Transcription of Christian Townsend for the show Father’s Day #144
Lisa: It is very interesting to me to have this individual in the studio because I’ve actually been on a tugboat before believe it or not. This individual is one of not that many people in the United States who designs tugboats. This is Christian Townsend who runs CT Marine, a tugboat design business, with his dad. Christian is also a devoted father to two sons. He and his wife Cathy live near Willard Beach. It’s really great to have you in here.
Christian: Thank you for inviting me.
Lisa: How many tugboat designers are there in the United States?
Christian: A small handful. We develop towboats which push barges up the Mississippi River. A little different than a tugboat. My father is kind of the grandfather of towboats. As far as towboats, there might be one other designer in the country, but he and I do most of them in the country.
Lisa: It’s a pretty specialized job.
Christian: Very.
Lisa: How is that he came to be doing this sort of business. He’s been doing this for 55 years?
Christian: Yes, CT Marine is about 55 years old. He started before college. What happened was he was playing soccer as a young kid. He was hit in the eye and became blind in the eye. His parents didn’t send him back to school for that year so he sailed I think for about a year as a young kid, then eventually became first mate of the Shenandoah, which is the Black Dog Tavern’s boat on Martha’s Vineyard. He went back to University of Michigan and helped with their model basin, then went to the Netherlands for a few years to concentrate more on towboats. The rest of the story just kind of evolved, so we might have five or six really big clients that we deal with. They probably operate 95% of the machinery on the Mississippi River. We’ve got our fingers in a fair amount of boats on the Mississippi.
Lisa: That must have taken some real vision and also perseverance on your father’s part to find something that he really loved doing and have it not be something that many other people were doing, and just dive in there and stick with it and keep going.
Christian: Yeah, he’s very persistent and very dedicated to naval architecture, and to producing boats that are very safe. That’s his striving goal. Probably for the first 30 years he made barely enough money to get us to college and through life. My mother is a psychiatrist; she helped a lot in putting food on the table. It took a very long time for dad to become successful enough to hire people and continue for so long.
Lisa: Yet, he’s still doing this and he’s in his 70s now.
Christian: Yeah.
Lisa: When you and I were talking you said that he works probably 70 plus hours a week?
Christian: He probably does. Many more than I am working. It’s really his ultimate love in life is to design these boats. He would certainly do it without any money and it’s probably the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up and the last thing when he goes to sleep – is towboats, and how to improve them. We’re working on a lot of innovate technologies to further the design like introducing liquid natural gas to towboats and developing more efficient transportation systems for the Mississippi, which is generally what we just work on: the Mississippi River and all its tributaries.
Lisa: You grew up in Connecticut.
Christian: Yes.
Lisa: Did you think you were going to be a towboat designer?
Christian: Not at all. This was probably the last thing I thought I was going to do. I went to Purdue University and my parents got a divorce when I was a sophomore. I kind of used it as an excuse to deviate from working hard at school. My grades plummeted and my father asked or told me that if I was going to go to school next year I had to work for him. I just fell into it and it never stopped. Now I couldn’t think of doing anything else but I certainly didn’t have it on my horizon while attending Purdue.
Lisa: How long have you been doing this now?
Christian: About 25 years. I was in shipyards with my dad when I was 8, usually sitting in the car because the yard wouldn’t let me in because I was too young. I’ve been around these boats for 40 years or nearly. But it really wasn’t a desire of mine to become a naval architect.
Lisa: And you’re still doing it.
Christian: And I’m still doing it. I’ll do it until I’m retired, if that ever happens. I hope to have my kids take over. My youngest is a real mathematician so I think he would be great at it. My oldest son Ryder would probably be great at the design aspect. I might have one engineer and one designer in the family, or hoping.
Lisa: What is it that has drawn your family – specially it sounds like the male members of your family – into designing boats, into naval architecture? What’s the siren song?
Christian: I think it’s just what we’ve been around. I grew up on Boston whalers and was running around the Connecticut shores when I was 9 by myself on it. We’ve always been attached to the water. Both my parents have been self-employed since day one and I’ve always looked at that with some admiration and enjoy the flexibility. I think that I just fell into my dad’s business, one because it provides flexibility, and just the love of the water that we’ve been around our whole lives. I just kind of fell into it. It really isn’t something that desired at all; it just happened. I don’t know; I think it really just evolved.
My kids are the same way. They love the water; my wife does, too. It’s just the direction we’ve headed towards. We actually bought a large sailboat a couple years ago to sail down to The Bahamas. It was going to be our plan to pull the kids out of school for a year or two. Then on a whim we actually bought some camps up in Moosehead Lake, so the boat’s on the market and we’ve changed gears drastically, but we’re still shooting for water if we can get to it.
Lisa: We’ve had a lot of people on the show now. We’re going into our fourth year doing this. I don’t think we’ve ever had any group of people who are so consistently passionate about what they do as the people who work on the water: people who are sailors, people who are boaters. We had a woman who runs a tugboat operation. It’s very interesting because it’s so consistent. It’s not in an airy fairy way; it’s to their core. People are so connected to the water.
Christian: I think it is something to the core where you just feel it. One thing I like about the towboat industry is it’s very, very small. There are 6,000 towboats on the Mississippi River but they are owned primarily by five or six companies. There are very few naval architects; there’s few engineers in the industry. It’s a tight group and a small group with everybody very passionate about it. I don’t know why people are so passionate about the water. Maybe it is something with your core. I don’t know if I could really answer it, but it’s just there.
Lisa: There is also this feeling of family that goes beyond I think just a father-son thing, that people do feel very connected to one another. The sailing community seems very tightly knight. You might be far flung but you still will know the person that you met when you were sailing down to the Bahamas. That’s something that I think a lot of people are yearning for these days.
Christian: Deep connection. My father has sailed to The Bahamas for the last 14 years. His best friends for sure are the people that he’s met on those journeys. Some of them he might not have seen for 12 years but he talks to them constantly on his HAM radio, and is a huge part of his life – the connection to the people he’s met on the water, both commercially and sailing, which is his real passion.
Lisa: It also seems to keep families connected. What you’re describing is being able to work with your father for 25 years and that’s not usual in this day and age. In this day and age you don’t see a lot of family businesses that not only survive but thrive. You’re so excited about it that you’re talking about the next generation.
Christian: It’s been very rewarding to work with dad and it’s difficult at the same time. He and I have very different approaches to completing projects. He’ll work consistently for 90 days to get it ready and I’ll hang out on Willard Beach for 45 days until I’m very pressured and then hit it. That has caused quite a few rifts in the last 25 years. At the end of the day we get the project done when it’s due, but we have very different approaches to getting the project done. It’s really helped in our overall relationship to blend professional life and Christmas parties and stuff at the same time.
Lisa: That’s another thing that I think we don’t necessarily encourage in this society. It’s very much a “If you don’t get along, onto the next person,” kind of society. What you’re talking about is you got this guy in your life; he’s your dad; you work with him, and you’re going to keep showing up and keep engaging, and keep figuring it out. Your way’s not the right way; his way is not the right way. Between the two of you you come up with a right way but it requires constant reevaluation and re-engagement.
Christian: Yes. We’ve also worked in separate offices since day one, which I think has helped. I’m not sure if I’d want to be in an office with my dad 60 hours a week, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be with me 60 hours a week. We both work in our own offices; it’s been like that since the first day. A little separation I think has helped us get through the 25 years.
Lisa: How did you end up in Maine?
Christian: My wife Catherine and I read an article in a magazine while we were on vacation about Portland as one of the top ten places to raise a family or something. We immediately came up in a blinding snow storm in December and drove back to Connecticut and basically packed our bags and turned around. My wife, she started a real estate company up here which she’s run for about 10 years. It seemed that every family member that came to visit eventually moved here. My step-brother, my sister, both sets of my parents: everybody has moved to Maine in the last 10 years.
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Lisa: It’s not that many people that I hear about driving into a snow storm and then coming back to the snow storm.
Christian: My wife wouldn’t have done it I don’t think again. She can’t stand the winter. Maine is such an amazing place with everything it has to offer with the physical environment and the people and art and food. I just can’t imagine living anywhere else besides Maine, and specifically Portland. I think that just rubbed off on all my siblings and parents as they came up here. The snow is an issue with my wife, though, so I don’t know if she’d come up again. Spur of the moment like that.
Lisa: But you and Cathy bring the boys up to Sugarloaf. Your 12 and 10 year old, and you’ve been avid skiers.
Christian: Yeah, we make the weekend pilgrimage every weekend for the last couple years now. I’m very prideful to be a Sugarloafer; it’s a big part of my life. Cathy doesn’t ski every weekend but she’s there; she’s a pretty big trooper and she skis as often as she can. She would much rather be in Antigua on the beach than in Sugarloaf with 20 below zero wind, but we go up all the time. We absolutely love it; if I could ski year round we would.
Lisa: Somehow, again, just like you and your father, you and Cathy are somehow figuring it out. You’re making it work.
Christian: Yep.
Lisa: What is it about Maine that inspires you? You’re a designer; you’re a very visual person. You walked into our office space, you were admiring the table. You looked at the stools and the one you’re sitting on right now. You must gain some inspiration from the landscape and from the buildings and the architecture.
Christian: I like how Maine is preserved for starters. I don’t use any of the environment of Maine in my business but my wife taps into it immensely for real estate, and really showcases why Maine is the place to be. There are so many features of Maine that I wouldn’t want to live without today but I don’t think much of it transcends into my business. But as far as life, I just can’t imagine being anywhere else. The people here are so fantastic, the ocean, the mountains. What you guys do here to showcase Maine gives us a really good sense of pride I think. When I read your magazine, it does such a great job in presenting what Maine is that it makes us even more proud to be Mainers – although technically I guess I’m not a Mainer. I don’t think my kids are either. Do you have to be two generations?
Lisa: From what I understand you have to be born here.
Christian: Yeah, my kids were born here but I think there’s still some …
Lisa: Some discrepancy there?
Christian: Yeah, I’m not sure if they’re really Mainers.
Lisa: It’s always interesting for me to talk with people who, say, come from the design field because I know that my brain does not … I like to take photographs but mostly I’m a … Actually, I like to take photographs, I like to sing, I like to write, I’m a doctor. I guess my brain works in very different ways but I know that I’m probably not a designer. It’s always interesting to have conversations with peoples whose brains work differently and try to tease out what it is that helps keep their brains moving in the right direction.
Christian: My “designer” brain is sometimes a curse because I look to improve everything. It just happens innately so that curtain rod, or anything I look at I try to improve. Drives my wife crazy because I probably have a much better way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than she does. It presents some problems. She’s great about not listening to me and I’m getting slightly better at not offering solutions to everything. My design and engineer background shows up in everything I do, whether it’s painting a door or building a ship, or literally anything – cooking an egg. I’m always trying to improve the process and the outcome. Slight curse.
Lisa: It sounds like it’s on a continuum.
Christian: Yeah.
Lisa: It’s what makes you very good at what you do and also it’s hard to turn off.
Christian: Yes.
Lisa: Is there something about the spaciousness of the sky, the ocean, Maine, the breathing space, that enables you to somehow loosen that up a little bit so that you don’t always feel like you have to fix the door?
Christian: Well, I’m not very good at fixing things. I can start the process; I’m really horrible at ending it. Consequently, we have many projects at the house that started years ago.
Lisa: Maybe redesign the door.
Christian: I can redesign the door really well; I just can’t implement the change. My space is very important for being creative so I’ve got a fantastic office on India Street, which is a converted warehouse. Not really warehouse, converted carriage house. It’s tucked in between multiple buildings so that the postmaster can’t even deliver mail to it it’s so hidden. That space really helps me in designing tugboats. We have designed so many boats though at this point that it’s fairly routine. I couldn’t do it at Sugarloaf; I can do it up at Moosehead. I wouldn’t want to work in some tight office with typical office building, I couldn’t do it. I need something to maintain my creativity, I guess, or help with it.
Lisa: It sounds like your father’s dedication to what he is doing has in some ways informed your dedication to what you’re doing and the career path that you chose. How are you doing the same thing or not doing the same thing with your own sons?
Christian: I look up to my dad with so much admiration. He is the hardest worker I know. Unbelievably smart and dedicated to me, to succeed. He absolutely loves what he’s doing but he may be retired at this point if I weren’t in the picture. Sure he’d be still in the Bahamas or somewhere with my step-mother. I am trying to instill as much in my children that I can from what I’ve learned from my dad.
I’m not as patient as my father for sure, and probably not as capable of teaching as my dad is, to my children. But I’m doing what I can and consequently my kids, because of my wife and self and my parents, are really great, well-rounded children. Responsibility and punctuality are really important to me because of this business that I’m in, so those are two things that I drill my kids with. They probably don’t like it very much but I’m taking as much from my dad and trying to get it to my children as possible.
Lisa:Given that this is a Father’s Day show and it’s airing on Father’s Day and we’ve been talking about you and your father, what are your dreams for your children as a father?
Christian:Mostly I hope they’re healthy for the balance of their life physically and mentally. I hope that they can do what they really want to do in life. I would hate to see them trapped in a job or career where they don’t’ want to do that. I’m not teaching them that money is very important and I hope that they do something and not use that as any kind of decision what they would make. If they want to be a sous chef at 555 for the rest of their life then that’d be great. If they want to take over mycompany that’d be great. But if they can just do what they really dream to aspire to do and be healthy that’s all I really want.
Lisa: Christian, I really appreciate your coming in and talking to us about the work that you do, and now I can say that I’ve met a tugboat/towboat designer
Christian: Towboat designer.
Lisa: I don’t think that many people can say that since there aren’t that many of them in the world.
Christian: Probably not.
Lisa: I really appreciate that you and Cathy have chosen to raise your boys here and that you and your father are continuing to bring safe towboats into the world. Thanks for coming in and being with us on Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to you and to your dad.
Christian:Thank you. Thank you very much. A big thanks to your magazine and all its affiliates for portraying Maine the way it should be portrayed. We feel proud to have you guys portray Maine and tell its stories. Thanks for having me.
Lisa:You’ve been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast show #144: “Father’s Day.” Our guests have included Chris Kast and Christian Townsend. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit doctorlisa.org. The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is downloadable for free on iTunes. For a preview of each week’s show, sign up for our e-newsletter, and like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter and as “Bountiful One” on Instagram.
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Dr. Lisa Belisle is a physician trained in family and preventative medicine, acupuncture, and public health. She offers medical care and acupuncture at Brunswick Family Medicine. Read more about her integrative approach to wellness in Maine Magazine.
The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is recorded in the studio of Maine Magazine at 75 Market Street Portland, Maine. Our executive producers are Kevin Thomas, Susan Grisanti, and Dr. Lisa Belisle. Our assistant producer is Leanne Ouimet. Audio production and original music by John C. McCain. Our online producer is Kelly Clinton. The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is available for download free on iTunes. See the Dr. Lisa website or Facebook page for details.