| Tugtanic Maiden Voyage |
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| This page is dedicated to the Thomas's family project, the "Tugtanic"!! The Tugtanic was a family effort with everyone's time and labor. This tug was built entirely with raw materials from a set of plans. I believe it took Jeff, his wife Kathy, daughter Kimmy and son Zach about 18 months to complete.. The tug is powered by a 25 horsepower four stroke outboard. The Thomas's has future plans to add "tires" to the side like real working tugs and they also want to add luxuries such as a CD player. The following photos are of the maiden voyage at Casitas Lake up near the city of Ojai. It was a rainy spring weekend in 2001 but at the planned launch time the sun came out for a beautiful day. The timing was so unreal that I have to believe the Thomas's are living right!! There have also been Tugtanic sightings at Buena Vista Lake, Newport Harbor and Marina Del Rey It really is a lot of fun cruising on the Tugtanic. It brings so many smiles with each passing boat everywhere it goes!! |
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| If you build it, they will come........... |
| People came from all over the world to be a part of this event!! Friends and family helped and supported this project so this day could happen. |
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| Jeff and Kathy loading up important supplies to survive their first voyage.The radars, GPS and radios all checked out OK. Then it was time to launch Tugtanic. |
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| It took Kathy several swift swings of the champagne bottle to begin the celebration! They backed the tug into the water, everyone held their breath for a moment but then there it was......floating on it's own!! The crowd went wild with cheers. In a matter of minutes, they were off..... ignoring the rough seas ahead!! |
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| Chills ran down my spine watching the Tugtanic being tossed around wildly in the rough seas. Little did the Thomas's know of the perfect storm they were entering !! |
| Page last updated 7/30/01 |
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