Sam the Tugboat and the Rescue at Sea
(Copyright 2009, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)
What a beautiful and sunny morning it was turning out to be, thought Fred as he read the Beach Harbor Morning News and sipped his coffee; all the while keeping one eye on the marina and harbor area, and the other eye on the morning activities over at the Public Swimming Beach’s wide, sandy beach. Families had begun arriving for a fun day at the beach and for picnics in the Family Picnic Area; and children were running in the sand flying kites and splashing in the waves playing with big, colorful beach balls! Sam was out in the harbor doing what good tugboats do – directing ship traffic in and out of the Port of Beach Harbor. Oh, it wasn’t a giant port, but there were a few ships everyday that needed Sam’s assistance to navigate the various shipping lanes and approach the dock area as slowly, carefully and smoothly as possible. Sam loved his work and was very proud of the fact that he was always “on duty” – come rain or shine.
Beach Harbor was blessed to have mostly sunny, beautiful days; and with the sun shining in the morning sky and the sea gulls flying overhead, Sam couldn’t think of anything else in the entire world that he wanted to do or be – other than be a little tugboat in Beach Harbor. Sam also kept his responsibilities, not only to the marina and harbor area, but also to the Public Swimming Beach. You see, Fred was always stationed in the Marina Building at the dock, with a clear view of the marina, harbor and the swimming beach from his vantage post. Fred liked to call it his “Command Post” – because he could communicate with the authorities at a moment’s notice with his radio or phone, to contact the Police Department, Fire Department or Ambulance Services if he needed to. Fred also had “Weather Radar” so he could spot storms out at sea before they threatened the coast and Beach Harbor. Luckily, both Fred and Sam kept such a good watch on everything, that they never needed “outside help” to keep everything running - ”smooth as a spinning top” – as Fred liked to say.
Sam had finished his work for the morning in the harbor, and decided to swing out to sea and motor over to the Public Swimming Beach to check that everything was, “A-Ok.” Right away, Sam’s well trained eye noticed something that looked a “little unusual” and decided to have a closer look. A young boy on a floating air mattress was playing with the ropes that marked the outer boundary of the Public Swimming Beach – towards deeper water and the open ocean. The breeze was strong this morning and blowing from the sandy beach out to the open sea. As Sam approached from the distance, he saw the boy lose his grip on the ropes - and was being steadily blown out to sea beyond the swimming area’s boundaries! Alarmed, Sam pushed up his throttles and sped in the direction that the wind was blowing the young boy – with each and every passing minute – further out to sea!
Sam could see that the boy was starting to panic, using his arms in a wild, windmilling motion; in a desperate attempt to paddle back to the swimming area. The only thing that stood between the boy and the open ocean was Sam, as he quickly arrived to rescue the boy. On the beach were gathered all of the concerned parents and children, shouting encouragement as they saw Sam arrive just in the nick of time to prevent the young boy from becoming “lost at sea.” Sam idled his motor and slowly approached the boy, and let down the rope ladder over his side to the water line below. The boy carefully climbed the rope ladder and placed his air mattress up on Sam’s deck, and managed to hoist himself up onto Sam’s deck as well.
“Welcome aboard my little friend!” exclaimed Sam to the tired and frightened young boy.
“My name is Billy, thanks for saving me!” said the young boy thankfully to Sam.
“I’m Sam, Sam the Tugboat. It’s very nice to meet you, Billy.” replied Sam proudly.
“Can you take me back to my family at the swimming beach, Sam?” asked Billy, hoping that Sam’s answer would be, “yes – of course!” Which, of course, it was!
Sam agreed that would be an excellent idea, and knew that the boy wouldn’t play with the ropes marking the boundaries of the swimming area any time soon! So Sam motored over to the Public Swimming Beach’s roped boundaries slowly and carefully, and there were two life guards on floats waiting for Sam and Billy at the rope lines. Sam idled his motor and slowly nudged up to the ropes and Billy climbed back down the rope ladder onto his floating air mattress – and into the waiting arms of the two life guards. The three of them then paddled back to the beach where the young boy’s family was waiting for Billy – to give him a HUGE HUG and a GIANT WELCOME BACK!
Sam saw that all was well once again in Beach Harbor; and slowly backed away from the Public Swimming Beach’s rope lines and gently moved out into deeper waters. Once he was clear of the shallow water, Sam turned to go back out to the open ocean and gave his “signature” three short foghorn toots – Tooot! Tooot! Tooot! - and motored his way back to his dock in Beach Harbor, where Fred was waiting for him with lunch. After all, even a Tugboat has to have lunch! 
Fred had watched all of the events at the Public Swimming Beach, as Sam responded to save young Billy from drifting out to sea; but Fred always kept his “other eye” on the rest of the marina and harbor as well - because Fred wanted to make sure that Beach Harbor would always be the safest and best place to live – in the whole wide world!
