Address:
MTV Association
PO Box 2039
Lebanon, OR  97355
Email:
Master of Towing Vessels Association
"Advocate of the Tug Boat Captain"
Phone:  541-220-9559
                               Meet the MTVA Executive Board and Directors

                                    Our seven Boardmembers and two directors represent a
                                            combined 255 years of maritime experience.

Director - Captain Jordan May:
 Jordan’s maritime career began in 1984 when he began fishing salmon in Kodiak, Alaska for his
high school principal. That summer job was somehow appealing and soon led to fishing for
halibut, cod and crab species throughout the cold Alaska winters. Eventually he worked from the
deck to the engine room and the wheelhouse of an Alaska crab boat. After 14 years of fishing
between Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, he earned a USCG license and transitioned into the
commercial marine sector. He first served on a coastal freighter, then a research vessel and
eventually onboard tugs.
The first 8 years on tugs were running Ice Class ASDs in Cook Inlets icy waters. Those years
provided a valuable lesson in using an ASD to its maximum capability.
While living in Alaska, Jordan also served 4 years as a Mat-Su Borough Port Commissioner where
he participated in developing the deep draft terminal at Port Mackenzie and the ONR/Lockheed
Martin E-Craft. This unique vessel is an icebreaking, multi-hull SWATH ferry for use in Cook Inlets
challenging waters. In 2007 Jordan transferred south to the warmer waters of San Francisco Bay
where he now runs ASDs in the ship-assist and tanker escort market. Since moving south he
helped form the Master of Towing Vessels Association with a goal of influencing the development
of U.S. towing vessel regulations and technology to reflect more of what is experienced onboard
tugs. Jordan is a Towing Officer Examiner and currently resides in Lebanon, Oregon, commuting
to work in the SF Bay.

Director - Captain Joel Milton:
Joel grew up in Southern California and spent his early years with the USCG achieving a position
operating rescue boats. After serving in the USCG Joel moved into the commercial marine sector
and currently moves petroleum off the East Coast and recently the Gulf of Mexico for the recovery of
oil spilled in the Deepwater Horizon debacle. Joel writes a regular column in “Workboat Magazine”
and has been an active participant in the regulatory process whenever possible. Joels efforts to
increase awareness and common sense in many areas of the industry reflect a good measure of
reality and accuracy into what are often complicated and misunderstood issues. Joel resides on
Long Island when not towing in the Atlantic.

Chairman - Captain Dave Gore:
Dave has an extensive background with varied maritime experience, in both management
(Admin/Mktg./Ops) and onboard the boats. With Harley Marine Group since 1998, Dave served four
years ashore as Director of Marine Operations in Seattle prior to returning to the tug fleet at
Starlight Marine in 2006. He currently operates a conventional tug moving oil/bunker barges within
SF Bay. Dave has operated other tugs in Puget Sound and British Columbia, as well as coastwise
off Washington, Oregon and California. He holds a Master 1600 NC and is a Designated Towing
Officer Examiner. A resident of Washington State (Whidbey Island); he is currently working in
California on a two week -on, two-off schedule.

Vice- Chairman - Captain Doug Pine:
Doug has 30 years in the maritime industry onboard conventional tugs, OSVs, passenger vessels,
ferries, un-inspected fishing vessels, sailing vessels, a passenger submarine, Z-drive and Voith
tugs. Author of Pacific Maritime Institute’s TOAR guidebook for Designated Towing Officer
Examiners he has also constructed and managed PMI's Simulation department for 3 1/2 years.
Doug holds a 1600 ton Master Oceans, MOTV Oceans and Western Rivers, 100 ton Aux. Sail
Oceans, AB Unlimited, AB Sail, 6th Issue, is a USCG Approved instructor at PMI for Radar
Observer (Unlimited), Basic Ship handling, TCNAV, Watchkeeping, Celestial Navigation, STCW
courses and some other stuff he can't remember.
Doug is presently working at PMI training the B.C. Coast Pilots and the Vancouver tug captains
from  Smit and Seaspan in tanker escort operations.
Doug was subject to the fist “Mutiny” in recent US history as Master aboard the F/V "Majestic Blue"
during July - October 2009. Currently he resides on Maury Island, WA and Maui, HI

Boardmember - Captain Jim Fish:
 Jim’s maritime experience started while sailing on a friend’s sailboat as a teenager. He grew up
in southern California, but moved to the Panama Canal Zone in 1969, while 16 years old, where
his father worked as a Chief-engineer onboard a suction-dredge on the canal. He’s had a varied
and interesting career on board seismic survey vessels, harbor tugs, Alaska factory fishing
trawlers, small cruise ships, ATB’s, and casino vessels since 1975.
After earning the 1000-ton Master of Freight and Towing license in 1981, Jim ran offshore supply
vessels in the worldwide oilfield for 18 years. He then attended a Dynamic Positioning school and
worked on board a D.P. dive vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2002 he earned the Master Unlimited
License and is on issue # 7. In recent years he has delivered three U.S. Army tugs on trans-Pacific
and trans-Atlantic trips and served as chief-mate with Austal shipyards for 30 days on board the
420 ft. 84,000 hp Navy combat ship LCS-2 “Independence”, during the offshore sea-trials near
Mobile, Alabama. Jim recently ran the Hawaii Super Ferry during the relief missions to Haiti and
now resides in the hill country west of San Antonio, Texas.

Boardmember - Captain Mike Link:
 Mike started working onboard tugs at age 13 off the U.S. West Coast and was running tugs full
time by age 18. He went to work with Crowley Maritime for around 20 years beginning in 1973 and
worked in 5 divisions from ship assist to coastal towing, ocean towing, foreign towing and
salvage. He is a Designated Towing Officer Examiner and currently resides in Napavine,
Washington
In 1989, Mike was towing tandem barges off the West Coast with the tug Barcona when their tow
cable was caught and they were towed backwards then underwater by a 100,000 hp U.S. Navy
nuclear submarine. While the engineer and Mike narrowly survived the immediate sinking,
the mate on watch did not. Since that ordeal it is no mystery that Mike prefers working the inside
waters over the last 20 years. Around 12 of those recently have been with Harley Marine Services
working in the S.F. Bay ship assist and tanker escort market.

Boardmember - Captain Pat Folan:
 Pat grew up in Boston, MA on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor. In 1985, a friend on the island
bought a 36-ft wooden 6-71 powered tug and Pat began a career in towing. They moved small
construction barges around Boston, Mass Bay, Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts. As
the barges got bigger and the tugs boats didn’t, he eventually went to work for Acushnet Towing
where he ended up managing 5 towing and ship docking tugs in the early part of this century. In
2004, Pat bought his own tug and towed anywhere that would pay for from Maine to Florida and out
to Lake Michigan. In 2007 a couple of companies didn’t pay and left Pat out $100,000.00 and he
had to sell the boat. Since Acushnet, Pat has been actively involved in the regulatory side of towing,
and has banded several tug companies together in NY State with “Pelican Passage” to help them
with everything from finding work to disseminating industry news and information. He does the
same to help with friends who own other small companies on the East Coast and in Mobile, AL
where Pat resides. He is a Designated Towing Officer Examiner and aspires to bring competent
mariners up through the ranks.

Boardmember - Captain Jeff Rickard:  
 Jeff has worked onboard tugboats since 1976. His maritime career started in Everett, Washington
as a deckhand towing log booms throughout Puget Sound. Working up through the ranks, he has
now been a tug captain for over 22 years and operated a variety of vessels. Jeff has worked on the
US West Coast from Western Alaska to Southern California, towing everything from gravel and oil
to containers and equipment. In 2006 Jeff used the “Orville Hook” recovery system to successfully
retrieve a lost petroleum barge in heavy weather off the West Coast in one of the rare
demonstrations, (thankfully), of this innovative retrieval tools. Jeff is currently working in Puget
Sound moving oil & bunkering ships. He is a Towing Officer Examiner and an outspoken advocate
of hands on training and development of competent mariner skills for the industry.

Boardmember - Captain Jonah Petrick:
Jonah is a graduate of California Maritime Academy, class of 2009. He served his internship with
Crowley Maritime in Valdez, Alaska onboard Voith Schnieder and ASD propulsion vessels,
conducting ship assists and tanker escort. Still early in his career, Jonah has earned a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Marine Transportation, a 3rd Mate Unlimited, a Mate of Towing and 100 Ton
Master inland license.
Now working in the SF Bay he has also earned his Tanker Escort Qualification Rating and serves
on ship assist tugs and bunker barges.
Born and raised on Guemes Island, Washington Jonah currently resides in Berkeley, California.