| FINAL SALUTE: Tugboat captain helped anyone who needed a hand |
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| Thursday, 03 January 2008 01:06 | |||
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Geoff Harte's good nature and eagerness to
help others earned him a long salute from the person behind the
controls of the Interstate 5 Bridge. The bridge tender gave the signal horn an unusually long blast during a tugboat memorial service for the local tugboat captain, said his friend Rex Caffall. Washougal resident Geoffrey Michael Harte died Nov. 20. He was 58. click READ MORE to read more About 10 tugboats, including one from Cascade Locks, Ore., gathered near the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay on Dec. 9 to recognize Harte, who worked for Oregon City, Ore.-based Bernert Barge Lines. The turnout showed how many people loved Geoff, Caffall said. It was 'amazing'to see so many tugboats gathered at the memorial, said Michael Harte, Geoff's son. 'They all flew by in a salute,'Caffall added. The younger Harte estimates that the companies used about 2,000 gallons of boat fuel at the event. About 100 people attended a service inside the hotel, he said. Capt. Harte was well known to those who frequented local waters. He knew and helped anyone who needed a hand at one time or another, friends said. It wasn't odd for Harte to get a phone call in the middle of the night. Sometimes tugboat captains had to deal with fast-rising water. Or they could have run into trouble floating logs down the Columbia River. It didn't really matter because Harte usually had an answer. 'Where,'would be the first question he asked the caller while also 'putting his pants on,'Caffall said. 'The guy was pretty incredible with a boat,'said Clark Caffall, Rex's brother. He dove headfirst into any type of boat-related problem and would fix it. He wasn't easily intimidated, he said. 'Let's just say he had bigger cojones than an elephant,'Clark Caffall added. Harte loved being on a boat and in the water, his friends and family said. Some people might have stuck to land when not at work, but not Harte. At one point he purchased a 33-foot fishing boat. He slowly repaired it and took it out every two weeks in the Puget Sound area, his son said. It was the type of project he'd always wanted to undertake, and he enjoyed every bit of it, the younger Harte added. Geoff Harte continued boating even after retirement. He took a part-time job as a captain only two months after retiring, his son said. It wasn't a bad offer for a man who loved being out on the water, his son said. http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2007/12/12292007_FINAL-SALUTE-Tugboat-captain-helped-anyone-who-needed-a-hand.cfm
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