By SHERRI TAYLOR
Journal News Editor

The wind blew cold across the wave-capped Red River while the 64-foot boat rocked gently. On the bridge, the captain stood steady while the reporter wedged herself upright with a leg against the wheel. It was Friday and the boat was still docked.

At the U.S. Coast Guard Unit in Colfax, Louisiana, the Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) was preparing for maintenance and training sessions before heading back out for their regular work along the Red, Black and Ouachita rivers. One usually thinks of the Coast Guard in big cities, racing to save someone in trouble on the ocean, but here on the shores or coasts of Louisiana rivers, this branch of the Service also helps to save lives.

"Our primary mission is the maintenance of Aids to Navigation along those rivers," said Chief Boatswain's Mate (BMC) Stacy Brown, Officer in Charge at the Colfax Unit. That work helps prevent shipwrecks, drowning or groundings with loss of cargo since Louisiana rivers are noted for shifting sand shoals and snags of trees hidden below the surface.

The U.S. Coast Guard has maintained a unit in the small Louisiana town since 1997. BMC Brown has been there since the summer of 2003, but has been in the Coast Guard for 15 years. Originally from Midland, Texas, Brown has served in places as far away as Alaska and as near as Galveston, TX. Serving as Boatswain's Mate 1st Class (BM1) is Greg Eldridge with ten others in the crew.

The crew's job is to make certain the buoys that line the nine foot channel of the Red River are in the correct place. Red buoys mark the right side as a boat goes north and the green ones are placed on the left. In addition, there are day markers along the shore consisting of a lantern placed on a tower giving information to navigators using the river. As the sand shifts in the river bed, the buoys must be moved to show the safe position for the barges to pass without being stranded on sand bars. Buoys also must be replaced after they have been battered by rain and wind into crushed, flattened discolored cones. The ANT team cares for all these duties.

Before the Colfax Unit was set up, a vessel came from Natchez, Mississippi to maintain the navigation aids along the Red River.

The crews of five or six have three routes they take on their journeys up or down the river. Going up or down the Red takes about a week each. When they go across the Black and up the Ouachita, it can take as many as three weeks.

"It's always a good day when we're on the river," said Brown.

"It's hard work," said one of the recruits.

As the boat readies to leave port, dozens of concrete block squares 3'X 3' and more than one foot thick are lined along the deck. These serve to hold the buoys in place. Even with equipment to move these giants, it must take skill, determination and sheer muscle to place them. Replacement buoys are held in a pen on deck. As many as 20 -30 buoys are changed out each trip while as many as 100 might be moved.

While on their maintenance journeys, the crew ties up at night after a ten hour day. Then they might fish, watch television through satellite hook-up or a movie. They take turns cooking meals in the tiny galley. After a long day dropping tons of concrete into the river, it's a sure bet they hit their narrow bunks early and get a solid night of sleep.

The entire Coast Guard operation is geared to help barges loaded with varied cargoes like oil or fuel, cotton, corn or soybeans make their trips safely. Those cargo vessels can take several different routes. They can go down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico and from there to anywhere in the world. Another might choose to go to the Mississippi, turn south and exit through Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the Gulf.

"It's the most inexpensive method of shipping," said Brown. More and more, state officials are urging industry to consider shipping by river, which makes the job of the Unit at Colfax even more important.

"I was surprised that I didn't see wood being shipped by river here," Brown went on. "Along the Mississippi it was a common sight to see logs being shipped by barge."

In order to promote navigation along the Red, five locks and dams have been built. These essentially turn the river into five pools that can be kept at a navigable depth of nine feet. At present, one group hopes to make that 12 feet in the future so more shipping can be done. One lock and dam is located just south of Shreveport, another at Coushatta, with Number 3 at Colfax. Number Four lock and dam is just south of Alexandria with number 5 near Marksville.

While one crew is out working up or down the river, those at the station stand ready to help anyone having problems on the river. They have two smaller vessels ready to race to the rescue and the training and experience to offer assistance when needed.

For every vessel sailing through the Red, Ouachita or Black river, thanks go to the men and women at the Colfax Unit of Aids to Navigation Team, U.S. Coast Guard.

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