The 52 had been loaded on the barge and was winched as far aft as possible the evening before. It was feared if the vessel was pulled any further back on the barge, the blocking under the stern might kick out, causing us to lose stability control of the vessel. The forward part of the barge was grounded so it could not be exactly determined how the barge would trim out once we pulled off. At 0845 on the morning of September 16, 2009 we backed away and the barge settled down by the bow with only about 4 inches of freeboard. By shifting water ballast to the barge after tanks and pumping the forward tanks completely dry we were able to trim the barge to a reasonable draft. Note: The "pucker" factor was still extremely high!! After trimming out the barge we were able to run about 6 m.p.h. but it seemed like the longest 17 mile run I have ever made for some time!
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