The Takeaway Boat
from Stories of Bayou Life
from Stories of Bayou Life
My cousin and I—couple of third graders—sat on the pier
looking out at the bayou, which was actually an industrial canal. It had been
dredged out to bring barges and tugs to the Atchafalaya River, and into the
gulf if need be. We called those barge-pushing tugs, takeaway boats. The reason
was simple. When the boat came close by, the water along the edge of the bayou
would rush toward it, taking away any debris, including boats that were not
tied up. We never knew where the water went while the boat was passing, but
eventually, it turned it loose, sloshing it back toward the bank, along with
anything floating in it.
My cousin and I climbed into the boat and started paddling toward the path of the barge. We got about half way to the middle of the canal, then stopped...and waited. As the barges got close, we could feel the boat starting to shift. We looked at each other with terror in our eyes. What were we thinking? The tug boat captain pulled down on his horn with a loud, long honk.
When the monstrous boat made its way past our dock, the water sloshed back to shore, returning our pirogue in one piece.
We made a pact not to tell anyone about that incident, and we vowed never to try to test the powers of the takeaway boat again.