Captain Jeff Hedlund manages Brusco Tug & Barge’s Northern California operation in Stockton, where he started as a deckhand in 1973.
Born on Puget Island, a small island in the Columbia River in Washington, he’s the kind of guy who’s more relaxed at sea than on land.
Hedlund has been a commercial fisherman, spending six years in Alaska’s brutal Bristol Bay — which experiences some of the world’s highest tides — as well as a boatman towing log rafts down the river.
“I’ve always been on the water,” Hedlund says. “I was born on the water, and it’s where I’ve always felt most comfortable.”
The role of tugboats in the Port of Stockton is to help large freight ships maneuver into port. The ships, between 500 and 750 feet long, can’t propel themselves to or off of the dock.
Here, Brusco Tug & Barge deckhand Artie Menosse tightens a line of rope connecting the two ships so the tugboat can guide the larger vessel to shore. “A majority of these ships can stop, but they can’t go sideways or go back and turn, so we put a line on and help guide them into the dock,” says Captain Jeff Hedlund.
A Captain’s Call
On board with Captain Jeff Hedlund