((PKG)) FEMALE TUGBOAT CAPTAIN
((TRT: 06:45))
((Topic Banner: A Captain’s Tugboat))
((Reporter: Anna Nelson))
((Camera: Vladimir Badikov))
((Producers: Nathalia Latukhina, Dmitry Vershinin))
((Map: New York City, New York))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((BLURB: We're talking with one of two women tugboat captains in New York Harbor about challenges she faces in everyday work and the art she creates when not skippering boats.))
((NATS))
I want both of us.
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
I do not want to be cute on a boat. That is like such a huge pet peeve of mine. To each his own… I understand if there are some women that are out there that want to put on some makeup and look good while they're at work. That's fine. That's your prerogative. That is not me. I do not want to be associated with…I’m out there to do my job and it doesn’t, it shouldn’t matter what I look like.
I’m not trying to be out there to physically impress anybody. I’m trying to impress people with my boat handling.
((NATS))
Okay, thanks. Appreciate it. Okay, alright, bye.
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
I think my mother had a 100% hand in developing my love for the water just from us
((Courtesy: Jess Yeomans))
going out fishing and later on, when she had enough money and ended up getting a boat, you know, we actually used to go out on the boat and do some fishing and everything and I just loved it. It felt like home.
((end Courtesy))
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
I loved art and illustrating. This actually all ties in with my illustration because I went to school at FIT. It's the Fashion Institute of Technology. And I got my BFA [Bachelor of Fine Arts] in illustration, and I graduated summa cum laude [Latin for highest honor], and one of my professors from school actually called me. They were looking for a person to do, like to illustrate a six-book series. So, I was like, “Oh my gosh, yeah. What? Me? I want to do that.” So, I was into book two, they said that they were going to put the whole project on hold. So, I was kind of freaking out because I didn't know what I was going to do because this was my rent and my livelihood. I was talking to my mother, and my mother knew the woman who was working as the administrative assistant at the tugboat company where I currently work. And she said, “Well, so-and-so is leaving, you know. Why don't you go work there?” And I specifically said, “I don't want to work with tugboats.” And here we are.
((Courtesy: Jess Yeomans))
So, I was working as the administrative assistant there while also still doing freelance illustration. I basically just jumped on one day and I was like, “I want to be on here, you know? I want to work on the water too. I don't want to be stuck in this office.”
Sometimes after work, I'd go down to the tugs
((end Courtesy))
and it started to become very alluring to me. And the captain on there had basically said, you know, “I think you have a knack for this. I think maybe you should go for your captain's license.” So, it's kind of like, it’s like a driver’s license. It's definitely harder than driving a car because the road is moving underneath you and, you know, other vessels that are not following, you know, straight patterns like this.
((NATS))
Hey, Chris. I think he's just working on paperwork.
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
As of right now, I am the only female tugboat operator in the entire company. And I'm one of, maybe, two female tugboat operators in New York Harbor.
I am dealing with another vessel called the barge, you know, anything from – it would be oil or gas or, you know, in other companies, there would be stone or sand. So, I've been very fortunate to work with the various crews that I have been with. Majority of them, they've all been very supportive of me moving forward in my career and random people that worked for the company that kind of, you know, were like, “Oh, it's Jess and she's working out on the launch. That's cool.” You know, and without taking me seriously. It can get a little lonely sometimes when you're, you know, the only woman up here and there's no one else to talk to.
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
And we're also, you know, trying to change that. We're trying to show that, you know, women can
do this job. This isn't just a man's world anymore. We're out there and we're killing it. And, you know, come out, come out, come. You can do this too. Come on, you know, trying to encourage women to come out and, you know, start getting in the wheelhouse.
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
When I go to work for two weeks, I am living on the boat for two weeks. But, so it’s just, you know, this room is a little bit bigger than my normal room. This room actually has like, a desk and space. My room and my boat ends about here. It's usually six hours. So, it's six hours on, six hours off. You know, I don't want to liken it to military at all, you know? But as far as being regimented, yeah, we do follow a schedule. It used to be a very physical job. You know, you're handling very large lines and you're making up to barges, which is essentially you're handing lines up to barges. So, I have a workout that I try to do. We have a bike on board. So, I try to use the bike. If we're at a dock somewhere, and I'll try to get up before a watch, and I'll go for a run or I'll go to the gym or something.
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
I try to stay in somewhat of shape. It's a little hard, but… especially as you’re getting older. I'm getting older now. I'm 40.
A huge aspect about working on the tugs for me is the life that it has given me. I have essentially two weeks off every month. The two weeks allows me not only time to work on my craft, and to, you know, create products to, you know, have people buy and to put in their homes. I mean like that's awesome
((Jess Yeomans
Tugboat Operator))
to know that my art is hanging in people's homes right now. It's like two brains that can't necessarily be operating at the same time.
You know, while being away for two weeks and not sleeping and missing out on life at home, there is something so beautiful about the fact that I work on the water. I mean, you'll have days where the winds are blowing and the current is just not working in your favor to get alongside these docks or, you know, things are just really challenging. But then, you get that one trip, and you get out into the sound, and you go offshore, or you're just in it. You're just in this big, beautiful blue water and it makes up for all the other really challenging times, where it's like, “This is why I do this.” Because this is, it’s just the water. It’s being out, and it’s great.
((NATS))