Life on the West Coast without tugboats is hard to imagine-and many a mariner in trouble can thank the stalwart tugs for life itself. From the Wheelhouse captures the ins and outs of working in this underappreciated but essential industry: relentless tides, wild weather, breakaway barges, the practical jokes, the joy of a successful rescue and the agony of a failed attempt. Author and historian Doreen Armitage interviewed 17 old-time tugboat captains, engineers and deckhands to assemble this intimate and often hair-raising account of life aboard BC tugs. Generously illustrated with archival photos and images from the personal collections of the skippers who appear within its pages, From the Wheelhouse is a lively personal account of towboating in BC and an engaging portrait of the coastal characters and vessels that shaped this region's maritime history.