I had met my friend mark down at the top of Lake Washington in Kenmore a while back and some of our shots had been compromised by a large barge moored a little way from the shore.  When I went back later a month of so later, no sign of a barge – initially.  After I had been there for a while, I saw a barge coming up the lake with a tug pushing it along.  It came to the same location and slowed to a halt before mooring the barge.

The tug then cast off from the barge and headed into the inlet at the top of the lake.  A little while later it came back out, this time with another barge that was empty, unlike the one it had arrived with.  There is a concrete plant in Kenmore that is along the water, so I assume that the barges are used to bring in the aggregate for the concrete manufacturing process.  From this reverse angle, I got to see the crew working along the barge handling the lines to the tug.  It was rather interesting to see them hard at it.  I also liked the tug’s name.  It clearly had an original name, Willamette Chief, overpainted although the second half had been left exposed.  It had a newer name, Island Chief, on a plate higher up on the superstructure.