summer that I remember fondly. I used to play pinocle with the crew members winning a lot of the time, having played a lot with my relatives in Pennsylvania.

Ahhh, memories. I've been retired for a few years now, but recall grub day like it was Christmas morning. LOL There was a sheet in the mess that everyone could write their wish list and I don't remember too many disappointments. The company was very generous when it came to food. I always remember the looks we got as we were checking out with 4, 5 or 6 carts loaded. I would call the office to let them know it was grocery day and the book keeper would make sure the card was loaded to cover everything. Never a negative word from the office.

WOW, this brought back real good memories to me.i spent two years on a U S Coast Guard tug in New York Harbor. our cook had a budget to work with and he did a great job feeding a 20 man crew. our tug was 110 feet so the living conditions were very tight . we did everything from fire fighting, to port security, and ice breaking on the rivers. it was great i loved it.

The Joy Of Cooking, the best cookbook of all time. It actually teaches you the WHY not just the how. It has been in print for over 100 years and is still being printed.

It is remarkably unbelievable how they zig zag ALL over this supermarket 😂🤣 If I ever have to backtrack a single isle, I’m annoyed with myself lol. These guys are hilariously awesome. They got the job done ✅👏👏👏

Poor tug. The heaviest tow on record is the crew😂😂😂.

Great timing thank you. This Sunday I start my new job. At 63 I decided to be a cook on a tug boat. It only took me six months to get to this spot. Watching your channel the whole time. Wish me luck.

Worked as a diver on rigs and supply boats in the Caribbean and the Gulf. The food was always top notch. The steward on a drill ship was from NOLA and man, could he cook. I volunteered to stay abroad for maintenance an extra week just for the food. Those were good times for a young, single guy.

Thanks Capt. Tim for taking the time to show us this side of the crews jobs, oh ya and never ever make the cook mad. CUOTO jim

Your subtle humor makes the videos even more entertaining ... an interesting part of the job for sure ... thanks Capt.

I’m here comparing your operations to inland operations. It’s almost exactly the same. I did a lot of our grocery run at Costco too. They do have the best meats, especially steaks. I had a brain aneurysm rupture almost 4 years ago. That pretty much ended my towboat career. It almost ended me. But anyways at that time our budget was $17.50 per person per day. I’m most certain that it has increased since then. Someone asked me a few days ago if I missed the boat. I said I miss going to the grocery store with the company’s credit card. Thanks for the video!

Would not have guessed that a trip to the grocery store would be the topic of one of your videos, but it actually is really interesting to see this aspect of "life at sea". Shopping cart view is pretty funny.

Hi Captain Tim! Food is one of my favorite things. Smart shopping for groceries in Delaware instead of NYC! More than 20 years ago, I helped to instrument the Rotterdam harbor and I was impressed by the size of their container yard. It went on for miles and miles and miles... Just forever. On the subject of no booze on the boat, during WWI Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy prohibited alcohol on Navy ships, and coffee ended up being the "strongest drink" so the sailors called it a "Cup of Joe" in derision of the Secretary of the Navy Joe Daniels. Just sharing. CUOTO

Only 1500 miles at Sea on a Tug But Loved Every Second, My Friend Who Own'd the Tug went Down with Sea Sickness and i had to Take them Helm for 36 hour's Coming Back from Kiel Germany....Thanks for Making this Video.

Worked for Alter, Arrow and Wisconsin Barge lines back in the 80s after getting out of the Navy. The food and being part of a crew for 9 years was the best part of my life. Great memories and laughs.

Food is life and comfort on a boat. Brings everyone together. I know a couple of buddies that have worked in the maritime trade and that is the vice in the industry and is also in the pleasure part for myself. I was rafted last year after a fishing trip on my boat and a few other buddies joined the group from Boston and we just pulled out the grills and everyone whipped up something they had. Little beer ect just good food ect. Made a long day memorable. CUOTO!

I was lucky when I sailed as we had cooks assigned. I had a cook that was retired Navy (cook for the Nautilus when the transited under the North Pole). Great guy. Yankee Magazine did a story on him.

Thanks Tim, looks like a lot of work to go grocery shopping!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Always nice to see the different aspects of what you guys go through. I'm a sucker for tugs, trawlers, and all things diesel and have been following you for a few years now. Stay safe out there. CUOTO

Just found your channel today. Am getting into the tugboat industry as a deckhand. Thanks for your videos!

When I was still fishing area 3, our grub bill was usually somewhere around 2K for 12-14 days at sea, a little cheaper in the summer a little more in the winter. A working man ain’t a cold man, and a hungry man isn’t a working man, so drive the calories right to them and keep the gear coming! Wake up get breakfast going, haul a trawl (50 traps spaced evenly on a mile long ground line, anchor and buoy on each end) eat breakfast. Haul 4 guy goes down gets lunch started haul another trawl. Have lunch, haul 4, guy goes down and gets dinner started, haul the last trawl have dinner, then start the night watches. Repeat the next day until the boats full or you’ve hauled all 1,600 traps twice. Only real rules as to what you make, is make a lot of it! Especially in the winter, spending 12-14 hours on deck in the weather in the winter in the North Atlantic sucks but knowing there’s a hot meal coming gives you something to look forward to! And that little guide to maritime body types is painfully true, the captain body is a thing and it comes for everyone, sneaks up on you too!

Perfect! Love this type of content, provisioning ships fascinates me!

The good ole Food Lion! I used to always shop at the Food Lion when I lived in the Holly Ridge Topsail Island area. About 25 minute drive up the coast from Wilmington.

Moran would allow 9.00 per man per day. We went on a trip to Albania in '94. We got an idea that if we bought a calf over there, it would be tender beef. Well, that animal was as tough as any meat. Must have been grass-fed

I don't know the first thing about a tug boat or life on the boat. However, thoroughly enjoyed this video. It was very impressive on how the crew worked together preparing for an upcoming trip and how it all came together shopping to to keep the troops happy. Appreciate the education provided by the video.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach Tim! I wondered how you provisioned on those long passages, great video!

very interesting. Thanks for showing the behind the scenes stuff that goes on.

Very awesome video! Thank you. I am hoping that food becomes an Intercal part of your videos. Would love to see the crew cook and eat. God bless you guys love from Colorado.

Good morning Captain. Just like to say I am really enjoying your channel. I am a lad base engineer these days. I really miss being at sea. Your videos are just bringing back some wonderful memories. I wish you and the crew, fair winds and following sea. I just subscribed.

Pork chops with white pepper and Lawry's Seasoned Salt always hits the spot.

Good video showing all aspects of living on a tug boat

The mess cook is the guy who needs to decide what gets purchased and in what quantities. You can only plan and prepare meals with what you have on hand. Once you learn a few kitchen basics, seasoning and utensils, any crew member can make a descent meal. 👍

Another interesting video - showing a different aspect of running a vessel. As you say - absolutely essential that the guy doing most of the cooking - does the shopping too. I know you say that you don't get the budget for all handling equipment you might like - but consider a few Cargo-sacks. Typically a cubic metre in volume, fold flat and are cheap. We use them for filling with baggage but put a ply base in each one and load up easily with produce. Yes, gone are the days of ships with beer aboard, and it's probably for the best. In the North Sea - all vessels have alcohol meters and now they operate a 'zero limit' for alcohol. Keep up the good work.

This was the best vid yet great job Tim 😊

I worked on a Jack up barge in the Gulf Of Mexico in the mid 80’s. 7 days on / off. Typically, we had the Cap, the cook, and about 5 workers. Breakfast was just about anything considered breakfast. Eggs the way you want them, meat of choice, different juices, milk coffee, etc. want some fruit? Sure. French toast or pancakes? Sure. Lunch was better than most get for supper. No sandwiches unless it was fried seafood poorboys or a muffaletta. Supper was the real deal. We were out of south Louisiana so it was legit. Friday was seafood, a real spread. Saturday was grilled steaks. Thick ones. Sometimes on the last day of our hitch we’d hail a crew boat for a lift to a drilling platform, if one was near. I started at $100 a day as an 18 year old. That was nice coin in 1985!

Great video. Always look forward to Tuesday.

Love using the hoist & bucket - teamwork makes dreamwork.

Thx for a very fun episode!.Granny here in Omaha wishes she could cook for youse guys! Safe travels and bon appetite❤

I love how these guys maneuver through the supermarkets it’s quite fascinating to watch them avoid crashes 🙈lol

If that grocery store had just a few more obstacles in the aisles it would be perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a fun video. SO much to learn about boats and everything. All new to me and very interesting. Thanks for sharing!! Good for you to love eating salads!

I remember grocery days, company I worked at they would either call the order in to whatever store they use at that particular port. Usually the bills were around $1,000 or higher. But the company didn’t care, they gave you a card and said spend what’s on it.

The best food I ever had in the military was from the Air Force, I was in the Marine Corps, I've ate at an Amy chow hall, nazy chow hall and Air Force chow hall and id eat at the air Force chow hall every chance I got! Semper Fi from an old Marine

You do an excellent job with your narration and commentary! You seafarers have a lingo all your own! Bet they spent at least 3K on shopping for food!

I think even the mighty RC wouldn’t be able to guess that grocery bill!! But I’m guessing….$3K… Reminds me of the other Tim (my neighbor that I’ve told you about) where everyone on the boat liked milk, but the Captain didn’t want to buy that much milk because of cost… when they complained, the Captain responded, “What are you guys? A bunch of ‘Milk Babies?’” 😂 I wonder if you could swing a Sous Vide setup on the tugboat…. We’ve been playing with that, and dayyyyummm, it’s some good stuff!! Great video! #CUOTO!!

Great advice, "Read a book."😎 I got divorced with two young sons and my ex couldn't boil water. I bought some cookbooks and became a pretty darn good dad cook, fresh healthy food too. My son's called it Dadeo's Kitchen! Their friends would come over for my dinners. I made it a fun time for all of us, spent quality time with them, it worked out very well. I taught them healthy eating habits they enjoy today with their families. My ex would order pizza nearly every night. I love pizza, but not good for every dinner. How about something green now and again?🤣🤣🤣 FYI, I had an Italian mother who cooked from scratch and we had a 120 acre farm in SE Wisconsin and ate off the land. Yep, I was fortunate and I know that. It doesn't take that much effort, just enoy the process and reults and it isn't a chore. It becomes fun and family/friends good times. Think of every culture around the World, they all enjoy a feast.😎

I really like shopping videos when it's for work like yours or camps for tons of people people just don't realize how tuff your your is

Glad to see all the fresh food to keep you relatively healthy! I'm not surprised some guys who were reluctant to cook became great. Many parents just keep especially boys out of the kitchen so they are not under foot. They jeed to learn how to fix a good, healthy meal gor their own survival! After getting some positive feedback these guys went for the gold. They have a great captain to push them when they need it.

Wanna see some cooking vids now! Thx for sharing. Watching from Ontario Canada 🎉

Having been in both the navy and the coast guard, I can tell you that the food in the coast guard is by far better.

That was really nice to have the cranes do the basket and your man made sure to keep the eggs on top too!

Well done and great to see

My mother lives in Wilmington and I was hoping you would accidentally capture video of her grocery shopping! 😂

I was in the navy for 4 years 62-66. Last 2 years on a sea going tug 205 feet long. The USS Muncee ATF107 Went up and down the pacific coast a couple of times and to Vietnam and all over the South Pacific for a year. Hell of a trip San Diego and back.Cew of 50. If I could have stayed on that boat for my entire career I would have stayed in.

As an army veteran, the mess cooks were some of ur best friends. They were hard workers besides working 💪 alot of hours

I love to cook for a group, that would totally be fun. And shopping is relaxing to me. You all are doing a great job

Thanks for sharing .

Back in my Navy daze when we did stores somebody would always drop the pallet with ice cream. As you know you couldn't save damaged goods so everyone would break out their spoons. We always carried spoons, like the Boy Scout motto says...."Be Prepared"

Nice thing about everyone helping put it away is that everyone knows where the stuff is!

This seems mighty efficient to me! Very interesting insights!

Captains like you are the exact reason i left offshore work and it was the best decision i ever made! Grown men making $5-600 a day should cook for themselves. I spent all my time in a 120 degree engine room and ill be damned if youre gonna watch tv while im working instead of cooking. Theres radios in the galley monitoring 2 channels. Tell the new guy to help tune the radar or go get a bucket of wheelwash.

That is a lot of food for 4 guys x 3 weeks! No wonder that no one appears undernourished. Enjoy, and CUOTO!

Great Video Great Grub Run😊

Thanks for videos sir.

Dude, this is an awesome like "this is the life" video. I'd love to see a vid or two of how cooking is done and portions. 10/10 thanks!

When I was growing up in central Illinois, the woman who lived across the street from us cooked on a tow boat on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. She spent a month on the boat, then was off for a month.

Good groceries and plenty of beer on the weekends. I have the same condition. Yep done come disease, my belly done come over my belt.

Bread and circuses. Yes food is important. The Roman knew it!

Here’s one a one pot meal, boneless chicken thighs seasoned the way you like it. Partially grilled the chicken, mushroom soup, rice, and broccoli. Heat up oven350, cut chicken into chunks with your spices grill about half way through, In a big pan add rice and water as directed, dump chicken meat and broccoli into pan, and add soup. Mix together well and stick it in oven and bake 30 to 40 minutes. Keep an eye on it so the water doesn’t dry up and rice doesn’t get cooked, I generally overdo the amount of water to insure rice is cooked and the soup makes a gravy, then when it looks like rice is cooked pull it cool down a bit and serve your self. Oops cover the meal with foil as you cook helps hold the moisture. CUOTO’s 😂

I been waiting for this one ... except for the tab .. lol

All you need to stay happy is a really good tug :)

I enjoy watching you guys work and me sitting here wishing I was 35 years younger.

✅👍 And now we are all hungry! Tks Tim😂

Very cool that you were in my neck of the woods. I’m about an hour and a half from the Port in Wilmington, to the west. You probably didn’t get far enough up the Cape Fear to see the Battleship North Carolina. If you ever get a day or so to poke around, check it out. Not as big as the NJ and big Mo but it’s still quite impressive. Much love to you from Raeford NC🤙

Very nice video keep up the great work

The camera in the blue tote 😂

Lol, I do everything the same, when I go grocery shopping for a sailing trip, even the passing along in the ship. I buy fake meat instead of real, because real meat does not keep well onboard a yacht. We buy real meat when we arrive. I cook, so I buy everything, otherwise I am probably stuck with unpractical stuff. I go shopping without a list, I just walk through the supermarket, making shure not missing an aisle, and when I arrive at the check out, I have everything. I understand that you do need a list. The Dutch Navy is well known for its Indonesian food, which is served on fridays, and is called: blauwe hap..., blue grub. Apparently because of the blue shine of the black hair of the local people..., at least thats what navy guys say... Nice video, cuoto!

Interesting , Thank You .

A simple, hard to follow, rule, suggestion - Refrain fron eating any grain, or rice, beans, bread every other day is best or every three days. Eat meat, chicken, fish with salads, matzos, eggs, omelets. You will notice a change in body and mind for the better.

when I do wings, instead of buying the over priced wings I use drumsticks, I use the same coatings as wings, same cooking method but you get 10 times the meat with the same flavor for a lot less money.

I'd love to go grocery shopping with your guys.

Good old days glad to be retired. Enjoy the videos keep them coming.

Always Tim! CUOTO!

As a NY/NJ port agent I got to sample various culture's cuisine aboard mostly while finalizing discharge. I was cool with the guys from Moran and McAlister tugs, pilots, linemen, and CBP too.

Thx for the vid.

interesting video thank you Tim

Not so different from mining exploration camps I used to run, but I set up an Excel workbook with several dozen recipes and their ingredients. Enter the number of crew and the 14 day menu and it would automatically generate the food order. We then emailed it to a supermarket in town where we had set up an account and sent a pickup next day to collect. Sundays were always BBQ days so just a bag of charcoal, an extra order of steaks, a big bag of roasting potatoes and sweetcorn cobs. As the boss, I'd throw in a case of beers from petty cash. It had the rough prices in too, so gave an approximately budget for each order. We had a budget of say $10/man/day for 3 meals so 2 weeks for 15 crew was around $2,000 We pre-stocked with 3 months of the basic dry goods like tea, coffee, sugar, spices, condiments, rice, pasta etc. which was enough for the whole tour.

Thanks vid i wondered groceries on a tug and cook...

Grub in the Navy was hit and miss. Sometimes it was great and other times almost inedible. Being on an aircraft carrier, most of the water tasted like jp5 jet fuel. Working in the galley before starting A--school, I was surprised how much is done from scratch and got a new found appreciation for their food. On the ship, the fresh baked bread was one of my favorites.

Salads and any crane make my day better always.

Would love to see some meals yall make. Awesome stuff

Thanks!

I’m quite enjoying your video. In particular, the narrator (captain?) who seems to have lots of experience and a kindway. I too love cooking. Seems I’ve done it all my life. My first wife was a great cook and my second wife is too although I do nearly all the cooking. No doubt the crew on a boat or in a remote northern camp has to have a great cook Anyway, I enjoy this video.

Very nice collaboration from mored neighbor ships.

Lots of good food!

Working on a tugboat seems like a great fun job but I worked in the seafood business for about 6 years working all over in Alaska and in that time I learned never think someone else has a cushier funner job then you because when you finally do that persons job you realize it’s just as repetitive and stressful and within an hour you want to go back to your old job 😂 I went to culinary school and when I was done I wanted to get a processing job to clear my mind of college and I ended up doing everything I processed I canned fish I did janitor work I worked in the kitchen I did a summer commercial fishing working on a boat as a deckhand but most of all I worked for a company that cooked for the canaries and was the head chef I use to have to order 70,000 thousand dollars in groceries every 2 weeks that was a huge task in putting that grocery order away compared to your grub haul 😂 it was a lot of fun traveling and meeting people from all over the world it took me awhile but i got sick of working 4 months of 12 to 16 hour shifts with zero days off. I miss working on the boat there is nothing in the world like being on the ocean not touching land for up to 3 weeks I would love to find me some sort of boat job in the future I’m pretty sure it’s inevitable, you are vary blessed to work such a cool job.

The Coast Guard has the best food!